Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Revolutionary War Re-enactment

Here is another photo appropriate for the week of the Fourth of July. My dad was not a re-enactor, but he loved to joke and have fun. At this Revolutionary War encampment in Windham, New Hampshire in 1994 he enjoyed it so much he even tried on the uniforms. He teased that if he were to "join up" he'd play on the side of the British (his mom was born in England) or a Hessian because it was more fun to be the "bad guy" and they had better uniforms. Here he is trying on officer's gear from the New Hampshire First Regiment.

I think he looked pretty good. Dad had at least eight minutemen in his ancestry, and one Hessian soldier.

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Abiah Folger and Josiah Franklin


This simple obelisk is located at the Granary Burial Ground in Boston. Benjamin Franklin erected this memorial to his parents, Abiah Folger and Josiah Franklin, and I decided to write about it this week for Independence Day. After all, it was the day the Declaration of Independence was ratified, and Ben was one of the signers.

Abiah Folger, Franklin’s mother, was born 15 August 1667 on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, daughter of Peter Folger and Mary Morrill. Peter Folger came from Norwich, England to Massachusetts with his father John in 1635. In 1663 he went to Nantucket as an Indian interpreter for Tristram Coffin. Mary Morrill was a servant to Reverend Hugh Peters, so Peter bought her for 20 pounds to pay off her servitude. He declared it was the best appropriation of money he ever made. Now you know where Benjamin got is sense of humor! (from History of Nantucket, by Obed Macy, 1835)

Abiah Folger married Josiah Franklin on 25 November 1689 at the Old South Church in Boston. Josiah was from Ecton, Northamptonshire, born on 23 December 1657, and he died on 16 January 1745. He had previously been married to Anne Child, who left him with seven children when she died on 9 July 1689. You can see he wasted no time in remarrying Abiah, who not only raised his other children, but she had ten more! Benjamin was number eight, and the youngest son.

How do I know so much about this family? Well, my 7x great grandmother was Bethshua Folger, Abiah’s sister! Yes, Benjamin Franklin is my first cousin 8 generations removed. Bethshua (also known as Bathsheba) was born about 1650 on Nantucket Island, and she married Joseph Pope in 1679 in Salem, Massachusetts.

I previously blogged about my Franklin connection here in my post http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/09/treasure-chest-thursday-at.html about the Franklin Chest, also known as the Pope Valuables Chest.

For more FRANKLIN blog posts, click here:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Franklin 

For my POPE family genealogy:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-pope-of-salem.html 


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Abiah Folger and Josiah Franklin", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 29, 2010, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/abiah-folger-and-josiah-franklin.html: accessed [access date]).

Monday, June 28, 2010

Amanuensis Monday- News Clippings from Essex, Massachusetts

News Clippings

21 February 1873, Cape Ann Advertiser "On Friday afternoon, as one of the workmen in the shipyard of A. O. Burnham was hoisting the bow hasping, it got the best of him and fell striking Mr. Gilman P. Allen (about 63 years old) a glancing blow on the shoulder and head, and knocking him down. Fortunately no bones were broken, but it was a narrow escape from a serious injury."

Gilman Allen (1809 – 1892) was my 3x great grandfather’s brother (Joseph Allen (1801 – 1894). Shipbuilding was a major industry in Essex until the 20th century. I'm sure there were some terrible injuries and even deaths once in while as they built the wooden ships over the years. There are only two wooden shipbuilding workshops in Essex, today.
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The Essex Echo (1887 – 1918) was published on Fridays. First at B. F. Raymond’s Drug Store, and later at Leighton E. Perkin’s Store. It had eight pages and cost $1 per year, or 3 cents an issue.

30 Jan 1903, Essex Echo Newspaper “Albert Allen, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Allen, is very sick at the home of his parents near the Hamilton line. Consumption has claimed him as a victim. His wife and child are with him."

Albert Allen died on 25 March 1903 in Beverly, when he was only 24 years old. He was the brother to my great grandfather Joseph Elmer Allen (1870 – 1932). His wife was Lillian Dorsett, and his son, Charles was born in 1902, so he was very small when this happened.

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10 May 1907, Essex Echo Newspaper “Warren S. Allen and family of South Boston, Mrs. Lillian M. Allen and son Charles of Beverly, were guest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph G. Allen on Sunday."

Joseph G. Allen (1830 – 1908) was my 2x great grandfather. His son, Warren (1864 – 1927) and wife Margaret E. Sullivan (1874 – 1954) had five children; the last one wasn’t born until 1915 so he wouldn’t have been at this reunion. They lived in the Neponset section of Dorchester, near Boston, by the waterfront. Warren was the brother of the Joseph Elmer Allen, mentioned above.

I found these little news clippings at the website http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~macessex/esxresch.html#news According to the link to the Cape Ann Advertiser, these were contributed by Fred Buck of Gloucester, Massachusetts in 2002. The Essex Echo was published in Manchester, Massachusetts, and only a few columns covered news from the town of Essex. Those were contributed by Kurt Wilhelm, who is also one of the editors of the “Images of America: Essex” book published by Acadia Publishing just this year, 2010. Mr. Wilhelm also manages the Rootsweb page for the town of Essex, Massachusetts.

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Friday, June 25, 2010

2010 Felton Reunion – Peabody, Massachusetts


From Cora Felton Anderson, of the Felton Family Association:

The annual gathering of Felton descendants will be held on the 31 of July and 1st of August, 2010 at the site of the old houses of our ancestors in Peabody, Massachusetts. The area is now called 'Brooksby', but in the past it was known as Hog Hill or the Felton farm area of Salem, now Peabody, Massachusetts.

As many of you will know, this was what had been called the "Outer Village" of Salem during the early days of the colony in the 1630's. Our Nathaniel was appointed by Gov; Endicott to clear a place on the hill that could be used to signal the town of Salem below, in case of Indian attack.

We meet every year at the old houses which are said to be the "oldest set" of Father and son houses on the same property in the U.S. We come from all over the United States to honor our ancestors and learn of our heritage. Anyone who has a Felton ancestor in the background is most welcome to join with us at the gathering, as well as the Felton Family Association.

If you would like to join us there, please let me know so that we will have enough food for everyone.

Cora Felton Anderson, Felton96@aol.com
We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information, please see the website at www.feltonfamily.org

The Peabody, Massachusetts Historical Society website http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/, which contains photos and information on the Nathaniel Felton, Junior and Senior Home Sites, click on “properties”

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Other local family reunions

Caverly Family Reunion: 25 September 2010, Bow Lake Grange, Strafford, NH, Descendants of William Caverly and Mary Abbott of Portsmouth, NH

Wyman Family Reunion: 12 September 2010, Francis Wyman House, Burlington, MA http://www.wyman.org/ Descendants of Francis Wyman of Woburn, Massachusetts

Towne Family Reunion: 23 -25 September 2010, Omaha, Nebraska http://www.townefolk.com/, Descendants of William Towne and Joanna Blessing of Salem, Massachusetts
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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Thursday, June 24, 2010

New Hampshire Aviation Museum


This cute little building is now the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, built in 1937 as the terminal for the airport in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Museum is run by the New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society. Soon this art deco style historic building is going to undergo an expansion to more than double its size, thanks to a million dollar donation by Eugene and Anne Slusser of Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Ground was broken on May 13, 2010 for the new addition which will resemble an old airplane hangar.

The building was one of the Great Depression’s Works Progress Administration projects. It was actually the second terminal at Grenier Field, replaced by a larger brick building in 1961, and then again in 1999 by the current 75,000 square foot Manchester Airport terminal. Slated for destruction, in 1995 the city of Manchester chose the terminal building for its annual preservation award. NHAHS applied for placement on the New Hampshire Registry of Historic Places, and this was granted in 2004.

In 2004 the New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society, the Manchester Airport and the Town of Londonderry raised the funds to move the 1937 building across two runways and save it from destruction. This move required approval of the Federal Aviation Administration and took all night, and the east west runway was closed for one hour, and then the north south runway was closed for an hour for the second crossing. The NHAHS raised 1.1 million dollars to restore the terminal building and convert it into a museum.

The New Hampshire Aviation Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays 10 AM to 4 PM, and Sundays 1 PM to 4PM. It is located at 13 East Perimeter Road, Londonderry, New Hampshire in the 1937 terminal building. For more information call the museum staff at 603-669-4820. The museum is located next to the runway, and has a wonderful close up view of planes landing and taking off from Manchester.

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For more information:

www.nhah.org The website for the New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society

http://www.flymanchester.com/about/history.php The history of the Manchester-Boston Airport shown in a timeline

Manchester’s Airport: Flying Through Time, by Edward Brouder and Maurice B. Quirin, UBT Press, 2006

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

More Photos of Misery Island

Caption on the back of the photo
"Jack Wilkinson, Jim Hoar, Bruce Miller, Dick Woodbury, Tom Kelly
-- 1947 or 48"


Photographs from my father's childhood friend
Billy Poole of Beverly, Massachusetts
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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Wordless Wednesday- Swimming at Misery Island, 1949

My Dad, "Jack" John Warren Wilkinson (1934 - 2002) swimming at Misery Island with his dog Jeff. Misery Island is off the coast of Beverly and Manchester, Massachusetts- it can be seen off West Beach. Photo dated July 1949.

My uncle (towel on his head) and Dad (eating the banana) and neighbor friends.


The back of the photo, with names of all the kids described.
"The crowd at Misery Island
Left to right (front) Richard Wilkinson, Beverly Emory, Jack Wilkinson & Barbara Cann (in back) Priscilla Brett
July 1949"

Those were the days! Let your kids go off to an island all alone (no lifeguard) to swim! Great Misery Island and Little Misery Island are only accessible by boats. There were summer homes on the island until 1926 when they were destroyed by a great fire. Today it is a wonderful bird sanctuary and owned by the Trustees of Reservations. It is named after Robert Moulton, who was shipwrecked there in the winter for three miserable days in the 1620s.

Here is the story of an ancestor who met his fate on Misery Island in 1768. Daniel Poland was my 6x great grandfather. Its a good thing this story comes from my Mum's side of the family, or my Dad's Mum would never have let him go swimming at Misery Island!

Essex Antiquarian
Volume 1, page 66
"Drowning Accident
Salem August 23, Last Friday a very uncommon accident happened off Manchester, and the following account is related by a person who saw it....
Nicholas Whipple, Abraham Wyatt, and Daniel Poland, all of Beverly, were fishing in a canoe, near Little Misery Island, which lays within 2 or 3 leagues of this Harbour, and had out a Kellogg, or small anchor; while they were employed at their Business, to their inexpressible surprise, the canoe suddenly shot forward, with very great rapidity, without any apparent cause, and, before they could cut the painter, run the distance of about 70 or 80 feet, when she was pulled so low as to fill and overset, and then stopped. One of the Men swam ashore, another saved his Life by getting upon the bottom of the Canoe, then in sight, getting in Ballast; and the third, Daniel Poland, was unfortunately drowned, who, we hear, has left a Wife and 7 or 8 children. It is supposed that some large Fish run foul of the Painter, dragged the Canoe the above mentioned distance, and was then disengaged." - Essex Gazette, August 23, 1768

http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/northeast-ma/misery-islands.html
Trustees of Reservations Website page for Misery Islands
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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday - Leavitt Cemetery, Chichester, New Hampshire

The William F. Locke Family Plot. William (1826 - 1870) was the brother to my ancestor, Abigail M. Locke (1825 - 1888), wife of George E. Batchelder of Chichester. Abigail and William F. were the children of Richard and Margaret Locke (below).

Margaret Welch, wife of Richard Locke,
She is a Brickwall Ancestor- I have not idea who are her parents or family.
She was born aobut 1796 probably in Kittery, Maine, and died 11 March 1860 in Chichester, New Hampshire.

Richard Locke, son of Simon Locke and Abigail Mace. He is my 4x great grandfather. Captain Richard Locke went to Boston in 1811 to learn the blacksmith's trade, later was a sea captain and died in Chichester, New Hampshire in 1864, having made his will ten days before. He was listed in the 1850 census as a farmer, with his real estate valued at $10,000. His household in the Federal Census of 1850 included his wife, Margaret; his widowed daughter Abigail; his daughter Mehitable; his father, Simon; and his infant grandson, George E. Batchelder. He is a direct descendant of John Locke (1627 - 1695) who was killed by the Indians in Rye, New Hampshire whilst cutting hay on the marsh. (Locke Genealogy page 71)

Epitaph:
Richard Locke
died March 23, 1864
AE 70 ys
I am again we hope to meet there when the days of life are fled
then in heaven with joy to greet thee where no farewell tears shed

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo