Hail To The Chief

Many presidents have connections to New England colonists and if your tree includes New England colonial families, it is not unusual to find that you are distantly related to those presidents. The following information about the lineage of Presidents Grant and Coolidge comes from NEHGS Nexus Volume 14, page 29. Happy Presidents' Day

"Ulysses Grant 1870-1880"
by Brady-Handy Photograph Collection
(Library of Congress)
Licensed under Public Domain 

"Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777"
by Notman Studio, Boston. Restoration by User:Adam Cuerden
 Licensed under Public Domain via Commons 

Oliver & Thomasine Purchase are my 11th great-grandparents. Bernard & Joan (Purchase) Capen are my 10th great-grandparents. John & Mary (Bass) Capen are my 9th great-grandparents. Ulysses S. Grant is my 7th cousin, 4 times removed. He is a descendant of Bernard & Joan Capen's daughter, Susanna. Susanna Capen married William Rockwell. Calvin Coolidge is my 8th cousin, twice removed. He is a descendant of John & Mary (Bass) Capen's son, Joseph. Joseph Capen married Priscilla Appleton.

           My Line -
           Oliver & Thomasine Purchase
           Bernard & Joan (Purchase) Capen
           John & Mary (Bass) Capen
           James & Hannah (Lawrence) Capen
           James & Elizabeth (Call) Capen
           James & Sarah (Pinson) Capen
           Thomas & Mary (Wyman) Capen
           Thomas & Mary (Abbott) Capen
           Timothy & Sarah (Abbott) Capen
           Edward & Mary Jane (Abbott) Capen
           Edward & Fanny (Capen) Carter
          T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

Surname Saturday - Bernard Capen

Bernard (or Barnard) Capen was a shoemaker who came to America in 1633 from Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England. He took the oath of a freeman on May 25, 1636. In some old records his names is written as Barnard and his surname is recorded as "Gapin." His stated age at his death on November 8, 1638 was 76 which would put his birth about 1562. He married Joan Purchase on May 31, 1596. She was the daughter of Oliver Purchase and one of four Purchase siblings who emigrated to the American colonies.

Photo courtesy of Don Blauvelt - posted at Findagrave

There is an article about the Barnard Capen house on the Dorchester Atheneaum site. It tells the history of the house which was restored in 1909 and seems to have been dismantled and moved twice. I couldn't find anything about the current status of that house. However, the parsonage house of Rev. Joseph Capen, son of John and grandson of Bernard, is located in Topsfield, Massachusetts and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Rev. Joseph was my 8th great-uncle.

Parson Capen House - photo from Wikipedia

Two of Bernard Capen's descendants are President Calvin Coolidge and President Ulysses S. Grant.

President Calvin Coolidge - photo from Wikipedia
He is my 8th cousin, twice removed

President Ulysses S. Grant
He is my 7th cousin, 4 times removed

Children:

1. James was born about 1598 and is called a "scrivener" in his will. 
2. Ruth was born on August 7, 1600 and there is no further record of her.
3. Susanna was born on April 11, 1602 and married twice. On April 14, 1624, she married William Rockwell and on May 29, 1645 she became the second wife of Matthew Grant. 
4. Dorothy was born about 1608 and she married Nicholas Upsall on January 17, 1630 at the Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England. 
5. Elizabeth was born about 1610 and she married Thomas Swift on October 18, 1630 in the same church as Dorothy. 
6. John was born January 12, 1612. He married twice. On October 20, 1637, he married Redegon Clap and on September 20, 1647, he married Mary Bass. In 1680, John served on the jury for the witchcraft trial of Elizabeth Morse of Newbury. She was found guilty but given a reprieve and released to her husband. She was not allowed to travel more than a few yards from her house unless accompanied by a minister. 
7. Honor was born about 1616 and she married William Hannum. 

Line of Descent

John Capen m. Mary Bass
James Capen 1654-1718 m. Hannah Lawrence
James Capen born 1683 m. Elizabeth Call
James Capen 1709/10-1763 m. Sarah Pinson
Thomas Capen born 1739 m. Mary Wyman
Thomas Capen 1762-1808 m. Mary Abbott
Timothy Capen born 1793 m. Sarah K. Abbott
Edward Abbott Capen 1839-1930 m. Mary Jane Abbott - First cousins, once removed - See below
Fannie May Capen born 1878 m. Edward Mellen Carter
Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather

Sister of Timothy Capen - Deborah Capen born 1796 m. William Ackley
Sarah Ackley born 1820 m. John Abbott
Mary Jane Abbott - same as above

Sources:
The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: American Ancestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995).
Findagrave
Dorchester Atheneum
Wikipedia

"A Keen Sense of Justice & a Sharp Tongue"

Martha Carrier is one of the most well-known of those executed for witchcraft in Salem. She was born Martha Allen - my first cousin 11 times removed. 

An outspoken old woman makes an easy target for accusations

In 1674, Martha became pregnant by a young Welsh servant, Thomas Carrier and they married. They left Andover, Massachusetts and moved to Billerica, probably to get away from the gossip. In the 1680s, they returned to Andover, still poor and with more mouths to feed. Martha was disliked for freely speaking her mind and not knowing her place. She is described in Historical Sketches of Andover, "Martha Carrier was, too, a woman of a disposition not unlikely to make enemies; plain and outspoken in speech, of remarkable strength of mind, a keen sense of justice and a sharp tongue." 

The second major misfortune came in 1690 when a smallpox epidemic erupted and although her own family suffered greatly, the community blamed Martha for the outbreak. Her family accounted for 7 of the 13 deaths in town...apparently no one considered that it would be unlikely that she would afflict her own family. 

When the Salem girls accused her of witchcraft, her neighbors were quick to come forward with tales of wounds that would not heal and sick or dead livestock. These included Benjamin & Sarah (Farnum) Abbott, my 9th great-grandparents. Martha's response was "it is a shamefull thing that you should mind these folks that are out of their wits."

New accusations were aimed at her children. Sons Richard, 18, and Andrew, 15, were tied "neck to heels until blood was ready to come out of their noses." Daughter, Sarah, age 7, and son, Thomas, Jr., age 10 testified against their mother and admitted to being witches themselves. 

Martha never confessed despite all that was done to her and her family. This was very unusual among those accused. Martha was hanged on August 19, 1692. 

Enders Robinson, in his book Salem Witchcraft, proposed that there was a conspiracy by assistant minister, Thomas Barnard to discredit the senior minister, Rev. Francis Dane. Robinson's evidence is the number of accused who were either related to Dane or to the powerful founding families in the town. Rev. Francis Dane is my 10th great-grandfather and Thomas Barnard was married to Abigail Bull, my 9th great-aunt. 

Historical Sketches of Andover describes how she never gave in to the pressure, even when she was taken to the gallows.

"In the examinations of the accused which preceded the regular trial, most made confession and thus averted the extreme penalty. Martha Carrier was the only one of all, male or female, who did not at some time or other make an admission or confession. From the first moment to the last, under all the persuasions and exhortations of friends, under denunciations and threats of the magistrates and examiners, she held firm, denying all charges, and neither overborne in mind nor shaken in nerve, met death with heroic courage...The prisoner [Martha Carrier] was hanged August 19, 1692, along with four men, among them the Rev. George Burroughs. they were carried in a cart through the streets of Salem, crowds thronging to see the sight. Even from the scaffold, Martha Carrier's voice was heard asseverating her innocence. Her dead body was rudely treated, then thrust into the ground in the same hole or grave with the bodies of Mr. Burroughs and John Willard...in the year 1711, her [Martha's] name occurs on a list of sufferers, whose legal representatives received money for losses sustained by the imprisonment and death of their relations. Seven pounds six shillings was allowed to the representatives of Martha Carrier." 

Given what we know today about the psychology behind false confessions, it is remarkable that Martha refused to be broken. 

I have connections through three of my grandparents - though the Yates connection is only a half-cousin. 

Martha (Allen) Carrier - First cousin 11 times removed - granddaughter of Edmund Ingalls - my 11th great-grandfather through Fern Lyndell Cotton
Abigail Bull - daughter of Thomas Bull - my 10th great-grandfather through T. Richard Carter. 
Benjamin & Sarah (Farnum) Abbott - my 9th great-grandparents through Fern Lyndell Cotton, Benjamin is also my 7th great-uncle through T. Richard Carter. Sarah is also my 2nd cousin 8 times removed through Fern Lyndell Cotton and my half-2nd cousin 10 times removed through Linona Alica Yates
Rev. Francis Dane - my 10th great-grandfather through Fern Lyndell Cotton and one of his wives, Hannah Chandler, is my 8th great-grandmother through T. Richard Carter

http://archive.org/details/historicalsketc01bailgoog
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/saxon-salem/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=salem/texts/bios.xml&style=salem/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&chunk.id=b4&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes

Gallons of Corruption

Okay, I just need to write this post. Every time I start, I end up getting sidetracked looking up my connections to the various people involved in this incident. At one time I taught US history in an integrated class with an English teacher. When we covered the Salem Witch Trials, he always pointed to this testimony as an example of the hyperbole that fueled the hysteria.

Benjamin & Sarah (Farnum) Abbott are my 9th great-grandparents and because of the intermarrying of the Abbott family, they are related to me in a myriad of other ways also. Benjamin had an antagonistic relationship with Martha Carrier, who happens to be my first cousin, 11 times removed. After several nasty verbal exchanges, Benjamin inevitably became sick and Martha was accused of being the cause of his troubles. Martha had an interesting background that tarnished her reputation in the community and made her an easy target. 

Cotton Mather called Martha a "rampant hag"

Cotton Mather wrote The Wonders of the Invisible World - The Trial of Martha Carrier. Her trial was held in Salem on August 2, 1692. Benjamin Abbott testified about the verbal abuse directed at him by Martha and then went on to relate his story of illness. (Bold text was added by me for emphasis)

"Presently after this he was taken with a swelling in his foot, and then in his side, and exceedingly tormented.  It bred a sore which was lanced by Dr. Prescott, and several gallons of corruption ran out of it.  For six weeks it continued very bad; and then another sore bred in his groin, which was also lanced by Dr. Prescott.  Another sore bred in his groin, which was likewise cut, and put him to very great misery.  He was brought to death's door, and so remained until Carrier was taken and carried away by the constable; from which very day he began to mend, and so grew better every day, and is well ever since. Sarah, his wife, also testified that her husband was not only all this while afflicted in his body, but also that strange, extraordinary, and unaccountable calamities befell his cattle; their death being such as they could guess no natural reason for."

As my esteemed colleague would point out, the human body  does not contain gallons of anything, including blood. Combined with the vivid, disgusting mental image, this story would make quite an impression on our students. Unfortunately, my colleague moved on to another school before I made the connection between Benjamin Abbott and my family.

Just to add to the memorable accusations, Martha's nephew, Allen Toothaker, testified against her:
"Toothaker had received a wound in the wars; and now he testified that Martha Carrier told him he should never be cured. Just before the apprehending of Carrier, he could thrust a knitting needle into his wound four inches deep; but presently after her being seized, he was thoroughly healed."

What I wonder is why he was thrusting a knitting needle into his wound in the first place and could that have been the reason it wasn't healing...perhaps?

Martha was one of five people hanged on August 19, 1692. Also executed on that date were George Burroughs, John Proctor, John Willard, and George Jacobs, Jr.

Martha Carrier's grandfather was Edmund Ingalls - my 11th great-grandfather through my grandmother, Fern Lyndell Cotton.

Benjamin Abbott & Sarah Farnum (spelled in various ways)
Jonathan Abbott & Zerviah Holt
Jonathan Abbott II & Martha Lovejoy
Jonathan Abbott III & Mehitable Abbott - 3rd cousins
Zerviah Abbott & John Ellingwood
John Ellingwood, Jr & Rachel Barrows
Asa Freeman Ellingwood & Florilla Dunham
Nina K. Ellingwood & George Gibbs
Annie Florilla Gibbs & Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Josiah Winslow - Governor of Plymouth Colony

My mother's ancestry goes back to the Winslow family who were some of the earliest settlers of Plymouth. Edward and Gilbert were passengers on the Mayflower, brother John came on the Fortune in 1621 and the two younger Winslows, Josiah and Kenelm came about 1631. My family descends from Kenelm so this Josiah is my first cousin, 11 times removed.


Josiah Winslow, shown here was the 13th Governor of Plymouth Colony, serving from 1673 to 1680. He was born in 1628 to Edward Winslow and Penelope Pelham (daughter of Herbert Pelham, the first treasurer of Harvard College). Josiah was the first governor of Plymouth born in the New World. By the time he took office, the colony was well established and no longer reliant on Native Americans to teach the colonists survival skills. The expanding British settlements of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were expanding and putting pressure of the lands of the Native Americans. Chief of the Wampanoag, Metacom (or King Philip) and Josiah did not have a good relationship and this contributed to the outbreak of King Philip's War. Josiah's half-brother was Peregrine White, the first English child born in New England.

It's All Fun & Games

Milton Bradley is my 2nd cousin 5X removed. His grandfather and my 5th great-grandmother were brother and sister. Milton was born November 8, 1836 in Vienna, Maine to Lewis Bradley and Fanny Lyford. His grandfather was M. Dudley Lyford, older brother of Nancy Lyford. He began is career as a lithographer before he printed and sold a parlor game called the Checkered Game of Life. In 1864 he formed Milton Bradley and Company to print games and game manuals.

Checkered Game of Life - MB's First Game

Nancy Lyford - 5th great-grandmother - M. Dudley Lyford
Oliver Smith Philbrick - 4th great-grandfather
Benjamin Philbrick - 3rd great-grandfather
Lizzie Philbrick - 2nd great-grandmother
Ray Everett Cotton - great-grandfather
Fern Lyndell Cotton - grandmother

http://www.biography.com/people/milton-bradley-9223556

When Your Family Tree Doesn't Fork...

 In the U.S. we have a natural horror of marrying a cousin. You'll end up with deformed children!! Well, guess what? It's not even close to true! When you start doing genealogy, you realize how quickly the number of individual people grow as you progress through the generations - 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great- grandparents etc. Ten generations brings one to the potential for 1024 direct ancestors and if you go back to the time of Charlemagne it's an estimated 281 trillion! Have that many individuals really existed since the beginning of mankind? 


Well, the short answer is no. We can't have more ancestors in a generation than the total known population of the earth at the time. Therefore it is estimated that 80 percent of marriages have been between first or second cousins and 100 percent of marriages will find a connection if you go back far enough. The cool thing about this reality is that you are very likely to find connections to rich, famous and historically significant figures if your ancestors came from the same general area as theirs during colonial times (New England for me). In fact, I am a 10th cousin of Barack Obama on his mother's side, the Dunhams. 


If you're researching your family tree back to colonial times or earlier, you will find many, many others who are also searching for the same families and therefore your cousins. Besides the fact that it is statistically impossible to have 281 trillion European ancestors in your 30th generation, one needs to remember the lack of mobility people had prior to the 20th century. In previous centuries, most people were born, lived, and died in the same town. Then there are factors such as the inter-marrying of the European royal families. All of these factors lead to more cousins than distinct individuals in your family tree. I can't say it still doesn't freak me out a bit when I see it in my own family tree but understanding the mathematical, sociological and scientific realities helps. I found the following web sites interesting.


"Facts about Cousin Marriage " Cousin Marriage Resources. 24 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts>. 

• We are all cousins - no two people are more distantly related than 50th cousins. 
• Twenty-six states and all European countries allow first cousins to marry. It is also legal in Canada and Mexico. 
• Leviticus 18 lists all forbidden sexual relationships. Cousin relationships are not included.
• Albert Einstein & Charles Darwin married their first cousins.
• Second cousins have little, if any increased chance of having children with birth defects, according to the book "Clinical Genetics Handbook." The National Society of Genetic Counselors estimated the increased risk for first cousins is between 1.7 to 2.8 percent, or about the same as any woman over 40 years of age. 

R., Danielle. "10 Famous People Who Married Their Cousins." Listverse. Ultimate Listverse Top 10 Lists, 20 July 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://listverse.com/2008/07/20/10-famous-people-who-married-their-cousins/>. 

• Jesse James & Zerelda "Zee" Mimms - 1st cousins
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Anna Eleanor Roosevelt - 5th cousins
• Johann Sebastian Bach & Maria Barbara Bach - 2nd cousins
• H.G. Wells & Isabel Mary Wells - 1st cousins
• Thomas Jefferson & Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson - 3rd cousins
• Albert Einstein & Elsa - 2nd cousins
• Charles Darwin & Emma Wedgwood - 1st cousins
• Edgar Allan Poe & Virginia Clemm - 1st cousins; she was 7 when he moved into her home - her parents were his aunt and uncle & she was 13 when they married
• Jery Lee Lewis & Myra Gale Brown - she was 13 when they married
• Rudy Guiliani & Regina Peruggi - 2nd cousins

For more information, search "diamond theory of genealogy"