Mystery Ancestors - Not so Wordless Wednesday

Leave a comment if you know the identity of these mystery ancestors!

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Batchelder's buried in Chichester, NH- Tombstone Tuesday

These gravestones were photographed at the Leavitt Cemetery in Chichester, New Hampshire

The Batchelder Family Plot

 

An obelisk engraved with
Batchelder family names



MORRISON S.  BATCHELDER
LOTTIE E.
his wife, died
Apr. 22, 1880
AE 24 yrs and 11 mos.
[I found a marriage record in 1883 in Epsom when
Morrison remarried to Emily J. Moses,
note- there are no dates for Morrison here.
His first wife was Lottie Payne, married in 1878 in Salisbury, NH]



ANDREW BATCHELDER
DIED
Mar 20, 1875
AE 64 yrs and 10 mos
[note- Andrew was the father to Morrison above]

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Flag Day 2011

My husband took this photograph in Washington, D.C.,  April 2011, during the Cherry Blossom Festival

A link to Flag Day 2010
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/flag-day-2010.html
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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Yankee at Jamboree – Part 5 Wrap Up

The Geneablogger Pajama Party
Yes, this is what we look like in person! in PJs!

OK, after a steady diet of sleep deprivation, sandwiches grabbed on the run, an overload of information on heavy subjects such as DNA, ahnentafels, and citations your esteemed and honored genealogists begin to act a bit silly. The following photos are TOP SECRET….

The last day of Jamboree was a blur! I attended a great breakfast by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. David Allen Lambert gave a brief talk about some of the hilarious things patrons ask for at the reference desk. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard that early in the morning. He also showed the new NEHGS movie “Farseeing Vision: Connecting Families, Advancing History” which actually made me cry – it was so emotionally moving. That was me, in the second table from the front, wiping my eyes with my breakfast napkin. Great job, NEHGS, I’m proud to be a longtime member of such a wonderful organization. I hope everyone will have the chance to see this short film.

Genealogy Gems taped LIVE!

I had time to attend my last two lectures, check out of the hotel, hang out at Blogger Island for the last time, and also see the live taping of Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems Podcast. If you missed this live taping of the show, you can catch it later at http://www.genealogygems.tv/     Her guests were Family Tree Magazine’s enthusiastic young editor, Allison Stacy, and also graphologist Paula Sassi. Paula explained how a graphologist can examine documents written by ancestors and give clues to the personally traits of the writers through their handwriting. She examined a letter by one of Allison Stacy’s great grandmothers, and she also analyzed one of my ancestor’s letters! I had won the chance to have Paula look at a document through a contest online at the Genealogy Gems Facebook page. It was amazing to hear that Paula thought my ancestor was quite the irresistible  “Lady’s Man”, something I was secretly hoping she wouldn’t say but it was obviously true!

A mini Wilkinson Family Reunion in Burbank!

The perfect way to end the day was to see my uncle from Long Beach. I hadn’t seen him since my father’s funeral in 2002, when he came to Massachusetts to see his little brother laid to rest. I also got to meet two first cousins, one whom I hadn’t seen since 1965, when I was only three and he was about seven years old! This was a great way to end a genealogy weekend, by reuniting with family!

Then we took the “Red Eye” flight to Boston, and landed at 7:05 AM this morning. It was a whirlwind weekend, and very eye opening to see how genealogy research is conducted outside of New England. I’ve always considered myself very lucky to live within one hours driving distance of where 75% of my ancestors have lived for almost 400 years. It is very easy for me (most of the time!) to find records. I often forget that over American history many people migrated across the US from New England, and even more never lived here at all. There are some amazing repositories I’d love to visit someday, such as the SCGS library in Burbank, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati Public Library and the Allen County Library’s genealogy department.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Sarah Henshaw's Embroidery

Sarah Henshaw embroidered the
Henshaw and Bill coat of arms about 1748
when she was about twelve years old

I saw this schoolgirl embroidery at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There is an exhibit there called Boston Colonial Embroidery: Schoolgirl Pictures from April 2, 2011 until August 20, 2011. Many of the embroideries had family names, and each had an identifying sign with information on the schoolgirl, her teacher and school.  This was as important a skill for a young lady as learning Greek or Latin was for her brother in the 1700s.

This embroidery by Sarah Henshaw had the Henshaw and Bill family crests. I knew I was related to the Boston Bill family, so as soon as I returned home I researched the family genealogy. Fascinating stuff!

Joshua Henshaw born 2 August 1703, Boston, Massachusetts. ( He was born in the house owned by his parents in Boston on the corner of Hayward's Place and Washington (then Newberry) St. He was the son of Joshua Henshaw and Mary Hay Webster. He married Elizabeth Bill, daughter of Richard Bill and Sarah Davis on 27 December 1733 in Boston. They were married by Reverend Benjamin Colman of the Brattle Street Church, Boston.

Richard Bill, an influential and opulent merchant of Boston, on Jan 16, 1741-2 conveyed to Joshua Henshaw and wife "the house and land in Sudbury street on the S.S.E., there measuring forty feet; ... on the south west on land of Thomas Cooper, late deceased, there measuring 99 feet; N.W. on Bartholomew, three needles nineteen and a half feet". (1)

At a Boston town meeting held March 2, 1764, Joshua Henshaw was chosen first on the list of Selectmen, the then chief elective office of the town. Appointed to several committees with John Hancock, assisted by John Adams as counsel, just before and after the "Boston Massacre". Also a member of the (colonial pre-Revolution) House of Representatives. (1)

In 1774, in consequence of the enforcement of the "Boston Port Bill" and the occupation of Boston by royal troops, Joshua was forced to move to Leicester in the county of Worcester, Mass., where his brother Daniel lived. He boarded for a short time with Rev. Conklin, then moved to Dedham, near Boston, where he resided until his death in 1777, most of the time an invalid.4

Joshua Henshaw died Aug 5 1777, at the house of Hon. Sam Dexter, Dedham, Massachusetts. (1) A portrait of Joshua Henshaw was painted about 1770 by the noted colonial artist John Singleton Copley. This painting is currently in the collection of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. Copley's painting can be seen on this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/wordster1028/5407996131/


Children:

1. Sarah Henshaw 16 January 1736-4 January 1822
2, Richard Bill Henshaw, 1737-?
3. Elizabeth Henshaw, 1744-?
4. Joshua Henshaw, 1746-1823
5. John Henshaw, 1749-?
6. Andrew Henshaw, 1752-1782

Sarah Henshaw was born 16 Jan 1736 in Boston, and she married Joseph Henshaw on 25 May 1759 in Boston, son of Daniel Henshaw and Elizabeth Allen Bass. (2) They were first cousins, grandchildren of Joshua Henshaw and Mary Hay Webster. She died 4 January 1822 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. (1) Sarah Henshaw was a student of Elizabeth Murray, a Boston schoolteacher.   Her embroidered, above, was made in 1748, when she was about 12 years old.  It is silk satin embroidered with silk and metallic thread.  According to the sign at the MFA "Henshaw's embroidery...introduced a new level of opulence for these symbols of social and economic status".     There were several other embroideries by Sarah Henshaw on display.

The teacher Elizabeth Murray (1726 – 1785) was born in Scotland and was also painted by John Singleton Copley. Over her lifetime she had three husbands, and made a fortune by arranging lucrative pre-nuptial agreements. She had a shop selling the latest fashions, and she taught embroidery to the upper class young ladies in Boston. But also taught them to gain economic independence through business.

Sources:
(1). The "New England Historical and Genealogical Register", vol 22, 1868, The New England Historical and Genealogical Society. This issue includes a complete copy of the recorded pedigree of Joshua Henshaw.

(2). Manuscripts relating to William Henshaw, archived at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA, including a handwritten family lineage

For more information:

The History of the Bill Family, by Ledyard Bill, 1867, see pages 141 – 143.

http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles/exhibits/enterprisingwomen/merch/murray.html A biography of Elizabeth Murray, Schoolteacher in Boston.

http://samplings.com/curator-archives/boston-colonial-embroidery-schoolgirl-pictures  a page of information on the exhibit Boston Colonial Embroidery: Schoolgirl Pictures.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Yankee at Jamboree - Part 4

Can you name those Bloggers?
Just some of those who attended
Thomas MacEntee's Blogger Summit

Saturday afternoon at Jamboree, and I spent some time at Blogger Island hanging out with Donna Wendt, Thomas MacEntee, Footnote Maven, Diana Ritchie, Gini Webb, Cheryl Palmer, and I'm name dropping again!  It's a great spot to hang out, relax for a few minutes and put your feet up, or work on your blog.  Donna was passing out Aloha Delights (yummy macademia chocolates) so who could resist?

I attended two very good lectures this afternoon, and they were available via streaming video to folks via the internet. I'm not going give any more book reports on lectures here on the blog, but I will say that it has been great seeing lots of nationally known genealogists speak, some who I have not seen in New England.  I've heard from Tony Burroughs, John Colletta (he was at NERGC this past April), Kory Mererink, and Gena Philbert Ortega. This alone was well worth coming all the way to Burbank.  Curt Witcher gave a great talk on "High Tech and High Touch of 21st Century Genealogy", and now I'm tempted to go to his library in Indiana for a bit of research!  Wouldn't that be a fun field trip?

I picked up a few good books at the vendor hall, which may be a problem since I only brought a rollie carry on suitcase.  We'll have to make sure I don't get anymore conference loot after this!

Susan Kitchen designed the signs!

After the Saturday night banquet and lecture I had more time to hang out with bloggers, at a memorable PJ party.  I have some pretty incriminating photos of your favorite genealogists to post in my next update!  Some of you may have seen the twitter and Facebook posts on this....


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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Yankee at Jamboree - Part 3

Marcia Maloney of the
California Mayflower Society

Day two at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, and I decided to spend the morning on the theme of “blogging”, specifically genealogical blogging (of course!).   We attended a breakfast lecture by Thomas MacEntee on “Marketing to Genealogy Societies”.  Many genealogists were at our table, including Joan Miller and Jana Sloan Broglin of the Ohio Genealogical Society.  Thomas’s talk was heavy on social media, which can be a blessing to cash strapped societies since most of it is free.  He showed many examples of successful websites used by many societies, including many I had never seen since they were from mid-western or western states.  They are miles ahead of anything going on in New England, or with traditional societies like Mayflower which is sadly behind the times in utilizing social media.

Next, I attended two Blogger Summits, both hosted by Thomas again.  The first was aimed at beginners, with a panel made up of Randy Seaver, Lisa Louise Cooke, and Amy Coffin.  After some initial technical difficulties (no table, no microphones!) Thomas demonstrated how easy it was to start a blog using Blogger.com and then took comments from the panel and questions from the audience on issues such as copyright, prompts, widgets and the genealogical blogging community. This hour was well attended and the room was packed. 

The second hour and panel discussion was less well attended, but I think anyone who thought the discussion would be “over their head” was missing out on more great discussion.  The panel was made up of Dick Eastman, Elyse Doerflinger, Kathryn Doyle and Joan Miller, all bloggers representing commercial and non-commercially based blogs, as well as one society blog.  Thomas posed some very interesting questions for discussion, such as “What is the view of vendors towards bloggers?” and “Are bloggers viewed as legitimate vehicles for information?”  Copyright issues were a popular question, and the seasoned bloggers were able to give lots of advice to new or non-bloggers.  I’m sad that this discussion was not videotaped, because it would have made a great inclusion on the Geneabloggers.com website!

I have more name dropping!  I met up with Ruth Himan, but she had to leave Jamboree early and we didn’t have long to visit with each other.  Also, I finally met up with Elizabeth O’Neal and Susi Pentico.  My Mayflower cousins, Marcia Maloney, Dottie Wilson and Erica Hahn were dressed as Pilgrims at the California Mayflower booth, so I got a bunch of good photos.  I had time to eat a quick sandwich with Marcia (she is a Putnam cousin, and a member of NH Mayflower as well as in the Orange County Colony) and get ready for a full afternoon of lectures.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Yankee at Jamboree - Part 2

Day one of the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, and I attended three excellent lectures.  The first one was “It’s not your Ancestor’s Library” by Patricia Mosley Van Skaik of the Public Library of Cincinatti.  I learned a lot, because this was part of the Jamboree that was supposed to be for librarians- but I went anyways!  It was excellent to learn how libraries are now starting their own digitizing projects, and Cincinatti has one with a new machine that can scan 2,400 pages an hour!  These collections are local treasures, often donated for digitizing by local citizens who are not ready to donate material, but are willing to participate by having it scanned.  There were examples of projects going on at lots of other libraries, and resources that librarians use to search for genealogical information.  She also mentioned several ways to keep up with the wave of new information coming on line, and #1 on her list was BLOGS!  She used Dick Eastman’s blog as an example, but feel free to fill in with any of your favorite genealogy blogs (*ahem!*)

The second lecture was “The Secret Lives of Women” by Gena Philbert Ortega from www.yourfamilyhistorysearch.com  She gave a great talk on why researching women was so very different from researching men.  Instead of relying on names, first, she uses locality.  By researching the primary source material of a town, you can find what life was like for women, and maybe even find your female ancestors.  Using quilt and cookbook databases, she showed examples of archival and online sources that genealogists usually don’t examine.  I’m seriously thinking of going to another one of Gena’s lectures this weekend, it was that good!

My third lecture today was John Colletta’s talk on Ellis Island.  He explained the history of Ellis Island and immigration, showing how and why many immigrants between 1892 and 1924 to New York never passed through Ellis Island!  Surprise!  The reasons are good, and may change your family history. I heard John speak twice at the 2011 NERGC conference in Springfield, and he was great here.  He is one speaker I will be seeking out online and at other conferences.

In between I visited the Vendor Hall and “Blogger Island”.  I met many Mayflower Cousins at the California Mayflower table, and I knew some from the 2008 Trienniel Plymouth Congress.  We all plan to meet up for dinner together at the banquet.  I also met Lisa Cooke from the Genealogy Gems, the staff at NEHGS (Gary Boyd Roberts,  Brenton Simons, Tom Champoux, and David Allen Lambert), and I finally met the Footnote Maven and Randy Seaver’s lovely wife, Linda.  The vendor hall is huge, and it will take several trips before I see everything.
 

Still ahead are the banquet, Thomas’s Radio Show and the Blogger Ice Cream Social Sponsored by Geni.com !  By the way, I never did get that siesta this afternoon!

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo