The Mary Conant Balch Room

One of the upstairs bedrooms at The Balch House is identified as the Mary Conant Balch Room. She was born on Christmas Eve in 1631. When she was about twenty years old, she married John Balch, Jr., the second son of the immigrant John Balch. John and Mary had only one daughter, Mary, who died in infancy. Mary was widowed in 1662, when John Jr. drowned while crossing on the ferry between Salem and Beverly during a violent storm. Mary's father, Roger Conant, is considered the founder of Salem and there is a statue of him in Salem. Mary lived until 1688 and was survived by her second husband, William Dodge, Jr. (1640-1720). Mary Conant is my 9th great-grandaunt; John Balch is my 9th great-granduncle; William Dodge, Jr. is my first cousin, 11 times removed. 

Roger Conant - Lot Conant (brother of Mary Conant), Martha (Conant) Perkins, Mark Perkins, Ann (Perkins) Packard, Cynthia (Packard) Dunham, James Dunham, Jr. Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood, Asa F. Ellingwood, Nina (Ellingwood) Gibbs, Annie (Gibbs) Cotton, Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

John Balch - Benjamin Balch (brother of John Balch, Jr.), Mary (Balch) Stone, Ruth (Stone) Morgan, Luke Morgan, Jr., Samuel Morgan, Martha (Morgan) Yates, Moses Yates, Gilbert W. Yates, Estes G. Yates, Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

John Dodge - Richard Dodge (brother of William Dodge), Mary (Dodge) Herrick, Sarah (Herrick) Morgan, Luke Morgan, Luke Morgan, Jr. (same as line above). 

Drowning Death of Lydia Pickering

From the New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 46, page 179. Daniel Epps, Jr. is my 11th great-granduncle. He was the son of Daniel and Martha (Reade) Epps. In 1702, he was the coroner who led the investigation into the death of Lydia Pickering.  Poor Lydia fell into a well and drowned. There's a lot to pick through before you get to the actual findings of the coroner's inquest (emphasis mine).

Inquest Upon the Body of Lydia Pickering of Salem, 1702. - (Communicated by Grenville H. Norcross, LL.B., of Boston) - Ess. sc. An Inquisition Indented Taken at Salem within ye said County of Essex ye 16th Day of October Anno 1702, In ye first year of ye Reigne of our Sovereign Lady Anne by ye grace of God of England, Scotland, France & Ireland Queen, defender of the Faith etc. Before Daniel Epes Gent. One of ye Coroners of our said Lady ye Queen within ye County of Essex aforesaid upon ye View of ye Body of Lydia Pickering Lying dead at ye house of mr. Jno Pickering of Salem aforesaid By ye Oaths of Edward Flint Samuel Phippen, Stephen Ingolls, Daniel Grant, Jno Orne Samuel Sibley Samuel West Jno Cook Samuel Shattock, Henry West Joseph Duglas Wm Reeves, Ephr. Kempton & Jno Priest, Good & Lawfull men of Salem aforesaid within ye County aforesaid, Who being charged & Sworne To Inquire for our said Lady ye Queen, when by what means & how, Lydia Pickering came to her death Upon their Oaths do say, That she came to her End or death by falling into a well & being drowned & so, came to her End by misfortune - In Witnes whereof, as well I ye Coroner aforesaid as ye Jurors aforesaid To this Inquisition have put our hands & seals ye Day & Year abovesaid -
Daniel Epes Coroner (Seal)
The mark of
Jno F Cook (Seal)                          Edward flint Foreman (Seal)
Samuel Shattock (Seal)                Samuel phippen (Seal)
Henry West (Seal)                        Stephen Ingalls (Seal)
Joseph Duglas (Seal)                    Daniel Grant (Seal)
William Reeves (Seal)                  John Orne (Seal)
Ephraim Kempton (Seal)            Samuell Sibley (Seal)
John Priest (Seal)                          Samuel West (Seal)

Distraught Father Sues After Two-Year Old Daughter Dies in a Pit - 52 Ancestors #46

Elizabeth Newhall was my 1st cousin, 10 times, removed. I descend from her father's sister, Susanna (Newhall) Haven. She died when she was just two years old when she fell into a pit and drowned. Her three older brothers were Thomas Newhall (the 3rd so-named, age 12), John Newhall (age 10), and Joseph Newhall (age 7). It is a bit unclear whether they are three sons who used the pit to keep alewives for fishing or if it was her father and his two brothers, Francis and John, sons of her grandfather, Thomas Newhall, the immigrant. There were so many dangers of life in colonial times and losing a young girl to an accident seems especially tragic. 

Daughter of Thomas Newhall, Jr. 
The death by drowning of Thomas Newhall's daughter Elizabeth in November of 1665 was a tragedy that resulted in litigation. The distraught father, Thomas Newhall, brought suit against George Keaser "for damage he sustained by his digging a pit to the loss of his child." The little girl, just two years old, had been out of her mother's sight for half an hour or more, when she was found by the wife of Robert Potter and the wife of John Newhall, floating on the water of a pit near her home, dead. The pit had originally been dug by George Keaser as a tan vat, and Newhall claimed he had left it open. Testimony, however, showed that the pit had been drained by the Keasers, and had been reopened and filled with water (to keep alewives for fishing) by the three sons of Thomas Newhall, and the verdict was for the defendant. ~ The Essex Genealogist, 1995, Vol. 15, p. 42

Thomas & Mary Newhall were in Lynn, Massachusetts by 1638. They were the parents of Francis, Susanna, Thomas, John, and Mary. Thomas Newhall, Jr. was the father of Elizabeth. 

Susanna Newhall married Richard Haven before 1645. Susanna was the aunt of Elizabeth Newhall. 

Mary Haven, daughter of Richard & Susanna (Newhall) Haven, married John Tarbox. 

Nathaniel Tarbox
Benjamin Tarbox
Jedidiah Tarbox (female) 
Patience Smith
David Shepard
Sarah Shepard
Laura E. Emmons
Estes Gilbert Yates
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

52 Ancestors - John Dwight #6

John Dwight came from Woolverstone, Suffolk, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. He moved from Watertown to Dedham in 1638. Based on the date of his first marriage, it is estimated that he was born by 1601 and he died on January 24, 1660/1 in Dedham, Massachusetts. His first wife was named Hannah and she died at Dedham on September 5, 1656. John and Hannah Dwight are my 9th great-grandparents. 

John is described as a yeoman, which means someone who farmed their own land. His brother, Timothy Dwight, was another Great Migration immigrant and in Woolverstone he lived alongside Reverend Timothy Dalton and Richard Evered who also emigrated and settled in Dedham.  Timothy Dalton is my 10th great-uncle and Richard Evered is another of my 10th great-grandfathers. 

All of John's children were with his first wife, Hannah

1.  Hannah was baptized on September 3, 1626 in Woolverstone. She married Nathaniel Whiting on November 4, 1643 in Dedham. 
2. John was baptized on July 16, 1629 in Woolverstone and died on March 24, 1638/9 in Dedham. 
3. Timothy was born about 1631 and died in Dedham on January 31, 1717/8. He married five times - 1) Sarah Pennan (called Sibley in his father's will) on November 11, 1651; 2) Sarah Powell on May 3, 1653 in Dedham; 3) Anna Flint on January 9, 1664/5 in Dedham; and 4) Mary (Poole) Edwards on January 7, 1686/7 in Dedham; and 5) Esther (Hunting) Fisher on July 31, 1690 in Dedham. 
4. Mary was born August 25, 1635 and married Henry Phillips shortly after June 24, 1653. 
5. Sarah was born June 17, 1638 in Dedham and married Nathaniel Reynolds in Boston on December 30, 1657. 

John's second wife was Elizabeth, the widow of Thomas Thaxter and William Ripley. John married her at Dedham on January 20, 1657/8.  She died just a few years later when she "drowned herself." 
"About the 6th month last, there was likewise another woman, well reputed of, drowned herself at Dedham, - one Go[ody] Dwite. Two awful strokes unto all that knew them; and no little scandal, by accident, to religion; and a great brand of infamy upon themselves. This is not the death of the righteous" [Hull 196 (entry dated 24 October 1660)]. - Taken from The Great Migration Sketch of John Dwight. 

John Dwight
Hannah Dwight
John Whiting
Jemima Whiting
Joseph Wight
Abigail Wight
Roxanna Spurr
Mary Frances Stanley
Edward Mellen Carter
Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database:AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)

Surname Saturday - The Strange Death of Florence Whitridge

Florence Norman was the sister of my 10th great-grandmother, Margaret Norman. They were the daughters of the immigrant, Richard Norman. Florence was born about 1619.  She was married twice, first to John Hart in about 1629 and second to Thomas Whittridge about 1657. Florence took her own life on or shortly before 2 Aug 1672. A coroner’s inquest “appointed upon the sudden death of Flouranc Whiteridg, late wife of Thomas Whitridg of Ipswich, on 2:6:1672 [Aug 2, 1672] found her ‘accessory to her own death by stifling or drowning herself in the water."

From the Memoir of the Rev. William Adams accessed on archive.org - see link below.

I went to Ipswich and at Wenham had from Mr. Newman the full relation of ye strange death of Thomas -- Thomas Whitteridge his wife, being a woman of no commendable life was by a fortune-teller told ye she should meet with great trouble, if she escaped with her life; afterward being in great horror, Mr. Richard Hubbard gave her several scriptures to consider of. When he was gone she turned ye Bible the best part of an hour saying there was another scripture if she could find it, which what it was or whether she found it being unknown to others she clapt the Bible too and said she would never look into it more, which by the just judgement of God she never did. At night she told her son, a youth about 12 or 13 years at ye most, yet it wold be as ye fortune teller had said -- the boy desired his mother yet she would not mind what he had said, for he believed that he was a lying fellow, but yet she would mind what was said in the word of God. At this word she flew up saying (as some report) He is come! The door either by her or of itselfe being opened with great violence she ran out. And being presently followed no sight could be had of her, but a shrieking or groaning or both was heard. The next morning there was to be seen a path made thro the thickest places of weeds and briars as if a great timber log had been drawn there which being followed her coat was found therein, and she a little further with her face thrust into a little puddle of water not sufficient to cover all her face, lying dead. Quam inscrutabilia judicia Dei!

I'd love to know more about this colonial era fortune teller. It seems so odd to think about a fortune teller being accepted in Puritan society. And most likely this was not a common occurrence and frowned upon on by majority of the population. Was it a travelling con man? Why did Florence have an interaction with this man? It is likely that the Norman family was not strictly Puritan and perhaps more open to exploring other aspects of spirituality. This is based on various court records that seem to indicate that they were not the best at keeping the Sabbath. Still there are many unanswered questions.

Richard Norman - father of Margaret & Florence
Margaret Norman & Richard Morgan
Samuel Morgan & Elizabeth Dixey
Samuel Morgan & Sarah Herrick
Luke Morgan & Ruth Stone
Luke Morgan & Martha Pulcifer
Samuel Morgan & Judith Dennen
Martha Morgan & William Yates
Moses Yates & Martha Whittle
Gilbert Yates & Laura Emmons
Estes Gilbert Yates & Eva Delphinia Hayes
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

Sources
http://archive.org/details/memoirofrevwilli00caul

Robert Charles Anderson. Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-33 [database on-line] Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2000

Ancestry.com The Yates book: William Yates and his descendants: the history and genealogy of William Yates (1722-1868) of Greenwood, Me., [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.