Nutfield Genealogy

This re-enactor was portraying Ebenezer Munroe, a cousin to my 5th great grandfather, Andrew Munroe. There were many Munroe family members at the Battle of Lexington, you can see the list of those I have identified HERE.

Of course, we had a long conversation about the Munroe family. He had researched his role very well, and knew the family history. (I was in a wheelchair because of a badly twisted ankle - but I didn't want to miss this event, no matter what!)

This monument (seen at the top of this blog post) lists the names of the men killed on Lexington Green, and is the final burial spot of the fallen. My daughter (13 years old at the time) laid flowers on this gravesite. We do this whenever we visit Lexington.

There were a huge number of re-enactors at this anniversary event of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. They were encamped in the fields next to a school a block away from Lexington Common. We saw sutlers, militia units, and all sorts of great period equipment and costumes.

At the Munroe Tavern, there were re-enactors demonstrating the medical equipment used in the field during the Revolutionary War period. After the Battle of Lexington, and before the retreat to Boston, the British used the Munroe Tavern as a field hospital.

I enjoyed seeing what interesting items the sutlers had for sale!

Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will post photos of the Battle of Lexington re-enactment from 19 April 2000, the 225th anniversary.

Munroe Cousins at the Battle of Lexington - A blog post from 2010

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/cousins-at-battle-of-lexington.html

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/patriots-day-18-april-2000-day-before.html
Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Saturday, April 18, 2015

What did you miss at the 2015 NERGC conference?

Providence, Rhode Island, as seen from our hotel room

For those of you who missed the 2015 NERGC conference in Providence, Rhode Island, all I can say is “Wow!” At least you are all well rested and don’t have sore feet. We were busy running around from dawn until well after dusk learning, socializing, and networking. Here is my list of highlights:

1. If you leave New Hampshire at 5am you will beat the traffic to Providence, Rhode Island only if you DON’T take Route 128.

2. The best part of NERGC is meeting old friends as soon as you step into the hotel lobby. The first friend I met was Jen Baldwin of Find My Past and the Ancestral Breezes blog – all the way from Colorado.

3. The first thing I checked out at the conference center was the query board. Did you know there was a “Northeastern Smith DNA Project”? http://smithconnections.com/index.cgi There are over 600 participants and 67 groups in this project, and special interest in descendants of Ulster Presbyterian (Scots Irish) Smiths to New Hampshire. Contact N. Smith at cheman207@yahoo.com

Jennifer Zinck, Yours Truly, Rev. Blackstone
and Marian Pierre-Louis

4. Rev. William Blackstone (1595 – 1675) gave the opening keynote address. Did you know he was the first settler at Boston, and also an early settler at Providence, Rhode Island? Read all about him at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blaxton

5. The local repositories and archives in Providence and nearby were open extra hours while the NERGC conference was in town. Smart move with over 900 genealogists in town!

6. Frugal Yankee genealogists find ways to attend conferences without spending big bucks. Half of my genealogist friends were doing the following:

a. Staying with friends, relatives, and relatives of relatives near Providence

b. Commuting by car, train and commuter rail from the Boston area. One drove four hours to and from upstate, New York arriving in time for the first session at 8:30am and leaving after the last session at 5:45pm.

c. Many folks were packing food bars, sandwiches and water bottles for the duration instead of buying the overpriced (and definitely not tasty) café sandwiches from the convention center.

d. Volunteering and going to the free events, but still sharing the social fun and excitement

7. Newly minted conference speaker (and blogger) Dave Robison not only gave his first major conference talk (and it was terrific), but on the first day, with just a moment’s notice, he also filled in for another speaker who couldn’t make it. So he got to practice his talk twice! Yay, Dave!

New England "Pirate Expert" David Allen Lambert with Yours Truly

8. The Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts, which is kept at the Massachusetts State Archives, contains the early records of the laws against piracy in the 1700s. Was your ancestor a pirate? I have Thomas Tew of Rhode Island in my family tree, or is it just a myth? Click here to read more about him, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/pirate-thomas-tew-guest-post.html David Allen Lambert of NEHGS gave a talk about pirates, and he wants to consult with anyone who has researched the Tew family. You can contact David at the New England Historic Genealogical Society http://www.americanancestors.org/index.aspx

9. There is a definite lack of diversity at NERGC. There were very few faces of color in the audiences, or among the speakers. I was happy to see fellow blogger, Cheryl Holley, speaking about Native Americans in New England, and one African American genealogy society in the expo hall. Where were the other people of color, Hispanics, and religious genealogy societies, attendees and speakers?

10. A class on Canon law was incredibly interesting, especially since I’m not Roman Catholic, but I've been working on my husband’s Spanish ancestors, and my new son-in-law’s family tree is all Irish, Italian and French Canadian. If you ever have a chance to take this class by George Findlen, take it!

11. There is a definite need for a genea-singles mixer or cocktail hour at genealogy conferences.

The Genealogy Blogger Special Interest Group

12. Our Genealogy Blogger Special Interest Group was a big success! Here are six “new to me” New England bloggers:

Jake Fletcher- Jake Fletcher's Genealogy Project https://fletcherfamilytree.wordpress.com/

Connie Billy of New Jersey – “Genealogy Journeys” www.genealogyjourneys.com

Janice Hamilton and others, from Montreal, Canada http://genealogyensemble.com/

Kate Lowrie “Kate’s Kin-nections”, from Massachusetts http://kateskinnections.blogspot.com/

Genevive De Haan, “Massachusetts Backwards” http://minniehowe.blogspot.com/

Kathleen McCracken, of Virginia “Pine Trees and Pedigrees” www.pinetreesandpedigrees.blogspot.com

Best of all! At the luncheon today, sponsored by the Massachusetts Genealogical Council, Judy Russell challenged everyone to throw a $1 bill on the table to be collected for the "Preserve the Pensions Project". This project benefits efforts to digitize the pension records from the War of 1812 to be put online, at a cost of 40 cents per page. Ancestry.com had pledged to match all donation, and there were about 200 people present. The Federation of Genealogical Societies would also match all donations, making this a win-win proposition.

What was the final donation?

Well, over $1,300 was collected, making the final donation, after matches, over 20,000 pages!

This is just some of the genealogy bloggers who were at NERGC this week.
Do you recognize these faces?

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-did-you-miss-at-2015-nergc.html

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Game of Cat and Mouse

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 New Hampshire.

Do you know the location of weather vane #204? Scroll down to see the answer!

This weather vane is located in Bedford, New Hampshire on the Daniel Webster Highway. It is on the cupola above the Daniel Webster Animal Hospital. This adorable weather vane features a hunting cat trying to catch the curly tailed mice perched on each of the cardinal points. I love the detail of the tails, whiskers and the ears of the cat which are folded forward as he concentrates on catching the little mice!

The mice aren't visible from the highway, or even from the sidewalk, and Vincent only noticed them from the camera while taking a closeup image. We had to zoom into this digital photo so much that you can even see the bees buzzing around the weather vane.

Daniel Webster Animal Hospital website:

http://www.dwanimalhospital.com/

Daniel Webster Animal Hospital on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daniel-Webster-Animal-Hospital/158448337573348

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/weathervane-wednesday-game-of-cat-and.html

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Robert P. Dinsmoor, soldier of the War of 1812

These tombstones were photographed at the Cemetery on the Plain, Windham, New Hampshire

SALLY G.

Wife of

Robert P. Dinsmoor

Died Mar. 15, 1877

Aged 72 yrs

&7 mos

ROBERT P. DINSMOOR

DIED

Aug. 28. 1861

Aged 64 yrs.

& 2 mos.

Robert Park Dinsmoor was the son of Robert Dinsmoor "The Rustic Bard" and Mary Davidson Park, born 27 June 1797 in Windham, and died 28 August 1861 in Windham. He married Sarah "Sally" Greg on 19 April 1827 in Windham. He was one of many soldiers from Windham to serve in the War of 1812.

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/tombstone-tuesday-robert-p-dinsmoor.html
Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Monday, April 13, 2015

Shhh! A Secret list of Reasons to Attend Your Local Genealogy Conference

This week I’ll be taking a few days off to attend the NewEngland Regional Genealogy Consortium’s conference (NERGC 2015) in Providence, Rhode Island. I’m ashamed to tell you that for many years I did not attend this conference. I had many pre-conceived notions about genealogy conferences, and so I ignored attending. Let me show my list of “excuses”, and why they were all wrong.

1. Too expensive - Boy ,was I wrong about this one! Every year there is a FREE all day conference held in New Hampshire for genealogy sponsored by the LDS church in Concord. There is also one in Massachusetts, and probably one near YOU. No excuse. Then I found out that there were many workshops, classes, lectures held nearly every week for FREE nearby, click on this link to see what is going on for FREE in New England this month. You can’t use the “expensive excuse” anymore. (By the way, at NERGC 2015, the exhibit hall is FREE every day, with many presentations going on in the exhibit hall. The “Special Interest Groups” and “Society Hour” on Thursday, April 16^th are FREE to the public. See you there!)

2. Conferences are only for the professional genealogists - Many years ago the NERGC conference was held in Manchester, New Hampshire right down the street from me. I went to the “Society Hour” to sit at a booth promoting the New Hampshire Mayflower Society. When all the conference attendees started to troop into the exhibit hall, I was amazed to meet all kinds of people. Some admitted they were there out of curiosity and hadn’t even started their family research yet. Some were newbies who had only recently started their family tree. There was a young mother there with her 11 year old son because he wanted to learn more about genealogy. I was very wrong to think that only professionals attended genealogy conferences. Two years later I registered to attend the NERGC 2011 conference in Springfield, Massachusetts and I fit right in. There is something for beginners, intermediate and advanced researchers, from part time to professional genealogists.

3. All the conferences are too far away - Conferences are held all over the country and all over the world, even on cruise ships! There will be one near you, even if you have to wait until next year. Some conferences are annual events, and some, like NERGC are held every two years. Some rotate around a region, like NERGC which switches to a different New England state every rotation. Smaller one day conferences are held at genealogy societies, libraries and museums, probably one is near you. Use social media to find out if you can carpool, or check with your local genealogy society to find a room-mate to share a hotel room.

4. Whoops! I forgot to register ahead of time! Is it this weekend? - No worries, most conferences accept walk-ins and almost all have day passes if you can only make it for one day.

5. I can do everything online- You might think that is true, but even if most of the sessions are videotaped you are missing the exhibit halls, the workshops, the chance to schmooze with famous genealogists and speakers, sitting at lunch with people who share your passion for genealogy, bumping into your favorite geneablogger in the elevator, exciting discussions in the hallway on the way out of a session (where you learn the “real stuff” the speaker forgot to mention), collecting business cards, freebies and giveaways from vendors, after hours coffee or adult beverages with your geneabuddies, special interest groups, book signings, etc. etc. Plus it is much, much more fun to be there in person!

6. I’m disabled – Here’s a secret not many people know- I have a walking disability, too. Sometimes I can find a big conference daunting, but there are tricks to attending without encountering problems. First of all, nearly every conference has a special volunteer or staff member to help you with any assistance you might need including providing sign language interpreters, finding a power chair, ordering special meals, mapping places to potty your service dog, etc. If you can’t find the contact information for this assistance, just contact the conference staff and ask questions. Often, just pairing up with a buddy for the day or weekend is helpful. Maybe you just need an arm to help you up and down, or someone to carry your bag? Be prepared and buddy up with a friend or bring a family member. Maybe they will become your genealogy buddy for other excursions in the future if they get hooked, too! Don’t worry about being the only one with special needs at a genealogy conference. Since many family history enthusiasts are of “a certain age”, there are lots of walkers, wheelchairs and power chairs at most genealogy conferences. I’ll admit I’ve taken a break in the middle of the day, too. Don’t feel you have to attend everything from 8am to 10pm. Pace yourself. Take a break for a nap or a relaxing swim in the hotel pool. Walk outside and take a coffee break.

7. I don’t have vacation time - Many conferences are held on weekends. Nearly every conference also has a reduced fee for a one-day pass if you can’t attend the entire two/three/four days so you can go for just a Saturday or a Sunday. DVDs or YouTube might carry the sessions you miss on the other days to help you catch up on the entire event. Ask ahead of time since not all conferences allow walk-in registrations.

8. I have vacation time, but I don’t want to spend it inside a conference room for two days– Some conferences organize tours to attractions for attendees and their family members, so everyone can have fun. Try one day in the lecture halls, and spend the other day seeing the city or the nearby sites.

9. My spouse/family member/ significant other doesn’t want to go to the conference - How about a genealogy vacation that combines the fun of a tour or a cruise with short workshops and lectures? Genealogy cruises offer something for the whole family, and then during days at sea, or other off times, the genealogists meet up for short sessions. Attending a conference in another city can be a compromise, where perhaps one adult and the kids go to the beach or theme parks when the other goes to the lecture hall. Being willing to share together time with a little bit of research or conference time can make the whole trip work out! And your family member doesn’t have to step inside the lecture hall at all.

10. I feel funny going alone - Going alone can be fine! You can use social media (Facebook is a great example) to find out who else is going, and look for them once you arrive. Plan a few meetups with your Facebook friends. Look for a room mate to share a hotel room on Facebook or through your local genealogy club. If you chat up the people sitting near you in the lecture hall, you’ll make friends to meetup with for lunch. Everyone has a name tag, so use it to introduce yourself. Look for people from your own town or state (it’s usually under the name on the name tag), and ask them about their own research. If you know genealogists, we love to talk about our own families, so you now have the perfect ice breaker for making new friends at a conference. Look for special interest groups (SIGs) where you can sit down and chat with people about certain themes or topics in genealogy. I guarantee you will have a good time even if you go alone.

NERGC 2015 www.NERGC.org

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Shhh! A Secret list of Reasons to Attend Your Local Genealogy Conference", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 13 April 2023, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/shhh-secret-list-of-reasons-to-attend.html: accessed [access date]).

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Surname Saturday ~ BISHOP of Salem, Massachusetts

Edward Bishop, my 9^th great grandfather, was born in England and appears in the Salem, Massachusetts records in 1645 when he was admitted to the church. He was a farmer and a sawyer. Edward was married three times, and I descend from his marriage with his first wife, Hannah, but I also descend from his second wife, Bridget (Playfer) (Wasselbee) Oliver, who is best known for being the first person executed in the Salem witch hysteria of 1692.

Edward Bishop, was appointed guardian of Susannah Mason, the only child of Christian, who was the only child of Bridget by her husband Thomas Oliver. Thus my 9^th great grandfather was appointed guardian to my 7^th great grandmother in a different lineage.

Edward’s son, Edward Jr. and his wife Sarah Wildes, were also arrested during the witch hysteria, but avoided execution by escaping the Boston jail. Sarah’s mother, Sarah (Averill) Wildes, was executed on 19 July 1692. The escapees were my 8^th great grandparents, and their son, James, (my 7^th great grandfather) was born about seven years later. James was a bricklayer and a mason in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

My BISHOP lineage:

Generation 1: Edward Bishop, born about 1620 in England, died about 1705 in Salem, Massachusetts; married first about 1645 to Hannah Unknown, mother of three children; married second in August 1667 to Elizabeth Lambert; married third to Bridget Playfer, widow of Thomas Oliver and Samuel Wasselbee.

Generation 2: Edward Bishop, born 23 February 1648 in Salem, died 12 May 1711 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts; married about 1675 to Sarah Wildes. Three children.

Generation 3: James Bishop, baptized 14 August 1699 in Salem, died between 31 October and 10 December 1764 in Salem; married first on 28 March 1724 in Ipswich to Sarah Holmes, mother of ten children. Married second on 13 December 1750 to Sarah Millet.

Generation 4: Sarah Bishop, baptized on 19 May 1728 in Ipswich; married on 18 October 1747 to Daniel Poland, so of John Poland and Abigail Davis. He was born about 1724 and died 19 August 1768 in Salem.

Generation 5: Martha Poland, born 4 August 1754 in Ipswich, died 17 February 1843 in Essex, Massachusetts; married on 22 April 1773 in Wenham, Massachusetts to Alexander Mears. He was born about 1750 in England, died 3 April 1824 in Essex. Twelve children.

Generation 6: Samuel Mears, born about 1798 in Essex, died 28 August 1879 in Essex; married on 29 March 1823 in Essex to Lydia W. Burnham, daughter of Asa Burnham and Polly Bray. She was born 19 September 1802 in Essex, died 5 September 1864 in Essex. Nine children.

Generation 7: Samuel Mears, born 29 December 1823 in Essex, died 13 January 1904 in Lynn, Massachusetts; married on 20 April 1844 in Essex to Sarah Ann Burnham, daughter of Henry Burnham and Sally Poland. Five children. Samuel married second on 26 December 1848 in Wenham to Lydia Gray, mother of four children.

Generation 8: Sarah Burnham Mears, born 30 November 1844 in Essex, died 4 March 1913 in Essex; married on 23 May 1863 in Essex to Joseph Gilman Allen, son of Joseph Allen and Orpha Andrews. He was born 22 May 1830 in Essex and died 9 April 1908 in Essex. Ten children.

Generation 9: Joseph Elmer Allen, born 24 September 1870 in Essex, died 12 March 1932 at the Masonic Home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts; married on 1 November 1892 in Essex to Carrie Maude Batchelder, daughter of George E. Batchelder and Mary Katherine Emerson. She was born 22 September 1872 in Chichester, New Hampshire, and died 21 January 1963 at the Sea View Convalescent and Nursing Home, Rowley, Massachusetts. Five children.

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

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My lineage from Bridget (Player) (Wasselbee) (Oliver) BISHOP – this lineage lived for the first nine generations in Salem, Massachusetts, until my grandmother removed to Beverly (a contiguous town) and Hamilton, Massachusetts:

Generation 1: Bridget Player, died 10 June 1692 in Salem when she was hung as a witch; married first on 13 April 1660 at St. Mary in the Marsh, Norwich, England to Samuel Wasselbee ; married second about 1664 to Thomas Oliver, who died 1678; married third about 1685 to Edward Bishop (see above).

Generation 2: Christian Oliver, daughter of Thomas Oliver and Bridget Playfer; born 8 May 1667 in Salem, died about 1693; married about 1686 in Salem to Thomas Mason.

Generation 3: Susannah Mason, born 23 August 1687 in Salem, died after 1769; married 20 September 1711 in Salem to John Becket, son of William Becket and Hannah Sibley. He was born 10 August 1684 and died 1763 in Salem.

Generation 4: John Becket born 28 February 1715 in Salem, died 29 August 1781 in Salem; married first on 3 May 1738 to Rebecca Beadle, mother of thirteen children. She was the daughter of Lemon Beadle and Rebecca Atwater, born 31 January 1714 in Salem, died 13 January 1758 in Salem. John married second on 25 November 1762 in Salem to Sarah Rue.

Generation 5: Hannah Becket, born 17 November 1751 in Salem, died 18 August 1837 in Salem; married on 20 June 1770 in Salem to Joseph Cloutman, son of Joseph Cloutman and Mary Webb. Seven children.

Generation 6: Mary Cloutman, born about 1775 in Salem, died 28 November 1853 in Salem; married 21 December 1795 in Salem to Abijah Hitchings, son of Abijah Hitchings and Mary Gardner. He was born about 1775 in Lynn, Massachusetts, and died 26 July 1868 in Salem. Eleven children.

Generation 7: Abijah Hitchings, born 18 January 1809 in Salem, died 18 January 1864 in Salem; married 4 December 1836 in Salem to Eliza Ann Treadwell, daughter of Jabez Treadwell and Betsey Jillings Homan. She was born 27 August 1812 in Salem, and died 31 January 1896 in Salem. Four children.

Generation 8: Abijah Franklin Hitchings, born 28 October 1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem; married on 22 September 1864 in Salem to Hannah Eliza Lewis, daughter of Thomas Russell Lewis and Hannah Phillips. She was born about 1844 in Salem, and died 15 February 1921 at the Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Massachusetts. Two children.

Generation 9: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, born 10 May 1868 in Salem, died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly, Massachusetts to Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, daughter of Peter Hoogerzeil and Mary Etta Healey. She was born 20 August 1871 in Beverly and died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton. Eight children.

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html

Thursday, April 9, 2015

1950s ~ Mom and Dad in New York City

The Manhattan skyline

That's Mom in the middle! She looks so young and glamorous!

Rockefeller Center still looks the same

In the 1950s my parents chaperoned a high school trip to New York City and Washington, DC. You can see the Washington photos HERE. I love these photos because of the great fashions and the skylines. If you've been to either city lately you will immediately notice the difference in the skylines! It's too bad that they didn't take more photos. Sometimes I wish my parents and ancestors had access to the digital photography we have today.

Washington DC trip 1950s
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/06/mom-and-dad-in-washington-dc-not-so.html

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/1950s-mom-and-dad-in-new-york-city.html
Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

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Sunday, April 19, 2015