2015 Veterans in my Family Tree

I started this list last year, inspired by Bill West. I think I will try to do an update each year. If you're looking for your veteran ancestors, check out the Honor Roll Project by Heather Wilkinson Rojo. 

Happy Veterans Day! A heartfelt thank you to all who are currently serving and all who have served our country! 

Francis Ackley - My 6X great-grandfather - Boston Tea Party Participant
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/08/surname-saturday-ackley-of-boston.html
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-real-tea-party.html


Samuel Ackley - My 5X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War Artillery
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2014/06/52-ancestors-22-samuel-ackleyakley.html

Asa Alden Barrows - My 5X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War - Responded to alarm at Lexington and Concord
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-shot-heard-round-world.html

Eleazer Cole - My 6X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War Drummer
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/07/drummer-eleazer-cole-52-ancestors-29.html

Samuel Dennen - My 6X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War Privateer
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/09/prisoner-exchange-samuel-denning.html

Dr. James Freeland - My 5X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War Surgeon
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2014/09/52-ancestors-35-revolutionary-war.html

Enoch Spurr - My 4X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War - Discharged by General Henry Knox
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/03/military-monday-enoch-spurr.html

Elisha Houghton - My 6X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War - Was at Bunker Hill
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/05/simpler-times.html

Lazarus Rand - My 5X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-wall-of-fire.html

Dominicus Smith - My 5X great-grandfather - Revolutionary War - Crossed the Delaware with Gen. George Washington
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/04/holy-history-jackpot.html
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/04/remembering-our-veterans.html

Uriah Thayer - My 4th cousin, 7X removed - Revolutionary War Minuteman
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/04/aftermath-of-shot-heard-round-world.html

Oliver Philbrick - My 4X great-grandfather - Aroostook War
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/04/aroostock-war.html

Simeon Brown - My 3X great-grandfather - Civil War - Died in Louisiana
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/06/military-monday-he-died-easy-and-happy.html
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/04/military-monday-affidavit-for-widows.html
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/02/tombstone-tuesday-where-is-body.html
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/02/surname-saturday-simeon-f-brown.html

John H. Cotton - My 3X great-grandfather - Civil War - Lost an Arm at the Battle of the Wilderness
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/01/surname-saturday-john-h-cotton-wounded.html

Asa Freeman Ellingwood - My 3X great-grandfather - Civil War - Injured at First Battle of Bull Run But Returned to Serve
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/04/first-battle-of-bull-run-or-first.html

Octavius Yates - My 1st cousin, 4X removed - Civil War - Witnessed Lincoln's Assassination
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2014/04/witness-to-assassination.html

William Kilborn Yates - My 1st cousin, 4X removed - Civil War - fatally wounded at Antietam
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/05/fatally-wounded-at-antietam.html

Julia F. Carter - My 3rd cousin, 2X removed - World War I - Worked for Red Cross in France & Germany
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2013/09/obituary-sunday-julia-f-carter.html

Guy Morrison Cotton - My 1st cousin, 3X removed - World War I - Teamster
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/08/mystery-guy-52-ancestors-30.html

Carroll Estes Yates - My great-uncle - World War II
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2014/06/tombstone-tuesday-carroll-e-yates.html

Rebecca Williamson Carter Bailey - My great-aunt - WAVE in World War II

http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/03/strong-women-part-1.html


Link to a list of my Revolutionary War veterans that includes many of whom I haven't yet their story.
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/07/celebrating-independence-day.html

Colonial Wars
Robert Dutch, My 9X great-uncle & Joseph Balch, My 8X great-uncle - King Philip's War
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/09/left-for-dead-at-bloody-brook.html

Philip Huntoon - My 9X great-grandfather - Queen Anne's War
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/03/danger-on-new-hampshire-frontier.html

Zaccheus Perkins - 1st cousin, 9X removed - King Philip's War
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/05/branded-thief-black-sheep-52-ancestors.html

William Wentworth - 9X great-grandfather -  King Philip's War
http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/06/case-of-barking-dog-that-saved-garrison.html

Founders Park - Marston

I am related to the Marston family in multiple ways due to distant cousins marrying. 

Capt. William Marston

Capt. William Marston Jr. 

Thomas Marston - see below for second line from Thomas

James Marston

Bethia Marston

James Philbrick 

Benjamin Philbrick

David Philbrick 

Oliver S. Philbrick

Benjamin Perley Philbrick

Lizzie Philbrick

Ray Everett Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Ephraim Marston - brother to James Marston above

Jeremiah Marston

Elisha Marston

Mary Marston

Hannah Prescott

Mary Edgecomb - married Oliver S. Philbrick above

Ruth Philbrick - Sister to James Philbrick above

Philemon Rand

Lydia Rand

Tryphenia Lunt

John Henry Cotton

Francis Llewllyn Cotton

Ray Everett Cotton - my great-grandfather

Jane Walford - Accused Witch

Jane Walford was the wife of Thomas Walford. They came from England to settle on Great Island in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Thomas & Jane (___) Walford are my tenth great-grandparents. Jane was accused of witchcraft a number of times and but was never jailed. She seems to have been in a particular conflict with Nicholas & Elizabeth (___) Rowe. Elizabeth was her first accuser in 1648. Jane sued Elizabeth and her husband and won a judgment of 2 pounds plus the costs of court.

In 1656, Jane was back in court and was required to put up a bond of 20 pounds. The evidence was heard by a group of three men, Brian Pendleton, Henry Sherburne, and Renald Fernald. I also descend from all three of these men.

On this day, Susannah Trimmings testified that "On Lord's Day 30th of March at night going home with Goodwife Barton, she seperated from her at the freshet next to her house. On her return between Goodman Evens' and Robert Davis' she heard a rustling in the woods, which she at first thought was occasioned by swine, and presently after, there did appear to

her a woman whom she apprehended to be old Goodwife Walford. She asked me where my consort was; I answered I had none. She said thy consort is at home by this time. Lend me a pound of cotton. I told her I had but two pounds in the house, and I would not spare any to my mother. She said I had better have done it; that my sorrow was great already, and it should be greater for I was going a great journey but should ne'er come there. She then left me, and I was struck as with a clap of fire on the back, and she vanished toward the water side in my apprehension in the shape of a cat. She had on her head a white linen hood tied under her chin and her waistcoat and petticoat were read, with an old green apron and a black hat upon her head. Taken upon oath, 18th April 1656 before Brian Pendleton, Henry Sherburne, Renald Fernald."

Susannah's husband, Oliver Trimmings backed up her report by testifying that his wife had come home in a "sad condition" and "her back was as a flame of fire." She laid down her daughter and sat down, but she could not talk. When she finally caught her breath she said, "Lord have mercy upon me, this wicked woman would kill me." He also said she complained of numbness in her lower extremities and could not feel it when he pinched her there. Another witness, Elisa Barton said that Susannah's face was spotted and her eyes "looked as if they had been scalded."

An unnamed witness came forward and stated that it could not have been Jane Walford because she had been at home, acting normally, at the time of Susannah Trimmings' incident.

Another witness against Jane Walford was Nicholas Rowe, who saw her as an apparition. He said she "came to the deponent in the evening and put her hand upon his breast so that he could not speak and was in great pain until the next day. By the light of the fire in the next room, it appeared to be Goody Walford but she did not speak."

In 1669, Jane sued Robert Couch, a doctor, for calling her a witch and saying he could prove it. She was awarded 5 pounds in damages.

Thomas Walford - husband of Jane, the accused
Jane Walford
Martha Peverly
Christopher Noble
Mary Noble
Sarah Rand
Lydia Rand
Tryphenia Lunt
John Henry Cotton
Francis Llewellyn Cotton
Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

For More Information See:
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England by Carol F. Karlsen.

Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693, Second Edition by David D. Hall.


Brian Pendleton and His Descendants, 1599-1910, With Some Account of the Pembleton Families of Orange County, N.Y., Ostego County N.Y., and Luzerne County, Pa., and Notices of Other Pendletons of Later Origin in the United States, Everett Hall Pendleton, compiler.

Surname Saturday - Rand

I am going to make an attempt to post about one surname each Saturday as part of the geneabloggers.com prompt series. I've been having trouble finding/making time to work on and write about my genealogy and maybe having a goal will help.

Francis Rand came to New Hampshire with Capt. John Mason, who had been given a land grant by King James I of England. This would be the King James who commissioned the popular King James Bible. Captain Mason sent several shiploads of settlers and supplies but never came to New Hampshire himself. 

Today's story comes in part from the Hampton Memorial Library page and involves the Brackett's Lane Massacre that occurred on the 29th of September 1691. An estimated 20-40 Indians landed at Sandy Beach and attacked some families who were not protected by the garrison. Some of the men were out cutting hay. After an alarm was sounded and word sent to the nearest militia, a group of men was dispatched the next day. By then, the attack was over. Overall, about twenty people were lost including two old men and some women and children. Ten bodies were found and three were found burned in their houses. Seven were missing and presumed carried into captivity. Children who were too young to be taken to Canada were "dashed against a large rock that stood on what is now Wallis Road, near Brackett Road." The account on the library page says this rock was removed to make way for a new road. One of my favorite genealogy bloggers, Heather Wilkinson Rojo, also wrote an account of this event and has pictures of the memorial markers that commemorate this event.

Francis Rand's wife, Christina/Christian, was also killed by Indians prior to this event. She was old and nearly bind and one day she had a premonition. She begged her husband not to go to the mill because she sensed Indians around and was scared to be alone. He didn't take her seriously because he didn't believe there were any Indians in the area. He took his corn to the mill and upon returning, he found his wife had been killed and scalped. The death of Francis wasn't the end of the family members being killed by Indians.  The History of Durham states that their son, John Rand and his wife, Rembrance Ault, were probably killed by Indians in 1694.

The other family that lost their patriarch that September day was Anthony Brackett and the attack is called the Brackett's Lane massacre because it was concentrated near his house. He is my 9th great-grandfather on my mother's side. Brackett's Lane is now known as Brackett's Road. But I'll save the Bracketts for another day.

Picture from ancestry.com submitted by arch0945

Francis Rand & Christina/Christian

John Rand & Remembrance Ault

Nathaniel Rand & Elizabeth Marden

Joshua Rand & Ruth Philbrick

Philemon Rand & Sarah Rand - Yes, they are first cousins according to my research but I'm still checking sources to verify it.

Lazarus Rand & Elizabeth "Betsey" Clark

Eunice Rand & Timothy Cox

Christiana Cox & John H. Cotton

Francis Llewellyn Cotton & Nina K. Ellingwood

Ray Everett Cotton & Annie Florilla Gibbs

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother


Sources:
http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/military/brackettslanemassacre.htm
http://archive.org/details/historyoftownofd02stac

A Wall of Fire

I'm sure you've heard the term "brick wall" in genealogy. Well, I have a  "fire wall." I am trying to find the parents of Elizabeth "Betsy" Clark born 9 Oct 1758 in Falmouth (Portland) and died 23 Feb 1839 in Minot (Auburn), according to records in Woodstock, Maine. Betsy married Lazarus Rand just about time that the Revolutionary War broke out. She was recovering from the very difficult birth of their first child, James, when Lazarus sailed on the Bagaduce Expedition (more on that in another post).

I have scoured my usual places for records pertaining to Betsy and then while reading the pension file of Lazarus, I find the following affidavit from the town clerk in Falmouth.

From Pension File of Lazarus Rand

For those who would like some help with the handwriting, it reads, "I further state that in the month of October 1849 the Records of this town were destroyed by fire, and there are now no records of marriages intentions of marriages or Births for said town from 1700 to 1849 as all the town Records refer to the time above named were destroyed as above stated in 1849. John Noyes Town Clerk of Falmouth." 

And that folks is my Wall of Fire - Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" has been running through my head ever since I found this. 

I fell in to a burning ring of fire I went down, down ,down and the flames went higher. And it burns, burns, burns the ring of fire the ring of fire.

Lazarus Rand & Elizabeth Clark
Eunice Rand & Timothy Cox
Christiana Cox & John H. Cotton
Francis Llewellyn Cotton & Lizzie Philbrick
Ray Everett Cotton & Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

A Master Craftsman

Kenelm Winslow was a joiner who came to this country in 1631. He was one of five sons of Edward Winslow, Sr. and Magdelyn Ollyver of Droitwich, England. Edward Jr. and Gilbert were passengers on the Mayflower and they were followed by Kenelm, Josiah and John. Carpenters and joiners were in great demand since most immigrants could not bring furniture with them from England and those that could bring a piece or two still needed more once they arrived. From chests to chairs to coffins, every family would need something.  


An article in Antiques and Fine Arts Magazine provides the following information about Kenelm:

Evidence of Kenelm's London training is present in the Master's and Wardens' account books kept by the company from 1621 to 1828. In the relevant account citation the text reads: "Item [received] of Kenelme Winslowe late the apprentice of Abraham Worthington a silver spoone and for his admission iij s iiij d" [3 shillings, 4 pence]. It was standard practice for an apprentice finishing his time to make a payment to the Company, along with a gift of a spoon. 

See article link below for photo credits

There is circumstantial evidence that a few pieces that may be his work survive today as museum pieces. If not his, at least, similar to work he would have done. The article linked below has pictures and a more detailed explanation of the work of Kenelm Winslow. 

Droitwich, Worcestershire, England

Kenelm Winslow & Eleanor
Ellen Winslow & Samuel Baker - Nathaniel Winslow & Faith Miller - double line of descent
Lydia Baker & Josiah Keen - Nathaniel Winslow & Lydia Snow - double line of descent
Nathaniel Keen & Thankful Winslow
Snow Keen & Rebecca Burbank
Hannah Keen & John Cox
Timothy Cox & Eunice Rand
Christiana Cox & John H. Cotton
Francis Llewellyn Cotton & Lizzie Philbrick
Ray Everett Cotton & Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton

http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=835

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