My Top Ten Genea-Mysteries

 

I posted another blog post about my "Top Ten Genea-Mysteries" in 2014, and it is time for an update!  I'm hoping that by posting these brickwall stories, maybe someone can send me a clue or make a cousin connection.  Some of these mysteries have bothered me for 30 or more years! 

My Top Ten Brick Walls:

1.)  Who is Hannah Smith?  She married my 5^th great grandfather, Stephen Cree, on 27 February 1787 in Holden, Massachusetts.  Stephen was born in Topsfield in 1760 and died there in 1821.  All five of their children were born in Topsfield.  Did they elope to be married in Holden, or was Hannah a resident of Holden? Who were her parents?  One clue is in the book Early Massachusetts Marriages Prior to 1800 Worcester County, Southborough, page 72 “Stephen Cree & Mrs. Hannah Smith February 27, 2787”  What is this reference to Southborough? Of course my top brickwall would be a SMITH!

2.) Who is the Mary Hovey who married Nathaniel Treadwell on 17 July 1786 in Ipswich, Massachusetts?  These are my 5^th great grandparents.  This is a Mayflower lineage back to Isaac Allerton, but none of the paperwork ever submitted with this couple names her parents. I left it blank and my application was accepted.  I have no birth date for her or place of birth.  She had five children with Nathaniel Treadwell, and she died on 15 January 1832 in Ipswich.  Nathaniel was a Revolutionary War Patriot.  Both the DAR and the Mayflower Society have no information on Mary Hovey. 

3.)  What are the origins of Benjamin Gardner, born about 1720 probably in Boston, and died 7 June 1797 in Salem, Massachusetts?  This is my 6^th great grandfather, and much has been written about him in Salem records, and in the diaries of Rev. William Bentley who mentioned his wives and his children, and his brother, but Benjamin still remains a mystery.  He was married twice, first to Sarah Randall on 10 October 1751 in Boston at the West Church.  They had three children, including my 5^th great grandmother, Mary Gardner born in Boston.  Sarah died in 1781 in Salem, and he remarried to Mary Briers (widow  of Michael Ferguson and John Bassett) on 2 November 1782 in Salem.   Benjamin was a ropemaker in Salem, a partner to Josiah Gaines.  He had a brother, Thomas Gardner, who died on 22 September 1789 in Boston.

4.) Who is Nancy Thompson (about 1804 – 1847), my 4x great grandmother? She married Jonathan Batchelder on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire.  Her children’s marriage and death records say she was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.  There are several Thompson families in Gilmanton and Belmont (contiguous towns) but no record of Nancy/Ann/Hannah Thompson.  Jonathan Batchelder died in the Concord State Assylum.   His wife, Nancy Batchelder, was granted guardianship of their children in 1847.  I recently found her 14 November 1884 death record in Sutton, New Hampshire under the name "Nancy Palmer".  How do I know it is my 4x great grandmother?  I recently found a court record where she lists her name as Nancy Palmer, but gives names of relatives in the Batchelder family, so I know this is her!  Unfortunately she doesn't give any testimony on her own side of the family. 

5.)  Related to Nancy Thompson, above:  I'd love to see the testimony Nancy Thompson Batchelder Palmer gave during the court case in Louisiana in 1866.  Does it survive? All I have are excerpts in books. I'm not familiar with records from outside of New England! 

6.)  Who is Elizabeth Lambert (about 1775 – 1834), 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 all described as debutantes and all married very well.  I was hoping she was from a well-connected, wealthy family in Boston who left lots of good records, but so far I cannot find her parents or lineage.  There were many Lambert/Lombard/Lumbard/Lamport families in Boston at this time, and I have searched them all for Elizabeth.   One clue-  Elizabeth had a sister, Sarah, who married John Darke/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.  Another clue – Elizabeth Lambert was probably born at about the time of the siege of Boston during the American Revolution (many residents fled the city), so she may have been born elsewhere in New England.

7.) Who is Margaret Welch (about 1796 – 1860), my 4x great grandmother?  Her death record in Chichester, New Hampshire does not name her parents or place of birth.  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.  I haven't found her in vital records or in any compiled genealogy.

8.) Who is Thomas Jillings (died 1801 in Newbury), my 5x great grandfather?  He married Hannah Mirick on 18 November 1725 in Newbury and had seven children with her.  Hannah was born in Charlestown in 1702 and died in 1754 in New bury.  If he was born around the same time as her he would have been nearly 100 years old at the time of his death.  Jillings is an unusual name, but I can’t find his origins, parents or any ancestors.  Is Jillings a misspelling or corruption of some other surname?

9.)  I'd love to research my grandmother's roots in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.  Her name was Bertha Roberts (1891 - 1990). I have traced back to Samuel Roberts, my 4th great grandfather, father of John Roberts, named on his 1803 baptism record in Holbeck, Leeds, Yorkshire, England (no mother listed). I have no idea how to proceed further back on this family line from this side of the pond!  Roadtrip to the UK? 

10.) Who is my 4th great grandmother, Amelia wife of Capt. Thomas Lewis of Salem, Massachusetts.  She died on 22 April 1860 in Wayland, Massachusetts.  She was possibly born about 1790 maybe in Stoughton, Massachusetts?  She married three times.  She was married first to Capt. Lewis, and he died on 31 August 1824 and she had two posthumous babies (twins) born 26 June 1824 (one is my 3rd great grandfather Thomas Russell Lewis).  Then she married Thomas Johnson on 16 October 1827 in Salem.  She married third to John Adams on 11 June 1843 in Topsfield.  Both John and Amelia were listed as paupers at the poor farm in Wayland in the 1860 Federal Census mortality schedule (he died of "lung fever" and she died of "paralysis").  What is her maiden name? Parents and family?  

For the truly curious:

Click here for a previous post from 2014 of my Top Ten Brickwall mysteries: 

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-top-ten-genea-mysteries.html   

Click here for a previous post from 2012 of my Top Ten Brickwall Problem Ancestors:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-top-ten-brickwall-problem-ancestors.html

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Top Ten Genea-Mysteries", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 21, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/03/my-top-ten-genea-mysteries.html: accessed [access date]). 

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 ~ A New BATCHELDER lineage

My great grandmother, Carrie Batchelder (1872 - 1963)
surrounded by family members in Hamilton, Massachusetts

This is part four of my series on the BATCHELDER surname Do-Over.  You can find the links to the first three parts below.

Back in 2015 I wrote up a Surname Saturday blog post on my BATCHELDER lineage. My great grandmother, Carrie Maude Batchelder (1872 - 1963) was the last ancestor in this line to carry the name that started with my immigrant ancestor, the Reverend Stephen Batchelder (1561 - 1656), my 11th great grandfather.  About 40 years ago I consulted the book Batchelder - Bacheller written by Frederick Clifton Pierce in 1898.  Over the years I have used this basic information to expand on this lineage, but shortly after writing my 2015 post I realized that there was more information about my 4th great grandfather, Jonathan Batchelder, that changed this lineage.  This information came from notes by Charles Hull Batchelder, who was revising mistakes in Pierce's book.  C.H. Batchelder died in 1948 and never finished his book.

Five generations of his notes were compiled into a manuscript by Carl W. Brage.  You can find this manuscript online at the Lane Memorial Library (Hampton, New Hampshire) website.  However this manuscript stops a few generations short of my 4th great grandfather, Jonathan Batchelder.  Fortunately for me, C. H. Batchelder's notes on all the Batchelder descendants are held in eleven large boxes at the New Hampshire Historical Society library. Read the other three blog posts in this series to see what an adventure it was to find the proofs I needed in those boxes!

Surnames I lost from my ancestors during this Do-Over:

SWETT, PAGE, NORTON, FOSS, NUDD, GOODHUE, SMITH, WEARE, BAKER, DOWNING,  LANE, SLEEPER, BLAKE, WEBSTER, SHAW, SHERBURNE, BREWER, EVERARD, MARRIAN, PARTRIDGE, HUTCHINGS, SPICER, GIBBONS, and PAGE.

New Surnames added to my family tree (more will be coming as I continue this research):
a second line to PERKINS, LONGFELLOW, CHESLEY, WEEKS, LITTLEFIELD, CLARKE, LAMPREY, another DEARBORN line, GREENE, GREENLEAF, WARD, SMITH, SEWELL, DUMMER, THORNTON, SOMERSBY, COFFIN, GERRISH, LOWELL, SPARKS, MASTERS, ROLLINS, HUBBARD, ROPER, HAWKINS, PICKWORTH, REDMAN, ALLEN, FRY, LEIGHTON, and KNIGHT.

Here is the revised version of my lineage:

Generation 1:  Rev. Stephen Batchelder, born 1561 in Wherwell, Hampshire, England, and died about 21 October 1656 "At Robert Barber's home" in London, England; married as his first wife (out of four marriages) about 1586 to Ann Bate.  She died before 1623 and gave him ten children.

Generation 2:  Nathaniel Batchelder, born about 1590 in England and died about 1630 in the Netherlands; married to Hester Mercer, daughter of Jan LeMercier and Jeanne LeClerc.  She was born about 1602 in Ypres, Belgium and died before 1631 in the Netherlands.  Five children.

Generation 3:  Nathaniel Batchelder, born about 1630 in England, died 17 January 1709/10 in Hampton, New Hampshire; married first (out of three marriages) to Deborah Smith, daughter of John Smith and Deborah Parkhurst.  She was born before 1645 in Edgartown, Massachusetts and died 8 March 1676 in Hampton.  Nine children and I descend from three of these children.

Lineage A:

Generation 4:  Abigail Batchelder, born 28 December 1667 in Hampton, and died 14 November 1736 in North Hampton; married on 4 November 1689 in Hampton to John Dearborn, son of Henry Dearborn and Elizabeth Marrian.  He was born 10 October 1666 in Hampton, and died 22 November 1750 in Hampton.  Eight children.

Generation 5:  Elizabeth Dearborn m. John Garland
Generation 6: Elizabeth Garland m. Richard Locke
Generation 7:  Simon Locke m. Abigail Mace
Generation 8:  Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch
Generation 9:  Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder (see below)

Lineage B:

Generation 4:  Jane Batchelder, born 8 January 1669 in Hampton, died 20 December 1711; married on 10 November 1687 in Hampton to Benjamin Lamprey, son of Henry Lamprey and Julienne Unknown.  He was born 28 September 1660 in Hampton and died 3 January 1751 in Hampton.  Twelve children.

Generation 5:  Jane Lamprey m. Stephen Batchelder  (see below)

Lineage C:

Generation 4:  Stephen Batchelder, born 8 March 1675/6 in Hampton, New Hampshire and died 19 September 1748 in Hampton; married on 25 August 1698 in Hampton to Mary Dearborn, daughter of John Dearborn and Mary Ward.  She was born 6 May 1678.  Seven children.

Generation 5:  Stephen Batchelder born 19 July 1701 in North Hampton and died 6 March 1748/49 in North Hampton; married on 1 August 1721 in Hampton to Jane Lamprey (see above), daughter of Benjamin Lamprey and Jane Batchelder.  She was born before 30 April 1699 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.  Nine children.

Generation 6:  Nathaniel Batchelder, born 9 June 1732 in North Hampton and died 24 March 1778 in Bennington, Vermont; married to Mary Longfellow, daughter of Jonathan Longfellow and Mercy Clarke. She was born 15 July 1735 in Hampton Falls, and died 1814.  Nine children.

Generation 7:  Nathaniel Batchelder, born 1763 in Deerfield, New Hampshire, died 20 August 1809 in Loudon, New Hampshire; married in April 1789 in Loudon to Mary Perkins as his second wife.  She was born about 1771 and died between 1845 and 1850 in Chichester, New Hampshire as the widow of Dodavah Bunker.  Seven Batchelder children.

Generation 8:  Jonathan Batchelder, born about 1800 in Deerfield, died before 4 November 1847 in Chichester, New Hampshire; married on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire to Nancy Thompson.  She was born about 1804 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire and died after 1847.  Two children.

Generation 9:  George E. Batchelder, born 13 August 1822 in Chichester, died 3 April 1848 in Chichester; married on 7 September 1845 in South Boston to Abigail M. Locke, the daughter of Richard Locke and Margaret Welch (see above).  She was born 10 September 1825 in South Boston, Massachusetts and died 15 January 1888 in Chichester.  Two children.

Generation 10:  George E. Batchelder, born posthumously 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 Esther Younger.  She was born 25 December 1847 in South Boston and died 23 April 1932 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Nine children.

Generation 11:  Carrie Maude Batchelder, born 22 September 1872 in Chichester, died 21 January 1963 at the Sea View Convalescent and Nursing Home, 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 12:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)


Batchelder Do-Over Part 1:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-1.html

Batchelder Do-Over Part 2:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-2.html

Batchelder Do-Over Part 3:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-3.html

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ A New BATCHELDER lineage", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 29, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-new-batchelder-lineage.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ LEWIS of Salem, Massachusetts

Gloucester Fisherman's Wife Memorial

My 4^th great grandfather, Thomas Lewis, is named as the father of Frederick Augustus Lewis on his 1850 death record, and on Thomas Russell Lewis’s marriage record in 1852.   Frederick Augustus and Thomas Russell were the twin sons of Thomas Lewis. I don’t know my 4^th great grandfather’s origins at all.

