The First Amputation of the US Civil War

The Civil War Monument, Beverly, Massachusetts
photographed on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2011

When we think of the US Civil War one of the first injuries we think of is amputation.  Movies like Gone With the Wind all have bloody scenes portraying the military surgeons as butchers, chopping off limbs with abandon.  However, the truth is that these doctors had no choice.  The minie bullets used in the 1860s caused catastrophic injuries, and cannon balls blew off parts of men’s bodies so horribly that the surgeons had no choice.  Amputation was the only way to treat these injuries.

Amputation was the most common surgery during the Civil War.  There were amputees among the officers, like Stonewall Jackson, down to the lowest enlisted men. It is estimated that the Union suffered 30,000 amputations.  The very first Civil War amputation was performed on a young man from Beverly, Massachusetts named Moses Stevens Herrick.  I recognized this name right away.

My great grand aunt Mabelle Cloutman Hitchings married a Moses Stevens Herrick in Salem, Massachusetts on 12 December 1900.  This Moses was born on 28 July 1880 in Beverly, and a quick look at the vital records showed me that his grandfather was the Moses Stevens Herrick who had served in the Civil War.  (See the genealogy chart below)

The American Civil War stated with Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861.  The 8^th regiment in Massachusetts, often known as the “Minute Men of ‘61” was one of the first regiments to respond to this event.  They quickly gathered into companies on 15 April 1861 and traveled to Washington DC to defend the capitol.  Moses Steven Herrick of Beverly was a member of company E.  My 2^nd great grandfather, Abijah Franklin Hitchings (1841 – 1910) of Salem, was part of company I.   The amputation happened on 26 April 1861, just after the Riot at Baltimore.

“EIGHTH REGIMENT MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA (INFANTRY)

THREE MONTHS

The 8th Regt. Mass. Vol. Mil., "Minute Men," was called to Boston by Special Order No. 14, issued on the afternoon of April 15, 1861, by the Adjutant General of Massachusetts.  Having only eight companies, one company was added from the 7th Regt., a Salem unit, and one from Pittsfield, taken from the 1st Battalion of Infantry. Leaving the State April 18, it proceeded to Annapolis, Md., on its way to the national capital. At Annapolis two companies were placed on the frigate CONSTITUTION, guarding her until she was safely removed to the harbor of New York. Another company was detached to do guard duty at Fort McHenry near Baltimore, Md.

The remainder of the regiment, after repairing the road-bed from Annapolis to Annapolis Junction and restoring the rolling stock of the railroad, proceeded to Washington, arriving April 26. Not until April 30 were the men mustered into the service of the United States. On July 2d the entire regiment was ordered to Baltimore, Md., the left wing arriving in the morning and the right wing in the evening of the following day.

On July 29 it was ordered to Boston, Mass., and here on August 1, 1861, it was mustered out of the service.

My 2nd great grandfather, Abijah F. Hitchings, was in the regiment that moved the USS Constitution to safety.  His granddaughter, Mabelle, married Moses Hitchings grandson, Moses.   You can read all about that story at this link:
   http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/old-ironsides-during-civil-war.html 

Here is more:

See page 732 History of Essex County, Massachusetts

“The first man of the regiment injured was Lieut. Moses S. Herrick, of the Beverly Company, who was shot in the foot by the accidental discharge of a musket, in the rotunda of the Capitol.  The muskets, loaded with ball cartridges, were stacked around near the wall, and as some men were bringing in mattresses, they knocked a stand down, one of the guns being discharged into Lieut. Herrick’s foot, mutilating it terribly.  The limb was amputated by the surgeon of the Sixth, and Lieut. Herrick bore his great misfortune bravely, only lamenting that he could not have received the wound while fighting in the field.  Attentions of every sort were showered upon him as he lay in hospital and also en route home and in Beverly.  He is residing in Beverly, in the Upper Parish, the house of the Chipmans and Herricks.”

See page 178 of the A History of Massachusetts in the Civil War, Volume 2, by William Schouler (available on Google Book Search) 

Resolved, " That our warmest sympathies be tendered to Lieutenant Herrick, in his misfortunes, and that we pledge ourselves to him, and to all his associates in our Beverly company, and our other Beverly soldiers, and to their respective families, to render unto their necessities all the material aid and comfort that we can legitimately bestow."

In the resolve, chapter seventy-two, in favor of Moses S. Herrick, for injuries received in military service, the sum of three hundred dollars.

I also found this in the The Statutes at Large, The United States of America from December 1895 to March 1897, Volume XXIX, Page 800

February 9, 1897

Harriet F. Herrick Pension

Chap 210 – An Act Granting a pension to Harriet F. Herrick.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the Secretary of the Interior be, and is hereby, athorized, and directed to place on the pension roll, at twelve dollars per month, the name of Harriet F. Herrick, of Beverly, State of Massachusetts, widow of Moses S. Herrick, deceased, late a member of Company E, Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Approved, February 9, 1897”

In Beverly you can find the Grand Army of the Republic Hall on Dane Street, next to the Congregational Church.  The GAR was a nationwide fraternal organization of Civil War veterans.  Inside the hall hung the portraits of members, including a portrait of Moses S. Steven,  my 2^nd great grandfather Abijah Hitchings, and other ancestors, such as my 2^nd great grandfather Samuel Mears.   These portraits are now stored at the Beverly Historical Society.  You can find the photograph of Moses  in the GAR Portraits: Box 3, No. 6, Moses S. Herrick (1831 – 1894)   Beverly Historic Society, GAR finding aid. 

Dr. Norman Smith, the military surgeon, was from the 6^th Massachusetts Regiment.  If you want your hair to stand on end, then you can read all about this amputation and the surgeon that performed it at this website, including photos of the actual amputation surgical kit: http://www.medicalantiques.com/civilwar/Surgery_Sets/Norman_Smith_MD_Tiemann_Civil_War_set_c1861.htm

Click here to read more about Civil War Battlefield Surgery  https://ehistory.osu.edu/exhibitions/cwsurgeon/cwsurgeon/amputations

Click here to read more about Moses Stevens Herrick and the first amputation of the Civil War

http://www.medicalantiques.com/civilwar/Civil_War_Articles/Moses_S._Herrick.htm 

Herrick Genealogy Chart:

 Gen. 1: Henry Herrick (1604 – 1671) m. Editha Laskin

Gen. 2:  Zachary Herrick (1636 – 1695) m. Mary Dodge

Gen. 3:  Henry Herrick (1672 – 1747)  m. Susanna Beadle

                                                                      (my 7^th great aunt)

Gen. 4:  William Herrick (1709 – 1783) m. Mary Tuck

Gen. 5:  William Herrick ( b. 1736) m. Mary Wallis

Gen. 6:  John Herrick (b. 1781) m. Lydia Butman

Gen. 7:  William Herrick (1802 – 1861) m. Harriet Ayers

Gen. 8:  Moses Stevens Herrick (1832 – 1894) m. Harriet F. Burnchstead

Gen. 9:  Frank B. Herrick (b. 1856)  m. Isabelle A. Sias

Gen. 10: Moses Stevens Herrick (1880 – 1922) m. Mabelle Cloutman Hitchings

                                                                                   (my great aunt)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-first-amputation-of-us-civil-war.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Oyster River Massacre, 1694 (and two lucky uncles)

The Falls at Oyster River

The Oyster River Massacre happened on 18 July 1694 at Durham, New Hampshire, then part of the town of Dover.  There had been a period of peace with the native Abenaki tribes following the Cochecho Massacre and the Seige of Pemaquid, Maine in 1689.  The government at Boston entered a new trade negotiation with the Abenaki and the French wished to end this agreement.  They didn't want the Abenaki to ally with the English.  The New England settlement at Oyster River was attacked by about 250 Abenaki led by Claude-Sebastien de Villieu of Quebec.   About 100 inhabitants were killed and 27 taken captive to Canada.   Half the town was destroyed, along with crops and animals, which left the survivors destitute.   Five out of twelve garrisons were destroyed.  Many of the refugees fled to Massachusetts.  It was the worst massacre of King William's War. 

The settlement eventually rebuilt, and was protected by troops from Massachusetts.  By 1716 Oyster River Plantation was a separate parish of Dover, named after Durham in England.  The town of Durham was incorporated in 1735 and included parts of Dover, Madbury, Lee and Newmarket.  

Oyster River from the footbridge below the historic marker

I could not find a complete list of deaths or captured individuals from the Oyster River Massacre.  According to the New Hampshire Provincial and State Papers, Volume 2, pages 125 – 128, some of the surnames mentioned as killed were  Dean, Adams, Drew,  and Davis.   

List of some of the captured individuals of the massacre was found in the book New England Captives Carried to Canada, by Emma Lewis Coleman, pages 253-254 and the names include the following people:

Mercy Adams

Two daughters of John Davis

John Dean’s wife and child

Peter Denbow

John Derry

Deliverance Derry

John or Joseph Derry

Thomas Drew

Tamsen Drew

Thomas Edgerly, Sr.

Joseph Edgerly

A daughter and some children of Thomas Edgerly, Jr.

Judah (Davis) Emerson

Ann Jenkins and three children

Samuel Rand

Remembrance Rand

Mrs. Hannah Watson

Joseph Watson

Abigail Willey/Willis, daughter of William Pitman of Dover

There are many interesting stories from this event.  John Bickford (about 1625 - 1697) married my 8th great aunt, Temperance Hull, the daughter of Reverend Joseph Hull.  An unrelated man, Thomas Bickford, had a garrison house. I can only imagine that my great aunt and uncle Bickford were sheltering at this fortunate garrison because John Bickford did not die in this attack, but he died three years later in 1697.  According to The History of New Hampshire, by Jeremy Belknap, ed. John Farmer (Dover, N.H.: S.C. Stevens and Ela & Wadleigh, 1831):

"Thomas Bickford preserved his house (12.)  in a singular manner. It was situated near the river, and surrounded with a palisade. Being alarmed before the enemy had reached the house, he sent off his family in a boat, and then shutting his gate, betook himself alone to the defense of his fortress. Despising alike the promises and threats by which the Indians would have persuaded him to surrender, he kept up a constant fire at them, changing his dress as often as he could, shewing himself with a different cap, hat or coat, and sometimes without either, and giving directions aloud as if he had a number of men with him. Finding their attempt vain, the enemy withdrew, and left him sole master of the house, which he had defended with such admirable address."

Another great uncle was lucky.  Robert Burnham (about 1614 - 1691), my 9th great grand uncle, built a garrison house at Oyster River in 1654.  The Burnham Garrison was about a mile below Durnham Falls.  It sheltered the Burnham descendants and the Pitman family, and none were lost. Seven garrisons were defended: Burnham, Bickford, Smith, Bunker, Davis, Jones and Woodman.  Robert Burnham's daughter, Sarah was married to John Woodman (about 1634 - 1706), who also successfully defended the Woodman Garrison, the largest garrison in the Oyster River area.  

The state historical marker is on the south side of Route 4, just east of the intersection with Route 108, by the bridge over the falls at Oyster River.

OYSTER RIVER MASSACRE

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

On July 18, 1694, a force of about 

250 Indians under command of the

French soldier, de Villieu, attacked 

settlements in this area on both

sides of the Oyster River, killing

or capturing apporximately 100

settlers, destroying five garrison

houses and numerous dwellings. It

was the most devastating French and

Indian raid in New Hampshire during

King William's War.          1993

Oyster River Massacre links:

http://minerdescent.com/2013/02/01/oyster-river-massacre-1694/ 

http://www.seacoastnh.com/history/as-i-please/digging-into-the-oyster-river-massacre/ 

“The Great Massacre of 1694: Understanding the Destruction of Oyster River Plantation”, by Craig J. Brown, Historical New Hampshire, Volume 53 (1998), pages 68 – 89.

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-oyster-river-massacre-1694.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above the store at a popular apple orchard...

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! If you know an interesting or historical weathervane, please let me know.

Today's weather vane is from the Merrimack Valley, in Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #207?  Scroll down to see the answer!

Today's weathervane was photographed above the store at Mann Orchard in Methuen, Massachusetts.   The Mann family has been farming in Methuen since 1877.  During the 1950s they started selling apple pies.  In the 1970s the Manns moved to a location at 65 Pleasant Valley Street and expanded the farm stand.   This business grew so big that recently they moved to this larger location at 27 Pleasant Valley Street.  The Fitzgerald family, descendants of the original Mann family, still run the operation.

Mann Orchard, Methuen, Massachusetts http://www.mannorchards.com/

Click here to see the entire Weathervane Wednesday collection!

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/weathervane-wednesday-above-store-at.html
Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mr. John Patterson, 1793, Londonderry, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Valley Cemetery, Londonderry, New Hampshire

Memento Mori

ERECTED

In Memory of

Mr. John Patterson

who departed this life

Augt. the 29th 1793

Aged 42 years 7 months

and 8 days

Affliction sore long time I bore

Physicians were in vain

Till God did please and death did seize

to ease me of my pain.

Death thou hast concor'd [sic] me

I by thy Darts am slane [sic]

Christ hath concor'd  [sic] thee

and I shall live again. 

John Patterson, son of Peter Patterson and Grisey Wilson, was born 21 January 1751 in Londonderry, New Hampshire and died 29 August 1793.   His parents were Scots Irish immigrants from Northern Ireland.  Peter was born in Priestland, Antrim, Ireland and his wife was born in Dufermline, Fife, Scotland.   John served in the American Revolutionary War.  There is no record of his final illness. 

I love that more than 200 years later the scribed lines are still visible on this stone, which aided the stone carver with his careful lettering! 

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/tombstone-tuesday-mr-john-patterson.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The DAMM Garrison House, Dover, New Hampshire

Under this wooden pavilion stands the Damm Garrison

built in 1675, the oldest wooden garrison house in New Hampshire

You can see how well the hewn timber house has survived 100 years under this roof

and see the slits for muskets cut into the walls of the garrison

The fortified door to the wooden Damm Garrison House

under the pavilion at the Woodman Institute, Dover, New Hampshire

The Damm Garrison House

This garrison house was built by William DAMME (also known as DAME, DAM or DAMM) in 1675 at Dover, New Hampshire.  It is unlike other first period New England houses, since it is built of sturdy hewn logs, and originally had a stockade fence surrounding it. There are slits in the walls for rifles and muskets.  The roof overhangs the walls in order to see down or to pour water in case of fire.  The Damm garrison is the oldest intact garrison house in New Hampshire.

There were many garrison houses in Dover, for the protection of the settlers, usually one for each neighborhood.  Dover was known as the “Garrison City”  because there were 17 different garrisons in the area.  The Damme family lived inside their garrison house, and on the occasion of alarms they would provide protection to their neighbors.  Families were expected to bring their own bedrolls, food and provisions with them to the garrison house.   The other Dover garrisons were lost in the famous Cocheco Massacre in 1689.

The kitchen room of the Damm Garrison house

A musket pointed through a gun slit in the garrison wall

The William Damm Garrison is now located on the campus of the Woodman Institute in Dover, New Hampshire.  There are three other brick houses built in the 1800s on the museum campus.  The garrison house is open to the public for guided tours only, and is part of the admission fee to the museum.

DAMM Garrison House history:

Generation 1:  Deacon John Damm immigrated to Dover, New Hampshire from England.

Generation 2:  William Damm, born 14 October 1653, died 1718; married Martha Nute, daughter of James Nute.   William built the garrison in the Back River area of Dover, New Hampshire

Generation 3:  William Damm, died 1740, and his sister, Leah Damm married Samuel Hayes (lived in the house from 1740 – 1770)

Generation 4:  Hayes children grew up in the garrison

Generation 5:  Hayes granddaughter Leah Nute inherited the garrison, and married Joseph Drew in 1771 and lived the Drew family grew up in in the garrison

Generation 6:  Son William Plaisted Drew (1794 – 1868) inherited the garrison.

Generation 7.   Grandson Edward Plaisted Drew, lived in the house until 1883 and sold the garrison to Mr. Bryant Peavey, who gave it to his daughter, Ellen.

Generation 8:  Ellen S. Peavey married Mr. Holmes B. Rounds, and lived there until 1915.  She donated the garrison to the Woodman Institute, who moved the house three miles from the Back River district to the museum campus at 182 Central Avenue.  It took one horse one week to pull the house on rollers to the current location.  In 1915 a wooden house was built over the garrison to protect it from the elements, which is why the house is in such good condition 100 years later!

The Damm family lived in the garrison for 95 years, and the Drew family for 112 years. 

Support the Old Damm Garrison

Send a donation to:

The Woodman Institute

PO Box 146

Dover, NH  03821-0146 

http://woodmanmuseum.org/ 

There are several other surviving garrison houses nearby:

The Dustin Garrison House in Haverhill, Massachusetts was built in 1697 of brick.  During its construction Hannah Dustin was captured by Indians and taken up the Merrimack River, where she escaped and made her way home.   Tours by appointment only, call 1-978-430-4506

McIntire Garrison House in York Maine was built in 1707 is possibly the oldest house in Maine.  It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968.  It is on Cider Hill Road, Route 91.  This house is not open to the public.

The Gilman Garrison House in Exeter, New Hampshire is now part of Historic New England, and is located at 12 Water Street.  It was built in 1709 and has been added to and remodeled by generations of Gilmans, so it now looks like a colonial home.  The interior has reveals to show the sawn log walls, and there is still a pulley to operate a portcullis or reinforced door.

http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/gilman-garrison-house  

Fort at No. 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire is a community of several garrison houses and a fort surrounded by a stockade. It dates from about 1740 and is a living history museum open to visitors seasonally with many weekend battle re-enactments portraying the historical periods of the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War periods.  http://fortat4.org/

A list of the 17 garrison houses in Dover, New Hampshire (Only the Damm Garrison survives)

http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/DoverHistory/garrisonsarounddover.htm 

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-damm-garrison-house-dover-new.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ LILLIE of Reading, Massachusetts

LILLIE / LILLEY

George Lillie (about 1637 – 1691) is my 8^th great grandfather.  His parents, origins and immigration are all unknown, but he was probably from England.  He settled in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts as a school master and owned land on the north side of the Ipswich River by 1658.   In 1667 the town made a list of the 59 houses in Reading, and George Lilly is on the list.

My 7^th great grandfather, John Lilley, removed to Woburn, a contiguous town and married Hannah Bassett.  Hannah was the daughter of William Bassett and Sarah Burt whose children were affected by the 1692 witch hysteria.  Their oldest daughter, Elizabeth, sister to Hannah, married John Proctor (my 8^th great grandfather in another lineage).  Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor was accused of witch craft along with her husband, John, who was hung.   William Basset Jr., Hannah’s brother, had a wife Sarah (Hood) who was also arrested, tortured and tried for witch craft.   Hannah’s other sister, Mary, wife of Michael Rich, was also arrested, tortured and tried for witchcraft.  Fortunately, my 7^th great grandmother, Hannah (Bassett) Lilley escaped suspicion!

My Lillie lineage daughters out with my 6^th great grandmother, Phebe Lilley (1706 – 1786) who married Noah Eaton of Reading and Haverhill.  They had eight children all born in Reading. 

Some LILLIE resources:

George Lilly and his descendants, by Georgiana Hewins Lilly, 1945 – a typescript manuscript at the New England Historic Genealogical Society library in Boston, call number G LIL 964

Genealogical History of the Town of Reading, Massachusetts including the present towns of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading with chronological and historical sketches from 1639 to 1874, by Lilley Eaton, 1874 also available online at https://archive.org/  and also reprinted by Heritage Books of Bowie, MD in 1994 (facsimile reprint).

Be aware that in the Reading records and vital records (and probably elsewhere) the name is spelled LELLEY, LELY, LILLE, LILLIE, LILLY, LILEY and LILLEY.  Also be aware that there are unrelated LILLIE familes in Boston and Marshfield, Massachusetts. 

One big genealogy clue I like to share about this family is to look for children with the first name of "Lilley" or "Lillie" (spelled with two LLs), and they are usually sons with a grandmother or other ancestress with the maiden name LILLIE or LILLEY from Reading.  I have a 5th great grand uncle named Lilley Eaton (1738 - 1812), and I was surprised to find out he was a boy, and happy that this discovery lead to finding his mother's maiden name was LILLEY.  The historian who wrote the town history of Reading, Massachusetts in 1874 was also named Lilley Eaton (1802 - 1872), and he is a gentleman, not a woman, and is my 2nd cousin five generations removed.  He is the son of Lilley Eaton (b. 1768) and the grandson of Lilley Eaton mentioned above as my 5th great grand uncle. 

My LILLIE genealogy:

Generation 1:  George Lillie, born about 1637 in Scotland or England, died 14 February 1691 in Reading, Massachusetts; married first on 15 November 1659 in Reading to Hannah Smith (four children), daughter of Francis Smith and Alice Unknown; married second to Jane Unkown on 6 May 1667 in Reading (two children).

Generation 2: John Lillie, born 5 December 1662 in Reading, died in Woburn, Massachusetts; married to Hannah Bassett, daughter of William Bassett and Sarah Burt.  She was born about 1670 in Lynn.  Six children.

Generation 3: Phebe Lilley, born 21 February 1706 in Woburn, died 1786 in Reading; married on 21 December 1726 in Woburn to Noah Eaton, son of Jonathan Eaton and Mary Cowdry(?).  He was born 26 January 1704 in Reading and died 1770 in Reading.  Eight children.

Generation 4:  Katherine Eaton married John Emerson

Generation 5:  Romanus Emerson married Jemima Burnham

Generation 6:  George Emerson married Mary Esther Younger

Generation 7:  Mary Katharine Emerson married George E. Batchelder

Generation 8:  Carrie Maude Batchelder married Joseph Elmer Allen

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/surname-saturday-lillie-of-reading.html 

Copyright ©2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Corrections to the Story of Hilton Point. Or “Why Historians should listen to Genealogists”

On Friday, 1 May 2015 I posted a “Photo Friday” story about Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire, with photos of the two memorials built there to the memory of Edward Hilton.  Both memorials state that New Hampshire’s first permanent settlement was when Edward Hilton arrived in 1623 to fish. 

I checked the official government website for the state of New Hampshire, https://www.nh.gov/   The page with the history of our state reads “… in 1623, under the authority of an English land-grant, Captain John Mason, in conjunction with several others, sent David Thomson, A Scotsman, And Edward and Thomas [sic] Hilton, fish merchants of London, with a number of other people in two divisions to establish a fishing colony in what is now New Hampshire, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River…. the Hilton brothers set up their fishing stages on a neck of land eight miles above, which they called Northam, afterwards named Dover.”

My blog post used the information on the historical markers, and from several books on the History of New Hampshire.  Were they wrong? 

I didn't use Robert Charles Anderson’s Great Migration series for this blog post, because I was just doing a quick local history post, not a genealogy story.  But I should have.  As fellow blogger Jeanie Roberts pointed out to me in a comment on my blog post, “Edward did not migrate until 1628” according to Anderson.  

I couldn't wait to run to my copy of the Great Migration to see what it said.  I used to teach fourth grade, the year that New Hampshire students learned all about state and local history.  We always taught them that 1623 was THE YEAR.   I was imagining fourth graders being assigned homework, googling the story and reading my blog post. Was it full of wrong information?

Anderson made a good case in Great Migration Begins, Vol. II, page 950. He quoted The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, page 331 (a sketch of Edward Hilton) “He likely made a voyage to Piscataqua with trading goods and began a plantation, unrecorded, in 1628”  and on page 334 (a sketch of his brother William (not Thomas as stated on the New Hampshire state website) “The historian Hubbard cared little about the eastern country and his paragraph about the founding of N.H. (N. E. Reg. 31.179) is mostly false, Hilton did not come to the Piscataqua with David Thomson in 1623 and Chr. Levett’s book proves that no settlement had been made up the river in the spring of 1624”

GDMNH was published in 1939.  The Great Migration Begins was published in 1995.  This is 2015.  Why are we all still saying that New Hampshire’s first permanent settlement was 1623?  Don’t the historians communicate with our great genealogists?

Instead of just updating my first blog post from Friday, I’m also publishing this one, and linking the two posts.  I can’t wait to see if a fourth grader challenges his teacher with this information!

Sources mentioned  (all three are traditional genealogy sources):

The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, by Sibyl Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby and Walter Goodwin Davis, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012 (originally 1939 in five volumes) 

The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620 – 1633, by Robert Charles Anderson, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, three volumes, 1995.

The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 31 (1877), page 179 “Some of the Descendants of William Hilton” by John Hassam.

Jeanie Robert's blog The Family Connection blog post 5 January 2013, "Thomas Roberts of Dover, New Hampshire"
http://www.jeaniesgenealogy.com/2013/01/thomas-roberts-of-dover-new-hampshire.html   

Of course, we have to add an article by Portsmouth historian, J. Dennis Robinson, too!
http://www.seacoastnh.com/History/History-Matters/portsmouth-and-dover-still-feuding-over-1623-nh-founding-date/   

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/corrections-to-story-of-hilton-point-or.html 

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Hilton Point, New Hampshire - Photo Friday

UPDATED 2 May 2015

Historians say that in the year 1623 William Hilton settled on Hilton Point (now Dover Point) in the current town of Dover, New Hampshire.  This has been disproved by several sources, but the date lingers on in many books and websites.  Hilton Point is still considered the first permanent settlement in New Hampshire, because David Thompson’s Pannaway settlement on Odiorne Point in 1621 was soon abandoned.   Hilton Point  is a  peninsula  where the the Bellamy and Cocheco Rivers meet up with  the Piscataqua River and the Great Bay.  The Hilton brothers, William and Edward, established a fishery and then they were granted the “Squamscot Patent” for this land.  The settlement was very small (only three houses) until 1633 when they were joined by Puritan “non-conformist” families who formed the Plantation of Cochecho. 

William Hilton was a member of the Fishmonger’s Guild in London on 9 April 1621.  Edward, with his wife and children, arrived at Plymouth Plantation in 1623.  William had David Thomson transport his family to his brother’s settlement at Piscataqua in 1624.   William later moved to the York River in York, Maine.   Edward later removed to Newfields, near Exeter, New Hampshire. (For more information on William please see the very interesting sketch in Anderson's The Great Migration Begins, Volume II, pages 954-955.)

Thomas Roberts came over to New England with Edward Hilton in 1623.  Roberts remained at Dover Point, where his family lived for many generations.  Roberts married Rebecca Hilton, sister to Edward and William. He became "President of the Court" of the Dover Colony until it came under the Massachusetts Colony in 1642/3. He is not listed in the Great Migration series, so he must have arrived later than 1635 and before 1639 when he became president of the court.  

Please be aware that the historical information you see on these two signs is NOT ACCURATE. See my correction to this post from 2 May 2015 at this link:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/corrections-to-story-of-hilton-point-or.html   

You can reach Hilton State Park at the west bound exit 5 of the Spaulding Turnpike, Route 16.  The memorials are located near the playground and parking area.   The state historical marker was placed in 1973, and the granite marker to Edward Hilton was placed by descendants in 1955. 

MEMORIAL TO

EDWARD HILTON

PIONEER SETTLER

1623

IN HONOR

OF

EDWARD HILTON

FOUNDER OF DOVER 1623

FATHER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

MAKER OF THE FIRST ROAD

IN THE PROVINCE

MARKED BY HIS DESCENDANTS

1955

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