Decoration Day - Memorial Day Origins

Originally posted 5/27/13

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and was first officially celebrated on May 30, 1868, when flowers were used to decorate the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. It was considered a day to honor Civil War soldiers until after the First World War when it became a day to honor all war dead. It was not standardized as the last Monday in May until 1971 with the passage of the National Holiday Act. So as you celebrate this weekend with family gatherings and a day off from work, what will you do to remember the origins and purpose of this holiday? I found this news story on the web site Genealogy Bank and like the messages of the speakers. Remember not only those who put their lives on the line for us, but remember the principles for which they fought. Examine your own life and ask yourself what you can do to to advance those American ideals. 

From the Portland Daily Press, June 4, 1881, comes this description of Memorial Day (Decoration Day) events held in Bethel on May 30th. 

Decoration Day at Bethel

May 30th, as has been the custom for several years past, was appointed as the day on which to strew with flowers the widely scattered graves of our patriotic dead. About 2 o'clock Bethel Post, No. 8, formed in front of the Elm House, where they were soon joined by a large number of citizens. From there they marched down Mill hill to Greenwood cemetery, where the exercises were held. Bethel Band furnished music for the occasion. After visiting the graves of Major Frye, acting marshal of the day, called people to order, and after appropriate remarks, introduced Rev. Mr. Pease, pastor of the M.E. society, who made the prayer, thanking God that the care and suffering of the great struggle were past, that peace once more smiled upon us. He prayed that we might not forget the sacrifices of the living and the dead, but cherish not only the memories of our heroes but the principles for which they contested. 

After this, Dr. George M. Twitchell, of Fairfield, delivered the address. Strife and blood, pain and death, these are the terrible characters in which all truth is written on the world. The price of truth is the best surety of its might. The object of the day and the lessons it brings were the first thoughts of the speaker. The works of the heroic dead and living were fully presented, and then the question was taken up as to the claims which they have upon us today as citizens. Society, temperance, education, and politics were the leading points brought out and enlarged upon. The work of the hour and importance of early training was urges as the surest safeguard against the dangers which threaten. In closing he addressed fitting words to the members of the Grand Army boys, and to those who have lost dear ones who were soldiers. 

http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

52 Ancestors #22 - Sarah (Averill) Wildes

Sarah (Averill) Wildes is my 8th great-grandmother and she was accused, convicted, and hanged as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. Some of the testimony involved old accusations by Mary (Gould) Reddington. Mary (Gould) Reddington's sister, Frances, is another of my 8th great-grandmothers. Sarah had been in trouble a few times before Mary brought her accusations. In November 1649, Sarah was sentenced to be whipped for fornication with Thomas Wordell and in May 1663, she was charged with wearing a silk scarf (see A Colonial Dress Code for further information about this colonial law). John Wildes had also testified against his first wife's brother in a treason trial. 

"I John Hale of Beverly aged 56 years beeing sumoned to appeare & give evidence against Sarah Wiles of Topsfeild July 2 1692; Testify that about 15 or 16 yeares agoe came to my house the wife of John Hirrek of Beverly with an aged woeman she said was her mother. Goody Reddington of Topsfeild come to me for counsel beeing in trouble of spirit. When the said Reddington opened her greifs to me thir was one that she was assaulted by witchcraft that Goody wiles her neighb'r bewitched her & afflicted her many times greiviously, telling me many particular storys how & when she troubled her, w'ch I have forgotten. She said allso that a son in law of said Wiles did come & visit her (shee called him an honest young man named John as I take it) & did pitty her the said Reddington, signifying to her that he beleived his mother wiles was a witch & told her storys of his mother. I allso understood by them, that this Goody Wiles was mother in law to a youth named as I take it Jonathan Wiles who about twenty yeares agoe or more did act very strangly Insomuch that I was invited to joyn with Mr. Cobbet & others at Ipswich & pray for the said Youth; whome some thought to counterfeit, others to be possessed by the devill. But I remember Mr Cobbet thought he was under Obsession of the devil. Goody Reddingtons discourse hath caused me to have farther thoughts of the said Youths case whether he were not bewitched." Apparently if a step-son acts strange, then it must be because his step-mother is a witch. 

Mary Reddington was the sister of John Wildes' first wife, Priscilla, so one could guess that might have played a part in her feelings toward John Wildes' second wife, Sarah. Mary's daughter, also named Mary, was the wife of John Herrick. John Herrick is my 9th great-grand-uncle.

It is interesting to me that Mary (Gould) Reddington died soon after these accusations and that fifteen or sixteen years later, her claims could be used against Sarah (Averill) Wildes. Mary's brother, John Gould also was allowed to give his account as evidence. Today these accusations would be considered hearsay and also deprive the accused of her ability to confront witnesses against her to call into question their motives and credibility.

John Gould's testimony:
"The Depotion [sic] of John Gould aged about 56 yeares or theire about Testifieth and saith that some time sence whether it be fivfteen or sixteene yeares agoe I am not sarting [sic: certain] but I take  it to be theire abouts sister Mary Redington tould mee as she was Coming from Salam With her Brother Redington that GoodWife Wilds did strive two or three times to pul her doune of her horse one time she did strive to pul her doune in a brook and soone after she was got out of the brooke she strenke she Could and did git out of the brook and soone after she was got out of the brooke she said that GoodWife Wilds did pul her doune bakwords of her horse and held her doune so as she Could not helpe her selfe tell her Brother Redington and Sarg't Edmon Townes did Come and helper, and my sister did desier mee to Come and Wright what she Could say how GoodWife Wilds did a flicte her for she would Leafe it in Wrighting so as it might be seene when she was dead and I did goe doune to wright it once or twice but when I was redy to wright it sister was taken so as she Could not declare any thing, ...

When these accusations were first aired in the 1670s, John Wildes threatened to sue John Reddington if he continued to defame Sarah. Sarah was also implicated in by the jailhouse confession of another accused witch, Deliverance Hobbs. Ephraim Wildes was the Constable and he was the one who arrested Deliverance Hobbs on the order of the Marshall, George Herrick. Ephraim testified that he believed Deliverance was making her accusation against his mother in retaliation for the arrest. 

Sarah (Averill) Wildes was hanged on July 19, 1692. She was sixty-five years old. On that day, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Sarah Good, and Rebecca Nurse were also hanged. 

John Wildes & Sarah Averill

Ephraim Wildes

Jacob Wildes

Ephraim Wildes

Molly Wildes

Jacob Emmons

Laura E. Emmons

Estes Gilbert Yates

Linona Alice Yates - my maternal grandmother

Frances Gould - sister of Sarah's accuser, Mary (Gould) Reddington
Peter Shumway
Hepsibah Shumway
Sarah Walker
Dr. Timothy Carter
Elias Mellen Carter
Augustus Mellen Carter
Edward Mellen Carter
Thomas Richard Carter - my paternal grandfather

John Herrick - son-in-law of Mary (Gould) Reddington
Zachariah Herrick - brother of John Herrick 
Sarah Herrick
Luke Morgan
Luke Morgan
Samuel Morgan
Martha Morgan
Moses Yates
Gilbert William Yates
Estes Gilbert Yates - see above

Henry Herrick - another brother of John & Zachariah Herrick
Samuel Herrick
Joseph Herrick
Sarah Herrick
John Ellingwood
John Ellingwood, Jr.
Asa Freeman Ellingwood
Nina King Ellingwood
Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my paternal grandmother 

52 Ancestors #21 - George Morton

I am related to the Great Migration immigrant, George Morton, through three of his five children. George came to Plymouth Colony on the Anne in 1623 and unfortunately died less than a year after that. He was a merchant in England.

The book, New England Memorial, written by Nathaniel Morton, son of George, describes the immigrant in very flattering terms. Of course he may have been a bit biased.

"Two of the principal passengers that came in this ship were Mr. Timothy Hatherly and Mr. George Morton... The latter of the two forenamed, namely Mr. George Morton, was a pious, gracious, servant of God, and very faithful in whatsoever public employment he was betrusted, withal, and an unfeigned well willer, and according to his sphere and condition, a suitable promoter of the common good and growth of the plantation of New Plimouth; laboring to still the discontents that sometimes would arise
amongst some spirits by reason of difficulties of these new beginnings but it pleased God to put a period to his days soon after his arrival in New England, not surviving a full year after his coming ashore. With much comfort and peace he fell asleep in the Lord, in the month of June, anno 1624."

George Morton - 11th great-grandfather
Patience Morton
Mary Faunce
Mary Harlow
Ebenezer Dunham
John Dunham
James Dunham
Florilla Dunham
Nina K. Ellingwood
Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

George Morton - 11th great-grandfather
Sarah Morton
Ruth Bonum
George Barrows
Moses Barrows
Asa Alden Barrows
Nina K. Ellingwood - see above

George Morton - 11th great-grandfather
Sarah Morton
Patience Bonum
Ruhamah Willis
Experience Rogers
Deborah Totman
Asa Alden Barrows - see above

George Morton - 12th great-grandmother
Nathaniel Morton
Mary Morton
Eleazer Dunham
Mercy Dunham
Mary Kempton
Rebecca Burbank
Hannah Keene
Timothy Cox
Christiana Cox
Francis Llewellyn Cotton
Ray Everett Cotton
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Mother's Birthdate

Randy Seaver's weekly challenge is to use your mother's birthday and find out what day of the week it was when she was born, 5 historical events that happened on that day, and five famous people born on that day. 

My mother was born on April 23rd and it was a Sunday. 

Historic events on April 23rd: 

• In 1939, Boston Red Sox great, Ted Williams hit his first home run. 
• In 1951, Babe Didrikson-Zaharias won the LPGA Richmond Women's Golf Open.
• In 1962, the first U.S. satellite to reach the moon was launched.
• In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for killing Bobby Kennedy. 
• In 1985, New Coke debuts

Also born on April 23rd: 

• 1564 - William Shakespeare
• 1791 - James Buchanan, 15th president of the U.S. 
• 1813 - Stephen Douglas, Illinois senator famous for his debates with Abraham Lincoln. 
• 1928 - Shirley Temple Black, child actress and U.S. ambassador
• 1936 - Roy Orbison, singer/songwriter

52 Ancestors #19 & #20 - The Interesting Deaths of Thomas & Mary (Parker) Totman

Thomas & Mary (Parker) Totman are my 9th great-grandparents. They died about twelve years apart but both deaths were unusual enough that a coroner's inquest was called to investigate the causes.

Mary Parker was born to William & Mary (Rawlins) Parker on January 1, 1639 and died shortly before April 10, 1666. Her death was determined to have been caused by accidentally ingesting a poisonous root. The Plymouth Court issued the following verdict on her death:
"5 Jun 1666 The Verdict of the Corroners Enquest concerning the sudden death of Mary, the wife of Thomas Totman of Scituate: Wee whose names are under-subscribed, being impanelled on a jury by the Constable of Scittuate, the 10th day of April 1666, to enquire after the death of Mary the wife of Thomas Totman, and haveing viewed the corpse and heard that evidence can speake doe give in this following as our verdict: - That Mary, the wife of Thom Totman gathered, dressed, and did eate a root, which we judge she mistakeing it, thinking it to bee the same which she had formerly often eaten of, but the root, being of a poissonous nature, eating of it, wee judge, was the sole cause and occation of her death and that wee all agree hereunto, witness our hands this 24 of April 1666."

Thomas Totman and Mary Parker were married about March 7, 1665. This is deduced by the court records of March 7, 1665 which include this information: "Thomas Totman appeared att this Court to answere his presentment for haveing carnall copulation with his now wife before marriage and affirmed that it was after contract; which not being cleare to the Court, hee was sentenced to pay a fine of ten pounds; if not cleared by further testimony; but if soe cleared to pay but five pounds." The records show he paid five pounds so he must have been married between the first and second court appearances.

Thomas Totman died just before May 6, 1678 and the Plymouth Court called a Coroner's inquest to determine his cause of death: "5 June 1678: Wee whose names are hereunto subscribed, being, this sixt of May 1678 impanelled upon the coroners enquest to make inquiry and true presentment of the cause and manor of the death of Thomas Totman, doe declare, that we find noe other thing or cause but onely his own wilfull absenting himselfe from food to be the cause and meanes of his death."

The only child of Thomas & Mary (Parker) Totman appears to be Stephen Totman who was born about 1665 and is mentioned in the will of his grandfather, William Parker, and in the will of his uncle, Thomas Rawlins. Stephen married Dorothy Stoddard about 1690. Dorothy was the daughter of Anthony Stoddard and his third wife, Christian.

Thomas & Mary (Parker) Totman
Stephen Totman
Samuel Totman
Deborah Totman
Asa Alden Barrows
Rachel Barrows
Asa Freeman Ellingwood
Nina King Ellingwood
Annie Florilla Gibbs
Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

52 Ancestors #18 - Godfrey Dearborn

Dearborn monument in Founders' Park, Hampton, N.H.







Godfrey Dearborn came to New Hampshire and signed a compact with other followers of the Rev. John Wheelwright. Rev. Wheelwright was the brother-in-law of Anne Hutchinson, and suspected of espousing the similar antinomianism views. Godfrey lived in Exeter for about ten years before moving to Hampton. I have not found any record of his arrival in America or a record that bears the name of his wife. His first wife, the mother of his children, died between 1650 and 1662. On November 25, 1662, Godfrey married Dorothy Dalton, widow of Philemon Dalton. 

Children of Godfrey Dearborn and his first wife:

1. Henry Dearborn was born in England about 1633 and died on January 18, 1725. He married Elizabeth Merriam on January 10, 1666. 
2. Thomas Dearborn was born in England about 1634 and died on April 14, 1710. He married Hannah Colcord on December 28, 1665. 
3. Esther Dearborn married Richard Shortridge. 
4. Sarah Dearborn married Thomas Nudd on December 9, 1659. 
5. John Dearborn was born about 1643 and died on November 14, 1730. He married Mary Ward on December 12, 1672. 

One other daughter is believed to have been part of this family based on information in wills. 

I have three lines of descent from this immigrant. 

Godfrey Dearborn - 10th great-grandfather

Henry Dearborn

Samuel Dearborn - brother of Deacon John Dearborn below.

Mary Dearborn

Benjamin Blake

David Blake

Micajah Blake

Galen Blake

Charles G. Blake

Harriet May Blake

Clayton Leonard Blake - my grandfather married to Linona Alice Yates.

Godfrey Dearborn - 11th great-grandfather

Henry Dearborn 

Deacon John Dearborn

Elizabeth Dearborn

John Garland

Richard Garland

Alice Garland

Richard Hayes

Sydney Hayes

George Hayes

Eva Delphinia Hayes

Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

Godfrey Dearborn - 11th great-grandfather

John Dearborn

Ann Dearborn

Ann Philbrick

Mary Marston

Hannah Prescott

Mary Edgecomb

Benjamin Perley Philbrick

Lizzie Philbrick

Ray Everett Cotton

Fern Lyndell Cotton - my grandmother

Wordless Wednesday - Tuck Museum