Wordless Wednesday - Pemaquid Museum

Earlier post about John Cogswell and the Angel Gabriel shipwreck

52 Ancestors #34 - Humphrey Atherson's Quaker Curse?

First published on March 16, 2012 ~
Humphrey Atherton, my 9th Great Grandfather, was a prominent man in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He became assistant governor and in that capacity he was part of the prosecution and execution of Quakers who had been banished from the colony by law. Sources provide modern researchers with two Quaker trials associated with Humphrey Atherton. I started researching because I struck by the unusual manner of death described in accounts online. 

Humphrey Atherton died September 16th (or 17th), 1661 after being thrown from his horse. Various accounts list the reason for the fall as either the horse tripped over a cow or was startled by a cow. Either way he suffered a serious head injury that resulted in his death. Wikipedia provided a starting point for my research and provided most of the pictures and Google books was a great resource for checking original sources. 

First Case: 

Mary Dyer was a Quaker who was executed in 1660 for repeatedly returning to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in violation of a law banning Quakers. Mary and her husband, William, were supporters of Anne Hutchinson (not a Quaker) and followed her to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It is unclear why Mary returned to Massachusetts Bay Colony as a Quaker. She was in the company of William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson. They were caught once and warned that the punishment for getting caught again would be severe. Stevenson said he felt called and sent by God to be in Boston and both he and Mary returned and were soon jailed. Mary refused pleas of her family to recant. She was spared from gallows by a last minute reprieve on October 27, 1659. Stevenson was not so fortunate and was hanged. Still Mary chose to disobey orders and returned to Boston again in May of 1660. This time there was no reprieve and she was hanged. Humphrey Atherton was on the court that sentenced her and present at her execution. "General Atherton cracked the silence, 'She hangs there like a flag,' he said." (Plimpton, p.188)

Wenlock Christison was another Quaker who repeatedly returned to Massachusetts despite banishment. He was put on trial in May 1661 and sentenced to death. However, the law was changed before his sentence was carried out. Several sources state that Wenlock Christison warned Atherton that he would soon face God's judgment. 

"Wenlock Christison Defying the Court"

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1213844

Joseph Besse, Quaker author, provides the following account of Atherton's death: 

"Humfray Adderton, who at the trial of Wenlock Christison, did, as it were, bid defiance to Heaven, by saying to Wenlock, 'You pronounce Woes and Judgements, and those that are gone before you pronounced Woes and Judgements; but the Judgements of the Lord God are not upon us yet,' was suddenly surprised: having been, on a certain day, exercising his men with much pomp and ostentation, he was returning home in the evening, near the place where they usually loosed the Quakers from the cart, after they had whipped them, his horse, suddenly affrighted, threw him with such violence, that he instantly died; his eyes being dashed out of his head, and his brains coming out of his nose, his tongue hanging out at his mouth, and the blood running out at his ears: Being taken up and brought into the Courthouse, the place where he had been active in sentencing the innocent to death, his blood ran through the floor, exhibiting to the spectators a shocking instance of the Divine vengeance against a daring and hardened persecutor; that made a fearful example of that divine judgment, which, when forewarned of, he had openly despised, and treated with disdain.' "  (Besse, Woodward)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow includes the following in the final scene of his play, John Endicott. Governor Endicott is speaking to Richard Bellingham and asks if it is true that Humphrey Atherton is dead. Bellingham replies. "His horse took fright, and threw him to the ground, so that his brains were dashed about the street." Endicott's response is "I am not superstitious, Bellingham, and yet I tremble lest it may have been a judgment on him." 

So was it God's judgment for Atherton's persecution of the Quakers that caused his death? Was it a clumsy horse? Was it a wayward cow? Whichever scenario you prefer to believe, it is an unusual death. 

Humphrey Atherton is buried in the Dorchester Old North Burying Place in Boston. 

Descent:

Humphrey Atherton & Mary 

Mary Atherton & William Billings

Mary Billings & John Whiting

Jemima Whiting & Jonathan Wight

Joseph Wight & Abigail Ware

Abigail Wight & Enoch Spurr

Roxanna Spurr & Edward Stanley

Mary Frances Stanley & Augustus Mellen Carter

Edward M. Carter & Fannie Mae Capen

T. Richard Carter

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Atherton 

http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/mary_dyer.htm

http://www.readbookonline.net/read/3002/12410/ 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. John Endicott. Act V Scene III.

The following were accessed using Google Books: 

Woodward, Harlow Elliot. Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Dorchester. Boston Highlands. 1869. p.6 

Mary Dyer: biography of a rebel Quaker by Ruth Talbot Plimpton p.188.

Besse, Joseph. William Sewel. The history of the rise, increase, and progress of the Christian people called Quakers: intermixed with several remarkable occurrences. J. Sowle. 1722. p. 343

52 Ancestors #33 - Capt. Anthony Brackett

Capt. Anthony Brackett lived at Falmouth (now Portland), Maine. 

History of Hampton, New Hampshire, Joseph Dow
"On the 9th of August, 1676, some Indians killed one of his cows, and he complained to a chief, named Symon, who promised to bring the culprits to him. Two days later Symon appeared, early in the morning at the head of a party, and said: 'These are the Indians that killed the cow.' Then they entered the house, seized the guns, and asked Capt. Brackett whether he would go into captivity, or be killed. He preferring captivity, the Indians bound him, his wife, and a negro, and carried them and five children away as prisoners. In November following, Captain and Mrs. Brackett, one child and the negro made their escape in a leaky canoe. The wife, Ann, died soon after, and the remainder of Capt. Brackett's life is identified with Hampton."

"When Col. Church had the memorable fight with the Indians at Casco, Sept. 21, 1689, Capt. Brackett was killed. After this, his wife and children went to her father's at Hampton, but finally returned to their possessions." 

Children with Ann Mitton:
Anthony, Seth, Zachariah, Mary, Eleanor, Keziah, and Jane

Children with Susannah Drake:
James, Zipporah, Zachariah, Anne, Sarah, and Susannah

9th GG
Capt. Anthony & Susannah (Drake) Brackett
Zachariah Brackett
Sarah Brackett
Thomas Sawyer
Hannah Sawyer
Catherine Hilton
Loann Churchill
Anna J. Rowe
Eva D. Hayes
Linona A. Yates - my grandmother

9th GG
Capt. Anthony & Susannah (Drake) Brackett
Zachariah Brackett
Sarah Brackett
Amy Sawyer - sister of Thomas
Samuel Hilton
Catherine Hilton - see above

9th GG
Capt. Anthony & Susannah (Drake) Brackett
Sarah Brackett
Samuel Proctor
Humility Proctor
Hezekiah Moody
Dolly Estes Moody
Charles G. Blake
Harriet May Blake
Clayton L. Blake - my grandfather

52 Ancestors #32 - A Fickle Female Loses Her Love

This story comes from Dow's History of Hampton, New Hampshire. He doesn't tell where the story comes from but I thought it was interesting. 

Maurice (or Morris) Hobbs, according to tradition, left his native country under the following singular circumstances. He had been paying his addresses to a young lady, who, from some cause not mentioned, turned him off; and thereupon, he determined to emigrate to America. When the lady knew of it, she relented, and, knowing he would pass her residence as he proceeded to embark, placed herself in his view, hoping to bring about a reconciliation. To her grief, she found him inexorable; and although she accosted him with the affectionate enquiry, "Whither goest thou, Maurice?" yet he deigned not to turn his head or to look upon her. And they never saw each other more. 

Morris came to Hampton, New Hampshire between 1640 and 1645. He married my 10th great grandaunt, Sarah, daughter of William Eastow. They had ten children. 

I always wonder about these family "stories" and how embellished they are. What is the story from the side of the young lady? 

William Eastow

Mary Eastow - sister of Sarah (Eastow) Hobbs - my 10th great grandmother

Ephraim Marston

Jeremiah Marston

Elisha Marston

Mary Marston

Hannah Prescott

Mary Edgecomb

Benjamin Perley Philbrick

Lizzie Philbrick

Ray Everett Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Wordless Wednesday - Ponies

My Grandfather, Richard Carter on pony with his youngest brother, Paul. Standing are his siblings, Becky & Stanley. 

Me riding Patches, a pony my grandfather bought for his grandkids

Me and my cousin, Nancy on Patches

Five Generations Times Two!

Just days after my son was born in April 1982, I had a 5 generation picture taken with my mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Unfortunately my great-grandmother passed away about six months later. I've always been glad to have these pictures. 

Back: My mom, Myrna White and grandmother, Peggy Blake; Front: Me holding Cameron Stephen Taylor, and my great-grandmother, Eva Yates

Last fall, my first grandchild was born to Cameron Stephen & Kelly (Pross) Taylor. His name is Samuel Owen Taylor. Today, I got five generation pictures for him. A big thank-you to Kelly for taking the pictures.

Some introductions: Sam meet your great-great grandmother. 

Sam showing a little belly.

Seated: Peggy (Yates) Blake
Standing: Cameron Stephen Taylor, Pam Carter holding Samuel Owen Taylor, Myrna (Blake) (Carter) White

Five generation candid - My son and grandson, me, my grandmother, and my mom. 

Sarah - Who Are You? - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy Seaver challenged geneabloggers to explore their ancestors named Sarah LNU (or last name unknown) as part of his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun series.

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):

1)  I have many females in my family tree database without a last name.  One of those female first names is "Sarah."  Do you have situations like this, where you don't know the surname of some females? [I call them LNU persons - Last Name Unknown.]

I have over 50 females named Sarah for whom I do not know their surname. I gave up counting after fifty. 
2) How many "Sarah" persons without a surname do you have in your genealogy database?  How many of them are your ancestor?  

I was only counting ancestors so...probably over 100 Sarahs total and over 50 related to me! Many are second wives of many times great-grandfathers, wives of uncles, etc. so they are not direct line ancestors. 
3)  If you have one that is your ancestor, have you looked recently to determine if there are more records online that might lead you to her surname?  Go look for one - you might be surprised!

4)  Tell us about your Sarah LNU ancestors with no surname.  Perhaps someone will read it and help you out!
Can you help me solve these??  

I'm going to try to solve 2 Sarah mysteries in this post. I'd love it if someone has information on these two Sarahs. 

1. Sarah married to Richard Pope (?-1694). This is an early Maine family and records are hard to find. No luck with records on FamilySearch and limited, unhelpful hints on Ancestry. My data originally came from the book, Old Kittery and her Families, available on archive.org. 

2. Sarah married Eleazer Higgins (1697-1743). They lived in Eastham, Massachusetts. A search on Ancestry reveals a tree where she is called Sarah Rush but has no sources for this fact. The rest of the tree is fairly well-sourced compared to many trees on the site. I couldn't find anything on FamilySearch. This is my original source for the basic information. 

26. “Richard Higgins, a resident and pioneer settler at Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts and at Piscataway, New Jersey, and his descendants,” Katharine Elizabeth Chapin Higgins, Worcester, Massachusetts: Higgins, 1918.

5)  Share your information in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook or Google+.

6)  NOTE:  If you don't have any "Sarah" persons without a surname, then pick another female first name.

Well, I sure didn't have that problem!