Weathervane Wednesday ~ An Old Familiar Sign

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 was spotted in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #169? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!

Today's weather vane was seen along Route 12 in West Boylston, Massachusetts.  It's a "blast from the past" for anyone who remembers the New England countryside dotted with Howard Johnson motels and restaurants.  This two dimensional scene of a child and a lamplighter was sometimes seen atop the orange roofs as a "Simple Simon met a Pie Man" scene from the nursery rhyme.

This orange roofed HoJo motel is now the Classic Suites and Inns.  They have kept the orange roofed building as a reception area, and kept the original weather vane.  It's a true piece of 20th Century Americana, dating back to the days when American first hit the road for vacations with their automobiles.  Most rest areas on the Massachusetts Turnpike and other major highways had Howard Johnson's restaurants in the mid 20th century.

An old Howard Johnson's postcard 

The first Howard Johnson restaurant was established in 1925 as a soda fountain in Quincy, Massachusetts.  During the 20th century the chain grew to over 1,000 restaurants, spurred on by the incredible post World War II boom in highways and automobile sales.  But in the 1970s a combination of events led to the chain being sold off- the gas crisis, the death of the original Howard Deering Johnson in 1972, fast food drive through chains like McDonalds, and the sale of the chain to Marriot in 1985 (who had no interest in the restaurants and closed them).  There are only two Howard Johnson's still operating in locations at  Bangor Maine and Lake Placid, New York.

There is a book about the history of this restaurant chain, with a photo of this weathervane on the cover!  A History of Howard Johnson's: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco, The History Press, 2013 (also available on Kindle)

Click here to hear an interview with Anthony Sammarco about his book on Howard Johnson's from the Fieldstone Common website:
http://www.fieldstonecommon.com/history-howard-johnsons-anthony-sammarco/

Classic Suites and Inns website http://www.classicsuites-inns.com/

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


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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ An Old Familiar Sign", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 13, 2014, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/weathervane-wednesday-old-familiar-sign.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ WILKINSON family plot, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

These tombstones were photographed at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Wilkinson Family Plot

Martha Wilkinson

Died

June 22, 1895

Aged 86 years

Edward Tuckman Wilkinson

In Memoriam

(note the anchor, for he died at sea and was buried at sea)

In

Memoriam

Arthur

son of

A & M. W. Wilkinson

Died May 31, 1860

Aged 18 years

"PRAEREPTUS MORTI IMMATURA

JUVENIS INGENIO ET VIRTUTE PRAESTAT

IN COELUM TRANSUT

ET IN CHRISTO VIVIT"

MARTHA

ELIZABETH

OUR ONLY

BELOVED DAUGHTER

(back of the stone)

M.E.W.

DAUGHTER OF

A & M. WILKINSON

DIED SEPT. 28, 1857

AGED 14 YEARS

The Wilkinson Family plot is next to the Turner family plot

Arthur Wilkinson was the son of Oliver Wilkinson (1766 - 1848) and Betsey Munn, born 13 November 1803 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, died 16 April 1868 in Cambridge, Massachusetts; married on 3 December 1840 in Dorchester, Massachusetts to Martha Walker Turner, widow of Edward Dunning and the daughter of Rev. John Turner and Lucy Sargent.  She was born 13 February 1809 in Biddeford, Maine, and died 28 June 1895 in Cambridge.  They had five children:

1. Henry Wilkinson, died young
2. Arthur Wilkinson, b. 27 October 1841, d. 31 May 1860
3. Martha Elizabeth Wilkinson, b. 1 May 1843, d. 25 September 1857
4. Edward Tuckerman Wilkinson, b. 14 October 1844, d. 27 December 1873 on board the Cimbria
5. George Wilkinson, b. 29 September 1848, d. 6 September 1849

Arthur Wilkinson was a woolen goods merchant, who lived in Boston and retired to Cambridge, Massachusetts. All his children died young.  The son, Edward, died at sea.  I found this obituary in the Boston Daily Advertiser, January 7, 1874.

The death of Edward Tuckerman Wilkinson of Cambridge, noticed elsewhere, removes one of the last remaining representatives of one of the most widely known and highly honored families of this vicinity, and carries a shock of surprise and sorrow to a large number of relatives and friends.  Young Wilkinson, who had not reached the age of thirty, was a Harvard graduate of the class of 1866, and will be especially remembered by those familiar with college life of his time for his interest and proficiency in athletic sports- boating in particular.  He was, we think, the member of at least one winning University crew in one or more famous contests.  Many substantial qualities of mind and heart endeared him to a wide circle of acquaintances, who will mourn for him as a man and brother; while his singularly fine presence, like that of his noble and lamented father, the late Arthur Wilkinson, esq., must remain an unfading picture in the memory of all who ever knew him.  He had gone abroad a few months since, hoping by a winter's sojourn in the south of France he might regain his health, which had been for some time feeble and failing; but the experiment no fesulting favorably he determined on return, and took the Cimbria, at Southampton, England, for New York, December 20, accompanied by his cousin, Dana Turner, of this city.  But it was not for him again to see his native land.  The voyage proved tempestuaous and exhausting, and he did not live it through, but died on the 27th, conscious to the last, and then falling as it were peacefully asleep.  His body was buried at sea the day following, and so now rests in the element which, while he was living, had so much of his affection.

The cousin, Dana Turner, mentioned in this obituary was Nathaniel Dana Turner (1851 - 1893) is buried a few feet away in the Turner family plot, right next to the Wilkinson family plot.

front (above) and back (below) of the plot card for the Wilkinson family

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/tombstone-tuesday-wilkinson-family-plot.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Magna Carta [Great Charter] Great in history, not so great in actual dimensions

The Magna Carta
from the British Library, photo from Wikimedia Commons

When I heard the Magna Carta was coming to Boston I was thrilled.  How exciting to see the actual document sealed by King John, made famous in all the history books and as the villain in countless Robin Hood movies.  He is also my 23^rd great grandfather, as corroborated by Gary Boyd Roberts and William Addams Reitwiesner’s website.  There were also more than 25 Magna Carta sureties, Barons who were on record as enforcing the document.  The document ensured that they could meet at any time and overrule the king.  If you Google a noble ancestor from this time period, you might find a link online that lists him as a “Magna Carta Surety” or as one of the Magna Carta Barons.    I descend from three of these Barons- Saire de Quincy, William Malet, and Robert FitzWalter (my 23^rd, 24^th, and 25^th great grandfathers). 

Next year will be the 800^th anniversary of the Magna Carta, which happened at Runnymede, on the banks of the River Thames, near London, England on 15 June 1215.   This document will be traveling across the United States in commemoration of this important event.   After Boston’s MFA exhibit it will travel to Williamstown, Massachusetts to be on display at the Clark Institute, and then to the Law Library of Congress in Washington, DC until early 2015.

I was surprised to find out that this was not the Magna Carta.  There was not just one copy of this document made at the time, but many.  There are four surviving copies of this 1215 document.  The one at the MFA in Boston is held by the British Library, and on loan for the exhibit Magna Carta: Cornerstone of Liberty.   That was OK, I didn’t mind that there were several exemplifications of the Magna Carta.  It was still exciting to see a document from that moment in history.

Paul Revere's Liberty Bowl at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.
Look carefully to see the words "Magna Charta"
from the MFA website
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/sons-of-liberty-bowl-39072 

At the MFA exhibit the United States Constitution was also on display, as well as the Declaration of Independence.  The 5^th Amendment owes its roots to the Magna Carta.  The phrase “no person shall …. Be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” is derived directly from “No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land”. 

Paul Revere’s Liberty Bowl was also on display, in front of the Magna Carta.  One of the phrases he inscribed on this bowl was Magna Charta.  There were also portraits of important signers such as Samuel Adams by Copely, and marble busts, and other historical documents related to the founding fathers.  It was a great exhibit, and included with admission to the MFA (no special timed entrances or additional tickets needed).

When I finally gazed at the Magna Carta I realized, it was sealed under oath, not signed, by King John.  His signature did not appear anywhere on the document.  I was extremely sad about this.  It would be so terrific to see the signature of a 23^rd great grandfather!  You can see the seal of the king on this 1297 version of the Magna Carta.  I’m sure you’ve seen similar on photos of papal bulls and other historic documents.  But this copy was just a piece of vellum with text.  No signatures.  Not even those of the Barons.  Darn.

1297 copy of the Magna Carta
from the NARA website
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/magna_carta/images/after-restoration-l.jpg

I was disappointed to not see a signature, but also by the size of the document.  It’s not much bigger than a regular legal sized paper, covered with miniscule handwriting.   I suppose I was imagining a large parchment, like the Declaration of Independence with John Hancock’s large, impressive signature.  After all, isn’t that how you imagined a King would sign a document?  A little research showed me that in the time period of 1215, most documents were sealed, not signed.  Kings were probably illiterate anyways, although I doubt King John was illiterate if he was the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine.   It pays to do a little research on the time period, as well as the document, before an exhibit such as this.

According to the British Library http://www.bl.uk/   each copy of the Magna Carta differs slightly in size, shape and text. There are two copies at the British Library (which is probably why they are willing to loan one for traveling on exhibit this year), and one each at the cathedral archives of Lincoln and Salisbury in England.

You don't need to have royal or noble ancestors to enjoy this exhibit.  Perhaps your ancestors were involved with the American Revolution?  Or were there lawyers in your family tree?  Were your family members involved with struggles for human rights in other countries of the world?  Just think how this historic event at Runnymede 800 years ago influenced democracy across the globe, and might have changed the lives of all our ancestors.

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For the truly curious:

Magna Carta: Cornerstone of Liberty

July 1, 2014 – September 1, 2014 at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

See this link for more information:

http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/magna-carta   

Clark Institute, Williamsburg (Magna Carta will be on display September – October 2014)

http://www.clarkart.edu/    

“Magna Carta to go on display at Clark Art in 2014” from The Berkshire Eagle

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_23800437/magna-carta-go-display-at-clark-art-2014  

Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor  

November 6, 2014 – January 19, 2015 at the Law Library of Congress, Washington, DC

https://www.facebook.com/events/345534555598885/

For Royal and Noble lineages see:

“WARGS”  William Addams Reitwiesner’s website  http://wargs.com/

The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States, by Gary Boyd Roberts, 2004  (available from NEHGS and Genealogical Publishing Company)

Notable Kin, Volumes One and Volume Two, by Gary Boyd Roberts, 1998 and 1999, (available from NEHGS)

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See this link for “Profiles of Magna Carta Sureties and Other Supporters”.  Is your ancestor on this list?

http://www.magnacharta.com/bomc/profiles-of-magna-charta-sureties-and-other-supporters/

The home page of “The Baronial Order of Magna Charta”

http://www.magnacharta.com/

More about the Magna Carta from the US National Archives (a 1297 copy is on display here in the Rubenstein Gallery at the National Archives)

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/magna_carta/

Translation of the 1297 Magna Carta (issued in Latin)

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/magna_carta/translation.html


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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/magna-carta-great-charter-great-in.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ SPARKS of Ipswich, Massachusetts

SPARKS

The first record of John Sparks is dated 24 July 1650 when he was apprenticed to Obadiah Wood “bisquit maker” in Ipswich, Massachusetts [Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1900, Volume 1, page 200].  Obadiah Wood married Margaret, John’s sister.  In 1664 John rented half a house from Thomas Bishop of Ipswich.  On 14 February 1671 John Spark bought two acres in Ipswich for his own bakery, and an “ordinary” (tavern). 

He married Mary Roper, daughter of Walter Roper of Ipswich.  There was an early article in the 1977 issue 98, pages 1904 – 1905 of The Sparks Quarterly published by the Sparks Family Association that stated that John Sparks married Mary Sinnett of Boston.  This was reversed in issue 164, pages 4192 – 4229 when an article by Russell E. Bidlack described the will of Walter Roper that names his daughter Mary (Roper) Sparks, and her children.  See my blog post last week on the Roper family to see a transcription of that will.  Mary’s will is transcribed below from the Essex County Probate 25951, dated 9 December 1711.  She died sometime before 26 July 1712 when her son-in-law Thomas Newman was appointed executor of this will:

In the Name of God, Amen. I Mary Spark of Ipswich in the County of Essex in New England, Widow, being Weak of Body but Thro the great Goodness of God, of perfect Mind & Memory Doe make & Or Dane th⁸ & no other to be my Last Will & Testament. Commending my Immortall Soul into the hands of Almighty God, Hopeing in the Mercy of God thro the Meritts [of] Jesus Christ to have the full & free pardon of all my Sins & Resurrection unto Everlasting Life, & my Body I Comitt to the Earth when dead, to be bureyed according to the Direction of my Exer hereafter Named in a Christian, Decent Manner-and as for the small portion of Worldly Goods which I have in possesion or may be Due to me or my heirs after my funerall Charges are Defrayed, I give & Dispose of the same In Manner & form following:

Imp¹'. I Give to my Daughter, Susannah Annable, Twenty shillings out of the Legacie left me by my [brother] John Rooper in his Will W" It shall be Due.

 Item I give also my Daughter Sarah Newman twenty shillings out of th^### Legacye W¹'¹ It shall be due, given by my Brother John aforesaid.

 Item In Consideration th^### I am & am like to be More Chargeable & Troublesome To my son, Thomas Newman & my Daughter Rose Newman with whom I Now Live, I Give unto Them & Their heirs for Ever all the Rest of my Estate, Either in possesion or reversion of what Kind or Nature so ever or In whose hands It is or May be found In, as a finall a reward of the Daily Love & Service, & I Ordain my said son Thomas Newman To be sole Executor of this my Last Will & Testament. In Witness Whereof I have hereunto Sett my hand & Seal the Ninth Day of December Ann Dome Seventeen hundred & Eleven.

Signed, Sealed, published & declard
In presence of us            

This transcription is from the Sparks Family Association website http://www.sparksfamilyassn.org/pages/164-A.html

My SPARKS genealogy:

Generation 1: John Sparks, born about 1630, died before March 1704 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married Mary Roper, daughter of Walter Roper and Susan Unknown.  She was baptized on 22 August 1641 in Hampton, New Hampshire and died 1712 in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Eight children.

Generation 2: Elizabeth Sparks, born about 1666 probably in Ipswich, died 10 April 1692 in Ipswich; married on 25 December 1684 in Ipswich to Jacob Perkins, son of Jacob Perkins and Elizabeth Whipple.  He was born 3 August 1662 in Ipswich, and died 12 November 1705.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Perkins m. David Burnham

Lineage A:

Generation 4: David Burnham m. Elizabeth Marshall

Generation 5: Amos Burnham m. Sarah Giddings

Generation 6: Judith Burnham m. Joseph Allen

Generation 7: Joseph Allen m. Orpha Andrews

Generation 8: Joseph Gilman Allen m. Sarah Burnham Mears

Generation 9: Joseph Elmer Allen m. Carrie Maude Batchelder

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

Lineage B:

Generation 4: Westley Burnham m. Deborah Story

Lineage B1:

Generation 5: Westley Burnham m. Molly Woodbury

Lineage B1a:

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 (see above)

Lineage B1b:

Generation 6: Henry Burnham m. Sally Poland

Generation 7: Sarah Ann Burnham m. Samuel Mears

Generation 8: Sarah Burnham Mears m. Joseph Gilman Allen (see above)

Lineage B2:

Generation 5: Sarah Burnham m. Abner Poland

Generation 6: Sally Poland m. Henry Burnham (see above)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/surname-saturday-sparks-of-ipswich.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Old Planters Reunion, Beverly, Massachusetts 26 – 28 September 2014

The Balch House, Beverly, Massachusetts

Are you descended of Beverly’s 17^th century “Old Planters”?   Some of the first men to settle the North Shore of Massachusetts were Roger Conant, John Woodbury, William Trask, John Balch and Peter Palfrey, Walter Knight, William Allen, Thomas Gray, Tohn Tylly, Thomas Gardner, Richard Norman, William Jeffrey, and Captain William Trask.  These settlers were here before the Endicott and Winthrop groups arrived in Massachusetts.

If you are descended from these families, or are interested in early settlers in Beverly, you might want to join this conference and explore the history of the Old Planters.  There will be a Friday night networking dinner, lectures, walking tours, visits to First Period Houses and more.  On Saturday, September 27 there will be meetings of both the BALCH and WOODBURY family associations.

NEWS

The new Balch Genealogy by Robin Balch Hodgkins will be available at the Reunion.  Order by calling 978-922-1186 or send a check to the Beverly Historical Society, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA 01915  Hardcover copy $100/$80 members,  Flashdrive copy $40/ $32 members. Registered attendees of the Old Planter reunion will receive 10% off the purchase price.

Registration Form:

http://www.beverlyhistory.org/misc_files/OPRearly2014.pdf  

Balch Family Genealogy at Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BalchFamilyGenealogy  

Books about the Old Planters:

The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts and the Thousand Acre Grant of 1635, by Alice Gertrude Lapham, 1930

Ryal Side from the Early Days of Salem Colony, by Calvin P. Pierce, 1931

Genealogy of the Balch Families in America, by Galusha B. Balch  (this is the book Robin Balch Hodkins has just updated, see above)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/old-planters-reunion-beverly.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Flock of Sea Birds

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 was spotted in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #168? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!

Today's weather vane was spotted across from Bearskin Neck, Rockport, Massachusetts at the Town Wharf.  This is the best spot for viewing and photographing the famous fish shack known as Motif #1.  This weathervane is a gilded group of two dimensional sea birds, atop the cupola of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club.  There are other weather instruments up there on the roof, probably navigation aids for the members of this boat club.

Sandy Bay Yacht Club website http://www.sandybay.org/ 

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

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Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ John Simmons, College Founder, buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery

This memorial was photographed at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts

FOUNDER OF

SIMMONS COLLEGE

JOHN SIMMONS

died

August 29, 1870,

aged 78 years.

ANN SIMMONS

born at Provincetown

Sept. 1, 1797

died at Boston

May 30, 1861

SIMMONS

The plot card lists the following names:

1. Rev. Samuel H. Stearnes Dec. 26, 1837, age 35

2. Samuel French, Sept. 5, 1839, age 73

3. Theodore Simmons, June 11, 1840, age 0 yrs, 10 months, 0 days

4. Lorenzo Simons, Feb. 12, 1841, age 18

5. Frank Simmons, Feb. 4, 1844, age 11 weeks

6. John Simmons, Jr. , May 21, 1846, age 25

7. Ella Simmons, Feb. 17, 1853, age 1 year, 8 months, 0 days

8. A Female Stillborn, Sept 19, 1854

9. Stillborn Simmons, July 31, 1855

10. Genevieve Simmons, Jan 27, 1857, age 0 years, 5 months, 0 days

11. Theodore Simmons, May 15, 1858, age 29

12. Ann Simmons, June 2, 1861, age 63

13. Harriet W. Simmons, Nov. 20, 1866, age 37, 11 months, 13 days

14. John Simmons, Aug 31, 1870, age 74

15. Alvina S. White, Apr. 7, 1886, age 49

16. Mary Ann Buffum (from R.I.), Oct 12, 1887, age 67, 6 months, 0 days

17. William Arnold Buffum, Jan 30, 1901, age 79

note #2 here in error, should be 584

Notes on this side of the plot card indicate an iron fence was installed in 1927, and removed 1932 "by order of the trustees of John Simmons", and the granite steps and curbing removed in 1963.

"4 flowering shrubs in front & is surrounded by the same and 1 Arborvitae"

When I visited Mount Auburn to take these photographs, the memorial had recently been re-landscaped by the alumni association of Simmons College.

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John Simmons, son of Benoni Simmons and Nancy Bailey,  was born on 30 October 1796 in Little Compton, Rhode Island and died on 29 August 1870 in Little Compton.  He married Anna Small on 29 October 1818 in Boston. He was a direct descendant of Moses Simmons/Simonson, who was a Pilgrim in Leyden, Holland along with the other separatists who came to Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower.  Moses Simmons arrived on board the second ship, the Fortune, in 1621.  John Simmons was also descended from more well known Mayflower passengers John Alden, Priscilla Mullens and Myles Standish.

John Simmons left Rhode Island in 1814 to come to Boston as a tailor.  He had his own shop by 1818, and in 1844 was the owner of the largest clothing business in New England.  He revolutionized the men's clothing business by introducing ready-made suits in several sizes.  He died in 1870, leaving the bulk of his fortune to found a woman's educational institution "It is my will to found and endow an institution to be called Simmons Female College.... to enable the scholars to acquire an independent livelihood".

Unfortunately, the Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed Simmons real estate investments in the downtown area of the city.  By 1899 his trust fund had recovered enough to found Simmons College. It is a private women's undergraduate college and co-educational graduate school in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.

For the genealogy of John Simmons, see the book The Ancestry of John Simmons: Founder of Simmons College, by Henry Sherburne Rowe, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Riverside Press, 1933.

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/tombstone-tuesday-john-simmons-college.html   

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Pierce Brigade ~ Fans of one of our least popular US Presidents

The Pierce Manse, Concord, New Hampshire

As a New Hampshire resident I am well aware that our state has produced only one US president, and that he usually rates a spot somewhere at the bottom of any given ranked list of the presidents.  Franklin Pierce (1804 – 1869) was the 14^th president (1853 – 1857) during those contentious years leading up to the Civil War.  I’ve heard that he was a Copperhead, and he supported the violence in Kansas, and that he died of alcoholism.  It turns out that much of this was myth!

The Pierce Brigade is a group of volunteers who turned out to rescue Franklin Pierce’s home from destruction during the 1970s when a section of Concord was undergoing urban renewal.  This organization not only preserved the home of our 14^th president, they also preserve his legacy and try to dispel the misconceptions about his administration that made him so unpopular.

During his presidency Franklin Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which led to extreme violence, and he was not re-nominated by his party for the 1856 election.  He was also a critic of Abraham Lincoln during his administration.  Why?  Well, according to the volunteers at the Pierce Manse in Concord, and according to Peter Wallner, the author of a recent two volume biography of Pierce, he was an ardent supporter of the Constitution.  Since the Constitution supported slavery, he thought it was up to him to uphold the right of the Southern states to own slaves.  He was not a fan of Lincoln suspending several constitutional rights, such as habeas corpus, during the Civil War.

The Pierce Brigade, being such loyal fans of Franklin Pierce, has produced a brochure titled Myths and Truths of the Pierce Administration.   It is based on “notes from a lecture at the Pierce Manse by Peter Wallner”.  I have heard Wallner speak twice about Pierce, once at a Mayflower Society luncheon and also at a library lecture.  He is a real Pierce fan, and his extensive research gives details of his life and administration that is usually just a brief note given in history classes.  This little brochure dispels many of the stories I had heard from my own teachers and history professors.  According to Wallner “Pierce was a Jeffersonian/Jacksonian Democrat who supported limited power to the federal government, strict interpretation of the Constitution, and states’ rights.  He never wavered on these principles, which he applied to every political and social issue he faced during his political career.”

You can now see why Pierce was so unpopular in his own hometown, home state and in the Northern states before, during and after the Civil War. And yes, drinking took a toll on his health and he died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1869.  He is buried in the Old North Cemetery in Concord, not far from the Pierce Manse.

This Myths and Truths brochure is passed out to anyone who would like to learn more about Pierce.  It is available at the front desk of the Pierce Manse in Concord, New Hampshire, which is staffed and operated by the Pierce Brigade.  I was there last week with my “Ladies Lunch Bunch” from my new condo association, and we all enjoyed our tour very much, and appreciated the efforts of these enthusiastic volunteers.   I cannot believe that after living in New Hampshire 30 years, it was my first visit to the Pierce Manse.   

Photographs were not allowed inside the Manse
but I was allowed to take a picture of these dolls
According to the label:
"In 1970 the Pierce Brigade commissioned Mrs. Ruth M. Barlome
of Sheffield Lake, Ohio to create molds for china doll heads
resembling Franklin and Jane Pierce.  Using photographs,
Mrs. Bartlome did create the molds and produced over 200 dolls
for the Brigade.  These dolls were sold for $25 each to raise funds
for the restoration of the Manse."

This bit of local history is interesting to me because President Pierce and I share a common ancestor- Thomas Pierce (1620 – 1683) of Woburn, Massachusetts.  I also share a common ancestor with Pierce’s wife, Jane Means Appleton (1806 – 1863).  I’ll post these charts below.

                                                Thomas Pierce & Elizabeth Carew

                                                                    |

                                                Thomas Pierce & Elizabeth Cole

                               |                                                                     |

Stephen Pierce & Tabitha Parker                            John Pierce & Deborah Convers

                               |                                                                     |

Stephen Pierce & Esther Fletcher                          Ebenezer Pierce & Mary Wilson

                               |                                                                     |

Benjamin Pierce & Elizabeth Merrill                      Deborah Pierce & Increase Wyman

                               |                                                                      |

Benjamin Pierce & Anna Kendrick                           Increase Wyman & Catherine Unknown

                               |                                                                      |

Franklin Pierce & Jane Means Appleton                  Jemima Wyman & Joshua Burnham

(F.P. is my 4^th cousin 7 generations removed)                                |

                                                                                   Jemima Burnham & Romanus Emerson

                                                                                                      |

                                                                                    George Emerson & Mary Esther Younger

                                                                                                      |

                                                                                   Mary Katharine Emerson & George E. Batchelder

                                                                                                      |

                                                                                     Carrie M. Batchelder & Joseph Elmer Allen

                                                                                                      |

                                                                                    Stanley Elmer Allen & Gertrude M. Hitchings

                                                                                                 (my grandparents)

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

                                                     John Baker & Elizabeth Unknown

                                                                    |

     Thomas Baker & Priscilla Symonds                   Martha Baker & Thomas Andrews

                           |                                                                                    |

Priscilla Baker & Isaac Appleton                          Sarah Andrews & Joseph Swett

                            |                                                                                   |

Isaac Appleton & Elizabeth Sawyer                      Benjamin Swett & Elizabeth Norton

                             |                                                                                   |

Francis Appleton & Elizabeth Hubbard                 Elizabeth Swett & David Batchelder

                            |                                                                                    |

Jesse Appleton & Elizabeth Means                       Elisha Batchelder & Sarah Lane

                             |                                                                                   |

Jane Means Appleton & Franklin Pierce                Jonathan Batchelder & Nancy Thompson

 (J.MA. is my 5^th cousin, 6 generations removed)                                       |

                                                                             George E. Batchelder & Abigail M. Locke

                                                                                                                  |

                                                                         George E. Batchelder & Mary Katharine Emerson

                                                                                      (my 2^nd great grandparents – see above)

Jane Means Appleton’s maternal grandmother was Mary McGregor, wife of Robert Means.  Mary’s parents were David McGregor and Mary Boyd of Londonderry, New Hampshire.   Mary’s grandfather was Rev. James McGregor (1677 – 1729), the minister who brought his flock from Aghadowey, Northern Ireland to Nutfield (Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire). 

For more information on President Franklin Pierce:

The Pierce Manse

14 Horseshoe Pond Lane

Concord, New Hampshire

Phone: 603-225-4555

What is the Pierce Brigade?  http://www.piercemanse.org/Support.html

The Pierce Manse  http://www.piercemanse.org/

Peter Wallner’s two volume biography of Franklin Pierce is (Volume 1) Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire’s Favorite Son, 2004 and (Volume 2) Franklin Pierce: Martyr for the Union, 2007

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http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-pierce-brigade-fans-of-one-of-our.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo