A Cheddar Man - 52 Ancestors #47

Robert Rogers is referred to as a "Cheddar Man" in colonial records. This sounds way more interesting than it turns out. Evidently, Robert Rogers was born in Cheddar, Somerset, England. He was probably baptized on January 11, 1618, in Cheddar, but there are not enough records to make this a certainty. While Rogers nickname turned out to have a simple explanation, there are other things about Robert that make him an interesting character.

Cheddar, Somerset, UK

Robert came to New England as part of a group that settled on the Agamenticus patent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. He arrived between 1634 and 1641, probably closer to the later date. Robert never took the oath of a freeman. In order to take that oath, a man had to belong to a Congregational or Puritan church. Sir Ferdinando Gorges intended his patent to be Anglican and it is likely that Robert Rogers belonged to the Church of England. That would put him on the outside of the Puritan society of Newbury, Massachusetts, where he settled.

Robert had a series of court cases that also seem to show that he didn't quite fit in.

• On the 27th of the 5th month of 1643, he was charged with "receiving stolen wine" and "being consenting in it." It would appear that Samuel Bacon was the wine thief and Miles Thompson, Toby Davies, and Robert Wyar were his drinking companions. Miles Thompson was another of my ancestors, a 10X great-grandfather. 
• In September 1653, Robert Rogers was named among "those who have neglected the watch at Newbury." 
• "Robert Rogers was admonished upon his presentment and was bound to good behavior." Some interaction between Robert and two women took place in the orchard of Richard Dole. The women were Hester Bond and Mary Rolfe. The women testified that Robert said, "he was sorry there was such a difference between them, but if she [Hester] had kept her tricks to herself they might have lived well enough." Hester replied, "she was afraid he was in drink, but he said no, he was in cold blood." Unfortunately, there are no more detailed records to shed light on the nature of the dispute or any previous interactions. 

Robert Rogers died on December 23, 1663, in Newbury. Susanna married William Thomas on March 8, 1665, and died on March 29, 1677, in Newbury. 

Robert & Susanna Rogers
Thomas Rogers
Isaac Rogers
Rebecca (Rogers) Blaisdell
Stephen Blaisdell
Susannah (Blaisdell) Rowe
Stephen B. Rowe
Charles H. N. Rowe
Anna J. (Rowe) Hayes
Eva D. (Hayes) Yates
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

* If you search the internet for "Cheddar Man," you will find some interesting stories about prehistoric remains found near the village of Cheddar in England.

Thomas Brown - 52 Ancestors #46

Thomas Brown came from Christian Malford, Wiltshire, England. His birth date is unknown, but based on other evidence, he was probably born in 1606. He married Mary Healy on August 20, 1632, in Christian Malford. Thomas and Mary came on the James in 1635. They left from Southampton on April 5th and arrived in Boston on June 3rd. Thomas was a weaver and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. Mary (Healy) Brown died on June 2, 1654, in Newbury. Thomas survived much longer and died on January 8, 1687, in Newbury.

Google Maps

According to Wikipedia, the name of the village, Christian Malford, is a corruption of "Christ mal Ford." This means Christ's mark, or more commonly, a cross.

Thomas and Mary (Healy) Brown had, at least, four children:

1. Francis Brown was baptized in Christian Malford on January 1, 1633. He married twice. His first wife was Mary Johnson (November 21, 1653). His second wife was Mary Morse (December 31, 1679). He had eight children with his first wife and one child with his second wife. Francis died in early 1691. 
2. Mary Brown was born about 1636, in Newbury, and died there on April 15, 1716. She married Peter Godfrey on May 13, 1656, in Newbury. Peter and Mary had nine children. 
3. Isaac Brown was born about 1638 and died in Newbury on May 13, 1674. He married Rebecca Bailey on August 22, 1661. Rebecca was the daughter of John & Eleanor (Emery) Bailey. She was born on November 24, 1641, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, and died on August 25, 1731, in Newbury. She remarried after his death. Her second husband was John Doggett and they married on June 22, 1697, in Newbury. Their children are listed below. 
4. Nicholas Brown was born about 1645, and died in Haverhill, Massachusetts on June 5, 1705. He married Mary Linsforth on January 27, 1670. Nicholas and Mary had nine children. 

Children of Isaac & Rebecca (Bailey) Brown

1. Ruth Brown was born on May 26, 1662. Ruth married Thomas Rogers. 
2. Thomas Brown was born on September 15, 1664.
3. Rebecca Brown was born on March 15, 1667.
4. Dorothy Brown was born on November 5, 1669, and died young. 
5. Dorothy Brown was born on April 7, 1672, and died young
6. Mary Brown was born on May 5, 1673. 
7. Dorothy Brown was born about 1675. 

Ruth (Brown) Rogers

Isaac Rogers

Rebecca (Rogers) Blaisdell

Stephen Blaisdell

Susannah (Blaisdell) Rowe

Stephen B. Rowe

Charles H. N. Rowe

Anna J. (Rowe) Hayes

Eva D. (Hayes) Yates

Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

Newbury Burying Ground of the First Settlers - Wordless Wednesday

Faith Jewett - 52 Ancestors #40

This week's 52 Ancestors optional theme is "October" and it was suggested to choose an ancestor who was born in October.

Faith Jewett was the daughter of Maximillian & Ann (___) Jewett and she was my 8X great-grandmother. She was born in Rowley on October 8, 1652 and died on February 26, 1737. She married Samuel Dowse on March (or January, depending on the source) 7, 1677 in Newbury. She was his second wife. Samuel was the son of Lawrence & Martha (___) Dowse and was a deacon in the Charlestown church. Samuel died on February 26, 1735, and left an estate totalling £347.

Like most women of the time, Faith doesn't show up in many records. She is mentioned in her father's will. He left her £40 that he had already paid her and also half of his ninety-six acres of land in Bradford, about two and a half acres of salt and rough marsh in the place called Cowbridge, and an additional £10 to be paid to her by her brother, Joseph.

Children of Samuel & Faith (Jewett) Dowse - All the children were born in Charlestown.

1. Anna was born on December 19, 1677. 
2. Samuel was born on November 19, 1679. 
3. John was born on November 10, 1681, and died of fever on January 30, 1703. 
4. Martha was born on November 18, 1683.
5. Mary was born on April 17, 1686, and married Thomas Harris. 
6. Maximillian was born on October 12, 1688, and married Sarah Fosdick. 
7. Sarah was born on March 19, 1691, and married William Pinson. 
8. Ebenezer was born on September 10, 1693, and died in 1781. 

Samuel & Faith (Jewett) Dowse
Sarah (Dowse) Pinson
Sarah (Pinson) Capen
Thomas Capen
Thomas Capen, Jr.
Timothy Capen
Edward Abbott Capen
Fannie May Capen
T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

An Unhealthy Obsession

Sarah Whipple was fifteen years old when a man named John Hobbs developed an unhealthy obsession with her. Sarah was my 8th great grandaunt, the daughter of my 9th great-grandparents, John & Sarah (Kent) Whipple. Her mother died when she was an infant and her father remarried, Elizabeth Woodman. When this happened, she was living in Newbury with her uncle, Richard Kent and it was Richard who filed the complaint against John Hobbs of Newbury in the Ipswich courts. I believe this is the John Hobbs who was born in 1652 to Thomas & Martha Hobbs. That would make him twenty years old and five-six years older than Sarah. 

Initially, Hobbs was found guilty and sentenced, but he appealed and was released on bond. He failed to appear at his next court appearance on September 24, 1672. He continued to "abuse her by many scandalous defamations and threatened to have the blood of any person that shall come to her under any pretense of love." Her father, John Whipple, then urged the court to bring Hobbs to answer for his behavior.

Sarah's testimony in the matter says that Hobbs had stated to her uncle that he would not allow any man to court her or it "would be the death of him" that tried. Rebecca Long backed up Sarah's testimony. (Rebecca is my 9th great-grandmother.) Beriah Browne testified that Hobbs told him that "he would be the death of any man who sought Sary Whipple in marriage and God's blud I think you are the man." Henry Akers testified that Hobbs also threatened Richard Doell and Beriah Browne because he suspected they were interested in Sarah.

Six months after failing to show up for his appeal, the Court record of March 25, 1673, reads "John Hobbs, for profane swearing the threatening to kill, for railing and shamefully abusing Sarah Whipple, and for not prosecuting his appeal at the last Ipswich court, was bound to good behavior, especially to Richard Kent and Sarah Whipple, and not to come into her company."

John Hobbs does not appear in the court record on this matter again. Sarah Whipple married Henry Short, Jr. on March 30, 1674.  There is no record of what reaction John Hobbs had to this event. What is known is that John Hobbs was one of the men killed during the Bloody Brook massacre on September 18, 1675.

Monument to those killed at Bloody Brook

John & Sarah (Kent) Whipple
Matthew Whipple - brother of Sarah
Dorothy (Whipple) Perkins
Ann (Perkins) Packard
Cynthia (Packard) Dunham
James Dunham, Jr.
Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood
Nina (Ellingwood) Gibbs
Annie (Gibbs) Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Tombstone Tuesday - Nathaniel Merrill

Memorial Stone - Newbury First Burying Ground

Nathaniel Merrill's Will, Part 1

Nathaniel Merrill's Will, Part 2

Nathaniel Merrill's Inventory, Part 1

Nathaniel Merrill's Inventory, Part 2

The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, Vol. 1

Nathaniel Merrill
Abel Merrill
Nathaniel Merrill
Priscilla (Merrill) Knight
Eunice (Knight) Sawyer
Hannah (Sawyer) Hilton
Catherine (Hilton) Churchill
Loann (Churchill) Rowe
Anna J. (Rowe) Hayes
Eva D. (Hayes) Yates
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

Newbury Founders - Wordless Wednesday

The front of the monument - the sun was at a bad angle so the shots of this side
did not come out very well.

Very pretty house and rock wall across the road from the monument

The list of First Settlers

How many of these are your ancestors?

Across the street (along the side of the common)

An Independent Streak - 52 Ancestors #27

Memorial Stone for John Emery in the Newbury First Settlers Burying Ground

John and his brother, Anthony, came to America in 1635 on the James. He settled at Newbury, where he worked as a carpenter and an innkeeper. John was married twice. His first marriage was to Alice Grantham of West Dean, Wiltshire, England. There is no record of Alice in New England. In Newbury, on October 29, 1647, John married for a second time. His second wife was Mary (Shatswell) Webster, widow of John Webster. Mary had three siblings who had immigrated to Ipswich, Massachusetts - brothers John and Theophilus Shatswell and sister, Margaret (Shatswell) Curwen, wife of Matthias Curwen.

Despite the fact that he sometimes got in trouble (often for standing up for his beliefs), he also contributed his service to the local officials in a number of different offices. He was a member of quite a few petit juries and grand juries over the years. He was the Newbury constable in 1655 and clerk of the market in 1656. 

His independent streak is well documented through the court system. 

His first recorded brush with the law makes one question whether his first wife was still alive since he seems to have gotten a little fresh with a married woman. The part at the end makes me wonder if she was a willing participant in the interaction. On September 29, 1646, "John Emery, for miscarriage with the wife of Henry Travers, fined £3 or to be whipped, and pay witness fee to Christopher Bartlett. Bound to good behavior and not to frequent the company of the wife of Henry Travers. 

In 1654, John joined with other town leaders to sue John Merrill for selling the town's lands without order. Also in 1654, there was a controversy regarding a petition in support of Lt. Robert Pike of Salisbury. That is a story for another blog post. All of his dealings on behalf of his step-children will also be told later. 

In 1658, John, his son John Jr., his step-son John Webster, and Solomon Keyes were admonished by the court for disturbing the peace and acting disrespectully. They were told to "beware of the like sinful practices for time to come, which this Court will not bear; and that they pay the several charges of their neighbors the last Court & this, in coming for relief from such under courses."

On May 5, 1663, John Emery appeared before the court for entertaining Quakers. 

In another church controversy in 1669, John Emery was one of those opposing Rev. Mr. Parker. He appears on a 1671 list of Newbury church members presented as part of this discontent. 

In 1678, John submitted a bill to the local militia for "a new saddle & bridle" 28s.; a "sword & belt," 12s; 2 pounds powder & bullets," 4s.; and "saddle & cloth," 23s. 

John died on November 3, 1683 and was buried in the First Burying Ground in Newbury. 

For more on John Emery - 

John Emery - lists his children and some testimony about his entertaining Quakers. 

Connections to the TV show Downton Abbey - Maps the areas in England where the family lived near the town of Downton. 

John Emery

Eleanor (Emery) Bailey

Sarah (Bailey) Cheney - Sister of Rebecca Bailey (below)

Eleanor (Cheney) Safford

John Safford

Ruth (Safford) Haskell

Martha (Haskell) Houghton

Mary "Sally" (Houghton) Dunham

Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood

Nina King (Ellingwood) Gibbs

Annie Florilla (Gibbs) Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Rebecca (Bailey) Brown

Ruth (Brown) Rogers

Isaac Rogers

Rebecca (Rogers) Blaisdell

Stephen Blaisdell

Susannah (Blaisdell) Rowe

Stephen Blaisdell Rowe

Charles H. N. Rowe

Anna J. (Rowe) Hayes

Eva Delphinia (Hayes) Yates

Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

The Knights of Romsey - 52 Ancestors #19

The tangled tale of the Knights of Romsey, Hampshire, England. Try to follow all the family connections if you can. 

William & Elizabeth (Carter) Knight lived in Romsey, Hampshire, England and had at least four children according to baptismal records. The oldest son, Richard, was baptized in May 1589 and buried in June 1596. Next came daughter, Thomasine, who was baptized in June 1590. The other two children, John (baptized in January 1595) and Richard (baptized in January 1603) came to the Massachusetts Bay colony on the James in 1635 and settled in Newbury. They are both called tailors. 

John Knight was married and had several children but only two were living when they family came to the colonies. He married Elizabeth Vincent on March 29, 1624 in Romsey. Their children were:

1. Elizabeth baptized on May 16, 1625 and buried two days later. 
2. John baptized on May 14, 1626.
3. Elizabeth baptized on October 13, 1628 and buried six days later. 
4. Elizabeth baptized on May 22, 1632 and no further record. 
5. Mary baptized on August 10, 1634.
6. Sarah was born after they came to the colonies, probably about 1636.

Elizabeth (Vincent) Knight died on March 20, 1645 in Newbury and John would marry again. 

He and his son, John, married a mother and daughter but there is no record that shows which marriage came first. John, Sr. would marry Agnes (Langlye) Ingersoll between 1644-1652 and John, Jr. would marry Bathsheba Ingersoll before 1648. 

John Knight, Sr. appears to have been quite prosperous as he had a servant, William Nef. He also paid court fines for two women. On April 8, 1651, he paid a fine for Frances Usellton so she would not be whipped but her crime is not listed and I can find no other information on her. On March 27, 1666, he paid the fine for Elnor Bryer so she would not be whipped for the crime of fornication.  A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845, by Joshua Coffin shows a Richard Bryer married Eleanor Wright on December 26, 1665. She died August 29, 1672. and the couple had three children born between 1667-1670. It is unclear if this is the Elnor Bryer for whom John Knight, Sr. paid the fine but it is the only reference to an Elnor Bryner that I could find. 

Richard Knight, brother of John Sr., married a woman named Agnes before 1626. The couple had children born on both sides of the Atlantic. 

1. A Stillborn child was buried on June 17, 1626 in Romsey. 
2. Richard was buried July 15, 1627. 
3. William was baptized on December 7, 1628 in Romsey. 
4. Anna was baptized on May 5, 1631 in Romsey. She would come to Massachusetts and marry Henry Jaques on October 8, 1648. 
5. Richard was baptized on October 18, 1633 in Romsey. 
6. Elizabeth was born between 1634 and 1641. She married Anthony Morse on May 8, 1660. 
7. Rebecca was born on March 3, 1642 and married Abiel Somerby on November 13, 1661. 
8. Sarah was born on February 23, 1648 and married John Kelley on May 20, 1663. 

Richard Knight was in the court record on May 5, 1663. "Richard Knight and Hugh Marsh" were presented "for playing cards at the house of the former." One of the witnesses against them was Bathsheba (Ingersoll) Knight, wife of John Knight, Jr., nephew of Richard Knight. 

John Knight, Sr. died in May 1670 and Richard Knight died on August 4, 1683. 

So ends the tale of these two Knights of Romsey. 

Lines of descent:
William Knight - John Knight, Sr. (he married second Agnes (Langlye) Ingersoll and his son married her daughter) - John Knight, Jr. (he married Bathsheba, daughter of Richard & Agnes (Langlye) Ingersoll. Bathsheba testified against her husband's uncle, Richard Knight) - Richard Knight -Henry Knight - Eunice Knight - Hannah Sawyer - Catherine Hilton - Loann Churchill - Anna J. Rowe - Eva D. Hayes - Linona A. Yates - my grandmother

William Knight -Richard Knight - Anna Knight - Elizabeth Jaques m. Richard Knight (see above)

Richard Ingersoll m. Agnes Langlye - George Ingersoll ( I also descend through his sister, Bathsheba, who married John Knight, Jr.) - Samuel Ingersoll - Dorcas Ingersoll - Jonathan Rowe - William Rowe - William Rowe - Stephen B. Rowe - Charles H. N. Rowe - Anna J. Rowe (see above).

Hugh March (Marsh) - George March - Sarah March - Elizabeth Deering - Eliakim Emmons - Jacob Emmons - Laura Emmons - Estes G. Yates - Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother. 

The Long & Short Of It - 52 Ancestors #5

I've deviated from the blog theme suggested for this week because I couldn't come up with a good story for "plowing through."

Robert Long, my 10th great-grandfather, was born about 1621 and died at the age of 68 in Newbury, Massachusetts on December 27, 1690 of small pox.
This seems to be the beginning of an outbreak because the History of Newbury, states that "on March 10, 1691, the selectmen were ordered to see that all persons infected with small-pox were removed to some isolated place, and provided with nurses and attended. They were also ordered to supply food and clothing to persons so removed, and to the families of those who were unable to take care of themselves." Robert's wife, Alice died during this time period also but I haven't found any notation on her cause of death. She died on January 17, 1691.



There is really very little information that I have found about this ancestor. However, his marriage is interesting because...

In 1647, Robert Long married Alice Short!

 

Children of Robert & Alice (Short) Long:

1. Mary b. 24 Feb 1648
2. Abiel b. 19 Feb 1649
3. Rebecca (uncertain birthdate) m. Nicholas Rawlins
4. Susanna b. 14 Nov 1656
5. A daughter b. 26 Mar 1659 and d. 4 April 1659
6. Shubael b. 14 April 1661
7. A son b. 16 April 1664; may have died young
8. John (uncertain birthdate); living in 1691
9. Martha b. 20 May 1669

My Line:
Robert Long
Rebecca Long
Rebecca Rawlins
Rebecca Rogers
Stephen Blaisdell
Susannah Blaisdell
Stephen Blaisdell Rowe
Charles H. N. Rowe
Anna J. Rowe
Eva Delphinia Hayes
Linona Alice Yates

Sources
Old Families of Amesbury & Salisbury

52 Ancestors #40 - Two Murderers - One Gallows

While looking for records relating to my 9th great-grandfather, John Capen, I found a minor notation that he served on the jury in the murder trials of John Williams and and William Schooler. This intrigued me to investigate further and I came across a post by Robert Wilhelm on the blog, Executed Today. 

William Schooler was a man with a checkered past. He was an admitted adulterer who had fled to Holland to escape the law after wounding a man in a duel in England. He came to New England without his wife and lived on the outskirts of the town of Newbury, by the banks of the Merrimack River. 

Mary Scholy was a servant girl who for some unknown reason had come to Newbury from the area called Pascataquack (now Portsmouth, NH) and needed a guide to help her return to her master. 

Google Maps shows that it would be an 8-9 1/2 hour trip walking from Newbury to Portsmouth on modern roads - It would obviously have been more challenging in colonial times. 

When William Schooler heard that Mary needed a guide, he offered his services for fifteen shillings. She accepted without knowing he had never made the trip before. Schooler returned to Newbury suspiciously early with a scratch on his nose that he blamed on walking into some brambles and blood on his hat that he attributed to killing a pigeon. However, there was no evidence to contradict his story so nothing happened until her body was found in the woods north of Newbury by an Agawam Indian. She had been exposed to the elements for several months so not much could be told from her body except that her clothes had been removed and found in a pile nearby. Schooler continued to protest his innocence and refused to confess but in the end was convicted of ravishing and killing Mary Scholy. 

John Williams was a recent immigrant to the colonies who had been imprisoned in Boston for theft. he escaped with another prisoner, John Hoddy. As they traveled near the east end of the Wenham Great Pond, they had a fight that left John Hoddy dead. There are conflicting stories of how this came to be discovered - one blames John Hoddy's dogs for drawing the attention of neighbors and the other says Williams was recognized as a criminal arrested in Ipswich. Either way, the body of John Hoddy was located when a farmer's cows started bellowing and an investigation led to the discovery of Hoddy's naked body covered by stones. Unlike Schooler, Williams confessed to the murder but to protect his rights of due process, his case was tried before a jury and he was sentenced to death. 

Both men were found guilty of murder and hanged together on the same gallows on Boston Common on September 28, 1637. 

Photo by mlhradio/CCBY

For more information see this source: http://www.executedtoday.com/2012/09/28/1637-william-schooler-and-john-williams/ 

John Capen - on jury for both trials

James Capen & Hannah Lawrence

James Capen & Elizabeth Call

James Capen & Sarah Pinson

Thomas Capen & Mary Wyman

Thomas Capen & Mary Abbott

Timothy Capen & Sarah K. Abbott

Edward Abbott Capen & Mary Jane Abbott

Fanny May Capen & Edward Mellen Carter

Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather

Edward Abbott Capen & Mary Jane Abbott were second cousins - Timothy Capen's sister, Deborah was Mary Jane's grandmother. Deborah married William Ackley - their daughter, Sarah Ackley married John Abbott and they were the parents of Mary Jane. 

52 Ancestors #16 - John Emery

John Emery is my 11th great-grandfather on my dad's side and my 12th great-grandfather on my mother's side. He came from Romsey, Hampshire, England on the James in 1635 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. He was a carpenter and an innkeeper. I wrote about John Emery, his wife Alice Grantham, and Downton Abbey in March 2013. John Emery married second, Mary (Shatswell) Webster, daughter of John & Judith Shatswell and widow of John Webster. 

On May 5, 1663, John Emery was in court because he was accused of entertaining Quakers . He was presented by the constable, Henry Jaques, "for as much as John Emerie, Sr. is one of our grand jury men this last year for our town of Newbury and he himself having broken the law as I do understand in entertaining of travellers and quakers into his house and and one Mr. Greenland in all which disorder he have boldly insisted whereby reproach and scandal is to come upon our town to the dishonor of God and damage and hurt to some of your neighbors." 

Quakers were banished from Massachusetts and faced serious consequences if they returned. One of the more famous cases was that of Mary Dyer. I wrote about my ancestor, Humphrey Atherton's role in her case in March 2012. The tension between Quakers and Puritans is explained on this web site.

The children of John & Alice (Grantham) Emery:

1. Alice Emery was born about 1622 and married John Chater. 
2. Eleanor Emery was baptized on November 7, 1624 in Romsey and died in 1700. She married John Bailey and had ten children. I have lines of descent from two daughters.
3. John Emery, Jr. was baptized on February 3, 1628/29 in Romsey and died November 3, 1683 in Newbury, Massachusetts. He married my 9th great-aunt, Mary Whipple. 
4. Anne Emery was baptized on March 18, 1632/33 in Romsey and married James Ordway. 

The children of John & Mary (Shatswell) (Webster) Emery: 

1. Ebenezer Emery (a girl) was born on September 14, 1648 and married John Hoag. 
2. Jonathan was born on May 13, 1652 and married Mary Woodman. 

John Emery

Eleanor Emery

Sarah Bailey - Sister of Rebecca Bailey

Eleanor Cheney

John Safford

Ruth Safford

Martha Haskell

Mary "Sally" Houghton

Florilla Dunham

Nina King Ellingwood

Annie Florilla Gibbs

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Rebecca Bailey

Ruth Brown

Isaac Rogers

Rebecca Rogers

Stephen Blaisdell

Susannah Blaisdell

Stephen Blaisdell Rowe

Charles H. N. Rowe

Anna J. Rowe

Eva Delphinia Hayes

Linona Alice Yates

Matrilineal Monday - A Colonial Dress Code

A few times I have come across court records stating a female ancestor was hauled into court for wearing silk or lace so I knew there was some law in Massachusetts that restricted what certain women were allowed to wear. I have listed my connections below. I found that a sumptuary law was passed in Massachusetts in 1651. According to About.com, such laws can be found as far back in history as ancient Greece and Rome. In fact, I had heard of them, i.e. the restriction of purple cloth to royalty, but I didn't know what they were called or that these laws extended to other time periods. The purpose of the laws throughout history seems to be linked to the fear that excessive spending was morally wrong and flaunting one's wealth could be morally corrupting. It may have also been used to force the average person to buy locally and thereby enrich the local economy. 

The full text of the Massachusetts law can be found here. The gist of it is that the Puritan leaders were upset by the "intolerable excess...especially among people of mean condition." They decided to make issue a reminder to be "sober and moderate" and express their "utter detestation and dislike that men and women of mean condition should take upon them the garb gentlemen by wearing gold or silver lace, or buttons, or points at their knees, or to walk in great boots; or women of the same rank to wear silk or tiffany hoods, or scarves which, though allowable to persons of greater estates or more liberal education, we cannot but judge it intolerable..." 

The standard of wealth sufficient to be allowed to wear such finery?  An estate valued at or above £200.  Today, that would be about $304 using a direct exchange rate but Economic Heritage has a series of interesting calculators. Perhaps the simplest is the real value of commodities which gives a modern equivalent of £23,200 or $35374. 

Who got to be the fashion police? The selectmen of the town were "required" to "take notice of the apparel of the inhabitants.." and "whosoever they shall judge to exceed their ranks and abilities in costliness or fashion of their apparel in any respect, expecially in the wearing of ribbons or great boots (leather being so scarce a commodity in this country) lace, points, etc..." 

And the icing on the cake? 
"...this law shall not extend to the restraint of any magistrate or public officer of this jurisdiction, their wives and children, who are left to their discretion in wearing of apparel, or any settled militia officer or soldier in the time of military service, or any other whose education and employment have been above the ordinary degree, or whose estate have been considerable, though now decayed." 

So when you go to get dressed today, remember...

From Ancestral Lines From Maine to Virginia, by Carl Boyer, page 132:
"Nicholas Noyes' wife, Hugh March's wife, and William Chandler's wife were each presented for wearing a silk hood and scarf; but were discharged on proof that their husbands were worth two hundred pounds each. John Hutchins' wife was also discharged upon testifying that she was brought up above the ordinary rank."

Nicholas Noyes' wife, Mary Cutting, is my 11th great-grandmother.
Hugh March's wife, Judith is my 8th great-grandmother

While I have a William Chandler in my line, this refers to Mary (Fowler) Chandler and I am not related to her.
Frances Alcock was the wife of John Hutchins. She was later accused and arrested during the Salem Witchcraft hysteria and released on bond as the hysteria was dying down in December 1692. The use of spectral evidence had been ruled inadmissible and in January 1693, 49 of the 52 surviving prisoners were released. Love, the daughter of John & Frances, married my 9th great-granduncle, Capt. Samuel Sherborn.

Noyes Line:
Nicholas & Mary (Cutting) Noyes
Peter & Hannah (Noyes) Cheney
John & Mary (Chute) Cheney
Edmund & Mary (Plummer) Cheney
Edmund & Susanna (Middleton) Cheney
Stephen & Mehitable (Cheney) Blaisdell
William & Susannah (Blaisdell) Rowe
Stephen & Elizabeth (Hilton) Rowe
Charles & Loann (Churchill) Rowe
George & Anna (Rowe) Hayes
Estes & Eva (Hayes) Yates
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

March Line:
Hugh & Judith March
George & Mary (Folsom) March
Humphrey & Sarah (March) Deering
Ebenezer & Elizabeth (Deering) Emmons
Eliakim & Molly (Wildes) Emmons
Jacob & Sarah (Shepard) Emmons
Gilbert & Laura (Emmons) Yates
Estes & Eva (Hayes) Yates - see above

Sherburne/Sherborn Connections: Sisters of Capt. Samuel, who married Love Hutchins
Elizabeth (Sherburne) Langdon - 10th great-grandmother traces to Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother
Ruth (Sherburne) Moses - 9th great-grandmother traces to Linona Alice Yates