Nancy Luce the Chicken Lady of Martha's Vineyard

This tombstone was photographed at the cemetery in West Tisbury, Massachusetts,

on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

NANCY LUCE

Died

Apr. 3, 1880

Aged 73

The story of Nancy Luce is sad and depressing.  She was considered an oddity during her lifetime, and now in death gawkers gather at her strange gravesite.   On the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where she spent her life, she is known as “The Chicken Lady”. 

Nancy Luce was born in 1814, to a family of means, the daughter of Phillip Luce and Anna Manter.  She came down with some sort of illness as a young woman, and the disabilities lasted the rest of her life.  Some think she may have been an early sufferer of Lyme disease.  Her parents died at about this time, and neighbors tried to steal her property.   She won her rights but it left a bitter taste with the islanders, who hated her.  She lived alone, lonely and in poverty for the rest of her days.

For companionship she had her chickens.  She spent all her money on their care, and her egg money on their elaborate burials.  Each chicken had a casket and granite tombstone.  They had odd names like Toona, Otte Opheto and Tweedle Dedel Bebbe Pinky.   People thought she was crazy.  She wrote little books about her chickens to help pay for the taxes and expenses.   Curiousity seekers and tourists took her photographs and made postcards of her, but she didn’t receive any income from the photos.

She died alone in her house on 9 April 1890.  No one discovered her body for several days.   Her farm was sold and the tombstones for her chickens became doorsteps.  She had a decent burial, and even today her fans decorate her grave with chicken dolls, statues and glass eggs. 

The Dukes County Historical Society in Edgartown now has two of Nancy’s chicken tombstones.  Here is a sample epitaph:

POOR LITTLE HEARTS

Poor little Ada Queetie has departed this life,

Never to be here no more,

No more to love, no more to speak,

No more to be my firend.

O how I long to see her with me alive and well,

Her heart and mine was united,

Love and feelings deeply rooted for each other,

She and I could never part,

I am left broken hearted…

For the truly curious:

A biography of Nancy Luce,  Consider Poor I:  The Life and Works of Nancy Luce, by Walter Magnes Teller, 1984

Click here to read a sample of Nancy Luce’s 1871 writing about chickens

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/664136/hens-diseases-and-cures-by-nancy-luce-1871-chicken-lady

Nancy Luce’s papers are now at the Brown University Library.  Walter Magnes Teller used them to write his biography of Luce.  They can be accessed at the Hay Annex, call numbers Ms. LUCE Box 1 and Box 2. 

A Complete Edition of the Works of Nancy Luce, by Nancy Luce can be read online at this link:

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1556103

Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Henry Luce, born 1644 and died May 1687/88 in Tisbury; married about 1666 to Remember Litchfield, daughter of Lawrence Litchfield and Judith Dennis.

Generation 2:  Thomas Luce, born about 1679 in West Tisbury, died 1 April 1727 in Tisbury; married about 1707 to Hannah Butler, daughter of Thomas Butler and Jemima Daggett. Thomas Butler is my 9th great grand uncle, and I descend from his brother John Butler (1625 - 1658)

Generation 3: Malatiah Luce, born 1710 in Tisbury, died 3 May 1801 in Nauvoo, Illinois; married Eleanor Harlow

Generation 4:  Thomas Luce, born 1743 in Holmes Hole, Tisbury, Massachusetts and died about 1810 in Tisbury; married on 29 June 1769 in Holmes Hole, Tisbury to Hulda Butler, daughter of Shubael Butler and Hepsibah Daggett.  She was born about 1747 in Edgartown.  Shubael Butler is the son of Zephaniah Butler, my 8th great grand uncle.  I descend from Zephaniah's brother, John (see above).

Generation 5:  Phillip Luce, born 11 December 1771 and died 1 May 1847; married on 14 March 1811 in West Tisbury to Ann Manter, daughter of George Manter and Sarah Athearn.  She was born 28 July 1778 in Tisbury, and died 14 June 1851 in Holmes Hole, Tisbury.

