The Epitomy of Pedigree Collapse - 52 Ancestors #23

This week's 52 ancestors theme is weddings. No good wedding stories come to mind so I thought I would outline all the marriages that link me back to the immigrants, George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott.

George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott had thirteen children, including seven sons who lived to carry on the Abbott name. Add to the confusion with other immigrants with the Abbott surname and untangling the Abbotts is not an easy task. The descendants of George & Hannah also had a habit of marrying cousins so my lines are very interesting. Given the difficulties, I welcome any corrections that might send me off chasing more Abbotts. This is done to the best of my ability at this point in time. 

1. John b. 2 March 1648 m. Sarah Barker
2. Joseph b. 11 March 1649 - d. young
3. Hannah b. 9 June 1650
4. Joseph b. 30 March 1652 - d. young
5. George b. 7 June 1655
6. William b. 18 November 1657
7. Sarah b. 14 November 1659 m. Ephraim Stevens
8. Benjamin b. 20 December 1661 m. Sarah Farnum
9. Timothy b. 17 November 1663
10. Thomas b. 6 May 1666 m. Hannah Gray
11. Edward b. abt 1668-1669 - d. young
12. Nathaniel b. 4 July 1671
13. Elizabeth b. 9 February 1673

Line #1

The longest line of descent from George and Hannah comes from my great-great-grandmother, Mary Jane Abbott who married Edward Abbott Capen. Edward's mother was Sarah (Abbott) Capen, another descendant of George & Hannah. They were first cousins. Mary Jane was born in 1847 and died in 1940. 

Mary Jane's parents were John & Sarah (Ackley) Abbott. John was born on April 27, 1819 and died in 1902. He married Sarah on March 31, 1841. 

Generation 2. 

John's parents were both Abbotts! They were Aaron Jr. & Sarah (Abbott) Abbott. Aaron was born on April 11, 1778 and died on September 8, 1856. Sarah was born on June 26, 1780 and died on October 23, 1853. They were married on January 1, 1800.  They were second cousins. 

Generation 3. 

Aaron Jr.'s parents were both Abbotts again! They were Aaron Sr. and Lydia (Abbott) Abbott. Aaron was born on February 17, 1732 and died on December 31, 1812. Lydia was born on June 15, 1737 and died on December 15, 1811. I have not found a marriage record for Aaron and Lydia so all I know is that they were married before 1778. They were first cousins. 

Sarah's parents were Stephen & Mary (Gile) Abbott. Stephen was born on October 28, 1746 and died on May 12, 1811. Mary was born March 24, 1754 and died in 1823. They were married about 1778. 

4A. 

Aaron Sr.'s parents were Thomas & Elizabeth (Ballard) Abbott. Thomas was born January 3, 1699 and died July 11, 1774. Elizabeth was born in 1700 and died July 31, 1782. They were married in 1725. 

Lydia's parents were Edward & Dorcas (Chandler) Abbott. Edward was born June 9, 1702 and died April 14, 1759. Dorcas was born in 1705 and died May 16, 1748. They were married July 15, 1728. 

Stephen's parents were (you guessed it) both Abbotts. They were George and Sarah (Abbott) Abbott. George was born November 7, 1706 and died October 6, 1785. Sarah was born on October 8, 1711 and died June 14, 1769. They were married on February 1, 1737. They were first cousins, once removed. 

Generation 5.

Thomas's parents were Thomas & Hannah (Gray) Abbott. Thomas was born May 6, 1666 and died April 28, 1728. Hannah was born November 30, 1674 and died in 1763. They were married December 7, 1697. Thomas was the son of George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott. 

Edward's parents were also Thomas & Hannah (Gray) Abbott.

George's parents were also Thomas & Hannah (Gray) Abbott. 

Sarah's parents were Stephen & Sarah (Stevens) Abbott. Stephen was born March 16, 1678 and died May 27, 1766. Sarah was born about 1690 and died in January 1751. They were married around 1708. They were first cousins. Sarah Stevens' parents were Ephraim & Sarah (Abbott) Stevens. 

Generation 6. 

Stephen's parents were John & Sarah (Barker) Abbott. John was born March 2, 1648 and died March 19, 1721. Sarah was born about 1647 and died February 10, 1729. They were married November 17, 1673. John was the son of George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott. 

Line #2 - 

Zerviah Abbott married John Ellingwood. She was born March 19, 1768 and died October 18, 1847. They married on December 29, 1789. Zerviah's parents were both Abbotts! Jonathan (3) & Mehitable (Abbott) Abbott. They were third cousins. 

Generation 2.

Jonathan's parents were Jonathan Jr. & Martha (Lovejoy) Abbott. Jonathan was born December 14, 1714 and died May 21, 1794. Martha was born in 1720. They married in 1739. 

Mehitable's parents were Ephraim & Hannah (Phelps) Abbott. Ephraim was born in March 1710 and died April 25, 1745. Hannah was born about 1715. They married in 1734. 

Generation 3.

Jonathan Jr.'s parents were Jonathan Sr. & Zerviah (Holt) Abbott. Jonathan was born in 1687 and died March 21, 1770. Zerviah was born March 24, 1689 and died March 26, 1768. They were married on May 6, 1713. 

Ephraim's parents were Stephen & Sarah (Stevens) Abbott. Ephraim was a brother to Sarah (Abbott) Abbott, wife of George Abbott. This line goes back to George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott as outlined above. 

Generation 4.

Jonathan Sr.'s parents were Benjamin & Sarah (Farnum) Abbott. Benjamin was the son of George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott. 

Line #3
Mary Abbott was born in 1761 and died in 1843. She married Thomas Capen. He was born April 19, 1762 and died at sea in 1808. 

Generation 2.
Mary's parents were Edward & Deborah (Stevens) Abbott. Edward was born December 27, 1730 and died September 15, 1801.

Generation 3.
Edward's parents were Edward & Dorcas (Chandler) Abbott. Edward was the brother of Lydia (Abbott) Abbott, wife of Aaron Abbott, Sr. This line goes back to George & Hannah (Chandler) Abbott as outlined above.

Lydia (Abbott) Abbott - Aaron Abbott, Jr. - Sarah K. Abbott - see below.

Sarah (Abbott) Stevens - Sarah (Stevens) Abbott - Sarah (Abbott) Abbott - Stephen Abbott - Sarah (Abbott) Abbott - Sarah K. (Abbott) Capen - Edward Abbott Capen, husband of Mary Jane (Abbott) Capen

Mary (Abbott) Capen - Deborah (Capen) Ackley - Sarah (Ackley) Abbott, Mary Jane (Abbott) Capen - Fannie (Capen) Carter - T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

Mehitable (Abbott) Abbott - Zerviah (Abbott) Ellingwood - John Ellingwood, Jr. - Asa Freeman Ellingwood - Nina K. (Ellingwood) Gibbs - Annie (Gibbs) Cotton - F. Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Romantic Encounter - 52 Ancestors #7

Jeffrey & Sarah (Vinson) Parsons are my 10th great-grandparents. The story of their meeting and romance is detailed in the following story. 







From The History the Town and City of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts, by James R. Pringle, 1892. 

"Jeffrey, according to tradition, gained his wife in a romantic manner. While journeying to town on a sultry summer day, weary and footsore, he sat down at Vinson's spring to rest and refresh himself. The house of William Vinson was hard by, and his beautiful daughter Sarah, observing the traveler, approached him with a drinking cup, the better to slake his thirst. Jeffrey was susceptible, and nothing unwilling, Sarah won a husband at the fountain, and they were married happily, Nov. 11, 1657." 

My Line:

Jeffrey Parsons, son of Jeffrey Parsons

Jeffrey Parsons, the third Jeffrey in a row! 

Jonathan Parsons

Abigail Parsons

William Rowe

William Rowe, Jr. 

Stephen B. Rowe

Charles H. N. Rowe

Anna J. Rowe

Eva Delphinia Hayes

Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

52 Ancestors #26 - The Original Bachelor?

I have two lines of descent from Nathaniel Batchelder. The Bachiler/Batchellor/Batchelder contains some interesting characters. The immigrant ancestor is Rev. Stephen Bachiler and this Nathaniel is his grandson.

Nathaniel Batchelder is my 9th great-grandfather and my 10th great-grandfather. Confused yet? He married three times and had seventeen children with his first two wives! I have connections to both sets of children.

His first wife was Deborah Smith, daughter of John & Deborah (Parkhurst) Smith. Their children were Deborah, Nathaniel, Ruth, Esther, Abigail, Jane, Stephen, Benjamin, and Stephen(2). Deborah (Smith) Batchelder died on March 8, 1676. His second wife was the widow Mary (Carter) Wyman, daughter of Rev. Thomas & Mary (Parkhurst) Carter, and widow of John Wyman, Jr.  Mary did not have any children with her first husband but she would have eight children to add to the nine stepchildren she instantly acquired. Nathaniel & Mary's children were Mercy, Mary, Samuel, Jonathan, Theodate, Thomas, Joseph, and Mary(2). Mary died in 1688 and Nathaniel married for the third time on October 23, 1689. His third wife was Elizabeth Knill and they did not have any additional children.

According to Joseph Dow, author of the History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire, Nathaniel used a rather unorthodox method to find a new wife.

"When, after the death of his first wife, he had determined to marry again, he resolved to be governed in his choice by the direction in which his staff, held perpendicularly over the floor, should fall, when dropped from his hand. The experiment being tried, the staff fell towards the southwest, and in that direction he bent his steps. Having travelled as far as Woburn, he called on the widow Wyman, and offered her his hand, stating that he was going to Boston, and would call for her answer, on his return."

Since they got married on October 31, 1676, it must be presumed that she accepted his not so romantic offer. Can you even imagine someone showing up at your door and proposing? "My staff fell in your direction" sounds kind of naughty. What exactly did he say to her to convince her to accept? I wonder if he gave her a rose...

10th great-grandfather
Nathaniel & Deborah (Smith) Batchelder
Abigail Batchelder
Elizabeth Dearborn
John Garland
Richard Garland
Alice Garland
Richard Hayes
Sydney Hayes
George Hayes
Eva D. Hayes
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

9th great-grandfather
Nathaniel & Mary (Carter) (Wyman) Batchelder
Mercy Batchelder
Mary Dearborn
Benjamin Blake
David Blake
Micajah Blake
Galen Blake
Charles G. Blake
Harriet May Blake
Clayton L. Blake - my grandfather



History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire

Divorce Court - Adultery with Certain Lewd Women

Last weekend, I wrote about my 2X great-grandmother who was married 4 times. Chris Dunham of the Maine Genealogy Network sent me a link to this record of the divorce of Lizzie M. Philbrick from Francis Llewellyn Cotton. Interestingly, my grandmother always claimed her father, Ray Everett Cotton (referred to as the child, Everett R, in this proceeding), was quite the ladies man and not a faithful husband. I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree. 

No. 205

Lizzie M. Cotton

Lbt.

vs.

Francis L. Cotton

Lizzie M. Cotton of Farmington within our 

County of Franklin Libellant

versus

Francis L. Cotton of Norway in the County of 

Oxford, Libellee

In a plea of divorce from the bonds of

matrimony as herein set forth, viz:

To the Honorable Justices of the Supreme

Judicial Court next to be holden at Farmington

within and for the County of Frankin, State 

of Maine, on the first Tuesday of March A.D. 1893.

Lizzie M. Cotton of Farmington in the 

County of Franklin and State of Maine, re-

spectfully libels and gives this Honorable Court 

to be informed that her maiden name was

Lizzie M. Philbrick; that on the twenty first day

of September A.D. 1887, at Norway in the County 

of Oxford in the State of Maine, she was law-

fully married to Francis L. Cotton (whose legal

wife she now is) by Caroline Angell, a minis-

ter of the gospel duly authorized to solemnize

marriages, that she has one  child as the re-

sult of said marriage, named Everett R. Cotton, 

aged four years. That ever since said intermar-

riage your libellant has always considered her-

self as a faithful, chaste, and affectionate wife

toward her said husband, yet the said Fran-

cis L. Cotton, wholly regardless of his marriage

covenant and duty on the first day of July

A.D. 1889, and on divers other days and times 

between that day and the date of this libel

committed the crime of adultery with certain lewd

women to your libellant unknown. 

Wherefore she prays that the bonds of mat-

rimony between her and her said husband may                Mar. 5, 1893

be dissolved, and that the care and custody of

her said Child, Everett R. Cotton may be de-

creed to her.

Dated this twenty sixth day of January A.D. 1893

Lizzie M. Cotton

This libel was inserted in a writ of attach-

ment and served on the libellee as appears by

the following return of service thereon:

“Oxford as. February 2, 1893.

I attached a chip as the property of the within de-

fendant and I have this day summoned the

within named defendant for his appearance at 

Court by giving him a summons writ in hand, 

and also a true and attested copy of the within

libel for his appearance at Court. 

Jonathan Blake

Deputy Sheriff”

This libel was entered in this Court at the

present term when and where the defendant 

failed to appear and although solemnly called

made default; and on the seventh day of the term

after a full hearing it was adjudged and decreed

that the said Lizzie M. Cotton be granted a divorce

from Francis L. Cotton for the cause of adultery; 

and it was further decreed that the custody of the

minor child be given to the mother. 

Attest

E. E. Richardson  Clerk

Desperate Housewives - Turn of the Century Maine Edition

First I'll confess that I've never actually watched an episode of Desperate Housewives - any edition. But it seems that my 2X great-grandmother would be a good candidate based on the documents of her life. We can start with her name. 

Mary Lizzie - age 4

The first census she appears on is in 1870, age 4, Mary Lizzie Philbrick, daughter of Benjamin P. & Jane A. Philbrick of Mount Vernon, Maine. Ten years later, she is listed as Lizzie A. Philbrick, daugher of Perlie B. & Jane A. Philbrick of Mount Vernon, Maine and on her marriage records and subsequent census records, she is either Lizzie M. or Lizzie May. 

Next let's assess her marriages - all four of them! 
She married Francis Llewellyn Cotton sometime before their son, Ray Everett Cotton, was born in 1888. I cannot find the marriage record for this one. It is Ray's marriage record that led me to the identity of his mother. On Ray's marriage certificate his mother is identified as Lizzie M. Philbrick of Readfield and born in Mount Vernon, Maine. 

Next, she married Hiram B. Stoyell (Stowell is handwritten on the top of the marriage record) in Farmington, Maine on March 21, 1893. It is listed as the groom's first marriage and the bride's second marriage. Francis Llewellyn Cotton goes on to marry twice more so they were divorced before March 1893. 

On June 27, 1903, Lizzie May Stowle, daughter of Perley Philbrick and Jane Matthews Philbrick, married John E. McGavin in Dover, N.H. Her age is listed as 33 which would make her born about 1870 - four years younger than she actually was. Her husband was 32. So now she's lying about her age. I can find no census records or death records that for that allow me to concretely identify this John E. McGavin. However, by 1909, Lizzie was no longer married to Mr. McGavin and had returned to using the name of her previous husband. That and the fact that there were no children from this marriage pose some interesting possibilities. Perhaps her husband died within a few years of marriage or the marriage was annulled. I guess the third time wasn't the charm!

And for the finale, on July 8, 1909, Lizzie M. Stayell, daughter of Perly Philbrick and Jane A. Matthews, married Eugene D. Wakefield in Berlin, N.H. She is still fudging a bit on her age because she is listed as age 40 and her husband is age 36. She had her second child, Charles M. Wakefield in 1909. There is a marriage record for Eugene marrying a Myrtle Green on July 25, 1899 in Bath, Maine. The parents' names are the same as they are for Eugene who married Lizzie so this would be marriage number 2 for him and marriage number 4 for Lizzie. 

In the 1910 census, Eugene D. & Lizzie M. Wakefield, are living in Hallowell, Maine and their ages are listed as 32 and 44, respectively. So he has gotten magically younger and she is magically older (back to what is consistent with her first census records). 

The only two children I can find born to Lizzie are Ray Everett Cotton born in 1888 and Charles M. Wakefield born in 1909. On the World War I draft card for Eugene D. Wakefield, dated September 17, 1918, his nearest relative is listed as Arthur L. Wakefield of Bath so it seems unlikely he was married to Lizzie at that time. I have found no trace of Lizzie after the 1910 census so in the absence of a death record, I am making the preliminary determination that she died between 1910 and 1918. I have found no other records for Charles M. Wakefield either so I am not certain that he lived to adulthood. 

So great-great-gram...changed her name around, married 4 times, divorced 2 or 3 times, and lied about her age to make herself seem younger. Sounds a bit scandalous to me. I'd love to know how her family reacted to her choices. 

Francis Llewllyn Cotton & Lizzie M. Philbrick
Ray Everett Cotton & Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Who's Your Daddy?

I found this story while looking for information on my ancestor, William Pinson. While some online trees have Edward and Sarah (Dexter) Pinson as the parents of William, I have been unable to find any documentation to back up that claim. Still, it's a good story so I thought I would share.

Edward Pinson was a "seafaring man" according to his burial record. He was the son of William and Mary Pinson and from this record it appears that he was buried 17 March 1701 in St. Martin, Ludgate, London.

Sailors have a reputation of being risk-takers of questionable morality and Edward seems to have lived up to that stereotype. Sarah Dexter was engaged or expected to marry Obadiah Bridges when Edward came into her life. It is likely that Sarah was enticed by Edward's money and the promise of a life in London. Sarah's father, Richard Dexter, warned Edward to stay away from her but the determined couple put up marriage banns which were later torn down. Then while her parents were at Sunday meeting, Edward and Sarah eloped. When they returned four days later as a married couple, Richard called Edward a "rogue, bastard dogg and son of a whore" and Sarah's mother, Bridget, beat her out of the house. It was later revealed that the couple used a forged letter of parental consent to convince the magistrate in Lynn to conduct the marriage. All that seems scandalous enough but...

Edward was not Sarah's first sailor lover...she had "lost her virginitie being overcome in Boston by a man who promiseth her marriage but afterwards went off to sea and since she heard he had a wife in England." Sarah, it turns out, was pregnant when she married Edward...with this other man's child....


Sources:
Sex in Middlesex: Popular Mores in a Massachusetts County, 1649-1699 by Roger Thompson, pages 60-61.

Turn the Page

Genealogy can be an adventure and sometimes a lesson in frustration. Today I was going through records I found for my great-grandparents. I looked at the marriage record on ancestry.com and noticed that I could go to the next record in the batch. So being curious, I clicked to advance the page. Well, the next page was actually the back of the marriage record. I didn't even know it had a back side! On the back were the names of the groom's and bride's parents. The name of my great-grandfather's mother did not match what I thought I knew. Oops!! It turns out that my great-great-grandfather was married not twice but three times. Just like the commercial for ancestry.com. I thought the mother of his children was Lillie Esther Shaw but she was actually wife number 2. Wife number 1 was Lizzie M. Philbrick - thus solving a family mystery of the identity of "Grammie Philbrick"  - a name my father's generation heard often but didn't know to whom it referred. It solved the mystery of Civil War enlistment papers, for a Benjamin Philbrick, in the possession of one of my cousins. And of course, it has sent me on a new hunt for ancestors - a new adventure. I'd done a pretty good job of tracking down the ancestors of Lillie Shaw but they are not actually related not me...oh well. The lesson I am taking from this is to TURN THE PAGE. You never know what you might find. 

Francis L. Cotton & Lizzie M. Philbrick

Ray Everett Cotton & Annie Florilla Gibbs

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

When Your Family Tree Doesn't Fork...

 In the U.S. we have a natural horror of marrying a cousin. You'll end up with deformed children!! Well, guess what? It's not even close to true! When you start doing genealogy, you realize how quickly the number of individual people grow as you progress through the generations - 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great- grandparents etc. Ten generations brings one to the potential for 1024 direct ancestors and if you go back to the time of Charlemagne it's an estimated 281 trillion! Have that many individuals really existed since the beginning of mankind? 


Well, the short answer is no. We can't have more ancestors in a generation than the total known population of the earth at the time. Therefore it is estimated that 80 percent of marriages have been between first or second cousins and 100 percent of marriages will find a connection if you go back far enough. The cool thing about this reality is that you are very likely to find connections to rich, famous and historically significant figures if your ancestors came from the same general area as theirs during colonial times (New England for me). In fact, I am a 10th cousin of Barack Obama on his mother's side, the Dunhams. 


If you're researching your family tree back to colonial times or earlier, you will find many, many others who are also searching for the same families and therefore your cousins. Besides the fact that it is statistically impossible to have 281 trillion European ancestors in your 30th generation, one needs to remember the lack of mobility people had prior to the 20th century. In previous centuries, most people were born, lived, and died in the same town. Then there are factors such as the inter-marrying of the European royal families. All of these factors lead to more cousins than distinct individuals in your family tree. I can't say it still doesn't freak me out a bit when I see it in my own family tree but understanding the mathematical, sociological and scientific realities helps. I found the following web sites interesting.


"Facts about Cousin Marriage " Cousin Marriage Resources. 24 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts>. 

• We are all cousins - no two people are more distantly related than 50th cousins. 
• Twenty-six states and all European countries allow first cousins to marry. It is also legal in Canada and Mexico. 
• Leviticus 18 lists all forbidden sexual relationships. Cousin relationships are not included.
• Albert Einstein & Charles Darwin married their first cousins.
• Second cousins have little, if any increased chance of having children with birth defects, according to the book "Clinical Genetics Handbook." The National Society of Genetic Counselors estimated the increased risk for first cousins is between 1.7 to 2.8 percent, or about the same as any woman over 40 years of age. 

R., Danielle. "10 Famous People Who Married Their Cousins." Listverse. Ultimate Listverse Top 10 Lists, 20 July 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://listverse.com/2008/07/20/10-famous-people-who-married-their-cousins/>. 

• Jesse James & Zerelda "Zee" Mimms - 1st cousins
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Anna Eleanor Roosevelt - 5th cousins
• Johann Sebastian Bach & Maria Barbara Bach - 2nd cousins
• H.G. Wells & Isabel Mary Wells - 1st cousins
• Thomas Jefferson & Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson - 3rd cousins
• Albert Einstein & Elsa - 2nd cousins
• Charles Darwin & Emma Wedgwood - 1st cousins
• Edgar Allan Poe & Virginia Clemm - 1st cousins; she was 7 when he moved into her home - her parents were his aunt and uncle & she was 13 when they married
• Jery Lee Lewis & Myra Gale Brown - she was 13 when they married
• Rudy Guiliani & Regina Peruggi - 2nd cousins

For more information, search "diamond theory of genealogy"