Tombstone Tuesday ~ Bears at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire

These tombstones were photographed at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire.  This little cemetery is located right in front of the train station, by the front entrance to the amusement park. 

Clark's Trading Post opened as a roadside attraction on U.S. Route 3 in Lincoln, New Hampshire in 1928.  To draw people to their store, the Clark family opened up a viewing area for the public to see their sled dogs. Florence and Ed Clark were avid sled dog racers, and Florence was the first woman do drive a dogsled to the top of Mount Washington.  They first displayed a black bear here in 1931.   

In 1949 the sons of Ed and Florence Clark began to train the bears to do tricks.  Around the same time they began to collect old steam locomotives on the property.  Over the years this visitor attaction has grown into a small family run amusement park which includes the bear show, a train ride, several museums, and other family amusements. 

The bears at Clark's are orphaned bears that cannot be returned to the wild.  The family rehabilitates bears, and only a few have the "personality" for performing for the public.  The rest live in luxury on the property for more than 25 years.  Bears in the wild live only an average of 5 to 6 years.  One of their bears lived over 35 years.  The Clark family considers these bears members of their family, and have respectfully buried them in this little cemetery.

Twin Sisters

Saphire                 Pearl

Jan. 10, 1971       Jan. 10, 1971

Mar. 31, 2000       Nov. 30, 1993

HERE LIES

"RUFUS"

N. H. BLACK BEAR

OLDEST ON RECORD

JAN. 1953 - AUG. 1991

38 YRS - 7 MOS.

TWINS

SISTER AND BROTHER

URSULA                ONYX

JAN. 21, 1987       JAN. 21, 1987

MAY 28, 2014      JUNE 1, 2002

HERE LIE

EBONY AND MIDNIGHT

1949 - 1973        1949 - 1967

SHOW BEARS

HERE LIES

MY FRIEND

JASPER

SHOW BEAR

SANS EGAL

1961 - 1988

                  W.M. CLARK

We also noticed two planters with names on them in this little cemetery.  Perhaps they are also in memory of some of the famous trained bears?  The red planter reads "Abenaki and Spooky" and the blue planter reads "Moxie".

For the truly curious:

Clark's Trading Post website:   http://www.clarkstradingpost.com/

From Yankee Magazine, an article about the Clark family and the trained bears:
https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/travel/new-hampshire/white-mountains/clarks-trading-post/

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~  Bears at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 11, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/tombstone-tuesday-bears-at-clarks.html: accessed [access date]).

Batchelder Family Do Over Part 2

Lane Library, Hampton, NH

Jonathan Batchelder, my 4^th great grandfather, had a hard life.  He was born about 1800, and he died sometime in 1847, shortly after being declared an “insane person”.  He has no gravestone, and his widow was given guardianship over his children.  I don’t have a birth record for Jonathan, nor do I have a death record.  I know his farm in Chichester, New Hampshire was auctioned off due to his early death in 1847 from a newspaper ad for his property sale.  To add to this conundrum, his wife is a mystery, too.  I know her name was Nancy Thompson, but I don’t know her birthdate, birthplace or parents. 

In the compiled Batchelder Genealogy written by Frederick C. Pierce in 1898, Jonathan was attributed to being the son of Elisha Batchelder and Sarah Lane of Pittsfield, New Hampshire.  When I visited the place where Elisha and Sarah are buried in Pittsfield, Jonathan was not buried there.  Nor was he mentioned in Elisha’s 1813 will (Jonathan would have been only 12 years old, and not yet an “insane person”). Some researchers have theorized that he was left out of the will because he was insane, but this could not be true due to the age difference.  He was just not Elisha’s son.

The first step in finding more information about Jonathan Batchelder’s parents was to go to the Lane Public Library website  http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/    This library in Hampton, New Hampshire has a 222 page manuscript from genealogist Carl W. Brage transcribed in 1985 from portions of Charles Hull Batchelder’s notes.   C.H. Batchelder was working on a revision of Pierce's published genealogy book, but Brage's manuscript only had five generations, and didn't include the generation with my 4th great grandfather Jonathan Batchelder.  This 222 page manuscript was divided into five PDF files.  The zipped versions must be downloaded from the website, and then saved on your own device or hard drive.  You can start on page 1 and then look at each page to trace back to find your own Batchelder family members.  However, in my case, I didn’t know where to find Jonathan.  There is an index at the end of the last file (pages 186 – 222). 

This is when I realized that Charles Hull Batchelder used his own mysterious numbering system for each member of the BATCHELDER family.  The immigrant ancestor, Rev. Stephen Batchelder was not included in this system.  His grandson Nathaniel (1630 – 1709/10) was #0, and great grandson Stephen (1675/6 – 1748) was listed as #3, and 2x great grandson Stephen (1701 – 1748/9) was listed as #32, and 3x great grandson Nathaniel (1732 – 1778) was listed as #322.  I realized that this numbering system was based on sons.  Stephen was a third son - 3, the next Stephen was the second son of the third son – 32, and Nathaniel was the second son in the next generation – 322. 

So, I took another look at Elisha Batchelder (my “supposed” 5x great grandfather) in the online scan of Brage’s manuscript, page 154.  “Elisha Batchelder (1351) son of David (135).  Farmer.  As a young man he went from Hampton Falls to Pittsfield and settled on land belonging to his father, which belonged to Josiah (13) as an original proprietor of Chichester, from which Pittsfield had been set off.  Elisha’s father deeded this land to him in Sept. 1803.  Elisha married Sarah Lane of Hampton Falls (no record of the date found), dau. Of Samuel & Hepsibah (Sleeper)… Elisha’s family is correctly given in “Ancestry and Descendants of Deacon David Batchelder” but Pierce splits Nancy into a dual personality, and arbitrarily adds Jonathan (32,213) to the family.  If more proof is needed it is found in a deed from Nathaniel (13,511) to Samuel (13,512), Feb. 12, 1823, by which Nathaniel quit claims one third of 130 acres in Pittsfield, the homestead farm “where we now live”, in common with said Samuel and Nancy Batchelder (Rockingham Deeds 236-242)” 

Jonathan Batchelder who married Nancy Thompson was listed as #32,213. 

This meant that from this numbering system I could go through the manuscript to see who was Jonathan’s father.  But the 222 page manuscript ended with #3221, which was Nathaniel Batchelder (1763 – 1809).  The next generation was missing from the manuscript.  I knew that from the numbering system Nathaniel #3221 must have had a third son named Jonathan, but that family group sheet was not included.

From page 95 of the Brage manuscript:

“Nathaniel Batchelder (322), son of Stephen (32).  Called Nathaniel, Jr… moved to Deerfield as early as 1756. He married Mary Longfellow, dau. Of Jonathan & Mercy (Clark)…. Children born in Deerfield:

i.                     Mercy b. 1753 m. Smith Morrill of Chichester NH and Strafford VT

ii.                   Anne (Nancy) b. 1755 m. Abraham True Oct. 28, 1779 Deerfield

iii.                 Stephen b. 1757 d. Revolution Nov. 2, 1777 sp

iv.                 Hannah b. 1759 m. Josiah Kennerson

v.                   Mary (Molly) b. April 29, 1761 m. Benjamin True   

              1.  vi.           Nathaniel b. 1762      [my note:  Jonathan is #32,213]

             vii           Sarah b. March 12, 1766 m. Joseph True

             vii          Dau. d. umn dy

             x.            Deborah, b. 1769, m. Samuel Tilton”

This meant that I next had to go to the New Hampshire Historical Society library in Concord, New Hampshire and look through the eleven boxes of notebooks and loose papers held in their archive. Somewhere in there was a note about Jonathan Batchelder #32,213 including proof of his parents and his true Batchelder lineage.

Wow!

Stay tuned for more...

 
Read part 1 of this series at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-1.html   

Part 3:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-3.html   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Batchelder Family Do Over  Part 2", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 10, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-2.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ STANDISH of the Mayflower

Myles Standish's burial ground in Duxbury, Massachusetts

STANDISH

Myles Standish (1584 – 1656), my 8^th great grandfather, was not only a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620, but he was also the Captain and leader of the Plymouth Colony military forces until his death.  He served in several civic leadership positions in the colony, such as an Assistant to the Governor on 1 January 1632/3, treasurer in 1644 and many years after, and on May 1653 he was made the Deputy Governor.   Myles Standish is also recognized as the first person to settle in the town of Duxbury, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Although you might read on the internet that Myles Standish was from Lancashire, or even that he was from the Isle of Man, his origins are still unknown.  I know that genealogists and historians are working on proving his origins now, and maybe we will have an answer or a good clue by the 2020 anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in New England?

Standish was a soldier in the war with Spain, and he was in Leyden, Holland when the Scrooby Separatists were there with Pastor John Robinson.  He was hired by the separatists and arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 with his wife Rose, who died that first winter when half the passengers succumbed to some mysterious illness.  His second wife Barbara arrived on the ship Anne in 1623.  They had seven children, including Alexander Standish (about 1626 – 1702), my 7^th great grandfather.

Alexander Standish married twice, both times to daughters of Mayflower passengers.  His first wife was Sarah Alden, the daughter of John Alden and Priscilla Mullens.  His second wife was Desire Doty, my ancestress, who was the daughter of Mayflower passenger Edward Doty and his wife Faith Clark.  She was the widow of both William Sherman and Israel Holmes.   Alexander was the constable in Duxbury, and a farmer. 

In the next generation I descend from Desire Standish (1689 – 1766), my 6^th great grandmother, wife of Nathan Weston.  She had four children. 

Famous Descendants:
Actor Dick Van Dyke, Vice President Dan Quayle, Revolutionary War Patriot Deborah Sampson, 

For more STANDISH information:

Mayflower Families Through Five Generations (Silver book), Volume 14, published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 2007.

The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620 - 1633, by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume III, pages 1741-1747.

Myles Standish Society (Standish descendants)   https://www.mylesstandishsociety.org/

My STANDISH genealogy:

Generation 1:  Myles Standish, born about 1584, died 3 October 1656 at Duxbury, Massachusetts; married first to Rose Unknown; married second to Barbara Unknown, mother of seven children.  She died after 6 October 1659.

Generation 2:  Alexander Standish, born about 1626 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, died 6 July 1702 in Duxbury; married first to Sarah Alden; married second to Desire Doty, widow of William Sherman and of Israel Holmes, daughter of Edward Doty and Faith Clark.  She was born about 1645 in Plymouth, and died 22 January 1731 in Marshfield, Massachusetts.  Three Standish children.

Generation 3: Desire Standish, born 5 May 1689 in Marshfield, and died 20 June 1766 in Plympton, Massachusetts; married on 21 February 1716 in Plympton to Nathan Weston, son of Edmund Weston and Rebecca Soule (the granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Edward Soule).  Four children.

Generation 4: Nathan Weston m. Hannah Everson

Generation 5:  Zadoc Weston m. Mary Clements

Generation 6:  Matilda Weston m. Joseph Edwin Healy

Generation 7:  Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 8:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

Generation 9:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ STANDISH of the Mayflower”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 8, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-standish-of-mayflower.html: accessed [access date]). 

BATCHELDER Family Do Over Part 1

Seven years ago, I started writing “Surname Saturday” posts for my blog.  As of now I have written almost 350 sketches, each featuring an immigrant ancestor.  I started working my way through my ahnentafel chart, beginning with my paternal side of the tree, featuring one surname at a time. Then my mother’s side of the tree, working through her side of the family. 

As I work through each name, I take a good hard look at what research I have already done on that family.  (I even wrote a blog post on this process you can see at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-do-i-write-up-my-surname-saturday.html  )  

With some of these families, I did the original research 40 years ago, so before I publish a "Surname Saturday" post I will recheck all the sources and see what new research has been done.  Back in 2015 I wrote up my BATCHELDER sketch, showing my descent from the Reverend Stephen Batchelder (1560 – 1656), the founder of Hampton, New Hampshire.   I actually had three descents from Rev. Batchelder, so it was a complicated sketch.  You can read that post at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/surname-saturday-batchelder-of-hampton.html  

As I wrote up this sketch I found a new source for the BATCHELDER family that I looked at later, the year after I published the blog post.  This was a manuscript that is held at the Lane Library in Hampton, New Hampshire.  Charles Hull Batchelder (1876 – 1948) collected notes on the BATCHELDER family for many years, correcting the errors in the Batchelder compiled genealogy book published by Frederick C. Pierce in 1898.  This Pierce book is what I used for my research, along with vital records and other local sources. It was the cause of one big mistake I made on identifying the parents of Jonathan Batchelder (about 1800 – 1847), my 4^th great grandfather. 

Charles Hull Batchelder died in 1948 before publishing his revised version of the genealogy book.  I didn’t know that all his notes were held at the New Hampshire Historical Society Library.  I knew that in 1985 a man named Carl. W. Brage transcribed some of Charles Batchelder’s research into a 222 page manuscript (available online at the Lane library website http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/ ), but that document doesn’t include the generation where Jonathan Batchelder appears.  I still didn’t know if I made a mistake with my conclusions. So last year we went to the New Hampshire Historical Society library to see Charles Batchelder’s original research notes.

Little did I realize, but Charles Batchelder’s notes were kept in tiny notebooks and scraps of paper held in eleven large boxes!  According to the Lane library website “196 handwritten notebooks in five boxes, handwritten and typed correspondence in four boxes, about 2000 handwritten family group sheets in one box, and about 10,000 individual handwritten index cards in one box”.   Happily, because Charles Batchelder was a copious note taker, a meticulous genealogist, and a hoarder of information, I was able to find Jonathan Batchelder, my 4^th great grandfather, inside these boxes.

In the next few blog posts I will describe how I decoded Charles Hull Batchelder’s mysterious descendant numbering system to uncover Jonathan Batchelder’s parents and ancestors.  I will also describe how to work with his enormous number of notes and their own numbered codes.  And how I came to a new conclusion about my family tree, where I had to prune off 29 surnames (and 29 branches!), but I also added 31 new surnames and 31 new branches! 

When you rely on other people's research, you have to be careful that you are looking at the latest research!  Even if that research has been hidden in a box in an archive for decades!

Win some, lose some!  Stay tuned for more...

Click here for part 2:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-2.html   

Click here for part 3:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-3.html   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "BATCHELDER Family Do Over  Part 1", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 6, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/batchelder-family-do-over-part-1.html: accessed [access date]).

Weathervane Wednesday ~ An unusual Animal!

I post another in a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in New York State.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #379?  Scroll down to find the answer.

No, this is not an elephant!  You are looking at a mastodon weathervane photographed at the LePage Market in Cohoes, New York by reader Schalene Jenning Dagutis.  According to Schalene "The animal is the Cohoes Mastadon, which was found when blasting to build the Harmony Mill.  The mastadon fossils are at the New York State Museum in Albany." 

The fossil mastodon was excavated in 1866.  Mastodons became extinct over 10,000 years ago.    The Cohoes Mastodon was probably about 8 1/2 feet at the shoulder when it was alive, and lived about 13,000 years ago.  This is the same time period when humans first settled this part of North America. The mastodon fossil has been on exhibit at different locations for 150 years, but in 1998 it was moved to the New York State Museum.  A replica with fur is displayed at the Cohoes public library.

For the truly curious:

From the New York State Museum:

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/paleontology/vertebrate-paleontology/collections/cohoes-mastodon

LePage's Market

342 North Mohawk Street

Cohoes, New York

https://www.lepagesmarket.org/  

Schalene Jennings Dagutis's genealogy blog:

http://tangledrootsandtrees.blogspot.com/   

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~  An unusual Animal!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 5, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/weathervane-wednesday-unusual-animal.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Daniel Farmer, hanged 1822, buried at Derryfield, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Derryfield Cemetery, also known as the Center or Huse Cemetery, on Mammoth Road in Manchester, New Hampshire.

SACRED

to

The memory of

DANIEL D. FARMER

Who died Jan. 3rd

1822   4.28

When I stopped to take a photo of this tombstone, I never expected to find such an interesting and tragic story!  

Daniel Davis Farmer was born 28 March 1793 at Derryfield, now Manchester, New Hampshire, the son of Joseph Farmer and Dorcas French; married on 10 August 1813 in Goffstown to Abigail Hackett of Dunbarton, the daughter of Josiah Hackett and Abigail Rathborn.  They had four children and lived first in Goffstown and then in Manchester.  

On 5 April 1821 Daniel Farmer had an ongoing dispute with a woman named Anna Ayer.  She accused him of being the father of her unborn child.  He went to her house in Goffstown to discuss this with her, and out of anger (and they had been drinking rum) he beat her and her 14 year old daughter with a shovel, and burned their house.  The daughter recovered and the mother died on April 12th.  He was arrested and found guilty in October 1821 at the courthouse in Amherst, New Hampshire.  He was hanged on the common in Amherst on Thursday, 3 January 1822.  His body was given to his family and buried at the Derryfield Cemetery on the following Saturday.  According to The History of Goffstown  "A large audience attended his funeral, and a sermon was delivered by Rev. Mr. Paige, from Psalms XCII, 1, 'The Lord Reigneth'".  

The books listed below say that Farmer was executed at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  I'm not sure why his tombstone has "4.28" after the date.  

Sources:

From Archive.org  you can read the full book online:  The Life and Confessions of Daniel Davis Farmer: Who Was Executed at Amherst, N.H. on the 3d day of January, 1822 for the Murder of the Widow Anna Ayer, at Goffstown, on the 4th of April 1821: To Which is Added His Valedcitory Address and Some of His Correspondence During His Imprisonment, by Daniel Davis Farmer, published 1822.   https://archive.org/details/lifeconfessionso00farm   

You can also read the entire trial online at Google Books The Trial of Daniel Davis Farmer for the Murder of the Widow Anna Ayer, at Goffstown, On the 4th of April, A. D., 1821, reported by Artemas Rogers & Henry B. Chase, Counsellors at Law, Concord, NH, 1821.  This book is also on the shelves of the New Hampshire Historical Society library in Concord, New Hampshire. 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Daniel Farmer, hanged 1822, buried at Derryfield, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 4, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/tombstone-tuesday-daniel-farmer-hanged.html: accessed [access date]).  

The Father of Labor Day buried in Manchester, New Hampshire

GEORGE McGUIRE

1857 - 1913

MINNIE L. CUMMINGS

HIS WIFE

167 - 1950

DEAR HUSBAND

FATHER OF LABOR DAY

FIRST OBSERVANCE HELD

MON. SEPT 6, 1886

George McGuire, the son of James McGuire and Jane Irving, was born about 1857 in Portland, Maine, and died 21 November 1913 in Manchester, New Hampshire.  He married Minnie Lucena Cummings on 26 October 1901 in Mancester.  She was the daughter of James Marshall Cummings and Sylvia M. Hardy, born 10 March 1867 in Manchester, and died there in 1950.

UPDATE Sept 3, 2018 4:28pm   Sandy Molloy Dahlfred left me a note on Facebook that Minnie McGuire is the person who left the money for the McGuire Pet Cemetery in Londonderry, near the airport runway.  See this blog post about the pet cemetery:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/wordless-wednesday-mcguire-pet-cemetery.html 

George McGuire, his wife Minnie, and his in-laws, James and Sylvia Cummings are all buried side-by-side at the Piscataog Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire, behind the Faithbridge Church on the corner of Main and Milford Streets. His grave is easy to find since it is the only Celtic cross in this cemetery, located right next to the small parking area behind the church.   Although I visited the day before Labor Day, his grave was quiet.  No one had left flowers or marked the occasion with any decorations.

From the National Labor Tribune
Thursday, Nov. 27, 1913, Pittsburgh, PA 

George McGuire was the head of the labor union for the local cigarmakers in Manchester.  He lead the Labor Day Parade in Boston, Massachusetts on more than one occasion.

SYLVIA M. HARDY

WIFE OF

JAMES M. CUMMINGS

JAN. 15, 1841

MAR. 9, 1921

DEAR FATHER

JAMES M. CUMMINGS

F.L.T.

MAY 20, 1841

APR. 26, 1881

MEMBER OF CO. E.

4TH REGT. N.H.V.

[F.L.T. is the logo for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows]

274 Manchester Street
Home of George McGuire

For the truly curious:

You can read much more about the three unrelated McGuire men (including some genealogy) who are all attributed to founding Labor Day at Janice Webster Brown's blog Cow Hampshire:

http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2015/09/05/the-father-of-labor-day-manchester-new-hampshires-george-mcguire-aka-maguire-1857-1913/ 


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To Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Father of Labor Day buried in Manchester, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 3, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-father-of-labor-day-buried-in.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ ATKINS of Phippsburg, Maine

Yours Truly at Atkins Bay, and the memorial for the Popham Colony

Fort Popham, looking across Atkins Bay, named for Thomas Atkins

ATKINS / ATKENS / ACKINGS / ATKINSON

My 9^th great grandfather, Thomas Atkins (about 1620 – 1686), was the first settler in Phippsburg, Maine.   The first record naming him in this area was on 15 May 1654 when the settlers along the Kennebec River were ordered to meet at the house of Thomas Ashley for an oath of fidelity.   He was next recorded in 1656 when he bought land at the southern tip of the peninsula near Popham Beach from the sachem Mowhotiwormet, who was also known as “Chief Robinhood”.  Atkins paid one beaver skin, a quarter rent of a bushel of corn, and a quart of liquor.  His land included all you can still see now from what is still called “Atkins Bay”, near Fort Popham.  

The name of Atkins’ wife is unknown.  Several sources name her as Elizabeth Scammon, daughter of John Scammon of New Hampshire, but there is no proof.  Thomas and Elizabeth had ten daughters, so the ATKINS name was not passed down in New England.  There is 1716 record in the York Deeds, Book 8, page 169 which shows how he divided his land among his daughters, giving their married names and places of residence.  During King Philip’s War this part of Maine was abandoned due to the constant massacres. Everyone removed to places in Massachusetts, including the seacoast towns where the Atkins daughters lived.

In 7 August 1600 Thomas Atkins was in court accused of committing incest with his daughter Mary.  The trial was held on 2 October 1660 and was found not guilty, but punished with whipping “which accordingly was executed, and soe the said Atkins cleared and sett libertie to returne to his owne home.”

I descend from the daughter Sarah Atkins (about 1650 – 1724) who married John Staples, and they were my 8^th great grandparents.  They lived in Braintree and Sarah died in Abington after having six Staple children and two more husbands, Samuel Gurney and Richard Williams.

For more ATKINS information:

Mrs. John E. Barclay, “Ten Daughters of Thomas Atkins of Kenebec”, New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 121 ( October 1967), pages 241 – 245.

The blog post Miner Descent https://minerdescent.com/2010/06/27/thomas-atkins/

  

My ATKINS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thomas Atkins, born about 1620 in England and died 10 November 1686 in Phippsburg, now Kennebec, Maine; married to Elizabeth Unknown about 1642.  Ten daughters.

Generation 2:  Sarah Atkins, born about 1650, died before 10 September 1724 in Abington, Massachusetts; married first to John Staples, son of John Staples and Rebecca Unknown about 1670. He was born about 1646 in Weymouth, and died 30 August 1692 in Braintree.  Six children.

Generation 3: Benjamin Staples m. Mary Cox

Generation 4:  Silence Staples m. John Everson

Generation 5:  Hannah Everson m. Nathan Weston

Generation 6:  Zadoc Weston m. Mary Clements

Generation 7:  Matilda Weston m. Joseph Edwin Healy

Generation 8:  Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 9:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

Generation 10:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ ATKINS of Phippsburg, Maine”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 1, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-atkins-of-phippsburg.html: accessed [access date]).