Request For Assistance!

Sometimes you just never know who is reading your blog! As I was prepping for my son's wedding, a researcher, Christie Jackson, contacted me because of my posts about the Freeland family of Sutton, Massachusetts. She is preparing a book about cabinetmaker, Nathan Lombard. The book will include relevant information about the community in which he lived and worked. Nathan worked for James Freeland on the Freeland homestead and pictures were included in Roy F. Stone's book, The Sutton Freelands: Legends and Letters. 

Christie is looking for someone with access to these photos and/or any other primary source documents relating to the Freeland family and Nathan Lombard. She has been unable to locate similar photographs in the archives she has visited so far. I found the book at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. I suggested that Christie get in touch with them to see if they have any other sources related to the Freeland family or the Sutton community. Time is of the essence because the manuscript is due at the publisher by the end of July!

Is there anyone out there who knows a relative of Roy Freeland Stone, son of Clifton & Mary (Freeland) Stone? Roy lives or lived in Wilton, New Hampshire. I believe he was born about 1934. I will be doing some sleuthing over the next few days, but I wanted to get this published in case someone has direct access. If anyone has any leads on pictures of the Freeland homestead in Sutton or any documents relating to the Freeland family, please post a comment so I can follow up.

I will post an update - hopefully, telling you that a connection was made! Thank you in advance for helping.

Society Saturday - Piscataqua Pioneers

While attending NERGC, I stopped by a table showcasing the Piscataqua Pioneers Historical and Genealogical Society. I knew I had a fairly large number of ancestors from this region so the name caught my eye. They were offering a discount on their book: Piscataqua Pioneers: Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England. It is regularly $40 and I got it for $30 - either way it is a bargain! It includes a cd of  the entire book in a searchable pdf! The maps and history of the area are very interesting and then the book goes on to provide short biographies of the early families. I've been neglecting my blog because I'm spending every minute I can with the book. I've found some great stories for future blog posts. I am in LOVE! 

As with any of the early colonial settlements, the families intermarried frequently making an complex web of relationships. I have ancestors on all four of my grandparents' lines in the book and I've been adding large amounts of information to my tree! I think I will be applying for membership in the society this year. The big question is which of the many families will I use for the basis of my membership...

Here are just the A and B surnames in the book that are direct ancestors. 

Dad's Side: 
John Alcock
William Berry
Nathaniel Boulter

Mom's Side:
Walter Abbott 
John Bean - Scottish prisoner - I wondered if I had one of these in my tree! 
Ralph Blaisdell
Anthony Brackett

Both: 
Rev. Stephen Bachiler/Batchelder
Jasper Blake


The web site: http://www.piscataquapioneers.org/index.html
To purchase the book: http://www.piscataquapioneers.org/bookPP.html