Generation 6:  Nancy Luce, born 23 August 1814 in Tiah's Cove, West Tisbury and died 9 April 1890 in West Tisbury.  

 ----------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Nancy Luce the Chicken Lady of Martha's Vineyard", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 17, 2014, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/nancy-luce-chicken-lady-of-marthas.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Horse and Stagecoach

Every Wednesday for more than two years Vincent and I have been posting photographs of weather vanes located in or near the Nutfield area (the former name for the land where Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire are now located). Most are historically interesting or just whimsical and fun weather vanes. If you know an interesting weather vane, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Today's weather vane was found just a few miles over the border in Vermont . Have fun guessing where you may have seen this weather vane.

Do you know the location of weather vane #133? Scroll down to see the answer....

Today's weather vane was seen in Quechee, Vermont on Route 4, just about a half mile before the Quechee Gorge bridge.  It is a flat silhouette of a horse and coach.  This weather vane is at the entrance of a shopping area, on a cupola.  Under the roof is a sleigh carrying logs, pulled by two draft horses.  Sorry for the crooked angle of the photo, it was taken from the little red convertible as we pulled over to snap the shot as we were driving by on our way to view Quechee Gorge! 

The Quechee Gorge Village Marketplace website http://www.quecheegorge.com/index.php 

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

-------------------------------
Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ John Jackson, 1690/91, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Point of Graves Burial Ground, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

HERE

LYETH BURIED

YE BODY OF

JOHN JACKSON:

AGED 33 YEARS

DYED IANUARY

YE 26 1690/1

According to a sign at this cemetery "John Jackson, d. 1690 - 91.  Jackson was a mariner of Portsmouth who owned land on Little Harbor as well as Jackson Island in the Piscataqua River.  The square shape and design of this stone are unusual for the time.  Its carver's identity is uncertain, perhaps John Noyes or James Foster."

In the book Historic Burial Ground of the New Hampshire Seacoast, by Glenn A. Knoblock, "Jackson was a mariner of Portsmouth, who was married to Margaret Clark.  He had a son John Jr., to who he willed his house, 39 acres of land, and 5 acres of salt marsh on "Littel Harbor" once "hee comes to Lawful age of twenty-one years."  He also willed to his wife 14 acres of land and "too acers of land upon the Letill iland comm'only called Jackson's Island."

--------------------------------------
The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/tombstone-tuesday-john-jackson-169091.html 

Copyright (c), 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Lawsuit over a Carpet, 1675, Massachusetts

No, this is not the carpet from the lawsuit

There once was a rug that crossed the ocean in 1635,  survived a ship wreck and several lawsuits, and was passed on as a family heirloom for years and years.   This is the story of that carpet.

In 1675 John Cogswell sued his uncle, William Cogswell over his father’s estate.  A will could not be found, and the local Essex County, Massachusetts court decided in John’s favor for about 54 pounds plus court costs.  Uncle William appealed, and in 1676 the higher court in Boston reversed the judgement and charged John 13 pounds 4 shillings.  John refused to pay, and asked for a hearing.  On 29 May 1677 the whole case was heard again in William’s favor.

John Cogswell (1650 – 1724) is my 7^th great grandfather.  His grandparents, John and Elizabeth (Thompson) Cogswell, were my 9^th great grandparents.  They came to America with the Winthrop Fleet, on board the ship Angel Gabriel, which was wrecked in Pemaquid harbor, Maine during a big hurricane in 1635.  The carpet in question survived the voyage, the shipwreck, and the 40 years before the lawsuit.

Deposition by William Thompson, 1677, aged about 28 years, who lived with John Cogswell in Ipswich. 

“I did frequently see a Turkey-work carpet which my uncle and aunt had:  and I have heard them say it was theirs in Old England, and used to lie on their parlor table there; and I heard my father, Doctor Samuel Thompson, say that he did well remember that my uncle had a Turkey-work carpet, which used to lie upon their parlor table in Old England, and took it away with them.”

