Where There's A Will...There Might Be Slaves: 52 Ancestors #18

This week's 52 Ancestors prompt deals with wills. I recently came across my first direct line ancestor who owned slaves. I found this out from his will which is transcribed in the book, Francis Lyford of Boston and Exeter and Some of His Descendants.

Stephen Lyford was the son of Francis & Rebecca (Dudley) Lyford. He was born about 1687 and died on December 20, 1774 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He married Sarah, daughter of Moses & Dorothy (Dudley) Leavitt. She was born about 1694 and died on October 13, 1781. Stephen & Sarah had six sons and one daughter, Stephen Jr., Samuel, Francis, Biley, Moses, Theophilus, and Elizabeth (Betsey). My line comes through the son, Moses. According to his will, Stephen owned several slaves that he bequeathed to his son, Biley. Moses inherited a small sum of money, "Five Shillings to be paid him by my executor within one year after my decease," and "during his natural life the use and Improvement of my Orchard and the acre of Flats thereto belonging commonly called Conners orchard-..."

Excerpts from The Will of Stephen Lyford
...Item I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Sarah after my debts and funeral Charges are first taken out all of my stock of Creatures of all kinds all the debts due to meat the time of my decease and my negro Girl Nancy all to be at her absolute disposal - I likewise Give my said Wife the use of all my Household Goods and my Negro Woman Syl during her my said wifes Natural Life...

...I give to my son Bile Lyford my Negro Woman Syl after my said wifes decease - I also hereby confirm to my said son Bile the gift of the Negro Boy Phil already made to him...

"Marchands d'esclaves de Gorée-Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur mg 8526" by Rama - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons 

Francis Lyford
Stephen Lyford
Moses Lyford
Oliver Smith Lyford
Ann "Nancy" Lyford
Oliver Smith Philbrick
Benjamin Perley Philbrick
Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Philbrick
Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Francis Lyford of Boston and Exeter and Some of His Descendants

Not Far Enough - 52 Ancestors #6

I'm going to stretch the meaning of the prompt again this week to tell the tale of a bad man who tried to outrun his past but it caught up with him anyway! 

The bad man in this case was the Rev. John Lyford and he wasn't my ancestor but connected to my ancestor's family (I'll explain later). 

On the surface, Rev. John Lyford appeared to be a Godly man who traveled to the Plymouth Colony to minister to the Pilgrims in that community. However, the colonial leaders soon discovered that he was allied with the Church of England and maligning the Separatists in his letters to England. Once Governor Bradford found out, Rev. Lyford apologized. A little while later, it became evident that he hadn't changed his ways and he was banished. 

But that was just the start of Lyford's secrets. His wife, Sarah, came forward to tell of his infidelity, even fathering a child out of wedlock with another woman before she married him. She couldn't keep any maids because of his sexual harassment and molestation of them. 




Eventually, the BIG secret was revealed. The reason Rev. John Lyford had to leave his previous ministry in Ireland and come to the colony was that he had raped a girl in the parish while she attended pre-marital counseling with him! The woman's husband "tooke some godly friends with him, to deale with Liford for this evill" (Bradford's Journal). He had to leave in fear of even greater punishment. 

After leaving Plymouth, Lyford bounced around from Nantasket (Hull, MA) and Cape Ann to Virginia, where he died in 1638. He was a truly evil and despicable man! He could run but he could not go far enough to outrun his bad behavior! 

So what's my connection to this scoundrel? His wife, Sarah, married as his second wife, my 11th great-grandfather, Edmund Hobart. 

Edmund Hobart & Margery Dewey (first wife)

Line 1:
Nazareth Hobart - daughter of Edmund & Margaret (Dewey) Hobart
Martha Beals
Samuel Dunham
Ebenezer Dunham
John Dunham
James Dunham
James Dunham 
Florilla Dunham
Nina King Ellingwood
Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Line 2:
Rev. Peter Hobart - son of Edmund & Margaret (Dewey) Hobart
Elizabeth Hobart
Joshua Ripley
Hezediah Ripley
Joshua Ripley
Joshua Ripley
Nancy Ripley
Galen Blake
Charles Galen Blake
Harriet May Blake
Clayton Leonard Blake - my grandfather

NEHGR 1848
Wikipedia
http://minerdescent.com/2012/01/19/17th-century-premarital-sex/

Surname Saturday - Jasper Blake of Hampton, NH

Jasper Blake was a mariner and a fisherman. It is surmised that he came from the family owning land in Wimbotsham, Norfolk, England because there is a line of Jasper Blakes there. He appears in New Hampshire in 1647 when he is a witness to a deed for his relative, Timothy Dalton. It is possible he came with Timothy Dalton in 1637. Quite a few sources list Jasper's wife, Deborah, as the sister of Timothy Dalton but in NEHGR Vol. 154, pp. 259-289, the case is made for her true identity as Deborah Everard, niece of Timothy Dalton, daughter of Richard & Sarah (Dalton) Everard.

This is a very interesting immigrant ancestor for me because it appears that three of my main lines trace back to Jasper.

Children of Jasper Blake & Deborah Everard:

1. Timothy was born October 16, 1649 and married Naomi Sleeper on December 20, 1677. 

2. Deborah was born January 15, 1651/52 and married Eleazer Elkins after October 1671. 

3. Israel was mentioned in his father's will but no other records have been found. 

4. John was born October 31, 1656 and died March 29, 1716. He married Frances _____.

5. Sarah was born February 14, 1658/59 and died September 29, 1660. 

6. Sarah was born June 30, 1661 and married Alexander Magoon. 

7. Jasper was born November 16, 1663 and died December 19, 1678. 

8. Samuel was born June 6, 1666 and died before the coroner's inquest was filed on June 27, 1666.

9. Dorothy was born September 17, 1668 and died September 28, 1737. She married Nathaniel Locke. 

10. Philemon was born May 23, 1671 and married Sarah Dearborn on January 20, 1698. 

11. Maria was born on March 1, 1672/73.

Line 1:

Jasper & Deborah (Everard) Blake

John & Frances ( _ ) Blake

John & Mary (Dearborn) Blake

Benjamin & Molly (Connor) Blake

David & Hannah or Joanna (Messer) Blake

Micajah & Nancy (Ripley) Blake

Galen & Dolly (Moody) Blake

Charles Galen & Isabelle (Brown) Blake

Harriet May Blake

Clayton L. Blake - my grandfather

Line 2: - research on this line needs more sources to confirm 

Jasper & Deborah (Everard) Blake

Timothy & Naomi (Sleeper) Blake

Israel & Leah (Smith) Blake

Ebenezer & Deborah (Blake) Tucker

William & Hannah (Tucker) Rowe

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

Line 3: - research is very preliminary on this line and more sources are needed 

Jasper & Deborah (Everard) Blake

Timothy & Naomi (Sleeper) Blake

Oliver & Ruth (Blake) Smith

Moses & Mehitable (Smith) Lyford

Oliver Smith & Elizabeth (Johnson) Lyford

David & Nancy (Lyford) Philbrick

Oliver Smith & Mary (Edgecomb) Philbrick

Benjamin & Jane (Matthews) Philbrick

Francis Llewellyn & Lizzie (Philbrick) Cotton

Ray Everett & Annie Florilla (Gibbs) Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

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