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.