52 Ancestors #24 - Rev. Joshua Moody

Rev. Joshua Moody was the son of immigrant, William Moody and his wife, Sarah. His family came from England to Newbury, Massachusetts when he was about a year old. He is my ninth great-grandfather on two different lines. He was educated at Harvard College and graduated in 1653. He married twice - first to Martha Collins, sister of Rev. John Collins of London, and second to widow, Ann (Wall) Jacobs of Ipswich. 



In 1658, he went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and started the First Congregational Church. His time in Portsmouth came to an end when he came into conflict with the Lt. Governor, Mr. Cranfield in 1684. After refusing to administer the sacrament (in the manner of the Church of England rather than in the manner of the Puritans) to Lt. Gov. Cranfield, Rev. Moody was indicted on February 5, 1684 and spent thirteen weeks in jail. His sentence was for six months but his supporters appealed and gained his freedom but if he started preaching again, he would be put back in jail. He moved to Boston and preached under Rev. Cotton Mather at the Old Church (First Church) in Boston until 1692. Rev. Josiah Moody was elected President of Harvard College on July 2, 1684. He declined, however, in favor of continuing his post as assistant minister of the First Church. 



During the witchcraft hysteria in 1692, Rev. Joshua Moody did not support the measures being taken to identify, try, and execute the alleged witches. He did all he could to support and free Philip & Mary (Hollingsworth) English - both accused witches. He helped them flee to New York in defiance of the popular sentiment. He was very lucky that he was not arrested for his actions and in the end, he also chose to leave Massachusetts and return to Portsmouth. He had remained in contact with his congregation there and the contentious Lt. Gov. Cranfield was gone. Rev. Josiah Moody died on July 4, 1697 at the age of 65 after a brief illness. Dr. Cotton Mather preached at his funeral. Two of his daughters married ministers and his son, Samuel was for several years a preacher at New Castle (Great Island), New Hampshire. 

Published works: 
" A Practical Discourse concerning the Choice Benefit of Communion with God in his house, witnessed unto by the experience of saints as the best improvement of time, being the sum of several sermons on Psalms 84:10, preached at Boston, on Lecture Days." Printed in Boston by Richard Pierce in 1685. 
"Sin of Formality in God's Worship, or the Formal Worshipper proved a liar and deceiver, preached on the weekly lecture in Boston, from Hos. 2:12." Published in 1691. 

The library of the Massachusetts Historical Society has 93 volumes of his sermons. The last is numbered 4070 and dated 30th September 1688. That is an average of two and a half sermons a week for thirty years! He had more sermons after that in Portsmouth. 

Rev. Joshua Moody
Rev. Samuel Moody
Joshua Moody
William Moody
Elizabeth Moody
William Ackley
Sarah Ackley
Mary Jane Abbott
Fannie May Capen
Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather

Rev. Joshua Moody
Rev. Samuel Moody
Joshua Moody
Houchin Moody
Josiah Moody
Hezekiah Moody
Dolly Estes Moody
Charles Galen Blake
Harriet May Blake
Clayton L. Blake - my grandfather

Surname Saturday - Ballard & Alcock Descendants Marry

Arresting a witch

In 1692, Elizabeth Ballard contracted a fever that she could not shake despite the best efforts of her doctors. Although Elizabeth lived in Andover, the witchcraft hysteria that was sweeping Salem was spilling over to other communities. It was decided that she must be a victim of witchcraft. Two of the afflicted girls, Ann Putnam and Mary Walcott were summoned to Andover and they fell into fits at the sight of Ann (Alcock) Foster. Ann's mother was Ann Hooker, sister to Rev. Thomas Hooker, founder of Connecticut. The fits were enough to get poor Ann arrested and taken to prison. Having a powerful family didn't help her. Some sources say Joseph Ballard was trying to get the land that belonged to Ann. My grandmother, Fern Lyndell Cotton, is a descendant of Ann Alcock Foster and her husband, my grandfather, T. Richard Carter, is a descendant of Elizabeth Phelps Ballard. 

Salem Witch Trials

Ann was the Ballard's neighbor and a 72 year old widowed mother of five. Her daughter, Hannah, had been brutally murdered by her husband, Hugh Stone, just two years prior. While in jail, Ann claimed she saw the devil several times in the form of a bird but continued to deny the accusations against her. Then Ann's daughter, Mary Lacey, and her granddaughter, also named Mary Lacey, were accused of witchcraft. The elder Mary Lacey decided to admit to being a witch and accuse her mother in an attempt to save her daughter. Next Ann confessed to save her daughter and granddaughter. Ann was convicted and died in jail on December 3, 1693. Her son, Abraham petitioned to clear her name and reimburse the family for the expenses associated with her incarceration and burial. 

Elizabeth Phelps & Joseph Ballard
Joseph Ballard & Rebecca Johnson
Elizabeth Ballard & Thomas Abbott
Aaron Abbott & Sarah Abbott
Sarah K. Abbott & Timothy Capen 
Edward Abbott Capen & Mary Jane Abbott 
Fannie May Capen & Edward M. Carter 
T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

John Alcock - brother of Ann Alcock Foster
Sarah Alcock & John Giddings
Elizabeth Giddings & Mark Haskell
Mark Haskell & Martha Tuttle
Martha Haskell & John Safford
Ruth Safford & Samuel Haskell
Martha Haskell & Moses Houghton
Sally Houghton & James Dunham
Florilla Dunham & Asa Freeman Ellingwood
Nina Ellingwood & George Gibbs
Annie Gibbs & Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother m. T. Richard Carter

http://www.guardianangel.in/ga/94-A-GuardianAngel-Ann-Foster.html

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

If You're Not With Us, You're Against Us!

In 1776, Hopestill Capen was arrested and thrown in a Boston jail. He is my second cousin, 8X removed and I stumbled upon his story while looking for a different Revolutionary War ancestor and it is too good not to share. Being a teacher of American history means being a student of American history. No matter how much I think I know, I'm constantly finding new twists that show history is never cut and dried, black and white. 


So when is a Loyalist not a Loyalist? When you are a Sandemanian. Yup, it's a real word and one I had to research to understand the story of Hopestill Capen. At first glance the Sandemanians seem to be pacifists but further exploration reveals that while they did not believe in taking up arms in rebellion, they did not discourage taking up arms to defend a government. While Hopestill Capen made it clear that he disagreed with British policies and favored a new government, he would not take up arms in the Patriot cause. Many Sandemanians, like other Loyalists, left the country when the British were driven out of Boston. Hopestill refused to go and wanted to ride out the war remaining neutral. His silk & dry-goods shop is now the Union Oyster House - called the oldest continuously operating restaurant in America. 

His own words: "But as to the charge of my being an enemy to my country, no accusation can be more unjust...had I not been check'd by the command of God...to be subject to the Higher Powers...I should have been one of the foremost in opposing the measure of the British Parliament...neither do I think myself in any way bound in conscience to become an informer against my country...but to be subject to all the laws that are made that are not contrary to the laws of my Maker."  And "...whenever it shall appear to my conscience that a change in government has taken place, and is so established that the power is of God, I shall know myself to be as tenaciously bound to adhere to God's law respecting being subject to that power, and to what I am from its support with cheerfulness" (Casey). In plain terms, I will be happy to support the Patriots at the point where they are clearly in charge of the government.


In October 1776 Capen's wife, Patience (Stoddard), petitioned for his release. She expressed that she and her children had suffered greatly because of Hopestill's confinement. More than 80 citizens of Boston signed the appeal and attested to the fact that he was an honest and peaceable man. The sheriff complained that this petition and a second appeal from Hopestill in December was insulting and asked for protection from Mr. Capen's insults. The petitions did not change things for Hopestill and ..."was summarily denied, as the Patriots tended to look upon even the vaguest hints of neutrality or loyalism as a threat to their authority. Capen's persecutors were concerned he and all the other Sandemanians were no different. He was held for over two years and finally released in October 1778, when he decided that emigration to Nova Scotia would be the only option if he wished to live in peace" (Smith 143). It is ironic that he was denied the basic right of habeas corpus espoused by the founding fathers. He never got a chance to defend his position in front of a judge or jury. 

Hopestill's appeal to his jailer, Mr. Wm. Greenleaf

Recently a 1776 broadside with notes in Capen's own hand sold for $7500 on icollector.com. The description of this item includes Capen's notes in the margin which say "I was liberated from prison twentieth of June on a fryday evening at 8 o'clock 1777 after suffering three hundred & 19 days...imprisonment in felons appartments all the time...July 1778 I was called on to abjune the King of England which I dare not in confidence do, for which I was again imprisoned to the day of noon following." This seems to be a bit different from Smith's account but quibbling how much time he spent in jail misses the point that he was held without a hearing or trial until he agreed to leave the country. 


It is unclear to me when or if Hopestill returned from Nova Scotia but he and his wife have headstones in Copps Burying Ground in Boston. His headstone reads "memorial" which leads me to believe he may have been buried elsewhere. These photos are from findagrave.com.

Patience Capen

Hopestill Capen

Sources & further reading on Sandemanians and Hopestill Capen

• http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Hopestill%20Capen
• The Stone-Campbell movement: an international religious tradition. Edited by Michael W. Casey, Douglas Allen Foster. University of Tennessee Press 2002
• The perfect rule of the Christian religion: a history of Sandemanianism in the eighteenth century. John Howard Smith. SUNY Press. 2008 p. 143
• Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, With an Historical Essay, Volume 1 by Lorenzo Sabine. Little, Brown & Company. 1864. pg 293
• http://www.williamreesecompany.com/catalogs/cat270.pdf

Bernard Capen (immigrant) - my 10th great-grandfather - line to Hopestill Capen
John Capen (1612-1692) - my 9th great-grandfather                           
Bernard Capen (1650-1691) - brother of James Capen - my 8th great-grandfather
John Capen (1685-1733) - cousin of James Capen 2nd - my 7th great-grandfather
Hopestill Capen (abt 1731-1807) - 2nd cousin of James Capen 3rd - my 6th great-grandfather


The rest of my Capen line:
Thomas Capen (1739- ) - 5th great-grandfather
Thomas Capen (1762-1808) - 4th great-grandfather
Timothy Capen (1793- ) - 3rd great-grandfather
Edward Abbott Capen (1838-1936) 2nd great-grandfather
Fannie May Capen (1878-1961) great-grandmother
T. Richard Carter (1914-2005) grandfather

Literary Connections

Thomas Philbrick testified against his neighbor, Eunice "Goody" Cole (age 36) when she was accused of witchcraft in 1656. The court solicited testimony from two dozen witnesses. Evidence of the occult included strange scrapings on houses, fierce cats appearing and disappearing, and a private conversation that was somehow known to the accused. The charges against her included the death of an infant girl, illness of a man and the destruction of domestic animals. Thomas Philbrick's testimony revolved around a statement by Goody Cole that if his calves ate any of her grass "she wished it might poysen them or choke them." He continued to say that he never saw one of his calves again and "the other calfe came home and died aboute a weeke after." (Dow, History of Hampton)


The year after Thomas Philbrick testified against Goody Cole, his son John, John's wife Ann (Knapp), their daughter Sarah and five others drowned when their sloop sank just outside the harbor as they headed to Boston. The town records state, "The sad hand of God upon eight psons goeing in a vessell by sea from Hampton to boston, who were all swallowed up in the ocean soon after they were out of the Harbour."  Given the superstitious nature of the community, the blame was placed on Goody Cole. This event became the inspiration John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, "The Wreck of the Rivermouth."

In 1680 when she was buried, the men of the town were frightened by her witchcraft conviction so they put a stake through her heart with a horseshoe hanging on the end. This was supposed to prevent the Devil from releasing her spirit to bewitch the community. 

The Rock in the Foreground Marks the Spot Where Poor Old "Goody" Was Reputed to Be Buried,
Impaled With a Stake. The Shack She Lived and Died in Stood About Where the Log Cabin Is.
The Historic Town Hall is Shown in Center Background 

Thomas Philbrick & Elizabeth Knapp
James Philbrick & Anna Roberts
James Philbrick & Hannah Perkins
Ebenezer Philbrick & Bethia Marston
Ruth Philbrick & Joshua Rand
Philemon Rand & Sarah Rand
Lazarus Rand & Elizabeth "Betsy" Clark  
Eunice Rand & Timothy Cox
Christiana Cox & John Cotton
Francis Llewellyn Cotton & Lizzie Philbrick
Ray Cotton & Annie Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton


Second Line:
Lydia Rand (d. of Philemon) & John Lunt
Tryphenia Lunt & William Cotton 
John Cotton & Christiana Cox 


Sources:
http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/pooroldgoodycole.htm 
http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/goodydemos.htm