With this information from the son’s vital records, and their father’s name, I was able to find a death announcement in the Salem Gazette, 24 August 1824, page 3 for “Mr. Thomas Lewis, aged 54”.  There is no corresponding death record in the vital records.  Is this their father?  The birth record for both boys appears in the compiled book of Salem Vital Records with only their mother listed (no father’s name) baptized on 26 June 1825 at the Howard Street or Branch Church in Salem, Massachusetts.  Were the twin babies born posthumously?

In his probate records, Thomas Lewis is described as a ropemaker of Salem.

To throw a monkey wrench into the mix, I don’t know the full name of the mother of these twin boys.  She is listed as “Amelia” in their baptism records.  I cannot find a marriage between a Thomas Lewis and an Amelia in any Massachusetts records.  “Amelia Lewis” remarried again in 1827 to Thomas Johnson in Salem, and then “Amelia Johnson” remarried again in 1843 to John Adams in Topsfield.    John and Amelia Adams were listed in the Wayland, Massachusetts 1860 Federal Census Mortality Schedule as “paupers”.   Such a sad life for my 4^th great grandmother, Amelia!

I descend from Capt. Thomas Russell Lewis (1825 – 1853), my 3^rd great grandfather.  He married young to Hannah Phillips, my 3^rd great grandmother, in 1841, and had three children.  She died in 1851, and he remarried quickly to Lydia Pickering in 1852, probably so his very young children had a stepmother to care for them.  However, two years later, in 1853, Capt. Thomas Russell Lewis died in Surinam, in the West Indies.   The newspaper Salem Register on 6 October 1853, page 2 reads “Mortuary Notice: At Surinam, August 22, of erysipelas, Capt. Thomas R. Lewis of this city, master of the brig Gazelle.”  (Erysipelas is a strep infection of the skin).

Upon Capt. Lewis’s death, the probate record states that Lydia, the step mother, went to court and stated that “She has three small children, & has no means of support for herself & them, that the whole of the estate of said Thomas amounts only to the sum of $120 or appraisal…”  Another generation, another sad story!

My 2^nd great grandmother, Hannah Eliza Lewis (about 1844 – 1921), was only seven years old when her mother died, and only nine years old when her father died at sea.  Her stepmother remarried to John Bradbury Hardy of Lynn, Massachusetts.  I don’t know where little Hannah was raised, with her stepmother or some other relatives?  I couldn’t find any guardianship court records.

In 1864 Hannah married my 2^nd great grandfather, Abijah Franklin Hitchings.  He was known as “Frank” or “Dada” Hitchings by my grandmother.  Frank was a veteran of the Civil War, and had been injured at the Battle of Fredricksburg.  His leg injury bothered him for the rest of his life, as his pension papers show many, many medical reports from the “Old Soldiers Hospital” in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  Frank had been a sail maker before the war, but after the war he became the Deputy Collector of Customs at the Salem Custom House.  He held this job until his death in 1910.  

Hannah outlived Frank by another eleven years, but she was not well.  She received a Civil War widow’s pension, but in those documents I found many, many letters from her son, Arthur, my great grandfather, who described that she was suffering from dementia and had been committed to the Asylum at Danvers. His letters begged for a raise in her widow’s benefits to cover her care.  Hannah died in the Asylum at Danvers in 1921, and she is buried in the Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem in the large plot owned by her father, Capt. Lewis, where many Lewis, Hitchings and other relatives are buried. A third generation, and a third sad story!

Some LEWIS resources:

Salem Vital Records,  Essex County Probate Records, Salem Gazette newspapers via GenealogyBank online database, Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem archives, US Federal Census records, and Civil War pensions documents.  This LEWIS family does not appear to in any compiled genealogy or journal articles. 

My LEWIS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thomas Lewis, born about 1770, died 31 August 1824 in Salem, Massachusetts; married  to Amelia Unknown.  She was born about 1790 probably in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and died 22 April 1860 in Wayland, Massachusetts.  Two twin sons.

Generation 2:  Captain Thomas Russell Lewis, baptized 26 June 1825 in Salem, died 22 August 1853 in Surinam, West Indies; married on 4 March 1841 in Salem to Hannah Phillips, daughter of James Phillips and Sarah Cree.  She was born about 1821 in Topsfield, Massachusetts and died 17 October 1851 in Salem. Three children.

Generation 3:  Hannah Eliza Lewis, born about 1844 in Salem, died 15 February 1921 in at the Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 22 September 1864 in Salem to Abijah Franklin Hitchings.  He was the son of Abijah Hitchings and Eliza Ann Treadwell, born 28 October 1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem.  Two children.

Generation 4:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

NOTE:  I have written another Surname Saturday blog post on another LEWIS family, showing my descent from another Thomas Lewis, who lived in Maine in the 17th century: 
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/surname-saturday-lewis-of-saco-maine.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ LEWIS of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 10, 2018, (   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/surname-saturday-lewis-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ CREE of Topsfield, Massachusetts

CREE / CRAY / CREIGH

My 7^th great grandfather, Nicholas Cree, is a mystery.  I don’t know his birth or death, but only that he married Keziah Dwinell of Topsfield and had six children born there.  His marriage record says he was “Of Marblehead”.   This brickwall ancestor has many researchers searching for his origins, probably in Scotland. 

Not much is known of his son, Richard Cree (1727 – 1769), my 6^th great grandfather.  I have his vital records, and his death record states he was “a middle aged man who was drownded”.    I descend from his eldest son, Stephen Cree (1760  - 1821), who married his bride, Hannah Smith, in the town of Holden, Massachusetts, many miles from Topsfield.  The interesting thing is that I was married in the town of Holden, too, about 200 years after the marriage of Stephen and Hannah Cree.  Hannah’s origins are unknown, but I found her birth record in Worcester in 1763, to her father, Joseph Smith.  Perhaps he is related to the Smith family of Topsfield? Another mystery.

My 4^th great grandmother, Sarah Cree (1792 – 1835) married first at age 16 to John W. Ham in 1808 and had one child.  Then she remarried to James Phillips in Topsfield in 1815.  They had two children and he died young in 1820.  Sarah never remarried and died young herself in 1835.   Her daughter, my 3^rd great grandmother, Hannah Phillips (about 1821 – 1851) also died young after having three children born in Salem.  

The Cree surname is considered to be Scots, a derivation of the same CREIGH or CRAY.  There are several DNA studies ongoing to find the origins of Nicholas Cree, the immigrant ancestor in New England.

Some CREE resources:

The CREE One-Name Study   http://www.cree.name/usa/topsfield.htm

The Historical Collections of the Topsfield Historical Society (some volumes available online at Archive.org, including Volumes nine and ten with the Topsfield marriage records)

The True Genealogy of the Dunnel and Dwinnell Family of New England, by Henry Gale Dunnel, 1862.

My CREE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Nicolas Cree married on 7 October 1723 in Topsfield, Massachusetts to Keziah Dwinel, daughter of John Dwinell and Mary Read.  She was born 14 December 1703 in Topsfield.  Six children born in Topsfield. 

Generation 2:  Richard Cree, born 13 August 1727 in Topsfield, died 15 April 1769 in Topsfield; married on 5 February 1756 in Topsfield to Ruth Johnson, daughter of Stephen Johnson and Rebecca Towne.  She was born 30 August 1731 in Topsfield and died 29 June 1800 in Topsfield.  Five children.

Generation 3:  Stephen Cree, was born 30 October 1760 in Topsfield, died 15 October 1821 in Topsfield; married on 27 February 1787 in Holden, Massachusetts to Hannah Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith of Worcester.  She was born 22 May 1763 in Worcester, and died 19 October 1839 in Topsfield.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Sarah Cree, born 30 September 1792 in Topsfield, died 3 May 1835 in Topsfield; married 6 August 1820 in Topsfield to James Phillips.  He was born about 1792 probably in Rowley, and died 5 April 1820 in Topsfield.  Two children.

Generation 5:  Hannah Phillips m. Thomas Russell Lewis

Generation 6:  Hannah Eliza Lewis m. Abijah Franklin Hitchings

Generation 7:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ CREE of Topsfield, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 27, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/01/surname-saturday-cree-of-topsfield.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ JILLINGS of Newbury, Massachusetts

JILLINGS / GELLINS /  JILLENS / JILLINS

Thomas Jillings, my 7^th great grandfather, is a mystery.  I don’t know his parents, or his birthdate, or where he came from.  His origins are completely unknown.  I don’t know his occupation, or if he owned land or wrote a will (nothing in the Essex County Probate records).  I don’t even know where he died because he didn’t leave a gravestone or death record. 

The first record I have of Thomas Jillings is his marriage to Hannah Mirick in 1725 in Newbury, Massachusetts.  She was the daughter of Isaac Mirick, and great granddaughter of Rev. Sion “John” Mirick of Wales.  They had eight children all recorded in the Newbury Vital Records. I descend from their daughter, Hannah, my 6th great grandmother, born in 1737 and married Daniel Glover, brother to Brigadier General John Glover of the American Revolution.  Hannah was Daniel’s step sister, because his mother, Tabitha (Bacon) Glover, married second to Thomas Jillings as his second wife the year before Hannah married Daniel Glover.

Their daughter, Tabitha Glover, married Thomas Homan (my 5th great grandparents).  They named their daughter, my 4th great grandmother, Betsey Jillings Homan.   As I was working on this lineage, working backwards from the present time, I knew that Betsey's peculiar middle name would be a hint towards her ancestry.  I was right! 

My JILLINGS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thomas Jillings, born about 1700; married on 18 November 1725 in Newbury, Massachusetts to Hannah Mirick, daughter of Isaac Mirick and Mary Newell.  She was born 11 March 1702 in Charlestown, Massachusetts and died 25 October 1754 in Newbury. Eight children.

Generation 2: Hannah Jillings, born 25 November 1737 in Newbury, died 4 October 1810 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 1 December 1757 in Newbury to Daniel Glover, son of Jonathan Glover and Tabitha Bacon.  Tabitha (Bacon) Glover married second to Thomas Jillings (see above).  So Hannah and Daniel were step-siblings.  They had four children.

Generation 3:  Tabitha Glover, baptized 10 February 1765, died 13 March 1837 in Marblehead; married on 28 November 1782 in Marblehead to Thomas Homan, son of William Homan and Elizabeth Unknown.  He was born about 1758 and died 20 January 1832 in Marblehead.  Seven children.

Generation 4:  Betsey Jillings Homan, baptized on 14 October 1792 in Marblehead, died 6 April 1874 in Salem; married on 17 November 1811 in Marblehead to Jabez Treadwell, son of Nathaniel Treadwell and Mary Hovey.  He was born 17 October 1788 in Ipswich, and died 4 November 1840 in Salem.  Seven children.

Generation 5: Eliza Ann Treadwell, born 27 August 1812 in Salem, died 31 January 1896 in Salem; married on 4 December 1836 in Salem to Abijah Hitchings, so of Abijah Hitchings and Mary Cloutman.  He was born 18 January 1809 in Salem, and died 18 January 1864 in Salem.  Four children.

Generation 6:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings, born 28 October 1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem; married on 22 September 1864 in Salem to Hannah Eliza Lewis, daughter of Thomas Russell Lewis and Hannah Phillips.  She was born about 1844 probably in Salem, and died 15 February 1921 in Danvers, Massachusetts. Two children.

Generation 7:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, born 10 May 1868 in Salem, died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly, Massachusetts to Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, daughter of Peter Hoogerzeil and Mary Etta Healey.  She was born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, and died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 8: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, died 3 November 2001 in Peabody, Massachusetts; married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton to Stanley Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Elmer Allen and Carrie Maude Batchelder.  He was born 14 January 1904 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died 6 March 1982 in Beverly.  Seven children. (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ JILLINGS of Newbury, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 4, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/surname-saturday-jillings-of-newbury.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ HOVEY Another brickwall ancestor

HOVEY

My 5^th great grandmother, Mary Hovey, was born about 1751 and died 15 January 1832 in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  On 17 July 1786 she married Nathaniel Treadwell in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where they lived all their married lives, and where Mary died a widow.  She had five known children with Nathaniel, all listed in the Ipswich Vital Records.  He was a “yeoman” (farmer) who served in the Revolutionary War.   As far as I know, Mary did not apply for a widow’s pension, yet I did find Nathaniel’s pension application papers at Fold3.com.  If I had found Mary’s application, it might have yielded some genealogical information about her family.

Both Mary and Nathaniel are buried in the Old Burying Ground in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Their gravestones survive and are remarkably legible.

I have no idea who may be Mary’s parents, nor do I know anything about her origins.  This is especially weird and unusual to me not only because I’ve been working on her story for more than 20 years, but also because I applied to the Mayflower Society using Nathaniel’s lineage back to Mayflower passenger Isaac Allerton.  The General Society of Mayflower Descendants did not question the fact that I did not have her birth record at all.  I guess they found her a conundrum, too!

There are many HOVEYs to be found in the Ipswich vital records and town records, but no trace of this Mary Hovey who married Nathaniel Treadwell.  I cannot assume she belonged to any of these families without more clues.

My lineage from MARY HOVEY:

Generation 1:  Mary Hovey, born about 1751, died 15 January 1832 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married on 17 July 1786 in Ipswich to Nathaniel Treadwell, son of Jabez Treadwell and Lucy Haskell.  He was baptized 28 October 1753 in Ipswich, and died 2 January 1822 in Ipswich.  Five children born in Ipswich.

Generation 2:  Jabez Treadwell, born on 17 October 1788 in Ipswich, died on 4 November 1840 in Salem; married on 17 October 1811 in Marblehead, Massachusetts to Betsey Jillings Homan, daughter of Thomas Homan and Tabitha Glover, baptized on 14 October 1792 at the Unitarian Church in Marblehead, died on 6 April 1874. Seven children born in Salem.

Generation 3. Eliza Ann Treadwell, born 27 August 1812 in Salem, died 31 January 1896 in Salem; married on 4 December 1836 in Salem to Abijah Hitchings, son of Abijah Hitchings and Mary Cloutman, born on 18 January 1809 in Salem, died 18 January 1864 in Salem.  Four children born in Salem.

Generation 4.  Abijah Franklin Hitchings married Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 5. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings married Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 6. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings married Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

I have two TREADWELL lineages, both from the immigrant Thomas Treadwell and his wife Mary Taylor, and both also from their son Nathaniel Treadwell and wife Abigail Wells.   I descend from two of Nathaniel’s children: Mary Treadwell (1665 – 1722) who married Samuel Stone, and her brother, Nathaniel (1677 – 1723) who married Hannah Unknown:

  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/surname-saturday-treadwell-of-ipswich.html    

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~  HOVEY Another brickwall ancestor”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 12, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-hovey-another.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ RANDALL of Boston, Another Brickwall Ancestor

I have two RANDALL lines, that seem to be completely unrelated. In 2015 I wrote a Surname Saturday post on Richard Randall (1633 – 1713) of Saco, Maine.  This second lineage starts with a possible 7^th great grandfather,  Stephen Randall, a mariner who died in Boston before 18 May 1742.  He is a mystery and a brickwall since I do not know his origins or his parents’ names.  Nor do I know his birth date.

The first and earliest record I found for Stephen Randall was that he served as a private in the Colonial Wars from 22 November 1724 to 22 May 1725, 26 months, in Colonel Thomas Westbrook’s Company.  Next to his name it reads “Of Boston”.  The next record I found for Stephen Randall was a probate record granting his widow, Sarah, guardianship of his son “Andros a. about 4 in right of his father Stephen Randall of Boston late deceased, mariner, May 18, 1742”.   Sadly, just a few years later a man named John Hill was made guardian for “Andrus Randall, a. abt. 11, son of Stephen, mariner & Sarah, both deceased, Mar. 1749/50”.  I have not been able to find a death record for Stephen or Sarah, the parents.

In the Thwing Collection, Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630 – 1822 there is a listing for Stephen Randall, who married Sarah Cannon on 16 January 1729.  Their children are listed as:

1. Abigail, born 20 March 1730

2. Elizabeth, born 7 January 1732/3

3. Mary, born 10 January 1734/5

4. Stephen, born 5 December 1736

5. Andros, born 20 February 1739

[Note that this record does NOT name a daughter named Sarah Randall.  In the Boston Births 1700 – 1809 there is a “Sarah Randall, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Randall, born 16 October 1729", so we know that there is a Sarah in this family group.  Another good clue is that a man named William Randall married Elizabeth Hill in Boston on 10 December 1691 [Torrey’s Marriages, Volume II, page 1247].  Could this be a relative to the mysterious John Hill who was named guardian to Andros Randall?]

In the Boston Marriages 1700 – 1809 there is a record:  “Benjamin Gardner to Sarah Kendall, Dec. 1, 1751 West Church”   Benjamin Gardner and his first wife Sarah Randall are my 6^th great grandparents.  He was a Boston ropemaker who removed to Salem around the time of the Revolutionary War.  The Boston Marriages  record is a transcription of church records, famous for mistakes.  Could Sarah Kendall be a Sarah Randall?   Sarah (Randall/Kendall) Gardner died in 1781 in Salem, Massachusetts, the mother to three children:  Mary (my 5^th great grandmother), Benjamin b. 1753, and Sarah b. 1755. 

Does anyone know the story behind this RANDALL / KENDALL / GARDNER mystery?  Please leave a comment below or email vrojomit@gmail.com

Thank you!

My previous blog post on Richard Randall of Saco, Maine:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/surname-saturday-randall-of-saco-maine.html

My RANDALL? genealogy:

Generation 1:  Sarah (possible surname RANDALL or KENDALL) possibly born 16 October 1729 in Boston, daughter of Stephen Randall and Sarah Cannon, died in 1781 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 10 October 1751 at the West Church in Boston to Benjamin Gardner.  He was born about 1720 in Boston and died 7 June 1797 in Salem.  Three children.

Generation 2:  Mary Gardner; married 24 June 1775 in Lynn, Massachusetts to Abijah Hitchings.  He was born 18 January 1753 in Lynn and died 27 March 1826 in Salem.  Four children.

Generation 3:  Abijah Hitchings m. Mary Cloutman

Generation 4:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 5: Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 6: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ RANDALL of Boston, Another Brickwall Ancestor", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 18, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/03/surname-saturday-randall-of-boston.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ LAMBERT of Boston

LAMBERT / LOMBARD / LAMPORT / LAMPERT / LUMBARD

Lambert family, probably of Boston, is one of my biggest brickwall mysteries in my family tree.  My 5^th great grandmother, Elizabeth Lambert (about 1775 – 1834) was described as a Boston debutante by her grandson, Governor John Owen Dominis of Hawaii.  However, I am unable to find out anything about her LAMBERT family except for one tantalizing clue.  She had a possible sister, Sarah, who married a John DARKE/DARGUE in 1796.   Elizabeth named her eldest daughter, Sarah Dargue Jones (about 1794 – 1875) after this sister. 

Elizabeth and Sarah Lambert would have been born in Boston around the time of the Boston military occupation by British troops prior to 1775. They probably were not even born in Boston at all.  Civilians fled Boston during the occupation.  In 1768 the British had deployed two regiments, or 2,000 soldiers, to restore order.   A fleet of British war ships crowded the harbor, which was closed.  Then, in 1775, the British retreated from the battles of Lexington and Concord to Boston, which was held under Seige by militas and the Continental Army.  Most civilians fled, or at least sent their wives and children out of the city.  Most of those left behind were Loyalists.  If the Lamberts were here before or during the military occupation and the Seige, where did they go during the conflict?  This might be where Elizabeth and Sarah were born, or where their parents married. 

Bostonians reclaimed Boston after “Evacuation Day” on 17 March 1775 when the British fleet departed Boston Harbor with troops and Loyalists aboard.   Citizens returned to Boston to rebuild the city, which had been ransacked.   The population of Boston in 1765 had been about 15,000 people.   The number of people in Boston fell by 2/3 during the 1770s to a low of less than 6,000. 

In 1793 Elizabeth Lambert married Owen Jones, the son of a British customs official.  Were they loyalists? I have no proof one way or another.  They had eight children, six daughters who all married well, and two sons who died young.  One son died as a young child, the other died unmarried at sea.  My Lambert lineage daughters out, and my 4^th great grandmother was Catherine Plummer Jones (1799 – 1828) who also died young after giving five children to her mariner husband, Levi Younger, of Gloucester.

The Lamberts and the Joneses lived in Boston’s North End neighborhood.   Owen Jones lived on Ship Street,  Hanover Street, and Tileston Street.   Records were found in the New North North church and at the 2^nd Baptist Church. 

Interestingly, Elizabeth (Lambert) Jones’s obituary was carried in the Nantucket Inquirer on 11 February 1834.  Did she have relatives on the island of Nantucket?  

Unfortunately, It is difficult to find vital records or any other type of information on Boston families during and before the Revolutionary War.  And LAMBERT and all its spelling variations were very common.  There were many LAMBERT families in Boston and other parts of Massachusetts.  I have had some luck searching church records, newspapers, and other sources. 

If anyone has a clue as to the identity of this LAMBERT family, please leave a comment or email vrojomit@gmail.com

My LAMBERT genealogy:

Generation 1:   Unknown Lambert; married and had two daughter (probably more children)  1.) Elizabeth 2.) Sarah Lambert born about 1776 and died 3 September 1796, married on 1 Dec 1793 to John Darke/Dargue

Generation 2:  Elizabeth Lambert, born about 1775, died 6 February 1834 in Boston; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2^nd Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts to Owen Jones, son of Owen Jones and Ann Unknown.  He was born about 1678 in Wales, and died 22 April 2850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 3:  Catherine Plummer Jones, born about 1799, died 2 May 1828; married on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Levi Younger as his first wife.  He also married Jane Unknown, who died 26 November 1845 in Boston;  and Margaret Unknown, who died 21 February 1895. Five chidren.

Generation 4:  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 Feb 1826 and died 7 January 1913 in Boston.  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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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~  LAMBERT of Boston", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 21, 2017,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-lambert-of-boston.html: accessed [access date]).  

Surname Saturday ~ UNKNOWN (Another Brickwall Ancestress)

Catherine Unknown, my 6^th great grandmother, was the wife of Increase WYMAN of Burlington (now Billerica), Massachusetts.  She has no known parents, no known marriage record, and no known death record.  Increase’s ten children are listed in the Billerica vital records by baptism date – and his seven youngest children were all baptized together on 5 December 1773.  What a lack of records on this family group! The rest of the WYMAN family was very well documented in records, before and after Increase!

Increase Wyman served in the Revolutionary War, once for 9 months in Col. Spaulding’s regiment at Fishkill in 1778, and again for 6 months in 1780 under Brigadier General John Glover (my 7^th great grand uncle in another lineage) when he was 47 years old.  His Revolutionary War service is better documented than the rest of his life.  His death date is unknown.   To complicate things, his father was called Increase Wyman.  And Increase, Jr. had a son named Increase born between 1765 and 1770.  

According to Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, Volume 1, by William Richard Cutter and William Frederick Adams, 1910, page 475 Ebenezer Richardson took as his fourth wife “December 12, 1776, Catherine, died 19 January 1783, widow of Increase Wyman.”  This appears to be an error because Increase Wyman’s military records match his birthdays- both in 1778 and 1780. 

Ebenezer Richardson was the son of Hezekiah Richardson and Elizabeth, born in Townsend, Massachusetts on 25 November 1751.  He married first Catharine (Tufts) Wyman on 12 December 1776.  She died before 1789.  He married second in 1789 to Jerusha Dodge, daughter of Zachariah Dodge.  According to the website www.wyman.org (by the WYMAN Family Association), Catharine Tufts was the daughter of William Tufts and Katharine Wyman.  She married first to Nathaniel Wyman on 2 July 1772 and he died on 2 April 1776.  Then she married Ebenezer  Richardson at the end of 1776.  This Katharine/Catherine cannot be my 6^th great grandmother . 

Catherine’s daughter, Jemima Wyman (1757 – 1843) is my 5^th great grandmother.  Jemima married a Revolutionary War Colonel named Joshua Burnham and lived in South Boston.  Her life is very well documented in vital records.

Does anyone have any clues about Catherine UNKNOWN Wyman?

My genealogy:

Generation 1:  Catherine UNKOWN; married to Increase Wyman, son of Increase Wyman and Deborah Pierce.  He was born 4 June 1732 in Woburn.  Ten children.

Generation 2: Jemima Wyman, born 10 February 1757 in Billerica, died 6 September 1843 in South Boston; married on 21 January 1779 to Colonel Joshua Burnham, son of Stephen Burnham and Mary Andrews.  He was born on 26 January 1754 in Gloucester, Massachusetts and died 7 June 1835 in Milford, New Hampshire.  Eleven children.

Generation 3: Jemima Burnham, born 9 May 1783 in Milford, died 5 August 1868 at 88 Emerson Street, South Boston;  married on 22 November 1810 to Romanus Emerson, son of John Emerson and Katherine Eaton.  He was born 1 September 1782 in Townsend, Massachusetts and died 10 October 1852 in South Boston.  Seven children.

Generation 4: George Emerson, born 11 July 1817 in South Boston, died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to Mary Esther Younger, daughter of Levi Younger and Catherine Plummer Jones.  She was born 17 Feb 1826 and died 7 January 1913 in Boston.  Eight children.

Generation 5: Mary Katharine Emerson, born 25 December 1847 in South Boston, died 23 April 1932 in Roxbury, Massachusetts; marrie don 28 October 1869 in Chichester, New Hampshire to George E. Batchelder, son of George E. Batchelder and Abigail M. Locke.  Nine children.

Generation 6: Carrie Maude Batchelder, born 22 September 1872 in Chichester, died 21 January 1963 at the Sea View Convalescent and Nursing Home, Rowley, Massachusetts; married on 1 November 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts to Joseph Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears.  Five children.

Generation 7: Stanley Elmer Allen, born 14 January 1804 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, died 6 March 1982 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton, Massachusetts to Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, 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 Home and Rehabilitation Center, Peabody, Massachusetts.  Seven children. (My grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~  UNKNOWN (Another Brickwall Ancestress)", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 22, 2016, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/10/surname-saturday-unknown-another.html: accessed [access date]). 

Ten Things to Try When you Hit a Genealogical Brickwall

Every month on the 10^th day I publish a blog post with a top ten list…

The proverbial genealogical brickwall is a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to your discovering the identity or parentage of an ancestor on your family tree.  Sometimes, with just a few new ideas or hints, the answer will suddenly become apparent, and you can “smash” your brickwall.  Other times, unfortunately, you will run into a dearth of written records and must admit defeat.

Here are the top ten ideas I have used to smash brickwall genealogical problems.  You may have other ideas, and some new strategies I haven’t thought of, so please feel free to leave your “smashing tool” ideas in the comments or email me at vrojomit@gmail.com ! 

Let’s break a few brickwalls today!

1.) Get it in writing.  This is one of the most effective ways I have found to see the holes and gaps in my research.  Usually I write a “Surname Saturday” post every week for this blog.  By taking the time to write up a short sketch on an immigrant ancestor, I can immediately see discrepancies in dates, missing parents, poor sources, and missing citations.  By cleaning up the data, storylines, citations, checking new sources that might be available (books and newly published articles), I often find answers to my own questions.  More than a handful of times I have “smashed” a brickwall while getting a “Surname Saturday” post ready for publication. 

2.)  Share your written sketch (complete with all your citations) with other people.  Pass it around to members of your genealogy club. Email it to a genealogy colleague.  Post it online.  Blog about it.  Sometimes you have stared at your problem for so long you can no longer see what you are lacking in evidence.  Or someone else may know of an archive or source you haven’t thought about yet.  Don’t forget that sharing includes DNA and surname study projects.  You never know what you will uncover unless you share are willing to share.

3.)  Revisit the latest research.  I usually write about New England ancestors, so I double check books like Martin Hollick’s New Englanders in the 1600s for the latest published research.  This book only covers research up to 2010, so my next step is to go online or to my bookshelves to see what has been published since that date in my favorite journals.  Learn how to use PERSI for searching scholarly journals.   I double also check the online card catalogs at NEHGS, FamilySearch, Allen Country Public Library, the state libraries, historical societies, and other places for new books. Query your favorite archivists and librarian by email or pick up the phone. Use all these clues and articles to look for the original records which may have additional information you need to break down your brickwall. 

4.)  Visit the hometown of the problem ancestor, if at all possible, or take a virtual trip by email and perusing the internet.   Is there a historical society nearby?  A public library with a special collections department in genealogy or local history?  Ask the librarian to tell you what is available that you may have missed.  There may be resources unknown to you that could unlock clues about your family.  A local person might also know name variations or spelling variations you haven’t considered.

5.)  Since most of my brickwall ancestors are women, finding a maiden name can often be the biggest clue to finding her identity and parentage.  Court records can be invaluable here, especially in cases of divorce, deeds, guardianship, name changes, and citizenship.  Sometimes newspaper marriage announcements, obituaries or social pages may name a woman’s maiden name that is missing in vital records.  You can find articles, book, classes and webinars designed to help you find maiden names.

6.) Extended family such as siblings, in-laws, cousins, second marriages (and third and fourth marriages) and other distant relatives are often ignored by some genealogists, but learning more about these relatives can often help you understand your ancestry.  Intermarriages between cousins is more common than you think, especially the further you go back in time.  When you hit a brickwall, try working sideways on the family tree for clues.  Finding the vital records on all the siblings might yield a mother’s maiden name, or a cousin’s record could name a common ancestor that is new to you.

7.)  Who were the neighbors and friends of your brickwall ancestor?  Did you look for relatives living nearby on census records, maps, directories and tax records? A little investigating might prove that the neighbors with different surnames might actually be sisters, female relatives or other cousins.  Business associates, business partners, guardians, recipients of letters and gifts might also prove to be close or distant relatives. It can be well worth the time to investigate these friends, neighbors and their family trees.

8.)  Join a Facebook group for the surname, geographic location, religion or ethnic group of your brickwall ancestor.  This doesn’t mean you post a query and wait, but joining a group and frequently reading comments will keep you up-to-date on the latest research and discoveries that might help you.  Get friendly with the members of the group.  Some of the Mayflower groups I belong to have some of the most renowned authors for Pilgrim research frequently answering questions.  The “Explore Congregational Church History”  Facebook group has some wonderful ministers and theologians who are expert on the early Puritan church.  You never know who is on Facebook!

9.)  Hire an expert.  Many people think that hiring a professional genealogist is a big, expensive project.  However, you can hire a genealogist to do a lookup, visit an archive, or to work on a small, specific genealogical problem like your brickwall ancestor.   It doesn’t have to be a major expense,  because you can have a professional give you an estimate for the project ahead of time.  If you are seriously stuck, this is a good option to get you jump started.  There are online membership directories for professional genealogists at the Board for Certification of Genealogists http://www.bcgcertification.org/ or the Association of Professional Genealogists https://www.apgen.org/ to help you find a specialist.  

10.)   Relax. Be willing to wait.  New resources become available all the time. Look at all the lost records that are found every year in archives and libraries.  More items are digitized and indexed every day. If you can’t solve your brickwall today, put it aside and revisit the problem next year.  Later you will be refreshed, and can look at your problem with "new eyes".   After a waiting period, run through all the new resources, articles and books that were published during the interim, and recheck your queries online.  I’ve had queries answered months, years and in one case, decades later!

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Other strategies for brickwall ancestors include keeping a good research log (don’t keep searching in the same old places - keep track of your goals!), continuing your genealogy education (there is always something new to learn) and staying organized (document as your finds as well as your failures) .

What are some of your brickwall strategies?  Please leave a comment below!

This blog post was written as a story as part of The August 2016 Genealogy Blog Potluck Picnic! 

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Ten Things to Try When you Hit a Genealogical Brickwall", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 10, 2016, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/08/ten-things-to-try-when-you-hit.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ SMITH of Reading, Massachusetts

SMITH

My 8^th great grandmother Hannah Smith married her husband, George Lillie on 15 November 1659.  Who was her father? According to Robert Charles Anderson in his Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 -1635, Volume VI, pages 351-354, sketch of Francis Smith of Reading, there was no daughter named Hannah.  Francis Smith of Reading only named sons John and Benjamin Smith in his will.

Francis Smith, born in England and died 20 March 1650 in Reading, Massachusetts was  married to Alice Unknown about 1622.  His son John Smith (1622 - 1706) married, as his second wife, Mary Bill, my 1^st cousin 8x removed- granddaughter of John Bill (1598- 1638) and Dorothy Tuttle, my 8^th great grandparents on my father’s side.  Their son, Deacon Francis Smith (1658 – 1744) married Ruth Maverick, my 1^st cousin 9 generations removed, granddaughter of Reverend John Maverick (1578 – 1638) and Mary Gye, my 11 great grandparents. A very tangled tree indeed!  But Francis Smith might not be my 9th great grandfather. 

If Hannah Smith is not the daughter of Francis Smith, she might be the daughter of Matthew Smith, who lived in Woburn, Reading and Charlestown, Massachusetts at this time period.  Anderson supposes that she might be Matthew’s daughter since he did have a child named "Hannah".  There were many other Smith families in Massachusetts, too.

Hannah remains another brickwall ancestress.  Hannah married George Lillie who settled in the west parish of Reading, Massachusetts (a village known as Woodend) and was the schoolmaster. They had four children, and then Hannah died in 1666.  George remarried to a woman named Jane and had two more children. Hannah and George’s son John Lilley,  my 7^th great grandfather,  married Hannah Bassett and removed to Woburn, Massachusetts. 

My SMITH genealogy:

 Generation 1: Hannah Smith, died on 6 May 1666 in Reading, Massachusetts; married on 15 November 1659 in Reading to George Lillie as his first wife.  He was the son of Edward Lillie and Margaret Wharton.  He was born about 1637 and died 14 February 1691 in Reading. Four children. 

Generation 2:  John Lillie m. Hannah Bassett

Generation 3: Phebe Lilley m. Noah Eaton

Generation 4: Katherine Eaton m. John Emerson

Generation 5: Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham

Generation 6: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

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)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ SMITH of Reading, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 30, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-smith-of-reading.html: accessed [access date]. 

Surname Saturday ~ HICKS / HIX of Cape Cod and Beverly, Massachusetts

Susanna Hix (1768 – 1859), my 4^th great grandmother, was a mystery to me because I could not find a vital record that listed her parents.  It was not until I recently looked at the Beverly town clerk records and I found her parents, Abraham and Sarah Hix, listed with their children.  I also found a surprise that helped me find the origins of the parents!  I found a warning out in the town clerk records “Dec. 19, 1757, a warrant was issued to warn Abraham Hix to depart out of the town he being an inhabitant of Plimoth in the County of Plimoth”!

Apparently Abraham didn’t leave and return to Plymouth, for he appears in Captain John Tapley’s militia company in Beverly in 1758, and three children’s births were registered in Beverly in 1759, 1761 and Susanna in 1768. 

In researching the Plymouth records I found that Abraham Hix had been previously married to Bathsheba Donham on 11 July 1751 in Plymouth. Her death was recorded in Plymouth on 22 June 1756.  He must have removed to Beverly soon after this.

Abraham Hix appears to be the son of Abraham Hicks and Desire Trowbridge, who were married on 10 February 1723/24 in Falmouth, Massachusetts.  I have not found Abraham, Jr’s birth record in Falmouth, but there were three other siblings recorded there.  His wife, Sarah Matthews, my 5^th great grandmother, is also a mystery.  I don’t know her origins, birth or death.  Interestingly, Sarah and Abraham were married on 18 May 1757 in Salem, New Hampshire.

I also found in the Beverly Town Clerk records that Susanna Hix had an illegitimate daughter with Josiah Lovett on 31 January 1790.  She married my 4^th great grandfather, Captain Josiah Stone, on 25 January 1795 and had six children.  I have found no further records on the Lovett child. 

Susanna’s husband was a sea captain.  Family lore is that he was transporting a shipment of hemp from Rotterdam, Holland to the ropeworks in Salem and there was a young Dutch stowaway on board.  This young man, Peter Hoogerzeil, married his daughter, Eunice Stone, my 3^rd great grandmother.

Is there anyone out there researching the HICKS / HIX family of Cape Cod and Plymouth?  I’d love to know the origins of Abraham Hix’s family.

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My HICKS / HIX genealogy:

Generation 1:  Abraham Hicks married on 10 February 1723/24 in Falmouth, Massachusetts to Desire Trowbridge.  Four children.

Generation 2:  Abraham Hix, died about 1767 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married first to Bathsheba Donham on 11 July 1751 in Plymouth, Massachusetts; married second on 18 May 1757 in Salem, New Hampshire to Sarah Matthews and had three children born in Beverly.

Generation 3:  Susanna Hix, baptized on 17 January 1768 in Beverly, Massachusetts, died 30 May 1859 in Beverly; married on 25 January 1795 in Beverly to Captain Josiah Stone, the son of Josiah Stone and Martha Ashby.  They had six children.  

Generation 4:  Eunice Stone m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 5:  Peter Hoogerzeil m. Mary Etta Healey

Generation 6:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/02/surname-saturday-hicks-hix-of-cape-cod.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ ASHBY of Beverly, Massachusetts

The first ASHBY in this lineage is Edmund Ashby, born about 1640 and died about 1733.  It is unknown who his parents are, but perhaps he was kin to the Anthony Ashby who was living in Salem?  There is no proof they were related.  Edmund Ashby married Elinor Unknown and had seven children, the first one was recorded in Gloucester in 1682, and the others recorded in Beverly.

Edmund Ashby was recorded as being “formerly of Boston” when he was indentured to Samuel Graves of Ipswich in 1670, at age 27.  Samuel Graves (1628 - ?) was a hat weaver and felt maker, and also the husband of my 9^th great grand aunt, Grace Beamsley.   He was married sometime prior to 1682 when his first child was born.  Administration was granted on his estate on 15 October 1733.

I descend from Edmund’s son, Ebenezer Ashby (1685 – 1718), my 6^th great grandfather.   He married Margery Unknown about 1708 and had five children.  Ebenezer died on 21 March 1718 in Beverly, and his wife lived until 1751.  

Very little is known about these members of the Ashby family.  There are no Ashbys in the book New Englanders in the 1600s by Martin Hollick, no early Ashbys mentioned in the Beverly town histories, and very few vital records or court records in Essex County.  If you are researching the Ashbys of Beverly, Massachusetts, or if you have more information, I’d love to hear from you! 

My ASHBY genealogy:

Generation 1:  Edmund Ashby, born about 1640; married to Elinor Unknown, who died 10 January 1741 in Beverly, Massachusetts.  He had seven children.

Generation 2: Ebenezer Ashby, born 5 July 1685 in Beverly, died 21 March 1718 in Beverly; married about 1708 to Margery Unknown.  She died in 1751 in Beverly.  Margery, wife of Ebenezer, was baptized at the First Church in Beverly on 20 June 1708 “abt. 22 or 23 years old”.  They had five children, the last one born posthumously on 12 October 1718 after his father died on 21 March 1718.

Generation 3: Martha Ashby, born 12 October 1718 in Beverly, died 24 January 1802 in Beverly; married on 27 December 1759 in Beverly to Josiah Stone, the son of Josiah Stone and Dorithy Fuller.  He was born 18 October 1722 in Beverly and died before 20 March 1807 in Beverly.  They had only one child in the records, which seems a bit odd to me.  Are there more children?  He was married first to Mary Davis of Wells, Maine about 22 October 1748 in Beverly and had two daughters.

Generation 4:  Josiah Stone m. Susanna Hix

Generation 5:  Eunice Stone m.  Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 6:  Peter Hoogerzeil m. Mary Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 7:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/02/surname-saturday-ashby-of-beverly.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo