Over the years I noticed patterns in New Englanders naming their children. Although these patterns may or may not hold true (note: I have not done the research on this idea), I have found this theory to be helpful to me as I search for missing family members. Even today we may choose a first name we love, then very often, we choose a family name for the middle name.
Understanding naming conventions over time can be very helpful in your research, what was a popular name at a certain time, and how and why people selected certain names, can be very assist you as your own family tree. For instance, when we think of Lindas, Donnas and Karens we know they were popular 1950s/1960s names, and Shirleys were from the 1930s, and who recalls the book Beyond Jennifer & Jason from the 1980s? (This Social Security site keeps track of these popular names). Yes, names come in and out of fashion, and knowing these fashionable names may help in pinpointing a relative.
Three hundred years ago, in New England (and perhaps other geographical areas) your first six children’s names had already been decided long before they were even born! They would have been named after parents (2) and grandparents (4), the following children could have been named after a parent’s sibling, or perhaps a nice Biblical name might have been chosen. It should also be noted that if a couple had a child that died, the next child may be given its dead sibling’s name, and if that child died, parents may name a third child with the same name.
Around 1800, people began to choose a popular name for their babies. “George Washington” was a very popular name at that time! Around 1830, giving your child a middle name became popular. Before this time, those children who received a middle name were often named after someone. In my family, Abby Butler Hubbard (1812-1898) was named after her mother Abigail Butler (1773-1862). Abigail Butler and her husband Zadoc Hubbard had ten children between 1795 and 1812, their first four did not have middle names and the other six were named after someone and therefore had middle names.
It is also important to have an understanding of nicknames. Sure we know names like Sue is a nickname for Susan, but so is Suky. Did you know Patty is a nickname for Martha? I bet you didn’t! I bet you thought is was for Patricia!
At one time, it was popular to play a rhyming name game….
William’s nickname was Will…then it was rhymed and became Bill
Robert’s nickname was Rob…then it was rhymed and became Bob
Mary’s nickname was Molly…then it was rhymed and became Polly
Martha’s nickname was Matty…then it was rhymed and became Patty
Hopefully, you can see how this sort of works (of course there are many nicknames that are simply are abbreviations of a longer name…Abigail -> Abby; Susan -> Sue; Etc) but if you are aware of these nicknames name changes, you may be able to locate Cate as Catherine.
And you should also beware that often when people came to the United States from other countries they changed their name to an American sounding one…Franz became Frank.
Keep your Spidey-sense up regarding naming conventions, patterns, nicknames and new American names, as you are building your family tree. It may help you to break down a brick wall!
Many years ago, long before genealogists began blogging, the best way to learn and grow online as a genealogist was to sign up to receive emails from professional genealogists. This is exactly what I did! One email I received intrigued me; it was on how to use Google to find genealogical information. At the time, genealogical databases were still in their infancy; GenWeb seemed to offer the most information, FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com were new, and Find A Grave had not been thought of yet. In fact, most of my research was done via snail mail! A free source of online information was welcome, and to date I use Google regularly to aid in my genealogical research.
The Google logo
Very often you will find scanned books that can be read online, local historical society’s websites that offer blogs on histories or genealogies, posted queries on old message boards, or a descendent family organizations that may offer a well researched genealogy.
I must admit, researching an unusual name is best, but don’t worry, if you have a common name like “John Smith” you will find results. It will take patience and perseverance.
First, using quotes around your research name will help you find information on “John Smith,” versus not using quotes you will get information on every “John” and every “Smith!” Yikes! That’s potentially a lot of useless information. To further narrow down your search answers add the name of his wife or the place(s) he lived: “John Smith” “Experience Jones”…..or “John Smith” Dedham, MA. Mix it up! You know your John Smith, and there might be pertinent information to YOUR John Smith that you could use in your Google searches to narrow down your answers and find the information you are seeking.
Google main page
I think the best piece of Google voodoo is using a minus (-) sign. For years now, I have been researching the Wormwood family of York County, Maine. Early on if I just used the surname “Wormwood” and “Maine”…or “obituary”…or “genealogy,” I found exactly what I was searching. Then about ten years ago, absinthe again became legal to sell in this country. Absinthe is made from the wormwood plant, and yup you guessed it, all of a sudden I got people selling absinthe in Maine! By using the minus sign…”Wormwood” “Maine” “–absinthe”… my Google results are about the Wormwood family of Maine, and zero results on absinthe.
Now as you are reviewing your search results, do not forget to use the pull-down menu labeled “more.” When you click on it, a little drop down menu appears with the words video, books, flights and finance. Click on “books” and that will take you to a list of books your search-person may be in. Google has scanned many books that are out of copyright that you can fully read! But be wary, just because it is written in a book does not necessarily mean it is true or correct. Sometimes authors like to embellish a story to make the genealogy tale more interesting…so check and double check sources.
Google pull down menu
Google also offers Google Maps, which is a useful tool for genealogists. If you know your “John Smith” lived in Dedham, Massachusetts, but you are finding results for him in Needham, Massachusetts, a quick peek at Google Maps and you will see Dedham and Needham are abutting towns, so chances are you found YOUR John Smith. You can also use Google Maps to get directions, and this will also tell you the distance between towns. In my recent search on Abel Prior, I found him in Weathersfield, Vermont; then Augusta, New York; then Chautauqua County (near Charlotte Center), New York; and finally Kirtland, Ohio. Using Google Maps, I could visualize his straight progression from Vermont to Ohio. Then pairing these findings with census records, I was able to verify his twenty-year migration.
Over the years, I have found Google to be very useful genealogical research tool. I would encourage everyone to experiment with it to see what you can find! Who knows, you may find the answer to a long held family secret or even break down one of your brick walls!
Oh boy, Brick walls are frustrating! They often take years to resolve, and once resolved they often lead to another brick wall…or it may completely open up a new long genealogical line. Over the years, I have run headlong into several brick walls, and two took me about twenty years to find the answers.
Abigail (Butler) Hubbard
Abigail (Butler) Hubbard is my 4x’s great-grandmother. She was the wife of Rev. Zaddock Hubbard. They came from Middletown, Connecticut, moved to Lenox, Massachusetts and finally to Moretown, Vermont. Two pieces of paper I found in Zaddock’s autobiography had Abigail’s birth date on them, as well as those of Zaddock and their children. Only problem was one listed Abigail’s birthdate as May 6, 1773 and the other had her birthdate as May 6, 1768. The Barber Collection had the baptism of an Abigail Butler in Middletown, but it listed her birthdate as May 6, 1774! Was this a clue? Was she possibly the daughter of Dorney Houghton Butler and his wife Mindwell Clark? Research on this line did not yield any answers, and I searched for years! There were no Butler friends or family that traveled with the Hubbards as they moved around New England, and there were no clues in the names Zaddock and Abigail chose for their children. Then about five years ago, Ancestry.com added “Connecticut Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999” to their databases. Although Dorney did not leave a will, there was an administration of estate for Mindwell Butler’s, and lo and behold Abigail, wife of Zaddock Hubbard is mentioned in the estate! And just like that my brick wall was knocked down! Solving the mystery of Abigail (Butler) Hubbard ultimately took patience, because the answer was hiding in a document, I just had to wait for it to come online.
Solving the brick wall of another ancestor took perseverance and a lot of research. Mary [?] Simons, is my husband’s 3x’s great grandmother. She was the wife of Charles Rodney Simons, and as a young married couple, they came to Sacramento, California from Ohio in the late 1800s. The family knew very little about Mary and early research on my part did not produce any answers. Then a third cousin put up on his Ancestry family tree two scanned pages from the Simons family Bible. These pages gave me Mary’s maiden name (Bassett), the name of her first husband (James Malonee), and a notation that their daughter, Carrie Malonee, was born in Kirtland, Ohio.
Mary Ellen (Bassett) Malonee-Simons
Although this information did not immediately knock down the brick wall, it did give a place to begin searching – Kirtland Ohio. Looking for Mary Malonee and her baby daughter in the 1870 US federal census, a Mary & Carrie Malong (the “g” zoomed-in, is a “y”), was found in Kirtland. Taking a chance, I searched for a Mary Bassett in the 1850 US federal census, and a Mary “Balseth” (Bassett) was found with her parents, Harmon & Maria and a brother Oliver in Kirtland. Harmon, I love unusual names! Checking to see if another transcription error befell this family, a Google search for “Harmon Bassett” found a marriage record for Oliver Harmon Bassett and Marina Prior. A further Google search for this couple led to an online Bassett family tree listing tons of credible sources. However, this Bassett tree did not know what happened to Mary or her mother Marina.
Following Marina Bassett led to the discovery several remarriages. Her second husband was Leonard Rich. Leonard & Marina Rich’s family are in Kirtland (OH) in the 1860 census, and it indicated a third child, Sarah, from her pervious marriage to Oliver Harmon Bassett. Next marriage for Marina Rich was to Simeon Hall, then Marina Hall married Green Parker, and a Marina Parker’s death record is recorded as August 11, 1891 in Mentor, Ohio. (It should be noted the deaths of all Marina’s husbands can be found online, supporting the timeline of her marriages.) An old family story about a possible relationship to a James Flood, is the lynch pin in proving that Marina Prior is Mary’s mother, because Marina shares a cemetery plot with her daughter, Sarah (Bassett) Flood, and her husband, James Flood.
All of these informational pieces of Mary Ellen (Bassett) Malonee-Simons mother’s life come together to break down this brick wall. So if you are struggling with a brick wall, do not give up. You never know if the answer will be handed to you or through dogged research you find the answer yourself!
Headstone of Huldah (Wormwood) Witham.Find A Grave, database with images, memorial no 94660761, citing Congregational Church Cemetery, Alfred, ME
When I do genealogical research I like to assemble the entire family. Who were all the siblings/children? Where were all the places a family lived? Where did they go to church? Did the family have an important role in their town? Did anyone serve in the military? Asking these questions not only helps to know and understand the family, but also may give research clues when trying to trace a particular family member. This especially is true if you come across two or more people with the same name.
Years ago, I added Huldah Wormwood, daughter of Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood, into my family tree because she was the sister of my direct ancestor. From what I could find, she lived her whole life in the town of Alfred, Maine. However, another online researcher had a Huldah Wormwood in their tree. She was born in Vermont (or New York) and lived her adult life in New York State, but this researcher had her entered in their tree as the Huldah Wormwood born in Alfred, Maine. Trying to figure out which Huldah was actually the daughter of Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood meant careful study of available records.
Headstone of Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver. Find A Grave, database with images, memorial no. 89919566, citing Fairview Cemetery, Brasher Falls, NY
The other researcher theorized that Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood moved briefly to Vermont in 1797, had Huldah, then returned to Alfred, Maine by the time of the 1800 census. Then, she believes Huldah moved to upstate New York by 1820 when she married Alfred Oliver. Although to me, this theory did not seem logical, to the other researcher it made sense. Theories are good. They give one a place to start. Once you have developed a theory, the next thing to do is to see (or to prove) if you are right or wrong. That is when you need to find all available records and to carefully consider each record as it pertains to your research question.
There are most definitely two Huldahs who were alive about the same time and were about the same age. Sometimes, I find it helpful to create a chart of available records. This makes it easier to compare and contrast information.
Huldah Wormwood (wife of Jeremiah Witham)
Huldah Wormwood (wife of Alfred Oliver)
born
25 Dec 1806 (find a grave)
1797/98 (1850 census/ find a grave)
married
24 Aug 1829 (Maine Marriages)
9 Nov 1820 (10,000 VR of eastern NY)
died
22 Jul 1874 (find a grave)
17 May 1854 (find a grave)
1850 census
b. 1807
b. 1797
1860 census
b. 1807
X
1870 census
b. 1807
X
From looking at this chart, one can see the two Huldahs are about ten years apart in age. It should also be noted Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver’s children, in various records, either record her place of birth as Vermont or New York, but most records appear to agree with Huldah in the 1850 census that Vermont was her place of birth. Unfortunately, there are not any other records to add to this chart. So considering records regarding Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood may lead to an answer.
Screen shot of a portion of Amos Wormwood’s will.
Amos and Lydia grew up in Wells, Maine and married there on August 30, 1781. Their first three children were born and baptized in Wells, before the family removed to Sanford, Maine (the part that is now Alfred). Unfortunately, the minister of the Alfred Congregational Church took the records with him when he left the church for another ministry. Amos had his daughter, Huldah baptized on June 18, 1807 by the new minister of the Alfred Church. Amos left a will naming all his children. The will establishes Amos and Lydia were the parents of nine children, their youngest is Huldah, as he wants the monies he left his children to be paid out when his “youngest daughter,” Huldah turns 18.
As for the notion of the other researcher that the family moved to Vermont and back to Maine over a very short time span, documents in York County, Maine illustrate a different story. Amos (then later Lydia) are enumerated in the 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820 censuses. Amos is listed in the Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax list in 1798. The town of Alfred records the deaths of three of Amos and Lydia’s children in 1797, 1800 and 1801. Also, land deeds show Amos bought land in 1797 Maine (York County deed book 88; page 256). All these records indicate Amos was living in Alfred, Maine in the late 1790s and early 1800s and did not move temporarily to Vermont. Plus, the Alfred Historical Society and Fred R. Boyle, author of Early Families of Alfred, Maine, believe Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood are the parents of Huldah (Wormwood) Witham, wife of Jeremiah.
These documents seem to answer the research question that Huldah (Wormwood) Witham is the daughter of Amos and Lydia (Storer) Wormwood but they do not tell us who the parents of Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver were. She was most likely born in Vermont, she quite possibly is the daughter of Joseph Wormwood (brother of Amos) or one of their nephews Daniel Wormwood or Ezra Wormwood, all three men moved to Vermont in the late 1790s/early 1800s.
Screen shot of an Ancestry.com family tree search showing there are 169 trees with the wrong information!
It should also be noted that 169 online trees erroneously show Huldah (Wormwood) Oliver as the daughter of Amos and Lydia! Next time you run across two people with the same name, study all the information you can find on them. Don’t just click and add the wrong person to your database. Accuracy is key!
So, a few hundred years ago, my ancestors stepped off the boat on the shores of New England and never left. My husband is a fifth generation Californian. He ancestors stepped off the boat at ports up and down the Eastern Seaboard…and moved about all over the United States. They moved at different times and for myriad of reasons; in search of free land, to offer support services the ‘49ers, to get away from the Dust Bowl, to find jobs and to follow Joseph Smith. Studying his family is a study of American History!
This is how I found Abel Prior. My husband’s great-great-great-grandmother was one of my brick-walls. I took years to gather information on her. My big break occurred when a third cousin put up images from the family bible. This answered a lot of questions and filled in a lot of blanks. Bit by bit I was able to argue with primary facts and connect it to family lore, thus proving who her parents were. I even used this study for and assignment in my ProGen group. Then about a year later, I had access to Newspapers.com and found her obituary! I was right! But gee, it would have been nice to have found this obituary about twenty years earlier!!!!
A portion of obituary listing family members!
So, when one brick-wall breaks down, very often you gain a new brick-wall, and this is true for my husband’s great-great-great-great-grandmother, Marina Prior. After her first husband died, she married three more times, and in all those records I have not been able to find any clues as to who her parents were. She consistently indicates she was born in Ohio around 1825. One interesting fact is in 1842 Marina Prior appears in a Later Day Saints Census in Nauvoo, IL, plus her first two husbands were early members of the Later Day Saints, but it appears her next two husbands were not.
Knowing the family lived in Kirtland Ohio, and was associated with the Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons), I began looking for a Prior family who also lived in Kirtland and Nauvoo the years that Marina lived there and were possibly followers of Joseph Smith. Best candidate I found was Abel Prior—now I just needed to connect them.
The Kirtland Temple
Looking for documents on Abel and tracking him through Ohio, Missouri and Illinois all the way back to Vermont where he was born, has been a long and interesting process. But it also highlights some of the early struggles the Saints endured.
First some facts about Abel discovered through a lot of research. In 1839, Abel testified about an incident that occurred in 1833, he stated that at that time he was 63 years old, making his birth year 1770/71. In 1841, he had (at least) two family members baptized, noting his connection to them: Desire Prior, he was her “son” and Ebenezer Prior; he was his “gd. son”. This means he was the son of Jedediah Prior and Desire Cook and was born in Vermont. Census records and local historical books that Abel is mentioned in confirmed where he lived. In 1790 he was in Vermont living in his father’s home. In 1800, he was living in Augusta, NY, next door to his parents. Augusta history says Abel arrived in 1794. In 1810, Abel was living in Pomfret, NY. History of Chautauqua County, New York, note Abel arrived in April of 1809 and that he had come from Oneida County. County deed records show Abel sold his land in Pomfret 1818, and in 1820 he and his family were living in Kirtland, Ohio. They arrived there some ten years before the Saints came to town.
Abel most likely joined the Latter Day Saints soon after they arrived in Kirtland in 1831. Some tine after the Saints arrived in Ohio, Joseph Smith announced that western Missouri was “Zion” where the faithful should “gather” to await the second coming of Christ. Abel was part of a group of pioneers who went to Jackson County, Missouri to settle Zion in the wilderness. The settlement area was an extensive stretch of land around Independence. Abel was part of the Prairie Branch Settlement. Here he had 22 acres of land, a house and “good improvements” (out buildings, fences, etc.), along the Grand River, it was located in the Southern Part of Jackson County (now Cass County) Missouri. The Saints soon established their new community that grew quickly. They started a weekly Newspaper in Independence, the first in the area, which told of wonderful things for the Saints and denounced the “Gentiles” (or “Old-Settlers”). Angered by the frequent criticism, the Old-Settlers broke into the newspaper’s office, took the printing press and threw it into the Missouri River and tarred and feathered the Saint’s bishops. The Saints decided to retaliate for this injustice. In October 1833, just two miles east of Westport, Missouri the Saints attacked Old-Settlers in a violent confrontation, which left two Old-Settlers and one Saint dead, and ultimately driving off the Old-Settlers. The Saints were fortified by this win, decided to drive out the rest of the “wicked” from Independence. On November 2, they put their plan into action, arriving just outside of town at dawn. However, the Old-Settlers, who out numbered them, met them there. The Old-Settlers forced them to surrender and agree to leave Independence by January 1834. However, a few days later on November 8th, Abel and his family were forced out of their home by a mob that threatened Abel’s life. In May of 1839, he testified:
“A memorandom of the Damage Done to me in Jackson County and else where Able Prior. November t[h]e 8 1833 A mob Came to my house headed by Stephen Cantril two by the name of Patterson the others not known by me they cocked a pistol at me and told me if I opend my mouth they would blow me through the same Day between fifty and sixty Came and gave the same order headed by Elder MC Coye A Baptist Pries[t] here I had 22 Acres of land with a house thereon and a good improvement of which I had to leave imediately or lose my life and fled into the wilderness not seeing a house until about Chrismas having my rist partly cut off at the time allso being about 63 years old the suferings were indiscribeable having Counted up my losses and Damages [——] I make out my bill against the mauraurders of Jackson county-$2000: Dollars”
The governor of Missouri believed that Mormons and non-Mormons could not live side by side in peace. He carved out a new county, Caldwell County, in the Northwest corner of the state for Saints to settle. However, as the Saint population grew and grew, they began settling in neighboring counties. Violence continued to break out between the two groups. In 1838, anger on both sides turned to violence; this time is referred to as “The Mormon War,” which came to a head in the fall of 1838. On October 24th The Missouri State Militia and a Mormon militia engaged in the Battle of Crooked River. The Mormon militia had marched some twelve miles during the night and met up with the state militia who was camping on the banks of the Crooked River. A brief firefight ensued, leaving four dead. This encounter lead to the Missouri Governor issuing Missouri Executive Order 44, referred to as the “Mormon Extermination Order,” which called for all Mormons to leave the state. Governor Boggs said “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good.” The worst violence occurred a few days later, on October 30th when the Mormon village of Haun’s Mill was attacked by an angry mob of about 200 non-Mormons that killed eighteen men and boys. This violence reached Abel Prior and his family a few days later on November 8th.
Abel Prior’s name as it appears in the Mormon Redress Petition
In February of 1834 Abel Prior was part of a group of 10 to 15 Mormon families who relocated to Clay County under the leadership of Sandford Porter. His 1836 marriage to widow Sabra (Mount) Voorhees is recorded here. The Saints were driven from this area, relocating to Daviess County, were Abel established a new farm. Again, he was forced to leave then settling in Caldwell County. However, soon after this move, in 1838 Missouri’s Governor Boggs issued the Extermination Order to expel all Mormons from the state of Missouri. Over the next year approximately 8,000 Saints left Missouri, often loosing everything, and settled in Illinois. Abel and his family settled in Nauvoo, where he appears in the 1840 census.
In 1840 Able Prior testified again stating:
I do hereby Certify that I removed with my family into Jackson County Missouri, in the year 1831, and owned a tract of land on which I made an improvement, and while peaseably employed at my own business I was assailed by a lawless Mob and driven from my home and compelled to leave the county, and then went into Clay Co. and after a short time was driven from that county, and then went to Davis County (sic) and made animprovement there and built me a house and in 1838 was driven from that county by a mob, who rose up against us as a people, Called Mormons, and then I went to Far West in Caldwell Co. and did not get to stay there long till I was compelled to leave the State by the Exterminating Order of Govener Boggs, and was obliged to suffer all this abuse and loss without any cause, not having offended in any way against the laws of that State, and for which I have never recieved any remuneration, and now appeal to your honorable boddy for redress” Abel Prior
[Sworn to before C. M. Woods, C.C.C., Adams Co., IL, 8 Jan 1840.]
It is not known when Abel died. He testified in 1839 and 1840 about his experience in Missouri. He appears in the 1840 census in Nauvoo, and in 1841 he had his mother and grandfather baptized. Then on May 13, 1842 he received an Elder’s license in the church, this is the last time Abel appears in any record. His wife (and possible daughter) both appear in a June 1842 the Nauvoo list of members in the Relief Society Minutes Book.
By digging deeper then just what census and vital records have to say, I discovered a possible ancestor of my husband lived an amazing life. Googling for information is fantastic! Abel started life in Vermont. He moved with his parents (and possible siblings) from New York to Ohio to Missouri and finally to Illinois. Along the way he became part of history at a time when the United States was young and growing.
Some day I hope to prove that we are related to Abel Prior.
Sources:
Ashcroft, John R. Missouri Secretary of State. The Missouri Mormon War. Jefferson City, MO: Missouri State Archives, n.d.
Downs, John. P. The History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People. Vol 1. New York: The American Historical Society, 1921.
Hartley, William G. “The Saints Forced Exodus from Missouri.” Joseph Smith, the Profit and the Seer. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (ed). Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 2010, 347-90
The History of Oneida County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Philadelphia: The Press of J.B. Lippincott, 1878.
Johnson, Clark V. Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict. Salt Lake City: Religious Study Center, Brigham Young University, 1992.
North, F.A. (Ed.), The History of Johnson County Missouri: Including Reliable History of the Townships, Cities and Towns. Kansas City: The Kansas City Historical Society, 1881
Porter, Larry C. and Ronald E. Romig. The Prairie Branch Jackson County, Missouri: Emergence, Flourishing and Demise, 1831-1834. Salt Lake City: The Ensign Peak Foundation, 2007.
When one is researching genealogy, it is not uncommon to find many ancestors with a prefix or a suffix in their names. Of course, we are familiar with Mr., Mrs., and Dr., because these prefixes are used in the same way today. Some suffixes that we are familiar with, such as Esq., and Jr., were used very differently in the eighteenth century than they are used today. Knowing how they were used and when the usage change occurred as well as what they meant is important because it will make your research accurate.
Today, when a son is named after his father the suffix “Jr.” follows the name. Even long after the father has died, the son uses the “Jr.” after his name. Should this son also name his son after himself, then the suffix “III” follows the name. I once met a “XIV”! It should be noted this is a modern day convention.
In the 1700s, in New England and probably in other geographical areas as well, parents often named their children after their parents and themselves. This means their children often followed the same naming patterns. So if Henry Brown had six sons, (one being a Henry Brown) they each may have a Henry Brown and within two generations, a town may have eight Henry Browns living in their borders! This does NOT mean they were recorded as Henry Brown Sr., Henry Brown Jr., and six Henry Brown IIIs in official records. So how did officials record all these different Henrys?
When I first started doing genealogy, I thought the modern day use of Sr., Jr., etc. was also the historical norm, until I began to transcribe the records of the Second Parish of Dedham (now the First Church of Norwood). As I was working my way through some of the earliest records, I came across Ezra Morse, Ezra Morse Junior, and Ezra Morse Tertius. I had not seen the term “Tertius” before and had to look it up. An online dictionary said it meant “third, the ordinal number after secundus (second), and before quartus (fourth).” In researching this Morse family, I found this is a grandfather, father, and son, but in researching other men with the “Jr.” suffix, I have discovered the “Jr.” does not necessary mean a father and son. It often indicates that the “Jr.” is the younger of the two men living in town. So when you come across the use of “Jr.” do not simply assume you have a son named after his father, and add a “Sr.” to your tree. You could be wrong and when you figure that out, you will have to start lopping of branches of your tree. Do a little research first and to make sure you have a correct entry right at the start!
It is interesting to note the suffix, “Esq.” (which means “Esquire”) is often found on headstones and legal documents of men who lived in the eighteen century. Today we know this term is associated with the legal profession. People who are lawyers often have the suffix Esq. after their names, and as a society, we instantly know they are lawyers. However, earlier usage of the term Esq. does not mean that our ancestors were necessarily lawyers. Understanding how this term was used in the 1700s and early 1800s will help us understand more about our ancestors.
In the eighteenth century, the term Esquire meant gentleman, someone who had social stature in the community. This notion often confused me when I came across this term as I was doing local history, and knew this particular “Esq.” was neither a lawyer nor a gentleman because he had come from very humble beginnings. As I began to understand the term by delving deeper into local history, I learned that these men of humble beginnings were titans of local industry, rising to become quite wealthy. As they rose in social standings they often took leading roles in local government or in churches. The term Esq., being tacked on to the end of their name, reflects how they were seen within their local community. We begin to see “Esq.” being used as we know it today around the mid 1800s. So be careful and check the history of your ancestor to confirm if they were a community gentleman or a local lawyer.
Although the use of such prefixes as Mr., Mrs., and Dr., have remained unchanged over the centuries, knowing a little about their initial meanings is interesting! The term “Mr.” we know to be an abbreviation of the word “mister.” However, its initial roots were in the word “master,” and the word “mister” evolved out of the abbreviation, as people attempted to pronounce the “m” and the “r” as a word. The prefix “Mrs.” is an abbreviation of the word “mistress” and is associated with a married woman. It should be noted the prefix “Miss” also comes from the word “mistress” but is associated with an unmarried woman. However, in the eighteenth century the abbreviations Mrs. and Miss were used interchangeably. I have seen many marriage documents recording a Mrs. Sarah Jones marrying Mr. So-in-so. This often confused me as other records indicated Mrs. Sarah Jones was really Miss Sarah Jones. Now I understand the interchangeability of Mrs. and Miss and do not fret about how they are being used….but this does not mean that I do not research to confirm if the ancestor in question was married or not! So, it is important to not only understand the old usage of prefixes and suffixes tacked on to names, but it is equally important to research the use of these prefixes and suffixes on the name of your ancestors, as it will make your research more accurate.
Around 1900, Americans took a great interest in United States history, local history and in their personal family histories. During this time Historical Societies formed, and an interest in supporting and creating local historical sites occurred. Also, linage organizations were established, such as The Daughter’s of the American Revolution and The Mayflower Society. It was at this time many books on local histories were published which often included a genealogical sketch of prominent citizens. These books, most which can be found on Google Books, are wonderful resources, but they should be treated as a clue and not as a fact. Very often their genealogies were often incorrect and the histories they include on the families were just wrong.
One such article I came across when I was researching the family of Thomas Penney (1710-1809) of Wells, Maine. In this article, on Justin Benjamin Penney in the book “Representative Men of Southeastern Massachusetts” published in 1919, by J.H. Beers & Co, states that Justin’s great-great-grandfather, Thomas Penney was the father of nineteen children, ten with his first wife Abigail Grey and nine with his second wife Adah (Hatch) Spear, who came to this marriage with two children. The article goes on to tell a fantastic story of Adah’s life saying:
“Adah (Spear) Penney was taken captive by the Indians and kept prisoner eighteen years. She had a child born shortly after her capture, of which the Indians became very fond, but in one of their drunken orgies and war dances they accidentally killed it. To conceal all evidence the burned the body before the mother’s eyes. The heartbroken woman found a rib bone in the ashes and hid it in the folds of her dress. At last the Indians discovered it, and feared she intended to keep it to show the whites’ and make trouble. She was finally set at liberty.”
It should be noted that there is no other mention of this incident in Wells history. By reviewing the time line of Adah Hatch’s life, it is clear, a lot of her life is documented. There are many times where Adah’s name appears in Wells records, from her baptism, her two marriages and the baptism of her Spear children and her Penney children. These documents will prove the unlikely story of Adah’s capture.
Timeline of Adah’s life using primary documents:
Date
Event
Source
Gap b/w events & age
13 Aug 1727
Baptized at First Church of Wells
Wells, ME. Church records.
—–
13 Dec 1748
Intention to marry to Gideon Spear
Wells, ME. Church records.
21 years (21yrs)
15 Feb 1756
Baptism of three Spear children: Ebenezer, Mary & John
Wells, ME. Church records.
8 years (29yrs)
13 Jan 1759
Marriage to Thomas Penney
Wells, ME. Church records.
3 years (32yrs)
12 Feb 1760
Bapt. of daughter Joanna Penney
Wells, ME. Church records.
1 year (33yrs)
7 Jan 1762
Birth of twin sons Benjamin & Joseph Penney
Per Benjamin Penney’s Revolutionary pension application
2 years (35yrs)
22 Aug 1762
Bapt of twin sons: Benjamin & Joseph
Wells, ME. Church records.
8 months (35yrs)
(Maybe, but highly doubtful) 1766 to 1775
(birth of possibly more children)
According to the article, Adah had 5 more Penney children, possibly born b/w 1766 and 1775. No records to support this notion.
2 years to 9 years (b/w ages of 39 to 48 yrs)
Bef 1790
death
There are no records for her death. As Thomas gave his all his land to son John in return for life care
(sometimes making a table of facts can help to visualize someone’s life)
The story tells of her capture as a young woman, not a child, so Adah would not have been captured between birth and her first marriage. Documents over the next twenty years do not have an eighteen-year stretch. Also, if one takes into consideration the article’s reported notion she had five more Penney children born to her, then the only possible time block for this capture to have occurred is in the late 1770’s, (putting her in her late 40s/early 50s…almost too old to have a baby) and having a release just before 1800. Plus, history records note attacks on New England settlements by Native Americans was a problem in the 1670’s not the 1770’s. Thus, by studying the facts and comparing them with this story, illustrates that this story about Adah story is highly likely never happened and appears to be a fabrication on the author’s part.
The First Chruch of Wells. Now the Wells Historical Society
Googling to find genealogies and histories is an excellent tool, but be aware that what you find may not be based in fact. The story of Adah’s capture is indeed an amazing story, and one that would be cool to pass down…but it simply is not true. I have also discovered that very often the genealogies found on line, whether in an early-published book, or on a web page, are fraught with errors. It should be noted that most of these histories/genealogies are accurate…but do yourself a BIG favor and check for sources. That way you know you have created an accurate tree filled with accurate stories!
Recently, I was participating in a committee, where someone stated, in reference to a local history…if it was published then it MUST be true.
My friend and I were working on developing a walking tour of a local neighborhood. We met a few times to walk the area, plan out the sights where we wanted to stop and talk. We noted things that were still there and things that were long gone. At one time, this area was in walking distance to jobs, social and sporting clubs, schools, a tavern, a store and even a beach, it had everything! Today so many components of this neighborhood are long gone and in fact, it is mostly a cut through people use to avoid busy streets. Chances are they don’t even realize they are traveling through what was once a vibrant neighborhood, as they zoom up and down its streets.
A Germantown street as it appears today.
Once we had a plan of action, we divvied up the research to be done then we began the process of creating our talk. We consulted printed local histories. Spoke to people who lived in the area. Looked into the roots of their social clubs, and reviewed maps and land deeds to understand how the neighborhood physically grew. We learned a lot about the area…me more so as I have only been here thirty years or so, and my friend is a life long local. However, from all our research we created a robust history and we thought a very informational talk! We looked forward to presenting it and crossed our fingers the pandemic would not put the kibosh on it.
As I was researching my piece of this presentation, it occurred to me, having been on other local history walking tours, that often the presenter gives a little biography on some of the people that had lived in there. I feel, this personalizes the talk…and seeing as I love genealogy, I went about researching some of the original residents of the area. I especially enjoy trying to find information on people whose voices are silent in history. The majority of these people are from the working class and this neighborhood was home to mostly immigrant laborers. People who had come here from Germany and Austria and found jobs in the local tannery and paper mill.
Portion of 1900 census showing families living in the area.
Starting with the 1900 and 1910 US Censuses gave me a list of people to research. I walked the neighborhood to compile a list of homes that would have been there during this era. Then using a variety of genealogical databases, I began to see what I could find on these people. First I started with the Eppich family, as there were several families with that surname living in this neighborhood. I soon discovered that many of the families in this neighborhood were related. So many of the residents here had married Eppich daughters, connecting many of these families together. One of the weirdest things I noticed was how in early census records these families stated they were Austrian, then later noted they were Yugoslavian. I found it odd that these people reported they were from two very different countries. How does someone not know where they came from? As luck would have it, one of the 1920 census takers not only recorded the county of origin, but also the county (or town) within that county of origin. This notation had me checking maps for these little towns in Austria…and the most extraordinary fact became clear; so many of the neighbors that were related and came from a place called Gottschee.
Map of Gottschee
As I dived into this revelation, I learned that Gottschee was a duchy within the Austrian-Hungry Empire. It is often described as a German-speaking island surrounded by a sea of Slavic speaking counties. Originally settled in the 14th century by Germans from several different German and Austrian towns, it was an unpopulated mountainous forest. For over 500 years its German language developed into its own dialect and they maintained their own unique customs. Today, there are practically no Gottscheers living in this area. After World War I, Gottschee became part of a new country: Yugoslavia, and today it’s original borders are in Slovenia. After World War II, the Gottscheers who had lived there were expelled. Some went to Germany or Austria, but most came to the United States. Today the largest populations of Gottscheers live in Brooklyn, NY or in Cincinnati, OH.
Now we know, there was a small community of Gottscheers in Norwood and Walpole, Massachusetts! Although this unique story was new to me, so many descendants of local Gottscheers came to our walking tour and were already aware of their history.
This discovery made this Germantown Neighborhood extra special for me…especially as my little house is in that neighborhood and was home to a Gottschee family.
To me, this is another reason to look beyond vital records to tell a story of an ancestor. Dig deeper. You may be amazed at what you will find!
It was a hot Sunday in June and I was attempting to prepare my garden for the summer season, which entailed plenty of water breaks indoors in front of the air conditioner. Once I was nestled in my comfy chair in a cool room, with a glass of ice water in hand, I checked my computer for any news updates, emails or FaceBook posts. That Sunday I came across a post from the Boxford Historic Document Center requesting genealogical help. They posed the following on their FaceBook page.
This was the image the Boxford Historic Document Center included with their FaceBook request for help.
“I have a fun challenge for someone who has a really good Mayflower tree or a lot of time on their hands! I came across this wedding dress fragment in our collection that supposedly belonged to a Mayflower emigrant relative of Harriet “Hattie A. Pratt….Can anyone figure out which Mayflower relative this might have been?”
Now I had a decision to make….Go back to the hot garden, or stay in the cool house and build a family tree. Cool house/build tree won! In all honesty, it was not a difficult choice I really love building trees!
The Boxford Historic Document Center FaceBook page contained a few facts about Hattie. Her birth and death dates. The full name of her father. But only the first name of her mother. So first I needed to to confirm and identify both of Hattie’s parents. Hattie’s death certificate was easy to locate on FamilySearch. It confirmed her father’s name, Joshua Hall Pratt, but only listed her mother’s first name, “Elizabeth,” which matched the post from the Boxford Historic Document. I then turned to the vital records from Chelsea, which was Joshua H. Pratt’s hometown. I quickly found a marriage record, that showed Joshua married Elizabeth Pratt. Chelsea’s records had the births of all their children, including Hattie, and her birthdate also matched the Document Center’s information. Now with starting information confirmed, it was time to build a family tree!
Harriet A. Pratt’s death certificate “Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” Database with images, FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org: accessed 10 Jun 2020) Harriett A. Pratt, 15 Feb 1916 Boxford (MA), certificate no 2, citing Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston (MA)
I did not want to take a deep dive on this tree, but wanted to create one that was built quickly, building back to the generation of the person who could have owned the scrap of wedding dress fabric. This meant I needed to build Hattie’s tree back to people who were born about 1600, which was about six generations back.
Although I was moving quickly, I did not want to be careless with my research. I easily could have copied someone’s already built tree. But I knew there are a lot of trees out there that contain incorrect information. Thus, I thought it more important to start from scratch. Starting from Hattie’s parents and searching vital records, Hattie’s family tree began to grow. I also used Google searches to aid in this research. Google books had several genealogical books, written in the early 1900s, which were specific to Hattie’s family! These books were extremely helpful pointing out the next generation, and town’s vital records then confirmed each generation. Awesome find!!
As Hattie’s family tree grew, it was becoming apparent that most, if not all of her ancestors had settled in towns north of Boston. In other words, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and not in the Plymouth Colony, which was south of Boston. A Pilgrim ancestor was not becoming evident. However, two possible candidates emerged, which required further review. Both candidates were in Hattie’s Wolcott line; Joanna Emerson wife of John Wolcott (III) and Experience Walker wife of John Wolcott (V).
The book, Wolcott immigrants: and their Early Descendants (The First Six Generations) states that Joanna Emerson, who married John Wolcott (III), was a descendent of a Pilgrim. Joanna Emerson was born about 1663 (according to her age at death) in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Her parents are believed to be Nathaniel Emerson and his wife Sarah. There are no birth registrations of children in vital records for this couple, nor did Nathaniel leave behind a will, which makes it difficult to prove any children for this couple. It cannot be disregarded that Joanna is not listed as a daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah in the book The Ipswich Emersons; A.D. 1638-1900. Joanna “Hannah” married John Wolcott 4 January 1684 in Newbury, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Emerson was the son of Thomas Emerson and his wife Elizabeth Brewster. Nathaniel is a proven son; he was baptized in 1630 in the church his parents married in and he is mentioned in his father’s will. It was thought Elizabeth Brewster was the daughter of Pilgrim William Brewster. There are many books published around 1900 with this notation. However, today the Mayflower Society does not recognize that Elizabeth Brewster, wife of Thomas Emerson is the daughter of Pilgrim William Brewster.
The other possible Mayflower connection is Experience Walker, who married John Wolcott (V), the grandson of John (III) and Joanna (Emerson) Wolcott. According to the book Wolcott Immigrants: and their Early Descendants (The First Six Generations), Experience was born in 1727. The book does not provide a death date nor the names of her parents. Checking vital records for Brookfield, Massachusetts, an Experience Walker was born there in the early 1730s to Benjamin and Experience (Hayward) Walker. This is the Experience Walker many assume is the woman who married John Wolcott. Although no published genealogy or other factual source indicated this possible relationship, many family trees on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org illustrate this possible connection.
Further research on the family of Benjamin and Experience (Hayward) Walker, identifies that Experience Hayward has a confirmed genealogy to a Mayflower ancestor. She is listed in the “Silver Books” a published series by General Society of Mayflower Descendants containing the approved lineages for Mayflower families. She was the daughter of George Hayward (1673-1725), granddaughter of Anna White (1649-1712), and great-granddaughter of Resolved White (1615-1687), who came to Plymouth with his parents William and Susanna (Jackson) White. However, according to Brookfield vital records, Benjamin and Experience (Hayward) Walker’s daughter Experience died in 1738 at the age of nine. She cannot be the wife of John Wolcott (V).
It appears that both Joanna Emerson and Experience Walker are dead ends, and unlikely to be the descendants of a Mayflower ancestor who owned the scrap of fabric that was thought to be part of a Pilgrim wedding dress.
Notation from The Ipswich Emersons; A.D. 1638-1900 indicating provenance of a family heirloom.
However, an interesting notation in The Ipswich Emersons; A.D. 1638-1900 regarding Elizabeth (Fuller) King, granddaughter of Thomas and Elizabeth [Brewster] Emerson, who owned a similar scrap of linen fabric, which the family preserved as an heirloom caught my attention. It tells how Elizabeth (Brewster) Emerson’s had descended from a respectable English family, and her mother had been given a piece of linen by Queen Elizabeth, (who reigned from 1558 to 1603), which the family had passed down as an heirloom. Could it be possible the Boxford Historic Document Center’s scrap of fabric is not from a Pilgrim’s wedding dress but from that original piece of linen?
It appears Harriet A. Pratt does not have a Mayflower ancestor, but when she was alive and for several decades after her death, it was believed her ancestor Elizabeth (Brewster) Emerson, was the daughter of the Pilgrim William Brewster.
The notion of having a special dress to get married in did not develop until the mid-1800s, so this scrap of fabric may not have come from a wedding dress. The scrap of fabric, that is part of the collection of the Boxford Historic Document Center, appears to be linen with a damask pattern. A piece of linen is documented in the Emerson Genealogy, that was gifted to the family from Queen Elizabeth I, as having come through Elizabeth (Brewster) Emerson, and is noted the family considers it an heirloom. It is very possible the piece of linen was cut into smaller pieces so several branches of the family could each have a piece of this heirloom, and Hattie was the person who ended up with her branch’s piece.
In summary, I believe that Hattie Pratt does not have a Mayflower ancestor and it is highly likely this scrap of fabric is from the gift of Queen Elizabeth to Elizabeth (Brewster) Emerson.
Mystery solved.
Bibliography:
Appleton, William Sumner. Record of the Descendants of William Sumner, of Dorchester, Mass., 1636. Boston (MA): David Clapp & Son, Printer, 1879.
Bond, Henry. Family Memorials and Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts. Boston (MA): Little, Brown, and Company, 1885.
Cox, John Hosmer. New England Cox Families: A Series of Genealogical Papers, Vol. 5. Lexington (MA): 1890.
Chamberlain, George Walter. The Spragues of Malden, Massachusetts. Boston (MA): Privately printed, 1923.
Chamberlain, George Walter (ed). “Early Settlers Before 1665,” Proceedings of the Hundred Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Malden, Massachusetts, 1924.
Emerson, Benjamin Kendall. The Ipswich Emersons; A.D. 1638-1900. Boston (MA): David Clapp & Son, 1900.
Fuller, Arthur Buckminister. Historical Notes of Thomas Fuller and his Descendants: With A Genealogy of the Fuller Family, 1638-1902. Cambridge (MA): 1902.
Garrity, Robert M. “Concord’s First Settlers, 1636-1640,” yankeeancestry.tripod.com. Acton, Massachusetts: 2006. accessed 20 jun 2020
Sewall, Samuel. The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, “Genealogical Notices of the Earliest Inhabitants of Woburn, and Their Families” Boston (MA): Wiggin & Lunt Publishers, 1868.
Wakefield, Robert S. (ed). Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: William White, third edition, Vol 13. Plymouth (MA): General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006.
Wolcott, John Benjamin, Charles V. Wald. Wolcott immigrants: and their Early Descendants (The First Six Generations). Rochester: Gorham Printing, 2002.
The town of Walpole, Massachusetts, according to MapQuest, is situated approximately 20 miles from Boston, Massachusetts and 25 miles from Providence, Rhode Island, making it approximately a halfway point between two major east coast cities. Today it is a quick and easy trip on Route 95 to travel between these two cities. However in the 1700s and 1800s it took the better part of a day to make the trip one way by stagecoach. These coaches arrived in Walpole around lunchtime, stopping here for a quick break from their trip. Here they would take some temporary respite from their journey. Resting from what must have been a very bumpy ride, grab a bite to eat and have their horses fed and watered. It should be noted that these local taverns also served their communities offering a place for people to gather.
The Fuller Tavern as it appears today. It is now a private home and is the last tavern standing in Walpole. (Picture from Google Maps, Street View)
Over approximately 150 years, Walpole was home to five taverns that not only served weary travelers, but also offered a place for locals to meet: Fuller’s Tavern and Polly’s tavern in South Walpole, the Hidden Tavern in West Walpole, the Morse Tavern in East Walpole and the Brass Ball Tavern in Walpole Center. Only two of these taverns are still standing and are now private homes. It is interesting to note that the highway between Boston and Providence changed over the years. The first highway through Walpole was today’s Main Street also known as Route 1A, the next was the Norfolk-Bristol Turnpike also known as Washington Street, then the Boston-Providence Highway known today as Route 1, and finally Route 95 which was built in the mid-1900s. These taverns had to be situated near or on these routes in order for stagecoach drivers to consider stopping.
The Mile Marker which originally stood outside the Brass Ball Tavern, and that now stands in front of the original Walpole Town Hall.
The earliest tavern in town was the Brass Ball Tavern, owned and operated by Ezekiel Robbins and his wife Mary. It was located in Walpole Center on “the Old Wrentham Road” now West Street near the Walpole train depot. Although we do not know when the Robbins opened their tavern, we do know it was before 1740 as Robbins erected a mile marker in front of his tavern. This mile marker now sits in front of the old town hall on Main Street and says, “20 MILES BOSTON 1740.” There are no pictures or descriptions of the Brass Ball Tavern as it was torn down in the early 1800s. What is left behind are land deeds and notations about the use of the tavern, as well as scholarly writings about taverns in general. It is through these documents we can learn about the importance of the Brass Ball Tavern to the town of Walpole.
The tavern seems to have been located on the Robbins house lot, but it is unclear if the tavern and the family home were two separate structures or a single structure. Some historical writings regarding the Robbins property seem to indicate the tavern and the homestead were two separate structures, located near each other and in other documents it seems it may have been the same building. This question may be one that can never be answered. But if the tavern and the home were the same building the tavern owner’s family would have lived over the tavern. The tavern appears to have been a rather large building as it was able to accommodate church and town meetings when a new meetinghouse was being constructed.
We know stagecoaches stopped here so their passengers could take a break from a very uncomfortable ride. Individual travelers may have spent the night here. The Brass Ball Tavern also would have provided services (water, food and stables) for the travelers’ horses. On the Sabbath, church attendees often took their lunch at the Brass Ball Tavern between the morning and afternoon meetings, and it was also a place for locals to meet for conversation, acquire news or handle a transaction and have a pint of ale. During the American Revolution soldiers often stopped here either on their way to report for duty or on their way home. It is said George Washington stopped at the Brass Ball Tavern. In researching his book, The Story of Walpole, Willard DeLue found journals and diaries that contained entries about stopping at the Brass Ball Tavern. One of the journals noted stopping there for supper and receiving excellent attention from the staff and another noted a fine fishing pond on the property.
This is a close-up of a 1852 map showing Harlow Lawrence’s mill
When Ezekiel Robbins died in 1772, his wife Mary continued to run the tavern until her death in February of 1783. Then the tavern, through the wishes of Ezekiel Robbins’ will, became the property of the Church of Christ in Walpole (now the United Church in Walpole). This was serendipitous, as in November of 1782 the church decided to tear down the old meetinghouse and build a larger one to accommodate their growing congregation. In May 1783, the old meetinghouse had been torn down, so the town meetings as well as the Sunday services met in “the House late property of Dea’n Robbins, Deceas’d” and for the October 1783 town meeting, they met “at the House of Samuel Fuller, Inholder (sic) in Said town.” We know Samuel Fuller took over the running of the Brass Ball Tavern, so he may have been living in the Robbins’ house as well. By March of 1784, records indicate meetings were being held in the new meetinghouse.
In April of 1784 the Church sold the Robbins estate. Church records indicate James Clap bought the house lot, which he eventually sold to John Needham (although there is no deed on file for this sale). Needham continued to run the Tavern, offering travelers a place to stop and rest as well as a place for locals to meet. After his 1814 death, his representatives sold the property to Nathaniel Bird in 1818.
This building is believed to be one of Harlow Lawrence’s mill structures.
It is interesting to note when James Clap bought the property in 1784 it contained 44 acres and when Needham sold the property in 1818 it contained 33 acres, an 11 acre discrepancy. It is possible Daniel Clap (a distant cousin of James Clap) may have acquired the 11 acres as he had a fulling mill next abutting the land when Needham sold it. Bird died in 1821 and his wife began selling off his assets. The property ended up in the hands of Harlow Lawrence who had purchased Daniel Clap’s fulling mill in 1821. He tore down all the structures on the Robbins house lot to enlarge his manufactory where he made thread. In 1863 the property was sold to Willard Lewis who began manufacturing cotton batting in the mill. In 1904, George A. Plimpton purchased the Lewis Batting Company, putting his nephew, Henry Plimpton Kendall in charge of the operation. Kendall grew the company into a multi-million dollar worldwide corporation. Today many of the mill buildings are still standing, including one built by Lawrence but they now are used as office space.
For over 80 years the Brass Ball Tavern was an important part of the fabric of Walpole. It was a place for travelers to stop for a short while and a place for locals to meet. We will never know anything about the physical structure of the long gone tavern, as those descriptions do not exist. By looking at surviving documents about the property, we can begin to illustrate how this tavern was part of the life for the growing town of Walpole, and perhaps bring this tavern back to life for the modern Walpolian, even just for a little while.
Sources:
Clap, Daniel to Lawrence, Harlow, Norfolk County Deeds book 65/page 606 4 Dec 1821
Plimpton, George to Lewis, Willard, Norfolk County Deeds 1004/290. “A deed of Lewis Batting Co.” 28 Mar 1904.
Lewis, Willard to Lewis Manufacturing, Norfolk County Deeds 1357/188. 15 Nov 1915
DeLue, Willard. The Story of Walpole. Norwood, Massachusetts: The Ambrose Press, 1925
Mrs. Porter Boyden, “Early Notes on Walpole” Walpole Public Library, Walpole-ma.gov Walpole, MA: Walpole Public Library, 1897.
Gavin R. Nathan, Historic Taverns of Boston: 370 Years of Tavern History in one Definitive Guide, Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2006. 7 and David W. Conroy, In Public Houses: Drink & the Revolution of Authority in Colonial Massachusetts. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
Isaac N. Lewis, A History of Walpole from its Earliest Times. Norwood, MA: The Plimpton Press, 1905.
Roberts, Alton C. Our Church and Its Ancestors: The United Church in Walpole, Massachusetts. Foxboro, Massachusetts: Rea-Craft Press, Inc., 1962.
George Morey, The Record Book of George Morey. Walpole, MA: Part of the Collection of the United Church in Walpole, 1784 -1820.
Recently I was assisting a local group with their cemetery database. They have some interesting notes left by a local historian regarding who is buried in the oldest cemetery in town, and do not have headstones to prove burial…and, by golly his notes are pretty accurate! Anyhow, I was cross-referencing these notes with a transcription of records from the local church, which I photographed and transcribed some fifteen years ago. I noticed in the record book of Rev. Thomas Balch, the deaths of 18 people from the village of South Dedham in September and October of 1775 had been recorded. This is a sharp contrast to the 8 to 10 deaths Balch recorded annually.
a collection of images of CIVID-19
Currently we are dealing with a pandemic, the likes of which we have not seen in over one hundred years, so these recordings caught my eye. In the 1770s the village of South Dedham was a sparsely inhabited agricultural community, and 18 deaths in a two-month span must have been devastating for this little village. These entries made me want to figure out what was happening in the fall of 1775 in the Boston area. I found that the illness Bostonians were dealing with was a small pox epidemic. In fact, one article I found online noted Bostonians were so focused on the illness that it took away their worries about the war.
Entries from my transcription of the First Book of Records for the First Church of Norwood.
Small pox is a virus, the CDC says “it was a serious infectious disease caused by the variola virus. It was contagious—meaning, it spreads from one person to another. People who had smallpox had a fever and a distinctive, progressive skin rash. Most people with smallpox recovered, but about 3 out of every 10 people with the disease died.” Bostonians were not unfamiliar with small pox. Over the 150 years since the Winthrop Fleet landed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they had experienced waves of this illness. The English, who had taken over the city of Boston in 1775, were not concerned about catching the virus, as many had either been previously exposed or inoculated against it. But the citizens of Boston struggled with the virus, some were sent to the countryside, by the British General Gage, some say to free up space in the city for British soldiers, others believe Gage wanted to spread the illness to the Boston countryside.
Like today, as we grapple with this strange novel virus, the American colonists, in the 1700s, recognized the importance of quarantining those with the contagious disease. Sometimes by setting an individual off by themselves or sometimes closing off an entire community until the virus had run its course. Often businesses were forced to close during these times, and farmers found they were either too sick to tend their crops or that others were too sick to help them. Even in the 1700s, there were economic consequences to these epidemics.
Back in Dedham in the fall of 1775, those that were the most effected were the children. Nathan Morse lost three children, while the families of Silas Morse, Jeremiah Kingsbury, and Benjamin Fuller each lost two children. After October, Rev. Thomas Balch’s record book does not record any deaths until Sarah Farrington and Liberty Thorp both died in January 1776. Indicating the smallpox virus had run it course for the good people of South Dedham, and likewise, today the Covid-19 virus will run its course for the people of today.
Tony Williams, an author who has written and lectured extensively on the 1721 smallpox epidemic in Boston, notes in an online article he wrote for the St. Luke’s Historic Church and Museum, in Smithfield, Virginia, “That winter, businesses opened again, ships returned to the harbor, social relations returned to normal, people walked freely through the streets without fear, believers went back to church. While their lives may have been forever changed in large and small ways, the people endured, and normal life returned again. “
I find this statement very hopeful for our own future.
Sources:
Thomas Balch, “The First Church Record Book” The First Church of Norwood, transcribed by Laurie L. Kearney
Laurie L. Kearney, “The Second Parish Cemetery List,” Census Notes, Norwood, Massachusetts
“What is Small Pox?” The Center for Disease Control, The US Department of Health & Human Services (cdc.gov: accessed May 10, 2020)
Elizabeth Fenn, The Great Small Pox Epidemic, History Today, Vol 53, issue 8 August 2003
Tony Williams, “A Pox and the Social Covenant:1721 and 2020” St. Luke’s Historic Church and Museum, stlukesmuseum.org
I have had the pleasure of helping with tours at my local historical society. The society owns a lovely Victorian house, filled with beautiful things from an era gone by. Very often people ask if the family who owned the house had live-in help, and sometimes people inquire if they can see areas of the house that are not on the regular tour, like the basement and the attic. It is clear people are intrigued with the inner workings of a Victorian home.
The Norwood Historical Society.
These questions spurred me on to researching how Victorian homes were run. Although I had a pretty good idea, as my grandmother lived in a home her grandfather built, (she still cooked on a coal stove because she never liked those new fangled electric ones!). Both my mother and my grandmother told me stories about how my great-great-grandmother ran her home.
When one thinks of a grand Victorian house, one must consider how the house was laid out: there were public reception spaces, private family spaces and working spaces. My grandmother’s house and the historical society’s house were no different. Each had a formal staircase and a back staircase for the servants to use. Butler’s pantries were for storing table linens, dishes, glassware, and silverware, and it was also a space for servants to prepare before serving food. In the historical society’s house the door to the butler’s pantry from the dining room, when closed, blends into the paneling and cannot been seen. The way this house is laid out, the kitchen is the hub for all behind the scenes work. It has five doorways leading to the various working areas of the home, making those who worked there as invisible as the butler’s pantry door.
My Grandmother’s house in West Newton, (MA)
According to census records, the family who originally owned the historical society’s house, usually had two domestic servants living in the home. This gave me names of some of the people the family relied on to help run the home over a period of seventy years. The genealogist in me just had to research these people! I wanted to write little biographies of some of these workers to tell their stories….and all I could come up with was little biographies. Yes I know, there is a dearth of information out there about working class people. I had a much easier time writing about the owners of the home.
Next I researched the kind of people who were willing to do the jobs most were not interested in, what were the jobs, and the tasks involved in performing each job. I learned the working class people hired to perform these jobs tended to be recent immigrants and after the Civil War ex-enslaved people. A small home, may have had a cook, a maid, a gardener, and nanny, while larger estates may have had several people to perform one job. For instance, the cook in a large home would need two or three people to help prepare a meal, and a scullery maid to wash the dishes, and several butlers to serve the food versus the cook in a small home would perform all of those tasks.
The old coal stove in my grandmother’s kitchen. The kitties are resting near the stove as it is only warm. If my grandmother was heating it up….those kitties would be else where! (did I forget to mention my grandmother also raised siamese cats?)
I already had a working knowledge of how a Victorian home operated. I knew fresh food was kept in an icebox and ice delivery occurred when an “Ice” sign was put in a window for the iceman to see. Coal was delivered, probably on a schedule, through a chute to the basement. Laundry was an all day process and before there was indoor plumbing people used an out house, and someone had to empty the chamber pots in the morning, not to mention heating was a room by room project, as someone had to lay a fire in the fireplace in the rooms which were to be occupied. As one can image, days were long for domestic servants. They often rose before the sun, as the coal stove had to be heated up enough to do the morning baking. They would have gone to bed, up the back staircase, to bedrooms in the attic, after the evening chores were done and most likely the mistress of the home had gone to bed.
This was actually a fun little research project to do, as it required a little genealogy, and little bit of knowledge about the workings of a Victorian homes, and I enjoy doing a historical research too!
Sources:
Daniel A. Graff, “Domestic Work and Workers,” Encyclopedia of Chicago, (encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/386: accessed March 20, 2020)
“The Backstairs at Brucemore: Life as Servants in Early 20th Century America,” Teaching With Historic Places, The National Park Service; U. S. Department of the Interior (nps.gov: accessed March 20, 2020)
Laurie L. Kearney 