More depositions in the 1676 case can be read at this page:   http://kristinhall.org/fambly/Cogswell/John3Cogswell.html

Why was the Turkish carpet on the table?  Well, in the 17^th century carpets were much too valuable to walk on, even in England.  They were usually hung on the wall like a tapestry, or hung over a table or bed.  Why was the original judgement overturned?  Someone must have been fibbing, since several witnesses mentioned the goods owned by Cogswell, as well as the carpet.   

Court cases such as this help fill out the story of our ancestor’s lives beyond birth and death dates.  Since the early colonial residents of New England were particularly litigious, there is a good chance you might find your ancestor mentioned in a court record, as a witness, defendant, plantiff, judge or juror.  This particular case is interesting because of the descriptions of the household goods owned by the Cogswell family.

John Cogswell of Ipswich, Massachusetts is also known for bravely signing a petition in favor of John and Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor during the Salem Witch Hysteria in 1692.  John Proctor was the witch trial victim immortalized by the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.  John Proctor and his first wife, Martha Harper , are also my ancestors.   This was considered a brave act, because in 1692 many of the friends and family of the accused had the finger of guilt pointed back at themselves, especially if they tried to prove their loved one’s innocence.

You can still visit the Cogswell family land in the town of Essex, Massachusetts (formerly the Chebacco parish of Ipswich, Massachusetts).   Cogswell's Grant is now a museum home operated by Historic New England. 

For more information:

The Cogswells in America, by E. O. Jameson, published in Boston in 1884 (can be read online at archive.org)

Cogswell Family Association    www.cogswell.org

The Cogswell Family Association blog  http://cogswellfam.wordpress.com/

Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts,  Volume VI, 1675 – 1678, page 156 mentions the “turkey work” carpet.  Available to view online at Google Book Search.

Cogswell’s Grant, a historic property managed by “Historic New England”.  It was first owned by John Cogswell (1592 – 1669), born in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England, who came to New England in 1635 aboard the Angel Gabriel with his family.  The Angel Gabriel was wrecked, and they lost 5,000 pounds sterling of property, but all survived.  He called his property in Essex, Massachusetts (Chebacco Parish), Westberry Lee” after his birthplace.   It was passed down in the Cogswell family from 1636 to 1839, when it was sold to Adam Boyd, a prominent shipbuilder.

http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/cogswells-grant

The image above of the carpet is from Wikimedia Commons, Lotto Carpet design Usak 16th century, photographed at the Museum of Islamic Art, World Imaging, 2009. 

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

The URL for this post is

 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-lawsuit-over-carpet-1675-massachusetts.html 

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ DAGGETT of Plymouth, Watertown, and Martha’s Vineyard

DAGGETT/DOGGETT

John Daggett, my 11^th great grandfather,  arrived in Massachusetts with the Winthrop Fleet. He arrived in Salem in 1630 and was one of the original settlers of Watertown, and had a lot next to Sir Richard Saltonstall.  He became part of Governor Thomas Mayhew’s company that settled Martha’s Vineyard, an island off Cape Cod.  His son Thomas Daggett had already settled there.  He married in Plymouth in 1667 to Bathsheba Pratt, his second wife, and he probably died there in 1673.

In the second generation, Thomas Daggett, my 10^th great grandfather, married Governor Thomas Mayhew’s daughter, Hannah.  Governor Mayhew described him as “My son Doggett, that hath more language than any other Englishman upon the island and is a considerable young man.”   He was Clerk of the Courts and later a Justice of the County Courts.

In the third generation, Captain Thomas Daggett was in the town militia.  He removed to Bristol, Rhode Island for a while, but returned to Martha’s Vineyard, where he died.  The inventory of his estate showed that he owned 1,393 pounds in real estate.

There is an article about Alice Brotherton, wife of John Doggett of Martha’s Vineyard, in The American Genealogist, Volume 72, pages 89 to 102.  The sketch of John Doggett can be found in The Great Migration Begins, Volume I, pages 568 to 570.   

My DAGGETT genealogy:

Generation 1: John Daggett, born 4 October 1602 in Boxford, Suffolk, England, died in May 1673 in Plymouth, Massachusetts; married in 29 August 1622 in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, England to Alice Brotherton.  He married second to Bathsheba Pratt.

Generation 2: Thomas Daggett, born between 1630 and 1632 in Watertown, Massachusetts; married on 23 September 1657 in Edgartown to Hannah Mayhew, daughter of Governor Thomas Mayhew.  She was born 15 June 1635 and died 7 February 1723 in Edgartown, Massachusetts. Eleven children.  He married second to Elizabeth Humphrey and third to Joan Unknown.

Generation 3:  Captain Thomas Daggett, son of Thomas Daggett and Hannah Mayhew, born about 1658 and died 28 August 1726 in Edgartown; married on 22 January 1684 in Bristol, Rhode Island to Elizabeth Hawes.   Ten children.

Generation 4: Elizabeth Daggett, born about 1690 in Edgartown, died after 1753; married on 16 December 1708 in Edgartown to John Butler, son of John Butler and Priscilla Norton.  He was born about 1674 and died after 6 February 1754.  Six children.

Generation 5: Keziah Butler married Samuel Osborn

Generation 6: Samuel Osborn married Sarah Wass

Generation 7: Sarah Osborn married Charles Skinner

Generation 8: Ann Skinner married Thomas Ratchford Lyons

Generation 9: Isabella Lyons married Rev. Ingraham Ebenezer Bill

Generation 10:  Caleb Rand Bill married Ann Margaret Bollman

Generation 11: Isabella Lyons Bill married Albert Munroe Wilkinson

Generation 12: Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

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

The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/12/surname-saturday-daggett-of-plymouth.html 

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

More Johnny Appleseed photos from Cincinnati, Ohio

My blogger friend Pam Seavey Schaffner read my Johnny Appleseed post from August and she send me some photos of this beautiful monument to him from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Pam's blog is called "Digging Down East", and we share a few New England ancestors.  And then blogger Carol Bowen Stevens from "Reflections from the Fence" sent me some photos of Johnny's burial spot in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Thank you so much, ladies!

John Chapman AKA "Johnny Appleseed" is a distant cousin to me.  He left his hometown of Leominster, Massachusetts and went to the Ohio and Indiana territories as a missionary.   These photos are of the memorial to Johnny at the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He is not buried here, but was buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

JOHNNY APPLESEED

JOHN CHAPMAN SEPTEMBER 26, 1774 - MARCH 18, 1845

JOHNNY APPLESEED, FIGURE OF LEGEND, WAS A SWEDENBORGIAN

MISSIONARY TO THE OHIO AN DINDIAN FRONTIER.  SAINTLY

IN HIS DAILY LIFE, HE LOVED LIFE IN ALL ITS FORMS AND

HAD A JOYOUS WILL TO HELP THE EARTH YIELD ITS FRUITS.

BIBLE IN HAND AND SACK OF SEEDS SWINGING FROM HIS SHOULDER

HE PLANTED MANY APPLE ORCHARDS THAT LIVE TODAY IN THIS

NATION.  MAY HE BE REMEMBERED IN FACT AS WELL AS IN

LEGEND FOR HIS GODLINESS AND GOODNESS.

These next photos are from Fort Wayne, and are of the supposed burial spot for John Chapman "Johnny Appleseed". 

Johnny Appleseed

1774 - 1845

Johnny Appleseed, legendary planter of orchards

across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, was a real

person named John Chapman.  He was a friend to

all God's creatures and a missionary for the 

Swedenborgian religion, a Christian denomination.

He was also a smart businessman.  Moving ahead

of the waves of westward bound settlers, he

purchased property, carefully sowed appleseeds,

and had seedlings available when settlers arrived.

His seedlings were valuable because apples were

highly nutritious and orchards were a symbol of 

permanency.  He sold trees for 3 cents if you

planted them and 6.5 cents if he planted them for 

you.  Johnny was also very generous, often saying

"pay me when you can."  

The amber water flask Johnny gave to a little girl on her birthday

gives us a clue to his success and fame.  Material things meant

little to Johnny except when they could make a child smile, give

a pioneer family the means to improve their diet or increase 

their cash income from apples or apple jack.  Cider and apple

jack were pioneer currancy.

Documents like this receipt

indicate that Johnny lived

and worked here from the 

1830s until his death in 1845.

Johnny lived a life of service in harmony with nature that impressed Native Americans, as

well as his fellow Americans.  He was a proud patriot.  His thoughts were of God and the

afterlife and his greeting was often, "I have good news from heaven!"  He must have been a

good salesman.  People loved him.

The water flask is on display at The History Center, 302 East Berry Street. 

JOHN CHAPMAN

"JOHNNY APPLESEED"

DIED 1845

----------

ERECTED BY

INDIANA

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

"JOHNY

APPLESEED"

JOHN CHAPMAN

HE LIVED FOR OTHERS

HOLY BIBLE

1774 - 1845

IN FOND MEMORY OF

JOHN CHAPMAN, ENDEARINGLY KNOWN AS "JOHNNY APPLESEED"

THESE GRAVESITE IMPROVEMENTS WERE PROVIDED BY

THE MEN'S GARDEN CLUBS OF AMERICA

AND

THE JOHNNY APPLESEED NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, INC.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1965

My blog post about Johnny Appleseed's birthplace in Leominster, Massachusetts

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html 

Pam Seavey Schaffner's blog   http://www.diggingdowneast.blogspot.com/

Carol A. Bowen Steven's blog http://reflectionsfromthefence.blogspot.com/

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

The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/more-johnny-appleseed-photos-from.html 

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

New England GeneaBloggers RootsTech Bash

UPDATE:   This event has been cancelled 

Can’t make it to RootsTech 2014 in Salt Lake City?  Some of the biggest presentations at this genealogy conference will be live streamed at https://rootstech.org/ on the weekend of February 6, 7 and 8.   Immediately following the conference, there will be an exciting event “RootsTech Genealogy Blogger After Party” at the home of Dear Myrtle.   Many of your favorite bloggers will be there, fresh from the excitement of the event. 

Since many of your favorite New England Genealogy Bloggers will not be able to be in Salt Lake City that weekend, we are gathering at my home in New Hampshire for our own bash.  We’ll watch some of the videos of the conference, chat, socialize and believe it or… we will meet up with the bloggers at Myrt’s house, too!

You will be able to see the bloggers online at both events.  The New England GeneaBloggers will be asking the attendees about RootsTech, and the bloggers in Salt Lake City will be able to converse online with the New Englanders.  It should be a fun and informative hour of exchange, and we'll all learn a lot about the latest genealogy news and upcoming technology.  It will be one big virtual on-line party! 

How will this magic happen? Through a Google+ Hang Out On Air we will live stream from my living room, and from Myrtle’s living room, right into your living room, iPad, mobile device, laptop or where ever you would like to watch, too.  There will be an archived version of this event, too.

If you would like to watch the “Blogger After Party and Blogger Bash” live stay tuned here at this blog for an announcement with the URL (web address) of where to tune in.  You will need to have a Google+ account set up ahead of time.  I’ll post complete instructions on how to tune in.   If you aren't available to watch live (8:30 pm Eastern Time on Saturday, 8 February 2014) there will be an archived version available later.

http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/

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

The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-england-geneabloggers-rootstech-bash.html 

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday ~ An Arrow

Every Wednesday for more than two years Vincent and I have been posting photographs of weather vanes located in or near the Nutfield area (the former name for the land where Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire are now located). Most are historically interesting or just whimsical and fun weather vanes. If you know an interesting weather vane, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Today's weather vane was found in on a barn north of Manchester, New Hampshire . Have fun guessing where you may have seen this weather vane.

Do you know the location of weather vane #132? Scroll down to see the answer....

While we were on a genea-jaunt to somewhere up off Rt. 28, we spied this interesting barn in Chichester, New Hampshire.  On the cupola above the barn was a very, very large weather vane.  It's only an arrow, but it appears to be quite old.  A sign out in front of the barn announced that this was "The MacCleery Farm."

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

-------------------------------
The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/weathervane-wednesday-arrow.html

Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo