Surname Saturday ~ FISKE of Salem, Wenham and Chelmsford, Massachusetts

FISKE, FISK

John Fiske, my 9^th great grandfather, was born in South Elmham, Suffolk, England and attended King’s College in Cambridge where he studied medicine and received a diploma in 1625.  He married Ann Gipps and removed to Massachusetts in 1637 on board the Mary Ann, with his wife, two sisters, mother (who died at sea) and younger brother, William.  

John Fiske first taught grammar school in Cambridge, and then in Salem where one of his students was the young Sir George Downing (my 9^th great grand uncle, sister to my ancestress Lucy Downing (1625 – 1697) wife of William Norton).   George Downing became minister for Cromwell and Charles II,  and he owned the house at which is now the  famous #10 Downing Street, residence of the Prime Minister.

His first three children were born in Salem, and then he removed to Enon (now the town of Wenham) where he was ordained there as the first minister in 1644.  His daughter Ann, my 8^th great grandmother, was the first child to be baptized there in 1646.  He later removed to Chelmsford to be the first minister there in 1655.  His wife, Ann, died before him in 1672 and he remarried to Elizabeth, the widow of Edmund Henchman. 

Ann, his daughter, in 1677 married Capt. John Brown of Reading as his first (of three) wives. His third wife was Elizabeth (Bulkley) Emerson, who was also my 8^th great grandmother, wife of Reverend Joseph Emerson (1620 – 1680), a minister at Ipswich, York, and Wells, Maine.   Ann and John Brown had a daughter, Mary (1678 – 1740), who married Peter Emerson (1673 – 1751), the son of Elizabeth and Joseph Emerson.   Peter had been raised by John Brown as an orphan, and married his stepsister.

More FISKE resources:

“Genealogical Research in England: The Fiske Family”, by G. Andrews Moriarty, New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, Volume 86 (1932), pages 406 -35 and Volume 87 (1933), pages 141 – 46, pages 217 – 224,  and pages 367 – 374 and Volume 88 (1934) pages 142 – 146, pages 265 – 273, pages    (The English origins of the ancestors of Rev. John Fiske)

Genealogical Dictionary of New England, by James Savage,  Volume 2

The Notebook of Reverend John Fiske:  1644 – 1675, edited by Robert G. Pope, 1974

Fiske and Fisk Family, Being the record of the descendants of Symond Fiske, lord of the manor of Stadhaugh, Suffolk County, England, from the time of Henry IV to date, including all the American members of the family, compiled by Frederick C. Pierce, 1896,  also available online at archive.org

My FISKE genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Fiske, son of John Fiske and Anne Lawter, baptized 20 March 1608 at St. James, South Elmham, Suffolk, England, and died 14 January 1677 at Chelmsford, Massachusetts;  married first to Ann Gipps; married second on 1 August 1673 in Chelmsford to Elizabeth Unknown, widow of Edmund Henchman. Six children with Ann.

Generation 2: Anna Fiske, born 15 January 1646 in Wenham, died 30 May 1681 in Reading, Massachusetts; married on 30 May 1677 in Chelmsford to John Brown, so of Nicholas Brown and Elizabeth Unknown.  He was born about 1634 in Malford, Worcestershire, England and died 12 March 1717 in Reading. Two children.

Generation 3:  Mary Brown m. Peter Emerson

Generation 4:  Brown Emerson m. Sarah Townsend

Generation 5: John Emerson m. Katherine Eaton

Generation 6: Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham

Generation 7: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

Generation 8: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 10: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FISKE of Salem, Wenham and Chelmsford, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 23, 2016, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-fiske-of-salem-wenham.html: accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rev. and Hon. Gershom Bulkely (1636 - 1713) Wethersfield, Connecticut

This tombstone was photographed at the Village Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut, behind the First Church of Christ on Main Street.

Rev. and

Hon. GERSHOM BULKELY

Died Dec. 2^nd 1713 aged 77.

He was honorable in his descent.

Of rare abilities, excellent in learning,

Master of many languages,

Exquisite in his skill in

Divinity, physic and law

And a most exemplary

And

Christian life.

In certam spem beatae resurrectionis repositus.

GERSHOM BULKLEY [upside down]

This tombstone is odd to me for several reasons.  First of all, I had never seen red, sandstone tombstones until we visited Wethersfield.  It is a very soft, crumbly stone, and many of the grave markers in this cemetery were in poor condition.  Gershom’s grave marker is a ledger style table, which was very worn and difficult to read.  Also, it is very odd that the family crest is so poorly carved, almost cartoonish.  And his name is upside down on the bottom?

Gershom Bulkeley, son of Rev. Peter Bulkeley (my 10^th great grandfather) and Grace Chetwood, was born in January 1636 in Concord, Massachusetts, and died 2 December 1713 in Glastonbury, Connecticut.  He married Sarah Chauncy, daughter of Charles Chauncy (2^nd president of Harvard College) and Catherine Eyre, on 26 October 1659 in Concord.  They had six children, and son John also became a minister (third generation). 

Gershom graduated Harvard College in 1655.  He served as a minister in New London and Wethersfield.  He was also a trained doctor and served as a surgeon during King Philip’s War where he was wounded near Mount Wachusett.  He was a deputy to the Connecticut General Court, and a Justice of the Peace.

Peter and Grace Bulkeley took their voyage to the New World in the 1630s.  During the voyage it appeared that Grace “apparently died and her husband, supposing land to be near and unwilling to consign the beloved form to a watery grave, urgently entreated the Captain that the body might be kept one day and yet another day.” [Families of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, by Henry R. Stiles, 2009] On the third day she stirred, and recovered. She gave birth some months later in Concord, Massachusetts and named the child “Gershom”, a biblical name which means “exile”.  It is supposed that part of this story is myth since the Bulkeley family came from England in separate ships to throw off the authorities that Rev. Peter Bulkeley was leaving England as a “non-conformist”. 

Gershom Bulkley's tombstone is next to

his son's, Charles Bulkley.  You can read a post

about Charles' tombstone HERE.  

For more information on the Wethersfield Ancient Burying Ground and Village Cemetery, see this website for photos, transcriptions and GPS coordinates of each stone:
http://wethersfieldhistory.org/burying-ground 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rev. and Hon. Gershom Bulkely (1626 - 1713) Wethersfield, Connecticut", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 31, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/tombstone-tuesday-rev-and-hon-gershom.html: accessed [access date]).

An Interesting bit of family serendipity about Cobbett’s Pond, Windham, New Hampshire

Cobbett's Pond, Windham, New Hampshire

The other night I watched WMUR TV’s Chronicle.  My favorite part of this show is when Fritz Wetherbee gives a few minutes of fun trivia about New Hampshire history.  Are you surprised?

Fritz was standing in the frozen parking lot of the community beach at Cobbett’s Pond, next to a mound of snow.  I recognized this spot from the Mystery Tour I had taken with the Windham Historical Society two years ago.  He mentioned that the pond was named for Reverend Thomas Cobbett (1608 – 1685) of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  I also remembered that bit of trivia from the Mystery Tour.  Click HERE to see my blog post about this. 

Then he mentioned a few other things about Reverend Cobbett that sent me running to my family tree data base.  Yes, it was true.  Reverend Thomas Cobbett was in my family tree.  Not as a family member really, but by marriage.  Reverend Cobbett’s daughter, Mary, had married my 8^th great uncle, Reverend Samuel Belcher (1639 – 1713/4).  

The life of  Thomas Cobbett in a timeline:

1608 born in Newbury, Berkshire, England

12 Oct 1627 matriculated at Trinity College at Oxford University, didn’t graduate because of the plague so he went home to Newbury to be taught by a Dr. Twiss

26 June 1637 arrived in Massachusetts

1637 – 1655 Religious Teacher at Lynn, MA with Rev. Samuel Whiting (who had replaced Rev. Stephen Bachiler (1561 - 1656, my 11th great grandfather in another lineage)

1653 author of The Civil Magistrates Power in matters of Religious Modesty Debated, and other books.  He was a prolific author. 

1655 – 1685 Minister at Ipswich, MA, replaced Rev. Nathaniel Rogers

1662 Given the grant of land now Windham, and where Cobbett’s pond now lies. 

Died 5 Nov 1685 in Ipswich, MA and Rev. Cotton Mather wrote his epitaph.  At his funeral “there were consumed one barrel of wine and two barrels of cider; and as it was cold, there were ‘some spice and ginger for the cider.’ “  

Six Children?  (I haven’t been able to verify some of these):

1.  Deacon Samuel Cobbett, b. 1645. m. Sarah Unknown

2.  Mary Cobbett m. about 1668 to Rev. Samuel Belcher

3.  John

4.  Thomas, captured by Indians and ransomed for a coat

5. Elizabeth, d. 23 August 1661, Ipswich

6. Eliezer, d. 27 Nov 1657, Ipswich

And what was that epitaph that was written by Rev. Cotton Mather?  I finally found it by Googling in the History of Essex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches, Volume 1, page 582

“Stay, passenger, for here lies a treasure,

Thomas Cobbett, of whose availing prayer and most approved manners,

You, if an inhabitant of New England, need not be told.

If you cultivate piety, admire him;

If you wish for happiness, follow him.”

Rev. Cobbett's gravestone does not appear to have survived the ages. It is not listed in any cemetery listing in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Felt’s History of Ipswich “The land allowed to Mr. Cobbett was laid out at Methuen, [Massachusetts], and was included by New Hampshire in 1741, when his grandchildren, Nathaniel and Ann Cobbet, petitioned the General Court for an equivalent.  They were allowed 1,500 acres near Charlemont.  This farm was in Windham, and upon the south line from a swamp that joyns upon Haverhill bounds, so ranging by west and by north joint until you come to a great rock upon the north side of a long pond.”   This pond is now known as Cobbett’s Pond, Windham, New Hampshire.

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/an-interesting-bit-of-family.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday ~ An Historic Church

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I started by publishing weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes all across New England.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting. Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weather vanes, too!

Today's weather vane  is from Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #200? Scroll down to see the answer!

Today's weather vane was photographed at the Dane Street Congregational Church in Beverly, Massachusetts.  This the church my father attended as a child, and where he joined Boy Scout Troop #2 .  I was baptized here as a baby and went to Sunday School here.  In generations past, my ancestors attended church here, and one distant cousin, Reverend Joseph Emerson, was the second pastor here in 1803.  In the 1970s we removed from Beverly to Holden, Massachusetts and joined the First Congregational Church there.  My father was thrilled to learn that Rev. Robert Little, the pastor he knew from the Dane Street Church in the 1950s, was the pastor of the church in Holden.

According to the church history on their webpage, in 1801 several families in Beverly decided to establish the Third Congregational Church in Beverly.  The First Church had become a Unitarian church, and these conservative members wanted to stay Congregational.  They built a church which was destroyed by a fire in 1832.  This church building was constructed in 1833, and in 1837 the congregation voted to change the name from the Third Church to the Dane Street Congregational Church.

Dane Street Congregational Church, Beverly, Massachusetts
http://www.danestchurch.org/ 

Troop 2, Beverly, Massachusetts
http://www.troop2beverly.com/

Click here to see the entire series of Weathervane Wednesday posts


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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/weathervane-wednesday-historic-church.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ BULKELEY of Concord, Massachusetts

BULKELEY

Here in the house of the

Reverend Peter Bulkeley

First Minister and one of the

founders of this town

a bargain was made with the

squaw sachem and the sagamore Tahattawan

and other Indians

who then sold their righrts in 

the six miles square called Concord

to the English Planters

and gave them peaceful possession

of the land

A.D. 1636

The Bulkeley family is full of ministers, and clergymen leave terrific paper trails, so it is a lot of fun to research the Bulkeley family.  My 10^th great grandfather, Reverend Peter Bulkeley (1583 – 1659) graduated from St. John’s College, Cambridge, England in 1604/5.  His father before him, the Reverend Doctor Edward Bulkeley, was also a St. John’s graduate and curate of St. Mary’s church in Shrewsbury, England and the rector at Odell, Bedfordshire.  Peter succeeded his father as rector at Odell from 1610 to 1635, and then came to New England with his family aboard the ship Susan and Ellen in 1635.  He was ordained in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then bought six acres at Concord, Massachusetts where he established his church and was pastor there for the rest of his life.

My 9^th great grandfather, Edward Bulkeley, came to New England before the rest of his family.  He was a young man, in his early 20s and he joined the church in Boston on 22 March 1635.  The rest of the family arrived later that summer.  Edward had attended St. Catharine’s College at Cambridge.  He was ordained at Marshfield in 1642/3, and when his father died he was installed at Concord as the pastor.  He died at Chelmsford and was buried at Concord.   His daughter, Elizabeth, my 8^th great grandmother, was married to Reverend Joseph Emerson, who preached at Ipswich, Massachusetts; York, Maine; Wells, Maine; Mendon, Massachusetts and retired to Concord where he died in 1679/80.

There was a long line of Bulkeley and Emerson ministers from this family, including the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts, who also studied to be a pastor.

UPDATE 25 January 2015

From reader John McEwen "Hi Heather, I have seen your info on this Rev.Peter Bulkeley 1582/83 d-1658/59. Peter wasn`t  the first minister of Concord it was his son Thomas`s father-in- law  Rev. John Jones who went to Fairfield,Conn in 1644. Rev.Jones is my 10th great grandfather.  John"   Well, John was absolutely correct.  Read the list of ministers at the website for the First Parish Church in Concord, Massachusetts.  This page even states "Many of us think of Rev. Peter Bulkeley as our first parish minister, but this was not the case.  "  http://www.firstparish.org/cms/about-first-parish/history-of-fp/ministers   

For more information:

The Bulkeley Genealogy compiled by Donald Lines Jacobus, New Haven, Connecticut 1933  (available to read online at Ancestry.com and the Hathi Trust website)

“Reverend Edward Bulkeley’s Two Wives: Edward Bulkeley’s three betrothals and two marriages: a Correction to Jacobus’s The Bulkeley Genealogy” by Robert M. Gerrity, 2006 http://yankeeancestry.tripod.com/EB2wives.html 

My BULKELEY genealogy:

Generation 1: Reverend Peter Bulkeley, son of Reverend Doctor Edward Bulkely and Olyff Irby, born 31 January 1583 in Odell, Bedfordshire, England and died 9 March 1659 in Concord, Massachusetts; married first on 12 August 1613 in Goldington, Bedfordshire, England to Jane Allen, daughter of Thomas Allen and Mary Fairclough.  She was baptized on 13 January 1588 in Goldington and died about 8 December 1626 in Odell.  She was the mother of nine children.  Peter married second about 1634 to Grace Chetwood, daughter of Richard Chetwood and Dorothy Needham.  She was born about 1605 and died 21 April 1669 in New London, Connecticut and was the mother of four more children.

Generation 2:  Reverend Edward Bulkeley, eldest son of Peter Bulkely and Jane Allen,  born June 1614 in Odell, England and died 4 January 1696 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts; married about 1638 to Lucyann Coy. Five children.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Bulkely, born 1638 and died 4 September 1693 in Reading, Massachusetts; married on 7 December 1665 in Concord, Massachusetts to Reverend Joseph Emerson, son of Thomas Emerson and Elizabeth Brewster.  He was born about 1620 in England and died 3 January 1680 in Concord.  Seven children.

Generation 4: Peter Emerson m. Mary Brown

Generation 5: Brown Emerson m. Sarah Townsend

Generation 6: John Emerson m. Katherine Eaton

Generation 7: Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham

Generation 8: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

Generation 9: Mary Katherine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-bulkeley-of-concord.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ EMERSON of Ipswich, Massachusetts

EMERSON

Thomas Emerson (1584 – 1666)  lived at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, England, where he was recorded in 1636 as a collector for the poor.  His children were recorded in the baptismal records at St. Michael’s church in Bishop’s Stortford.  He first appears in the records of Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1638 when he received a deed for 120 acres.  This land was known as “Turkey Shore” and remained in the Emerson family for generations.

Thomas Emerson was the father of two ministers, Rev. Joseph Emerson and Rev. John Emerson.  There is a long list of Puritan, Congregational and Unitarian ministers among his descendants, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also studied to be a minister.  I descend from two of Thomas Emerson’s children, the Rev. Joseph Emerson (1621 – 1680) and Elizabeth Emerson (1623 – 1700) who married John Fuller.

His will was recorded in Salem, Massachusetts:

The Will Of Thomas Emerson

Essex Probate Registry, Salem, Mass.

The 31st of Maye 1653

            I Thomas Emerson of Ispswich in the countye of Essex being att present, I prayse God, of good health and pfect memory, and well knowing that all men are borue to dye & depart this life, and that the tyme and place of there departure is to them unknown and uncertayne and sometymes sudden, I doe therefore declare and make knowne this my lasr will and Testament in the maner following:

            Inprimus/ I bequeath my soule into the hands of my blessed Creator and Redeemer my body to the earth to be densently buried In assured hope of a Joyfull resurection at the last day, and for my outward Estate I doe dispose of as followeth:

            I give and bequeath unto my sonne Joseph the some eighty pound of current paye of New England viz forty pound of it which I reserued out of my farme Given unto my sonne John to be payd unto the said Joseph my sonne acording to the couenant and agreement expressed in a papre of Indentors beareing date the six and twentieth of the ninth month 1648 the other forty pound to be payd unto him by my son Nathaniell (out of my house and land given unto him) within six months after the decease of me and my wife.

Item/ I give and bequeath unto Nathaniell Emerson my sonne my house wherein I now dwell with all my upland and meddow and the marsh I bought of my sonne Joseph wh was sometymes Mr Woodsmansys with all the aptenances and priveledges thereunto belonging payeing forty pound out of it as above exprest alsoe a little p'sel of meddoe lyeing within the marsh before mentioned after the decease of me and my wife

Item/ I give unto my daughter Elisabeth Fullor the best feather bed and boulster with a paire of blanketts and the best coverlet and bedsted to injoy for hir use untill hir daughter Susana atayne the age of Twenty yeares or day of hir mariage if shall happen sooner and then she to injoy them alsoe. I give unto my sayd daughter the great carved chest and the carved box with a little Trunck with all y is in it and a small carved chest with what is in it

Item/ I give unto my sonne James Emerson the some of forty pounds out of my stock of cattell to be payd unto him if he shall come ouer into this country ( or send by a certayne surtifficate of his being liueing) within two yeares after the decease of me and my wife. In case my sayd sonne dye before then my will is that my sonne Joseph his sonne Joseph shall have ten pound of it and my sonne Nathaiell ten pound and my daughter Fullor hir foure sonnes the other Twenty pound or if any of them dye the surviuors ton injoye the same

Item/ my will is that Elisabeth Emerson my wife shall Injoye the yearely rent of the farme with six head of cattell wintering at the sayd farme and if they doe not winter soe many to make it up as is agreed as alsoe the house wherein I dwell with the upland and meddow and marsh bought of my sonne Joseph Joseph with all aptenances belonging thereunto and alsoe all my household goods and all my cattell I shall leave both oxen and cowes and all other young cattell whasoeuer to injoy them freely without let or disturbance of any person whatsoeuer dureing the tyme that she doth continue my widdow provided allways and it is my will and meaneing that if the sayd Elisabeth my wife doth marry that then she shall have only the yearley Rent of the aforesayd farme dureing the tyme of hir naturall life and the wintering of the aforesayd six head of cattell alsoe to have the little featherbed and one boulster and two payre of sheets and two cowes The rest of the cattell and household stufe to be disposed of as in this my will exprsst

            And futher my will is that my sonne Nathaniell incase he doe injoye the house and Land by the marriage of my wife that then he shall paye the some of six pound by the yeare to his mother duering the terme of hir naturall life for the rest of my household goods I leave to my wife to dispose of what shee shall thinke fitt to my sonne Joseph and the rest to be devided betweene my sonne Nathaniell and my daughter Fuller futher I make my loveing wife Elisabeth Emerson sole execotrix to this my last will and Testament and doe desire my much honored and faithful frends Mr Samule Symonds and Major Gen Daniell Denison to be overseeres to see y this my will be fullfilled.

In witness to this my last will I have hereunto sett my hand and seale the day and yeare first exprest

signed sealed and c in the psents of us

Robert Lord

Daniel Houey

January the 4th 1660.

Memorandum/ thes ar to testifie unto any home it may consern that I have given unto my sonne John Emerson his portion Ful in y Consideration of y agreement betwixt us about my farme he dully performming the Covenant of y sady indenters betwixt us during the terme of my life and his mothers as alsoe thos engagments their spesified afterwards acording to our mutuall agreement acording to the sixtenth line of this will

Signed: Thomas Emerson

Memorandum/ in consideration of the ten Lins Canseld on the other sie conserning my sonne James my will is that he shall have the some of five pound payd to him by my sonne Mathaniell within two years afters the decease of the longest liver of my wife or myself in case he shall come or send by certain sertifficat y he is then living

Alsoe in refrans to ye eighteen line of this my will for six months there exprest is thus to be understood that my son Nathaniell should paye that forty pound to my son Joseph the sumee of ten pounds a year till it be fully discharged unles he y said Nathaniell shall sell my house and land I now dwell in and the it is to be payd to my sonne Joseph presently

Alsoe in refrens to the twent fifth line of this my will it is to be understood that what there mentoned as to my daughter Fullor is my intent that it shall be holy and fully devided betwen hir two daughters at y age of twenty years or at y day of mariage Susanna and Elisabeth.

Alsoe my will is that my loving wife Elisabeth Emerson shall injoy for hir use halfe the fruit of the orchard during her natural life, the the particules above mentioned I witnes to be my own act

In the presents of

George Giddinge

Daniel Houey

Pfued by the oaths of George Giddinge, Daniell Houey and Robert Lord respectiuely before Mr Symon Bradstreet and Major Gen Denison the clerks being prsent the 10th day of May 1666 to be the last will of Thomas Emerson with the additions

As attest Robert Lord- clerk

[George Giddings (1609 – 1676) is also my 9^th great grandfather]

Some Emerson sources:

Stone –Gregg Genealogy:  The Ancestors and Descendants of Galen Luther Stone and his wife Carrie Marston Gregg, by Alicia Crane Williams, (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1987)

The Emerson-Benson Saga: The Ancestry of Charles F. Emerson and Bessie Benson and the Struggle to Settle the United States Including 194 Allied Lines by Edmund K. Swigart, (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1994).

The Bulkeley Genealogy: Rev. Peter Bulkeley, by Donald Lines Jacobus (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, Co, 1933).

The Ipswich Emersons: AD 1636 – 1900, by Benjamin Kendall Emerson (Boston: Press of David Clapp & Son, 1900).   Available online   https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6902776M/The_Ipswich_Emersons._A.D._1636-1900. 

My EMERSON genealogy:

Generation 1: Thomas Emerson, born 26 July 1584 in Sedgefield Parish, County Durham, England, the son of Robert Emerson and Susan Crabbe, died 1 May 1666 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married on 1 July 1611 in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England to Elizabeth Brewster, who died 10 August 1638 in Ipswich. [She is not a descendant of William Brewster of the Mayflower]  They had nine children and I descend from two of them.

Lineage A:

Generation 2: Reverend Joseph Emerson, born between 1620 and 1621 in Bishop’s Stortford, died 3 January 1680 in Concord, Massachusetts; married first to Elizabeth Woodmansey about 1646 in Boston, Massachusetts, one child; married second on 7 December 1665 in Concord to Elizabeth Bulkeley, the daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley and Lucyann Coy.  She was born in 1638 and died 4 September 1693 in Reading, Massachusetts.  Seven children.

Generation 3:  Peter Emerson, born 1673 in Mendon, Massachusetts, died 19 January 1751 in Reading; married on 11 November 1696 in Reading to Mary Brown, daughter of John Brown and Anna Fiske. Ten children.

Generation 4:  Deacon Brown Emerson, born 16 April 1704 in Reading, died 16 March 1774 in Reading; married on 17 June 1725 in Reading to Sarah Townsend, daughter of John Townsend and Sarah Boutwell.  She was born 25 March 1705 in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Ten children.

Generation 5: John Emerson, baptized 5 April 1739 in South Reading, died 14 November 1809 in Hancock, New Hampshire; married on 20 December 1764 in Reading to Katherine Eaton, daughter of Noah Eaton and Phebe Lilley.  She was born 19 December 1744 in Reading and died 21 January 1809 in Hancock.  Eleven children.

Generation 6: Romanus Emerson, born 1 September 1782 in Townsend, Massachusetts, died 10 October 1852 in South Boston, Massachusetts; married on 22 November 1819 in Boston to Jemima Burnham, daughter of Colonel Joshua Burnham and Jemima Wyman.

Generation 10: George Emerson, born 11 July 1817 in South Boston, died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester; married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to Mary Esther Younger, daughter of Levi Younger and Catherine Plummer Jones.  Eight children.

Generation 11: Mary Katharine Emerson, born 25 December 1847 in South Boston, died 23 April 1932 in Roxbury; married on 28 October 1869 in Chichester, New Hampshire to George E. Batchelder, son of George E. Batchelder and Abigail M. Locke.  Nine children.

Generation 12: Carrie Maude Batchelder, 22 September 1872 in Chichester, New Hampshire, died 21 January 1963 in Rowley, Massachusetts; married on 1 November 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts to Joseph Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears.

Generation 13: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Lineage B:

Generation 2: Elizabeth Emerson, born about 1623 in Bishop’s Stortford, died 1700 in Massachusetts; married to John Fuller, son of Roger Fuller and Jane Gowan. He was born about 1620 in England and died 4 June 1666 in Ipswich.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  James Fuller m. Mary Rindge

Generation 4: Dorothy Fuller m. Josiah Stone

Generation 5: Josiah Stone m. Martha Ashby

Generation 6: Josiah Stone m. Susanna Hix

Generation 7: Eunice Stone m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 8: Peter Hoogerzeil m. Mary Etta Healey

Generation 9: Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

Generation 10: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ EMERSON of Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 10, 2015, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-emerson-of-ipswich.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ DANE of Roxbury and Andover, Massachusetts

North Parish Church, Andover, Massachusetts
Founded in 1645, and where the
Reverend Francis Dane was the 2nd minister

DANE

The first DANE in this lineage to come to the New World was John Dane (about 1587 – 1658) who settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts from Essex, England.  He arrived about 1636 with his children Elizabeth and John, and later married the widow of William Chandler.   He was a chirurgeon (surgeon) in Roxbury and Ipswich. His son John was also a surgeon in Roxbury. You can read John Dane’s diary at this link: http://genealogysurnames.net/JOHNDANE.HTML

I descend from the younger son, Reverend Francis Dane (1615 – 1697).  He matriculated at King’s College in Cambridge, England in 1633.  He was ordained in 1648 and was the second minister of the church in Andover, Massachusetts.  He began a school and was minister for 44 years when the Salem witch hysteria began in 1692.  He and Thomas Barnard wrote a letter signed by 24 Andover residents condemning the trials.  This caused Dane and half a dozen of his relatives to be accused as witches.  Included in those arrested were his daughters Elizabeth Dane Johnson and Abigail Dane Faulkner, and daughter-in-law, Deliverance Haseltine Dane.  His two granddaughters, Abigail and Dorothy Faulkner were also arrested. (His daughter, Hannh, my ancestress, seems to have escaped suspicion). He bravely continued to preach against the witch hunt, and fortunately none of his kin were hung.  He died a few years later in 1697.

“May the Lord direct and guide those that are in place, and give us all submissive wills, and let the Lord do with me and mine what seems good in his own eyes.”  Rev. Francis Dane, 1692.

There has been much published about this family, Rev. Dane and the Salem Witch Trials, but if you are truly curious about more information on the DANE family, here are a few suggestions:

Genealogical Directory of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of those who came before May 1692 on the basis of farmers register, by James Savage, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1990, Volume II, page 6 and 7.

History of Andover from its Settlement to 1829, by Abiel Abbott, 1829

The Annals of Salem, by Joseph B. Felt, 1827

Salem Witchcraft by Enders A. Robinson, 1992

“Early Records of the Dane Family of Andover” compiled by Charlotte Helen Abbott, a manuscript at the Memorial Hall Library (Andover Public Library) also available online at http://www.mhl.org/abbott-genealogies     

“A Declaration of Remarkable Providences in the Course of my Life” by John Dane, The New England Historic and Genealogical Society Register, Volume VIII (1854), pages 149-156. The original manuscript is kept at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston.

My DANE genealogy:

Generation 1:   John Dane was from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England and died in Roxbury, Massachusetts on 14 September 1658; married first to Frances Bowyer about 1606 in England and had four children.  She died about 1641 in Roxbury and John married second to Annis Bayford, the widow of William Chandler, on 2 July 1643 in Roxbury. No children by the second marriage.

Generation 2:  Reverend Francis Dane, born about 1615 in England, died 17 February 1697 in Andover, Massachusetts.  He married first to Elizabeth Ingalls, daughter of Edmund Ingalls and Ann Tripp about 1639 and had nine children.  She died on 9 June 1676 in Andover and he married second to Mary Thomas on 21 September 1677.  She died on 18 February 1689 and he married third to Hannah Chandler, his step sister, daughter of William Chandler and Annis Bayford about 1690. 

Generation 3: Hannah Dane, born about 1648 in Andover; married on 14 November 1666 in Ipswich, Massachusetts to William Goodhue, son of William Goodhue and Margery Watson.  He was born about 1645 and died 12 October 1712.  Eleven children.

Generation 4: Bethiah Goodhue m. Benjamin Marshall

Generation 5: Elizabeth Marshall m. David Burnham

Generation 6: Amos Burnham m. Sarah Giddings

Generation 7: Judith Burnham m. Joseph Allen

Generation 8: Joseph Allen m. Orpha Andrews

Generation 9:  Joseph Gilman Allen m. Sarah Burnham Mears

Generation 10:  Joseph Elmer Allen m. Carrie Maude Batchelder

Generation 11:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/surname-saturday-dane-of-roxbury-and.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday~ Another case of genealogical serendipity!

I photographed these two tombstones while I was wandering around the Central Cemetery in Beverly, Massachusetts looking for my 3^rd great grandparent’s gravestones (Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone).  I never found my ancestors, but I thought that perhaps I was related to these Emersons.

I was right! These are two wives of Rev. Joseph Emerson (he was married three times).  He was called to be the first minister of the Third Congregational Church of Beverly on 21 September 1803.  He was my 2^nd cousin six generations removed, born in Hollis, New Hampshire on 13 October 1777.  His grandfather, Daniel Emerson (1716 – 1801) was the brother of Brown Emerson (1704 – 1774), my 6^th great grandfather.  This family was full of ministers.  The first Emerson in this lineage was Reverend Joseph Emerson (1620 – 1680) of Concord, Massachusetts, who married the daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley (1614 – 1696), Concord’s first minister.   My 4^th great grandfather, Romanus Emerson (1782 – 1852) had four brothers- all ministers (Romanus had a speech impediment and never made it to being a pastor).  Even cousin Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882), studied to be a minister, too, at Harvard Divinity School and was an assistant at Boston’s Second Congregational Church.

"MY REDEEMER LIVETH"

Holy

Bible

Nancy, the wife of Joseph Emerson

born May 28, 1779. married Oct. 19

1803. died June 15, 1804.

"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband"

What armies of endearments throng the soul!

My Nancy, I'm become thy pupil now,

"Now will I take my leave, so soon to follow."

May her dying counsels live in the hearts of

her surviving friends, may her living virtues

and graces flourish in their lives; and the

sublime serenity of her death prove more

than a pillow for theirs.

O DEATH!  WHERE IS THY STING

ELEANOR

The wife of Joseph Emerson was

born Dec. 19, 1777, married July 15,

1805, and died Nov. 7, 1808.

She was remarkable for mental vigor

and bodily infirmities, for animat-

ing cheerfulness under much pain,

for rich resources of mind with

little reading; for performing the 

useful labors of a long life in a few

years; for the most lively and tender

attachment to her connexions and

friends; with the most sublime and

diffusive benevolence to all mankind.

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

Fond pupil pause, with deep concern receive

The solemn lesson that the dead can give.

What tho for thee, she toils and weeps no more

Nor charms thee now with intellectual store:

[the rest is buried under the sod]

Researching ministers is wonderful.  If you have a minister in your family, you are very lucky because they leave lots of documents and records behind for you to find.  I usually start with Google.  There might be links to sermons, ceremonies, books, biographies and even church bulletins at the Google Book search.  I found the Simmons College thesis that mentioned Rev. Joseph Emerson (see below) via Google.  Most ministers go to a college, university or divinity school, and these places have archives you can search online, visit in person, or call and speak to an archivist.  Many churches have historians or secretaries, and it is worth getting friendly with them by email or in person (bring coffee and cookies). Schmoozing with church staff is perfectly acceptable, especially if you make a donation of any size.   You might find your minister ancestor’s grave right in the church yard, or nearby.  Don’t forget to search WorldCat.org for sermons and papers by or about your minister.

The Third Parish in Beverly, Massachusetts was formed from a dissenting group of Calvinists in 1802.  Most of their members came from the First Parish, which had become Unitarian.  Eventually this parish became the Dane Street Congregational Church in 1837.  This is the same church where my Dad went to Sunday school, and where I was baptized.  This church is located within walking distance of the Central Cemetery, and these tombstones face Dane Street, near the fence on the sidewalk.  Isn’t that serendipity?

Reverend Joseph Emerson graduated Harvard College in 1801.  He was ordained at Beverly as pastor of the Third Church on 21 September 1803 and resigned in 1816 for health reasons. He established the Young Ladies’ Seminary in 1821 (Mary Lyon, who founded Mt. Holyoke College, was his student).  He died at Wethersfield, Connecticut on 13, May 1833.  He married first Nancy Eaton on 19 October 1803.  She died in 1804 (see the tombstone above).  He married second to Eleanor Read in July 1805, and she died in 1808.  He married third to Rebecca Haseltine in 1810.

Rev. Joseph Emerson and Rebecca Haseltine had a son, Luther (1810 – 1867) who was the minister in Amherst and Highland County, Virginia.  You can see his grave, at the Shemariah Church Cemetery in Augusta County,  at this link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23261746 .  Reverend Luther Emerson was born in Beverly in 1810.

Another son, Alfred Emerson (1812 – 1896) graduated from Yale and from the Andover Theological Seminary.  He was a professor at Western Reserve College, and then served as a Congregational pastor at South Berwick, Maine and in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.   See this link for a biography: http://wheatoncollege.edu/college-history/1890s/reverend-alfred-emerson/   I told you that the Emerson family was full of ministers, and here is more proof! 

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For the truly curious:

If you have New England Puritan or Congregational ministers in your family tree, an invaluable resource is the Congregational Church Library, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.congregationallibrary.org/ and telephone 617-523-0470.  Their library is open Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm and by appointment, free to the public.

Book on Rev. Joseph Emerson, Life of Rev. Joseph Emerson, Pastor of the Third Congregational Church in Beverly, Massachusetts, by Rev. Ralph Emerson, 1834 (Ralph was the brother of Joseph Emerson, also a Congregational minister in Norfolk, Connecticut and a professor of Ecclesiastical History at Andover Theological Seminary).

A Master’s Degree thesis from Simmons College mentions Rev. Joseph Emerson and the history of the Third Parish:   “Congregationalism Divided: A Case Study of Beverly, Massachusetts’ First Parish Congregational Church Split, 1802 – 1834” by Caitlin Lampman, 30 April 2013, online at this link:

http://history.firstparishbeverly.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Congregationalism-Divided.pdf

The Dane Street Congregational Church website  http://www.danestchurch.org/about/history

For more information on the Emerson family and their many ministers, see the book The Bulkeley Genealogy by Donald Lines Jacobus, 1933.

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/09/tombstone-tuesday-another-case-of.html

Copyright ©2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rev. William Homes and wife, Katherine Craighead, Chilmark, Massachusetts

These gravestones were photographed at the Abel's Hill Cemetery, Chilmark, Massachusetts, pn the island of Martha's Vineyard by my sister Laurel Wilkinson, and her friend Kate Fournier.  They used an iPad to get these photos, which came out terrific considering the great age of the tombstones.  Genealogy blogger Barbara Poole, at "Life from the Roots" uses an iPad for her fantastic photography, too.   I was able to very clearly read the epitaphs on these photos so I could transcribe them below.  Someday I'd like to visit this cemetery, which my sister reports is full of names from our family tree, like MAYHEW and DAGGETT.

In MEMORY of

the Reverend learned

emenently prudent &

pious Mr.  William Homes

the pastor of the Church

of Christ in Chilmark

who departed this life

June ye 27th 1746 in ye

83rd year of his age.

HERE LIES

BURIED THE BODY OF

KATHERINE HOMES

THE VERY PIOUS RELICT OF THE

REVEREND MR WILLIAM HOMES 

LATE DECEASED WHO DEPARTED

THIS LIFE TO A BETTER. 

APRIL YE 10TH 1754

IN YE 82ND YEAR OF

HER AGE.

William Homes and Katherine Craighead are my 9th great grandparents.  The Reverend Homes was born in 1663 in Donaghmore, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.  He was pastor of the church at Chilmark, on the island of Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.  His wife, Katherine Craighead, was the daugher of another Ulster Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland, the Reverend Robert Craighead.

Don't you love the great use of adjectives on these two tombstones?  The Homes family, or perhaps their congregation, must have been quite wealthy to pay for all the extra adjectives carved onto Rev. William Homes's epitaph.

Click here to read my "Surname Saturday" blog posts on these families:

Homes:    http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/surname-saturday-homes-of-northern.html

Craighead:   http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/surname-saturday-craighead-family-of.html

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/tombstone-tuesday-rev-william-homes-and.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Amanuensis Monday ~ The Obituary of Katherine (Eaton) Emerson, 1809

The Panolopist, June 1807

This obituary was found in The Panoplist, and Missionary Magazine United, Volume 2, No. 2, pages 151 - 152, August 1809

"OBITUARY

Mrs. Catharine Emerson, late wife of Mr. John Emerson of Hancock, N. H. was born A. D. 1743.  She was the youngest daughter of Mr. Noah Eaton of Reading, Massachusetts, and enjoyed the advantages of a religious education.  Under the faithful preaching of the Rev. Mr. Hobby, her mind early became subject to religious impressions.

            She was admitted a member of the first church of Christ in Reading September 24, 1769.

            Her subsequent life evinced the sincerity of her profession: that she was a christian, not in name only but in truth.  That divine charity, which Paul describes as the essence of true religion, was the principle that habitually governed her conduct.  Though possessed of superior judgment and lively sensibilities, they were so far under the influence of grace, which reigned in her soul, that even the profligate and profane were constrained to acknowledge the excellency and power of true religion.  The gentleness of her temper, the meekness of her mind, the cheerful sobriety of her deportment, the correctness of her sentiments, the piety of her conversation, her devout attendance on the institutions of the gospel, and unwearied exertions to do good, proved her a follower of Jesus Christ, and gain her the esteem and applause of every person, who enjoyed her acquaintance.

            In the education of her children, she exhibited equal wisdom and assiduity. Recognizing her covenant engagements, when she gave up her children in the sacred ordinance of baptism, she was faithful to that covenant by "training them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."  She was a mother, who not only gave her children the best counsel and examples, but carried them on her heart to the throne of grace: and, in answer to her prayers and labors, the bessing of Abraham descended upon them.  Of nine children, who were spared to adult age, eight of whom survive; she had the satisfaction, several years before her death, to see five come forward and publicly profess their faith in that divine Redeemer, whom she had long embraced as her only portion.

            In no situation is a pious female more amiable, useful, or respectable, than in rearing a numerous family in the principles of true religion, and guiding them in the paths of virtue.  Mrs. E. did not deem it a service too arduous, or an office too low, to take the religious part of her children's education into her own hands.  Too well she loved them; too much she regarded the welfare of their souls, to neglect a concern of such infinite moment.  While she possessed their love, respect and obedience to an unusual degree, she was no less happy in keeping their consciences awake to an abhorrence of sin in every form, and to regard to every branch of religion, by affectionately instilling into their minds the most important truths in a manner adapted to their capacities.  A suitable proportion of every Sabbath day was devoted to this object.  That day she taught her children by precept, and by the devout manner in which she spent it herself, to reverence as a holy sabbath to the Lord.  The manner in which she taught them the Assembly's Catechism and explained the Scriptures, was peculiarly tender and engaging, and the salutory effects produced, proved that the high estimation in which she held the practice was judiciously placed.  After closing the business of the day, instead of permitting her children to go into vain or dissolute company, she would often call them round her and spend the evening in conversing with them on the great things of religion and particularly on the various dangers and duties peculiar to their age.  Noble exemption from prevailing practice!  In administering correction, she pursued a practice worthy of imitation.  She first retired into her closet to examine the state of her mind, and then prefaced the punishment with some calm, affectionate observations on the guilt of disobedience, especially as an offence against God.

            Mrs. E. had, several times, been reduced to the brink of the grave, and more than once had taken an affecting leave of her family and friends, in expectation of a speedy departure.  In that situation, a situation which tries the hopes of men, she manifested the utmost calmness and confidence in God, and patiently waited the expected summons. Her last lingering illness she bore with christian fortitude and submission.  That grace which sanctified her heart and life, softened her dying pillow.  In the calm triumphs of faith, she yielded her spirit into the arms of that Savior whom she had often recommended to others, and entered into her rest on the 21st of December, 1808, in the 65 year of her age."

[The Panoplist was a religious monthly magazine printed from 1805 - 1820 in Boston by Jedediah Morse, and edited by Jeremiah Evarts.   You can find an archive of this magazine at the website for the Congregational Library in Boston, at this link http://www.congregationallibrary.org/resources/digital/panoplist with links to the archived copies at Internet Archive and Google Book Search] 

Katherine Eaton Emerson (1744 – 1809) is my 5^th great grandmother.  It is difficult to learn any personal information on my ancestresses before about 1900.  They often don’t have obituaries, and if they do they only mention them as wives and mothers.  This is a very early example of a rare personal obituary of a woman.  In reading through this several times, I still don’t learn a lot of personal information about Katherine.  It is very laudatory and wordy, but basically it states that she was a very pious woman who raised five children to accept Christ.  Considering that it was published in a religious magazine, this is more than I can hope to find on her life.  It doesn’t state who wrote the obituary, but then again, most obituaries are anonymous. It doesn’t state that three of her sons became Congregational ministers.

Her husband, John Emerson, died the same year, on 14 November 1809.  Perhaps he was the author?  He came from a long line of ministers and deacons, and his great grandfather was the Reverend Joseph Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts, who married Elizabeth Bulkely, the daughter of the famous Reverend Edward Bulkely one of the first ministers in Concord.

Katherine and John had eleven children, as stated in the obituary.  Their son Noah (1775 – 1777) died young, as well as a daughter Phebe (1780 – 1795).  Among the surviving children were two daughters and seven sons. Three of the sons became ministers:

1.  Reuben Emerson (1771 – 1860) graduated Dartmouth College in 1798 and was ordained in Westminster, Vermont. He was pastor of the Congregational Church of South Reading, now Wakefield, Massachusetts from 1804 until his death in 1860.

     2.  Brown Emerson (1778 – 1872) graduated Dartmouth College in 1802, and received a DD from Dartmouth in 1835.  He was ordained on 14 April 1805 as assistant minister to the Old South Church in Salem, Massachusetts where he stayed until his death 67 years later. 
  
     3.  Noah Emerson (1787 – 1860)  graduated from Middlebury College, studied at the Andover Theological Seminary from 1814 – 1817 and was a missionary in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Georgia.  He was the Pastor of the Congregational Church in Baldwin Maine in 1825 and stayed there for 25 years.

Among the other sons, the eldest, John Emerson (1765 – 1835) became a wealthy farmer in Reading Vermont.  He died when a barn fell on him during a hurricane, and he left one thousand dollars for the Vermont Missionary Society.  Hiram (1767 – 1849) became a mason; Jacob (1773 – 1839) became a farmer in Keene, Ohio; and then there was Romanus (1782 – 1852). 

What about Romanus?  Well, out of a family of deacons and ministers, there were several who studied for the ministry and didn’t quite make it.  His cousin Ralph Waldo Emerson was a minister briefly before having a revelation and a change of heart to become a philosopher and author.  Romanus studied for the ministry, too, but according to several compiled genealogies he had a speech impediment which made preaching impossible so he tried teaching.  I guess this was impossible, too, so he came to South Boston and watched his farm become the center of a large, growing city.  Those compiled genealogies didn’t mention one other important thing about Romanus.

Sometime after his mother’s death he became a progressive, and must have followed in his cousin RWE’s footsteps in questioning the status quo.  Only one book mentions “He was especially peculiar in his views of religion.  Toward the end of his life he renounced all religious opinions whatever, deliberatively holding to his speculative belief.” [History of South Boston (It’s Past and Present) and Prospects for the Future with Sketches of Prominent Men by John J. Toomey and Edward P. B. Rankin, Boston, Massachusetts: 1901, pages 224 – 225]

Romanus Emerson, Katherine’s 9^th child, was a self-proclaimed infidel.  He was the head of a large society of Boston infidels, otherwise known as atheists.  In Puritan Boston between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, this was a very peculiar thing to be, as well causing legal problems.  Since this is a blog post about Katherine’s obituary, I won’t go into details here, but I’ll post links below to stories about Romanus Emerson you can read later.

Suffice it to say, I’m glad Katherine pre-deceased her son, because if she knew she would be rolling over in her grave. 

And so would the author of the obituary!

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Here are some links to blog posts about Romanus Emerson, the infidel:

The “Odd” Romanus Emerson

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/madness-monday-odd-romanus-emerson-part.html

Romanus Emerson died an Infidel, 1852

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/amanuensis-monday-romanus-emerson-died.html

Romanus Emerson, buried in a Christian Cemetery, whether he liked it or not!

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/tombstone-tuesday-romanus-emerson.html

Romanus Emerson, In His Own Words

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/romanus-emerson-in-his-own-words-part-4.html

Romanus Emerson- Part 5- A few words from the Infidels

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/romanus-emerson-part-5-few-words-from.html

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http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/12/amanuensis-monday-obituary-of-katherine.html

Copyright © 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo