Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Very Old Weathercock

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 Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #163? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!

Today's weather vane is the rooster 115 feet high atop the steeple of the First Parish Church in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.  This pretty church sits right next to the harbor.  I remember not too long ago the steeple was tilting at a very dangerous angle, and the townspeople held many fund raisers to have it repaired.  This weathercock dates back to 1754, and cost the church members 7 pounds, 10 shillings and 8 pence.

There are several pages about this weathercock in the book Yankee Weathervanes by Myrna Kaye, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co, Inc., 1975 on pages 16 - 19.  Weathercocks are some of the oldest weather vanes in Europe.  According to the legend in the Bible, when St. Peter was told by Jesus that "The cock shall not crow, 'til thou hast denied me thrice".  The cock was also an old symbol of vigilance, alerting the town of the end of night, which is also a symbol of the resurrection.  The rooster and the fish are common weather vanes on old New England churches, as well as the ubiquitous banner.

My aunt and uncle had their wedding here in 1949.  The same uncle had his funeral here in 2005.  Generations of my ALLEN ancestors gathered here with the same church parish for worship in the 1600s and 1700s, although this present building was built in 1809.

The First Parish Church, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts http://www.firstparishchurch.org/ 

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/weathervane-wednesday-very-old.html

Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

July and August 2014 Genealogy and Local History Calendar

July 4, Independence Day Celebration at Old Sturbridge Village.  Join the parade and huzzah during a rousing patriotic reading of the Declaration of Independence.  www.osv.org for more information.

July 7, 14 and 21, Mondays, at 6:30pm A Summer of Sharing: The Search for Ancestors at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street,  Newton, Massachusetts. Session one is basic family history techniques, sessions two and three are research, open discussion, sharing information and stories. Bring your most challenging research questions for group brain storming sessions.  Open to teens, or adults accompanied by teens.  Registration required, call Liz the Teen Librarian at 617-796-1380 or email teens@newtonfreelibrary.net   Free to the public. 

July 8, Tuesday, Passenger Lists, Censuses and Naturalizations: The Big 3 Sources for Family History, at the National Archives facility in Waltham, Massachusetts, 380 Trapelo Road, Free to the public.  Learn how to locate and use these resources, and there will be assistance from archives staff and volunteers.

July 9, Wednesday, 10am, New Visitor Tour of the NEHGS Library, at 99-101 Newbury Street, Boston.  Free orientation and tour of the New England Historic Genealogical Society research facility. No reservations required.

July 9, Wednesday, noon, Slavery, Sacred Texts and the Antebellum Confrontation with History, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

July 11, Friday, noon, Of Form and Failure: American Purtianism, Quantification, and the Way of All Grace, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

July 11 and 12, Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm, Madison Historic Barn Tour, a fundraiser for the Madison Public Library, $20 weekend of the tour, $15 in advance, Tour 7 of the more than 50 historic barns in Madison, New Hampshire. www.madisonbarns.wordpress.com 603-367-8084

July 12, Saturday, 2pm Families of the Eastern Frontier – Living History Event at Colonial Pemaquid, Pemaquid State Historic Site, Old Fort Road, New Harbor, Maine, www.friendsofcolonialpemaquid.org Personal accounts of clothing, crafts, games and cooking demonstrating family life in Pemaquid during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. 207-677-2423

July 13, Sunday, The 267^th Birthday of John Paul Jones, celebrated all day by the Portsmouth Historical Society, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at the John Paul Jones House, 43 Middle street.  A talk by J. Dennis Robinson, children’s pie eating contest, music, birthday cake and a special appearance by Silas Deanne, the Accused Spy from the Portsmouth Underbelly tours.  Bring a lawn chair.

July 14, Monday, noon, Cautious Romantics: The Dana Family of Boston as the Interpretive Key to a Larger Discourse, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

July 15, Tuesday, noon, Land, Liberty & Property: Surveyors and the Production of Empire in British North America, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

July 16, Wednesday, 6pm Journalist Meets Author on Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880 – 1900: A Story of Race, Sport and Society at the Museum of African American History, 46 Joy Street, Boston, Massachusetts, Boston Globe’s Derrick Jackson interview’s author Lorenz J. Finison about his new book.

July 17, Thursday, 10am – 3pm Historic Summer Kitchen Tour, Quince and Hussey Streets, Nantucket, Massachusetts, www.nantucketpreservation.org National Trust for Historic Preservation

July 18, Friday, 10am Walk Through Dennis Cemetery, Dennis, Massachusetts, costumed guides will take you through the cemetery.  Meet at the flag outside the receiving tomb.

July 19, Saturday 10am – 11:30am Mark Twain’s Companions and Cohorts, at the Cedar Hill Cemetery, 453 Fairfield Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, http://cedarhillfoundation.org 860-956-3311, learn about Twain’s life during this tour of Cedar Hill Cemetery led by popular guide Steve Courtney.

July 19, Saturday, Fire & Ice Day at Sturbridge Village Museum, Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Half price admission to all firefighters.  See demonstrations of old fashioned fire fighting including a demonstration of an historical 19^th century hand pump fire truck, a fire truck parade and a Fire Explorer Scout muster. For more information see this link https://www.osv.org/event/fire-ice-day-0

July 21, Monday, noon, Cosmopolitan Parochialism: Magistrates and Imperial Revolution in New England, 1760 – 1800, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

July 22, Tuesday, noon, Watershed Decisions: Arthur Shurcliff’s Vision of the Quabbin Reservoir, 1922 – 1945, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

July 25 and 26, Felton Family Reunion, descendants of Nathaniel Felton, Salem (Peabody), Massachusetts, at the Felton-Smith Historical Site, Peabody, Massachusetts, see the website of the Felton Family Association for more information and details www.feltonfamily.org 

July 26, Saturday, Massachusetts Genealogical Council Annual Seminar, at the Mansfield Holiday Inn, 31 Hampshire Street, Mansfield, Massachusetts, for more information see the website http://www.massgencouncil.org/index.php/presentations or call 508-339-2200.

July 30, Wednesday, noon, John Barleycorn vs. Sir Richard Rum: Alcohol, the Atlantic, and the Distilling of Colonial Identity, 1650 – 1800, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

August 1 – 10, Salem Heritage Days, Salem, Massachusetts, at the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square,  food, fun, activities for all ages including the Essex Street Fair, the Ice Cream Bowl, and a car show on Chestnut Street. August 2^nd is the Salem Maritime Festival hosted by the National Park Service with live music, historical re-enactors, tall ships and interactive programs.

August 1, Friday, noon, Character Detectives: Female Physiognomists in the Early American Republic, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

August 2, Saturday, 9am – 4:30pm, NEHGS Family History Day 2014, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus, One day workshop by the experts at the New England Historical Genealogical Society to show you the best practices in genealogy.  Sponsored by MyHeritage. Click here for more information and registration https://regstg.com/Registration/Introduction.aspx?rid=0aa22e42-d991-48ab-bd5c-68e504e3e206 $40 per person by July 18^th, after July 18^th $80 per person.  Optional lunch $18 per person.  One on one consultations with NEHGS genealogists available (25 minutes) for $30 per person.

August 6^th, Wednesday, noon, “The Day of Sainthood has Passed”: American Abolitionists and the Golden Moment of the Civil War, 1861 – 1865, brown bag lunch series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Free, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.masshist.org/calendar

August 7, Thursday, noon, Lunch & Learn, Visual Images of Metacomet after King Philip’s War, at Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Bring your lunch, or buy one in the visitor center, and listen to a presentation by Joyce Rain Anderson.  Free to members, $8 non-members.

August 29 – 31st, 30^th Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival, at Gloucester, Massachusetts in the harbor and nearby. http://gloucesterschoonerfestival.net/ Fireworks on the 30th, parade of sail on the 31^st.

September 4, Thursday, noon, Lunch & Learn: The Restoration and Re-Launch of the Whaling Ship Charles W. Morgan, at Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Bring a lunch, or buy one in the visitor center, and listen to Dr. Elysa Engelman of the Mystic Seaport speak about the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, originally launched in 1841.  Free to members, non-members $8.

August 2 and 3, Saturday and Sunday, Redcoats and Rebels, at the Sturbridge Village Museum, Sturbridge, Massachusetts, the largest military re-enactment in New England with 1,000 soldiers portraying British, Irish, Spanish, Scottish, French and Colonial troops. For more information see this link https://www.osv.org/event/redcoats-rebels-0

August 20, Wednesday, 6pm New England Powder Houses, at the House of Seven Gables, 115 Derby Street, Salem, Massachusetts, a lecture by Matthew Thomas, Free to members, non-members $15, reservations recommended 978-744-0991 ext. 104

September 27, Saturday, 2pm, Colonial Garden Talk, by Roby Kanter, , at the House of Seven Gables, 115 Derby Street, Salem, Massachusetts, a lecture by Matthew Thomas, Free to members, non-members $15, reservations recommended 978-744-0991 ext. 104

October 1 – 31^st, 33^rd Annual Salem Haunted Happenings, all over Salem, Massachusetts, see the website http://hauntedhappenings.org/ Grand Parade, Street Fairs, Family Film nights, costume balls, ghost tours, haunted houses, live music and theatrical presentations.

November 19, Wednesday, 6pm, The Schooner Fame, by Capt. Mike Rustein, , at the House of Seven Gables, 115 Derby Street, Salem, Massachusetts, a lecture by Matthew Thomas, Free to members, non-members $15, reservations recommended 978-744-0991 ext. 104

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Local Genealogy Club Meetings (some clubs may be on summer hiatus)

Amesbury, MA – A new genealogy club has started, every last Monday of the month.  No registration, come to as many meetings as you would like.  For info contact Margie Walker, Local History Librarian, Amesbury Public Library, Amesbury, MA  978-388-8148 or mwalker@mvlc.org

Barrington, NH Genealogy Club, meets the first Wednesday of the month at 6pm at the Barrington Public Library, 105 Ramsdell Lane, Barrington, NH 
http://barringtongenealogy.weebly.com/  or email Wendy at genealogyclub@gmail.com

Chelmsford Genealogy Club, at the Chelmsford, MA Public Library, first Tuesday night of the month at 7PM in the McCarthy Meeting Room, contact Judy Sylvia http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/programs/programs/genealogy_club.html 978-256-5521

Genealogy Roundtable, at the Derry Public Library, 64 East Broadway, Derry, NH  http://www.derry.lib.nh.us/  every first Tuesday of the Month, at 7pm to 8:15pm in the downstairs meeting room.  Contact: Alan Howard at 603-432-6140 for more information.

Hudson Genealogy Club, at the Rogers Memorial Library, 194 Derry Road, Hudson, NH http://www.rodgerslibrary.org/  every 2^nd Friday of the Month, at 1:30 PM contact 603-886-6030 for more information.  

Littleton Genealogy Club, at the Couper Room in the Littleton, Massachusetts Reuben Hoar Public Library, third Monday of the month. For more information see the website at http://www.littletonma.org/content/19459/19471/26579/26595/default.aspx

Greater Lowell enealogy Club, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maglgc/ meets at the Pollard Memorial Library, Lowell, MA 10AM to 1PM once a month. 

Meredith NH, Genealogy Club  http://www.meredithlibrary.org/genealogy.html

Newton, NH Genealogy Club- Gale Library, Newton, NH, 603-382-4691, 3PM on the third Wednesday of the month. 

North Hampton, NH Genealogy Club, at the North Hampton Public Library, 237A Atlantic Avenue, North Hampton NH 603-964-6326   http://nhplib.org/?p=1386

Rowley, Massachusetts Genealogy Club, meets the 2^nd Monday of each month at the Rowley library, 6 -8pm in the Local History Room.  141 Main Street, Rowley, Massachusetts 978-948-2850

Rye Genealogy Club, at the Rye Public Library, first Tuesday of the month at 2PM.  http://ryepubliclibrary.org/

RISE Genealogy Group at the Nashua Public Library, Hunt Room, on the first Friday of the month at 1pm http://www.nashualibrary.org/  (Rivier College Institute for Senior Education, see http://www.rivier.edu/rise/default.aspx?id=1619 )

Southborough, MA Genealogy Club, at the Southborough Library, 25 Main Street, Southborough, MA  508-485-5031 or info@southboroughtlib.org   Third Thursday of the Month.  See the website www.southboroughlib.org for a schedule

South Shore Genealogical Society, at the John Curtis Free Library, Rt. 139, Hanover, Mass at 1:30pm ever second Saturday of the month from September to June.

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Genealogy Club, meets third Monday of the month at the Shrewsbury Public Library, contact George C. Brown at 508-841-8531 or gbrown@cwmars.org

Wednesday Night Jewish Genealogy, Every 3^rd Wednesday at NEHGS, 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Mass. http://www.americanancestors.org/Event.aspx?id=29156

Monthly Irish Study Genealogy Group, usually every 4^th Saturday of the month at NEHGS, 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts between 9:30 and noon in the Education Center (2^nd floor).  Contact Mary Ellen Grogan for more information megrogan@ix.netcom.com and to confirm the meeting time and date.

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/july-and-august-2014-genealogy-and.html

Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mausoleums at Pine Grove Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire

Vincent photographed these assorted mausoleums during our first visit to Pine Grove Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire.  For a municipal cemetery, there were a lot of interesting mausoleums to see, many were quite large and impressive.  They rival anything I've seen at private cemeteries!

Question: What do you think is upstairs in a two floor mausoleum?

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The URL for this post is 

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/tombstone-tuesday-mausoleums-at-pine.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

What an 1848 letter between two 16 year old cousins taught me about my family

Ann Marie Holt's gravestone
at the Oahu Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii

The following letter, written in Dorchester, a village outside of Boston, to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in 1848 was written by Ann Marie Holt.  She was my first cousin five generations removed. Ann Marie wrote to her first cousin, John Owen Dominis.  She was about sixteen years old, and John was the same age.

Cousin John had gone to Hawaii when he was about five years old with his mother, to meet up his father, a sea captain who had made Honolulu his new residence.  Captain John Dominis was lost at sea in 1846, about two years before this letter was written. The Captain had built his Boston wife a fine home out of local wood and from parts shipped from Boston to Honolulu. He was going to China to buy furnishings for the new house when his ship was lost.  Auntie Mary (Jones) Dominis (1803-1889) decided to stay in Honolulu, and at about this time John was starting out on his own in business.  The fine home, known as “Washington Place”, mentioned in the letter, is still standing in Honolulu and serves as the Hawaiian Governor’s residence.

Auntie Mary had six sisters. One was my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger (1799 – 1828) who was already dead by the time this letter was written.  Ann Marie’s mother was another sister, Ann Marie Stanwood (Jones) Holt (1811 – 1832), who had also died young in Boston.  Ann Marie’s father, Captain Robert William Holt, was also a sea captain who made many trips to Hawaii.  He had remarried to a native Polynesian woman in 1835 and his second wife and children were living in Honolulu.  When Ann Marie and her sister, Elizabeth (1830 – 1865), were a bit older, they traveled to Hawaii to reunite with their father. Unfortunately, Anne Marie, the author of this letter, died on 15 May 1851, at Washington Place, soon after disembarking at Honolulu. 

This letter is especially poignant to me because I knew that these two teenaged cousins, long separated by two oceans, would meet again in a few years under tragic circumstances.  Ann Marie must have arrived in Honolulu very ill, and died in cousin John’s own home soon after.

I am also imagining how difficult it was for family members to be separated in 1848.  How long did it take for a letter to get from Boston to Hawaii?  You can guess in the last paragraph that the family must have located a ship bound for Hawaii, and rushed to get letters on board before it sailed.

The “Aunt Agnes” mentioned in this letter is a fourth Jones sister from Boston.  All the sisters grew up in Boston’s North End, the daughter of Owen Jones, a mariner.  Agnes (Jones) Hart (1816 – 1890) was the youngest daughter.  She must have taken in her Holt nieces while they continued their education in Massachusetts, waiting for the day to join their father in Hawaii.  The “Aunt Lee” mentioned in this letter is the fifth daughter, Laura Williams (Jones) Lee (1890 – 1887).  The only sisters not mentioned in this letter were my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine, already deceased, and the eldest daughter, Sarah Dargue (Jones) Snelling (1794 – 1875), whose husband Enoch Howes Snelling was a Boston glazier who provided the doors and windows for “the handsomest [house] on the Island”, Washington Place.

This letter was found in the Hawaii State Archives.  John Owen Dominis (1832 – 1891), the teenaged boy who was the recipient of this letter, grew up to marry Lydia Kamekeha Paki, who became Queen Lili’uokalani.  Thank goodness he saved this letter, and that his private papers were preserved by his wife and passed on to the Hawaii State Archives.  Finding this letter, and others like it, have helped me to piece together the story of the Jones sisters of Boston.  None of the sisters had their births or marriages recorded in city or state vital records.  Finding their kinship and family relationships has come together from these letters, family documents, oral history, church and official death records.

Source: Hawaii State Archives, Queen Lili’uokalani Collections, M-93, Box 11, Folder 104, Letter from A. M. Holt to John Owen Dominis, dated 13 August 1848.

                                                  Dorchester Aug. 13^th 1848

Dear Cousin

                I found looking over my letters the other day

that I am in debt to you for two.  I thought that I must

do my best to pay you by writing to you this opportunity.

I am at Aunt Agnes’ visiting.  They have a very pleasant

place near Granite Bridge the house is old fashioned

but very good the fireplaces about two yards long wide

and a yard and a half long the panes of glass in the

windows about as large as a sheet of note paper.

I suppose that you have almost set up business for your-

self.  How do you like your house I should like to see it

very much as I understand it is the handsomest on

the Island.  Sarah Ann is in Boston visiting I suppose

she will write to you this opportunity we miss her

and the children very much she has two very pretty

little girls  I know that you long to see them.

Aunt Lee has left Charter St. at last and gone to

Bridgewater to live they have quite a farm I believe

keep cows hens &c.  Uncle William and Aunt Agnes send

love to your mother and she will write if she has

time but she has such a family that if the vessel

sails tomorrow she will not be able to.  Do you

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ride as much as ever?  Write every opportunity

and believe me yours suffice

A.      M. H.

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A.M.Holt, Dorchester

Aug. 13/48

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John O. Dominis

Honolulu

Oahu

S.I.

For more information on the Jones sisters, see this blog post (my very first blog post in 2009!)

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/07/hawaii-boston-connection-to-royal.html     

For more information on Ann Marie Holt and her grave in Honolulu, Hawaii

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/hawaiis-holt-family.html     

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/03/annie-maria-holt-1832-1851.html     

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-memorial-for-annie-marie-holt-hawaii.html     

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-1848-letter-between-two-16-year.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ STORY of Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, Massachusetts (now Essex, Massachusetts)

The Essex (Chebacco) River

STORY

William Story was the son of Robert Story in England.  His indenture record reads “Norwich England: An index of Indentures of Norwich Apprentices Enrolled with the Norwich Assembly: Henry VII – George II, page 157: Story, William, son of Robert, dec.; apprenticed to John Coats of Norwich, carpenter, 1634 for 7 years."   Somehow he broke this contract and arrived in Boston on 8 June 1637 from Yarmouth.  In the passenger list there was a Samuel Dix listed with two servants, and one was William Story, b. 1614, from Norwich.  Dix was a joiner (woodworker).  In the New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 14 (1860), page 325 there is a transcription of an old record from England “Aprill the 8^th 1637.  The examinaction of Samuell Dix of Norwich in Norff. Joynar aged 43 yeares and Ioane his wife aged 38 yeares with 2 children, Presella and Abegell, and 2 Sauantes William Storey and Daniell Linsey, the one aged 23 and the other 18 years;  ar desirous to goe to Bostone in New England there to Inhabitt.”

William Story settled in the part of Ipswich known as the Chebacco Parish, and married Sarah Foster, the daughter of Judge Reginald Foster.  He built a sawmill on the Chebacco River in 1671.  One 31 March 1693 he deeded to his son, Seth “all my housing, lands, fences, orchards, &c belonging to my lands in Chebacco, in Ipswich, adjoining to Chebacco Falls River, having the latter on the E. and S.E. and land of Thos. Low on E. & N.E., and land of Renold [Reginald, his father-in-law] on S. &S.W., and Ipswich common on W. &N.W.”   It also states in the book  History of Essex, by Crowell, page 27, “William’s son, Seth, was married and lived with him, and on condition of his maintaining him the rest of his days, he conveyed to him by deed of gift the farm, which he ‘occupied’ ”.  Administration of his estate was granted to the son, Seth, my 8^th great grandfather, on 20 January 1702/3, meaning he was about 89 years old when he died.

During King Philip’s War Seth Story served under Major Samuel Appleton as a sergeant.  He was also a deacon of the second church in Chebacco (now the town of Essex, Massachusetts).  He died at the age of 86.  This was a long lived family of Storys!  Seth had five children, and I descend from two of them: Zachariah and Elizabeth.

Notable descendants:  US President Millard Fillmore

For more information:

Descendants of William Story and Sarah Foster of Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts, by Betty Andrews Storey,2004 (also available to read online at https://archive.org )

Descendants of William Story Who Came to Ipswich in 1637: the first eight generations, by Robert Lee Pratt,  Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 2000

Story Family Papers, 1893 – 1905, by Emma Story White (1846 – 1909) a manuscript collection at the New England Historic Genealogical Society library in Boston, call number SG STO 3 107 includes a page handwritten genealogy of the descendants of William Story, with material on the Burnham and Foster families. She cites the sources in the margins.

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My STORY genealogy:

Generation 1:  William Story, son of Robert Story, born about 1614 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, died before 20 January 1702/3 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married about 1638 to Sarah Foster, daughter of Reginald Foster and Judith Wignall, born 15 October 1620 in Exeter, Devonshire, England, died 1681 in Ipswich. Eight children.

Generation 2: Seth Story, born 1646 in the Chebacco Parish of Ipswich, died 9 October 1732 in Chebacco Parish; married about 1682 to Elizabeth Cross, born about 1649, died 13 February 1736.  Five children, I descend from two of them.

Lineage A:

Generation 3: Zachariah Story, born 14 March 1684 in Chebacco Parish, died 16 February 1774 in Windsor, Vermont; married Rachel Andrews, daughter of William Andrews and Margaret Woodward, born about 1695, died 6 August 1777 in Windsor. Ten children.

Generation 4: Deborah Story, born 1723, died 24 November 1821 in Essex, Massachusetts; married 10 November 1743 to Westley Burnham, son of David Burnham and Elizabeth Perkins, born October 1719, died 28 June 1797. Nine children, and I descend from two of them.

Lineage A1: 

Generation 5: Westley Burnham m. Molly Woodbury

Lineage A1a:

Generation 6: Asa Burnham m. Polly Bray

Generation 7: Lydia W. Burnham m. Samuel Mears

Generation 8: Samuel Mears m. Sarah Ann Burnham

Generation 9: Sarah Burnham Mears m. Joseph Gilman Allen

Generation 10: Joseph Elmer Allen m. Carrie Maude Batchelder

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

Lineage A1b:

Generation 6: Henry Burnham m. Sally Poland

Generation 7: Sarah Ann Burnham m. Samuel Mears (first cousins, see above)

Lineage B:

Generation 3: Sarah Burnham m. Abner Poland

Generation 4:  Sally Poland m. Henry Burnham

Generation 5: Sarah Ann Burnham m. Samuel Mears (second cousins, see above)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/surname-saturday-story-of-chebacco.html

Copyright 2014 ©, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Hunt for Alva A. Hunt, Civil War Veteran

Today's blog post was written by a guest blogger, Penny Webster.  I first met Penny through the Londonderry Historical Society.  She is also a member of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, and she serves on the board as Elder.  I read about this story on Penny's Facebook page, and she agreed to write it up for my blog.  Thanks, Penny!

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Alva A. Hunt is my 2^nd great grandfather.  He was born on May 20, 1843 in Nassau, NY and sometime during the mid 19^th Century crossed over the Massachusetts border with his parents and siblings and settled in Pittsfield, MA.  There he worked as a teamster.  On March 19, 1864 he enlisted for a 3 year shift as a member of the 57th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers fighting against the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Alva’s military career would be cut short for he would be seriously wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Spotsylvania, VA.  A bullet that disabled his right arm led to his discharge.

Before being discharged, Alva married Julia Baker on October, 10, 1864.   They remained married for a little over 20 years and during that time Julia would give birth to 9 children.  Sadly, she would die from pneumonia in 1886 at the age of 36, a little over a month after the birth of her daughter, Grace.  Upon his discharge from the Army Alva continued working as a teamster but by the next census, he is listed merely as a farmer and this continued until his death in Pittsfield in 1901.  

Last fall I decided to take a trip to Pittsfield.  It was a new revelation to learn that my mother’s family came from Pittsfield.  I wanted to see Alva’s grave.  So my mother and I headed to Pittsfield and easily found the large cemetery on Wahconah Street.  I inquired at the cemetery office.  They told me what section of the cemetery to look for his grave but they had no indication if there was a gravestone or not.  We searched and searched but found no Hunt marker.  I returned to the office and asked for more assistance. This time I was given the surnames of his graveyard “neighbors.”  We found the neighbors, but no stone.  Was my great-great grandfather so poor that he couldn’t afford a grave marker?  Was it too hard to be a one-armed teamster or farmer?  Saddened we left Pittsfield. 

I remembered, a few months later that the Veteran’s Administration would pay for a marker for a Veteran’s unmarked grave. So I applied in February, filled out the FORM 1330 and coordinated with the Cemetery to validate my request and receive the marker.  Excitement was building.  The marker would be delivered to the cemetery in a couple of months and I would feel like I did something significant for Alva and my family. 

Recently, my mother and I made a second trip to Pittsfield to view the marker. It looked great but it seemed to be in an unfamiliar area.  To our surprise as we surveyed the ground we found a sizable monument nearby with A.A. Hunt’s name on the bottom! Also inscribed was Julia’s name with her birth and death dates. What a shock! It seems that last time we were sent to the wrong area. Alva wasn't in an unmarked grave after all! I feel better knowing that Alva wasn't poor.  He had bought this sizable monument for his wife when she died in 1886.  I wonder why his children neglected to inscribe his dates on it after his death,.   At least the VA marker solves this problem.     It does make me happy to know that Alva has received recognition for his Civil War service since his death.  We found an American flag planted next to our unpredicted find.

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Penny Webster and Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Hunt for Alva A. Hunt, Civil War Veteran", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 26, 2014, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-hunt-for-alva-h-hunt-civil-war.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Thar She Blows!

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 Essex, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #162? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!

Today's weather vane was seen on the cupola above a barn on Lufkin Street in Essex, Massachusetts.  Essex was a wooden ship building community (and still is!) and is located next door to Gloucester, Massachusetts, which is even more famous for fishing and maritime occupations. The sea, the history of the region and perhaps someone's job as a whaler in the distant past make this weather vane a perfect fit for Essex.  This two dimensional weather vane was hard to spot through the trees, but well worth pulling over to take a few quick photographs.

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/weathervane-wednesday-thar-she-blows.html

Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ ROBIE at Pine Grove Cemetery, Manchester, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Pine Grove Cemetery, Manchester, New Hampshire

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/tombstone-tuesday-robie-at-pine-grove.html

Copyright 2014 (c), Heather Wilkinson Rojo