HON. NAHUM MITCHELL OF PLYMOUTH.
Nahum Mitchell was born in East Bridgewater, Feb. 12, 1769. His father was Cushing Mitchell, son of Col. Edward, grandson of Edward, and great-grandson of Experience, who was one of the Pilgrim forefathers, and arrived at Plymouth in the third ship, the Ann, in 1623. They all lived and died in East Bridgewater, on the spot which their descendants now occupy. His mother was Jennet, daughter of the Hon. Hugh Orr, from Lochwinioch, County of Renfrew, Scotland, who married Mary, daughter of Capt. Jonathan Bass of East Bridgewater, whose father was Dea. Samuel Bass of Braintree, whose father was John, who married Ruth, daughter of the Hon. John Alden, the Pilgrim; and John's father was Dea. Samuel Bass of Braintree, (now Quincy.) Capt. Jonathan Bass's wife was Susanna, daughter of Nicholas Byram of East Bridgewater, whose wife was Mary, daughter of Dea. Samuel Edson of West Bridgewater, and whose father, Nicholas Byram, married Susanna, daughter of Abraham Shaw of Dedham.
Cushing Mitchell's mother was Elisabeth, daughter of Elisha Cushing of Hingham, a descendant from Matthew Cushing, one of the first settlers in Hingham, and ancestor of all of the name in this part of the country, and whose father was Peter Cushing of Hingham in England. Matthew's wife was Nazareth, daughter of Henry Pitcher. Matthew's son Daniel married Lydia, daughter of Edward Gilman, ancestor of all the Gilmans in New England. Daniel's son Daniel, father of Elisha, married Elisabeth, daughter of Capt. John Thaxter of Hingham, son of Thomas, the ancestor of all the Thaxters in this vicinity. Capt. John Thaxter's wife was Elisabeth, daughter of Nicholas Jacob, or Jacobs, of Hingham.
Col. Edward Mitchell's mother was Alice, daughter of Maj. John Bradford of Kingston, son of William, Deputy-Governor, and grandson of William Bradford, the Governor. The Governor's wife was widow Alice Southworth, her maiden name Carpenter. William the Deputy's wife was Alice, daughter of Thomas Richards of Weymouth. Maj. John's wife was Mercy, daughter of Joseph Warren, son of Richard Warren, and his wife Elisabeth, from London. Joseph's wife was Priscilla, daughter of John, and sister of Eld. Thomas Faunce of Plymouth. Col. Edward Mitchell's mother, after the death of his father, married Dea. Joshua Hersey of Hingham.
The subject of this Memoir prepared for college with the Hon. Beza Hayward, in Bridgewater, and entered Harvard College, July, 1785, where he graduated in 1789. He kept school at Weston, while in college, and a few times after graduating, in Bridgewater and Plymouth; and was engaged in instructing part of the time while attending to his professional studies. He read law with the Hon. John Davis, Judge of the District Court of Massachusetts, lately deceased in Boston, but then living in Plymouth, his native place. He was admitted to the bar, Nov. 24, 1792, and settled in the practice of the law in East Bridgewater, his native place.
Judge Mitchell was Justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the Southern Circuit, from 1811 to 1821, inclusive, being Chief-Justice during the last two years of that time. He was Representative to General Court from Bridgewater seven years between 1798 and 1812; Representative in Congress from Plymouth District two years, from 1803 to 1805; Senator from Plymouth County two years, 1813 and 1814; Counsellor from 1814 to 1820, inclusive; Treasurer of the Commonwealth five years, from 1822 to 1827; Representative to General Court from Boston, 1839 and 1840, in which place he then resided. He was appointed by the Governor one of the Commissioners for settling the boundary lines between Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and afterwards, for settling the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut; and was Chairman of the first Commissioners for exploring and surveying the country from Boston to Albany for a railroad route, 1827, and is a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and has been Librarian and Treasurer of that institution. He was also several years President of the Bible Society in Plymouth county.
Judge Mitchell married, in 1794, Nabby, daughter of Gen. Silvanus Lazell of East Bridgewater, and has 5 children, Harriet, Silvanus L., Mary Orr, Elisabeth Cushing, James Henry. Harriet married the Hon. Nathaniel M. Davis, Esq., of Plymouth; Silvanus L. married Lucia, daughter of Hon. Ezekiel Whitman of Portland, Me., Chief-Justice of Court of Common Pleas; Mary O. married David Ames, Jr., Esq., of Springfield; Elisabeth C. married Nathan D. Hyde of East Bridgewater; James Henry married Harriet Lavinia, daughter of John Angier of Belfast, Me., and is a merchant in Philadelphia; Silvanus L. was graduated at H. C., 1817, and he and his brother-in-law, Hyde, went into business as merchants at East Bridgewater, and thence removed to Boston.
Judge Mitchell wrote a short History of Bridgewater, which was published in 1818, in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. VII., 2nd series. He has since published an enlarged History of the Early Settlement of that Town, with a particular Genealogy or Family Register of the Early Settlers.
[ADVICE OF A DYING FATHER TO HIS SON.]
Dated January 27, 1716.
[The following article was addressed by the Rev. William Brattle of Cambridge to William Brattle, his son and only child who lived to maturity, while he was preparing for college. The father was a man distinguished for "piety, wisdom, and charity;" and the son "was a man of extraordinary talents and character, acceptable as a preacher, eminent as a lawyer, celebrated as a physician." He was a Major-General in the militia, and much in public office. May it not be supposed that this paternal Advice from an affectionate father to a son of filial affection and an obedient disposition, had great effect in making him what he was? For this and several other articles of an antiquarian nature we are indebted to Charles Ewer, Esq.]
1. Agreeably to what is written 1 Chron. xxviii, 9, My dear Son, know thou the God of thy father, & serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
2. Think often of thine own frailty, and of the uncertainly and emptiness of all Sublunary Enjoyments. Value not Self upon riches. Value not thy Self upon any worldly advancement whatsoever. Let faith and Goodness be thy treasure. Let no happiness content and Sattisfie thee but what secures the favour and peace of God unto thee.
3. Remember thy baptism, acquaint thy Self well with the nature and obligations of that Ordinance. Publickly renew thy baptismall Covenant. Renew it Seasonably in thy early Days with humility and thirsty desires to enjoy Communion with God in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper and in all Approaches before God therein bringing faith and Love and a Self abasing Sence of thine own Emptiness and unworthyness.
4. Prize and Esteem the holy word of God infinitly before the finest of Gold. Reverence it with thy whole heart, read it constantly with seriousness, and great delight. Meditate much upon it, make it thy Guide in all thy wayes, fetch all thy Comforts from thence, and by a religious and holy walk, establish thine Interest in the blessed and glorious Promises therein contained.
5. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Reverence God's Sanctuary. In prayer, in Singing, in hearing God's word Read or preached, and in every public administration Wait upon God with outward Reverence and true devotion in thine heart, Remembering that holyness for ever becomes God's house. When in thy more private retirements, Still let it be thy Care to Sanctifie God's Sabbath. Be watchfull therefore over thine heart and over thy thoughts. Call to mind and run over what thou hast heard in God's house. Read Savoury books. Catechise thy Self, and others too when God gives Opportunity.
6. Take care of thy health, avoid all Excess in eating and in drinking, in taking thy pleasure, and in all innocent Recreations whatsoever. Let not immoderate heatt and Colds needlessly Expose thy body.
7. Beware of Passion. Let not Anger and Wrath infect thine heart, suffer wrong with Patience, Rather than to right thy Self by unchristian methods, or by suffering thy spirit to be out of frame.
8. Labour to establish thy Self and begg of God that he would Establish thee in the grace of Chastity, keep thine heart clean and Chast, keep thy Tongue clean and Chast, keep thine hands clean and Chast, keep thine Eyes clean and Chast. Never trust to thy Self to be thy keeper, avoid temptations to uncleaness of every nature, be watchfull over thy Self night and day, but in the midst of all Let thine heart be with God, and be thou much in prayer, that God would be thy keeper. Let all the incentives to Lust as farr as may be, be avoided by thee.
9. Speak the Truth alwayes. Let not a Lye defile thy Lips, be content with Suffering rather than by telling the Least Lie to Save thy Self. Beware of Shuffling off by disimulation.
10. Let Pride be an abomination in thy Sight. Cloth thyself with humility. Let humility be thine under Garment. Let humility be thine upper Garment.
11. Despise no man, let the State of his Body or mind or other circumstances of his, be what they will, still reverence humanity, consider who made thee to differ.
12. Be just to all men; be thou courteous and affable to all men; render not Evil for Evil, but recompense evil with Good. Owe no man any thing but Love.
13. Be thou compassionate, tender hearted, and mercifull; do good to all men, be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; for with such sacrifices God is evermore well pleased.
14. Avoid sloth and idleness, give thy Self to thy Studys; converse with such Authors as may tend to make thee wise and good and to forward thy growth in true wisdom and goodness.
15. Acquaint thy Self with History; know something of the Mathematicks, and Physick; be able to keep Accompts Merchant like in some measure; but let Divinity be thy main Study. Accomplish thy Self for the worke of the Ministry, begg of God that he would incline thine heart therto, and accept thee therin, and if it shall please God thus to Smile upon thee, aspire not after great things; let the Providence of God chuse for thee, and let the Flock have the Love of thy heart; be Solicitous for their Spirituall good, and for the glory of God; and let thy Aims be this way in all thy private meditations, and public administrations, all the dayes of thy Life.
My dear Child, be of a Catholick Spirit.
[RELATIONSHIP.]
In old wills and other old documents the word cousin is sometimes used for nephew, and thus many errors may occur in tracing out genealogies. Many curious cases of relationship will be found to exist by those that investigate the descent of families, some of which cannot be described by the terms we now use to designate consanguinity. It is surprising, that among the many words that have been coined, some new terms have not come into use as substitutes for the awkward way we now have of naming some of our relatives; such as great-great-great grandfather, great-great-great-uncle, &c. The following curious case was taken from a newspaper; whether the account is correct or not, the reader may see that it may be true.
"A man can be his own grandfather.
"A widow and her daughter-in-law and a man and his son—the widow married the son, the daughter the father; the widow was mother to her husband's father and grandmother to her husband; they had a son to whom she was great-grandmother. Now as the son of a great-grandmother must be either a grandfather or great-uncle, the boy must be one or the other. This was the case of a boy in Connecticut."
[DECEASE OF THE FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND.]
Chronologically arranged.
(Continued from p. 74.)
1648.
Oct. 11, Rev. Henry Green of Reading.
1649.
March 26, Gov. John Winthrop of Boston, b. Jan. 12, 1588, d., a. 61.
Aug. 25, Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge, b. Nov. 5, 1605, d., a. 44.
1650.
Sept. 11, Atherton Hough of Boston, an Assistant.
1651.
Aug. —, William Thomas, an Assistant of Plymouth Colony, d., a. 77.
1652.
Aug. 24, Adam Winthrop, Esq., of Boston, d., a. 33.
Sept. 14, Capt. Bozoun Allen of Boston, formerly of Hingham.
Dec. 23, Rev. John Cotton of Boston d., a. 67. (The old "Boston Book" says, Mr. Cotton d. 15th of 10th month.)
1653.
Jan. 18, Capt. William Tyng of Boston, Treasurer of the Colony.
July 31, Gov. Thomas Dudley of Roxbury d., a. 77.
Rev. Nathaniel Ward, first minister of Ipswich, d. in England, a. 83.
Nov. 8, Rev. John Lothrop of Barnstable.
Oct. 8, Hon. Thomas Flint of Concord.
1654.
Jan. —, John Glover of Dorchester, an Assistant.
Gov. John Haynes of Hartford, Ct.
July 23, William Hibbins, an Assistant, d. at Boston.
Dec. 9, Gen. Edward Gibbons of Boston.
1655.
May 8, Edward Winslow of Plymouth d. on board the Fleet, a. 61.
July 3, Rev. Nathaniel Rogers of Ipswich d., a. 57.
Rev. Daniel Maud of Dover, N. H. He had taught a school for some years in Boston before he went to Dover.
Henry Wolcott, the ancestor of the governors of Connecticut by this name, d., a. 78.
1656.
Capt. Miles Standish of Duxbury d., a. ab. 72.
Capt. Robert Bridges of Lynn, an Assistant.
1668? Rev. Peter Prudden of Milford, Ct., d., a. 56.
March 23, Capt. Robert Keaine, merchant in Boston.
Oct. 22, Rev. James Noyes of Newbury d., a. 48.
1657.
Jan. 7, Gov. Theophilus Eaton of Connecticut d., a. 66.
March —, Gov. Edward Hopkins d. in London, a. 57.
George Fenwick, the first settler of Saybrook, d. in England.
May 9, Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth, d., a. 69.
1658.
Rev. Ralph Partridge of Duxbury.
John Coggan of Boston.
1659.
Feb. 27, Rev. Henry Dunster of Scituate d., (buried at Cambridge.)
March 9, Rev. Peter Bulkley of Concord d., a. 77.
April 10, Rev. Edward Norris of Salem d., a. ab. 70.
Sept. 29, John Johnson of Roxbury.
1660.
Oct. 16, Rev. Hugh Peters executed in England, a. 61.
1661.
Jan. 23, Rev. Ezekiel Rogers of Rowley, a. 70.
Sept. 17, Maj. Gen. Humphrey Atherton of Dorchester. He was killed by a fall from his horse on Boston Common, when on his return from a military review on the Common. Mr. Savage and the inscription on his tombstone say, that he died on the 16th, but other authority,[25] and incontrovertible, says, on the "17th at about 1 o'clock, after midnight."
Dec. 28, Rev. Timothy Dalton of Hampton d., a. ab. 84.
1662.
March 1, Rev. Ralph Smith d. at Boston.
March 30, Rev. Samuel Hough, minister of Reading, d. in Boston.
June 14, Sir Henry Vane executed in England, a. 50.
Oct. —, William Pynchon d. at Wraisbury, Bucks, a. 72.
1663.
——, Thomas Camock, nephew of the Earl of Warwick, d. in Scarborough, Me. If he is the same who is named in the 2nd charter of Virginia, 1609, he was quite advanced in years.
Rev. Richard Denton of Stamford, Ct., [ab. 1663.]
April 5, Rev. John Norton of Boston, a. 57.
June 12, Rev. John Miller d. at Groton.
July 5, Rev. Samuel Newman of Rehoboth, a. 63.
July 20, Rev. Samuel Stone of Hartford.
1665.
Jan. 9, Rev. Samuel Eaton of New Haven.
March 15, Gov. John Endecott of Boston, a. 77.
July 15, Capt. Richard Davenport, killed by lightning at Castle William, a. 59.
Rev. Adam Blackman of Stratford.
Dr. John Clark of Boston, a. 66.
[NEW ENGLAND.]
The following is an extract from "A new description of the world,—London, printed for Hen. Rhodes, next door to the Swan Tavern, near Brides-Lane, in Fleet-Street, 1689."
NEW ENGLAND, an English Colony in America, is bounded on the North-East with Novumbegua, on the Southwest with Novum Belgium; and on the other parts by the Woods and Sea coast; scituate in the middle of Temperate Zone, between the degrees of 41 and 44, equally distant from the Artick Circle, and the Tropick of Cancer; which renders it very temperate and very agreeable to the Constitution of English Bodies, the Soil being alike Fruitful, if not in some places exceeding ours; all sorts of Grain and Fruit trees common with us growing kindly there; The Woods there are very great, wherein for the most part the Native Indians dwell Fortefying themselves as in Towns or places of defence, living upon Deer and such other Creatures, as those vast Wildernesses whose extents are unknown to the English abound with; there are in this Country store of Ducks, Geese, Turkies, Pigeons, Cranes, Swans, Partridges, and almost all sort of Fowl, and Cattle, common to us in Old England; together with Furs, Amber, Flax, Pitch, Cables, Mast, and in brief whatever may conduce to profit and pleasure; the Native Indians, in these parts are more tractable, if well used, than in any other; many of them though unconverted, often saying, that our God is a good God, but their Tanto evil, which Tanto is no other than the Devil, or a wicked Spirit that haunts them every Moon, which obliges them to Worship him for fear, though to those that are converted to Christianity he never appears.
This English Colony after many Attempts and bad Successes was firmly Established 1620, at what time New Plymouth was Built and Fortified; so that the Indians thereby being over-aw'd, suffered the Planters without controul to Build other Towns, the chief of which are Bristol, Boston, Barnstaple, and others, alluding to the Names of Sea Towns in Old England; and are accommodated with many curious Havens commodious for Shipping, and the Country watered with pleasant Rivers of extraordinary largeness; so abounding with Fish, that they are not taken for dainties; and for a long time they were all Governed at their own dispose, and Laws made by a Convocation of Planters, &c. but of late they have submitted to receive a Governor from England.
NOVUM BELGIUM, or the New Neitherlands, lies in this tract on the South of New England, extending from 38 to 41 degrees North Latitude; a place into which the Hollanders intruded themselves, considerable Woody; which Woods naturally abound with Nuts and wild Grapes, replenished with Deer, and such Creatures as yield them store of Furrs, as the Rivers and Plains do Fish and Fowl; rich Pastures, and Trees of extraordinary bigness, with Flax, Hemp, and Herbage; the ground very kindly bearing the Product of Europe; and here the Natives, such as live in Hutts and Woods, go clad in Beasts Skins, their Household goods consisting of a Wooden dish, a Tobacco Pipe, and a Hatchet made of a sharp Flint Stone, their Weapons Bows and Arrows; though the Dutch unfairly to their cost, out of a covetous Humor, traded with them for Guns, Swords, &c., shewing the use of them which the Indians turning upon their quondam Owners, found an opportunity to send 400 of their new Guests into the other World; and here the chief Town is New Amsterdam, commodiously Scituate for Trade, and the Reception of Shipping.
[TIME OF THE ARRIVAL IN NEW ENGLAND OF THE FOLLOWING MINISTERS.]
1630.
Rev. John Maverick.
Rev. John Warham.
Rev. John Wilson.
Rev. George Phillips.
1631.
Rev. John Eliot.
1632.
Rev. Thomas Weld.
Rev. Thomas James.
Rev. Stephen Bachiler.
1633.
Rev. John Cotton.
Rev. Thomas Hooker.
Rev. Samuel Stone.
Rev. William Leveredge?
1634.
Rev. John Lathrop.
Rev. John Miller?
Rev. James Noyes.
Rev. Thomas Parker.
Rev. Zechariah Symmes.
Rev. Nathaniel Ward.
1635.
Rev. Peter Bulkley.
Rev. John Avery.
Rev. George Burdet?
Rev. Henry Flint.
Rev. Peter Hobart.
Rev. John Reyner?
Rev. Richard Mather.
Rev. Hugh Peters.
Rev. John Norton.
Rev. Thomas Shepard.
Rev. William Walton.
Rev. John Jones.
1636.
Rev. Ralph Partridge.
Rev. Samuel Whiting.
Rev. Nathaniel Rogers.
Rev. John Wheelwright.
Rev. Thomas Jenner.
Rev. Samuel Newman.
1637.
Rev. John Allin.
Rev. Edmund Brown.
Rev. Thomas Cobbet.
Rev. Timothy Dalton?
Rev. John Davenport.
Rev. John Fiske.
Rev. John Harvard.
Rev. George Moxon.
Rev. William Thompson.
Rev. John Prudden.
Rev. Samuel Eaton.
1638.
Rev. Ezekiel Rogers.
Rev. Robert Peck.
Rev. Edward Norris.
Rev. Charles Chauncy.
Rev. Thomas Allen.
Rev. Henry Phillips?
Rev. Marmaduke Matthews.
1639.
Rev. John Knowles.
Rev. Henry Whitfield.
Rev. Richard Denton?
Rev. Jonathan Burr.
Rev. Ephraim Hewett.
Rev. Henry Smith.
Rev. John Ward.
Rev. William Worcester.
Rev. Abraham Pierson?
1640.
Rev. Henry Dunster.
1641.
Rev. Richard Blinman?
[GENEALOGIES AND THEIR MORAL.]
We were carelessly looking over a genealogy of the "Minot Family" in the second number of the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register," when suddenly our eyes were suffused with tears, as they rested on the following sentence in the catalogue of the children of Capt. John Minot, who died in Dorchester, 1669:
"Martha, born Sept. 22, 1657; died, single, Nov. 23, 1678, aged 21. She was engaged to be married, but died unmarried, leaving a will in which she directed that at her funeral her betrothed husband, 'John Morgan, Jr. be all over mourning, and follow next after me.'"
What a history is there in these few words about Martha Minot, who lived almost two centuries ago! The mind runs back in a moment to those times, when almost all New England was a wilderness—to those days of the old Indian wars, when no man could be a "captain" without being a man of some rank and consequence. Just after the close of King Philip's war, when the villages of New England were all in peace, Capt. John Minot's daughter Martha, twenty-one years of age, and having come into possession of her share of her father's estate, had plighted her troth to one she loved, and was expecting to be married too, when disease fastened upon her young frame, and would not be repelled. In the chill November air, when
"The melancholy days were come, the saddest of the year,"
she faded like a leaf. And at her burial there followed, nearer than brother or sister, nearest to the hearse, the one whom, of all the living, she loved most, from whom to part had been to her more painful than the death-pang, and who had been in her thoughts till "the love-light in her eye" was extinguished. That single item in her directions for her funeral, that "John Morgan, Jr., be all over mourning, and follow next after me," tells the whole story.
Nothing seems, at first sight, less interesting or less instructive, than a genealogical table, a mere register of names and dates. But such a passage as that which we have quoted—so picturesque, so suggestive, so touching, so dramatic—when it occurs in the midst of these dry records, throws out an electric light at every link in the chain of generations. Each of those names in the table is the memorial—perhaps the only memorial—of a human heart that once lived and loved; a heart that kept its steady pulsations through some certain period of time, and then ceased to beat and mouldered into dust. Each of those names is the memorial of an individual human life that had its joys and sorrows, its cares and burthens, its affections and hopes, its conflicts and achievements, its opportunities wasted or improved, and its hour of death. Each of those dates of "birth," "marriage," "death,"—O how significant! What a day was each of those dates to some human family, or to some circle of loving human hearts!
To read a genealogy then may be, to a thinking mind, like walking in a cemetery, and reading the inscriptions on the gravestones. As we read, we may say with the poet—
"To a mysteriously-consorted pair,
This place is consecrate—to Death and Life."
The presence of death drives the mind to thoughts of immortality. Memorials of the dead are memorials not of death only, but of life. They lived, and therefore they died; and as the mind thinks of the dead gathered to their fathers, it cannot but think of the unseen worlds which they inhabit. All these names are memorials of human spirits that have passed from time into eternity. Ready or unprepared, in youth or in maturity, in childhood or in old age, they went into eternity, as we are going.
"The nursling, and the tottering little one
Taken from air and sunshine when the rose
Of infancy first blooms upon his cheek;
The thinking, thoughtless schoolboy; the bold youth
Of soul impetuous, and the bashful maid,
Smitten when all the promises of life
Are opening round her; those of middle age,
Cast down while confident in strength they stand,
Like pillars fixed more firmly, as might seem,
And more secure, by very weight of all
That for support rests on them; the decayed
And burthensome; and lastly that poor few
Whose light of reason is with age extinct;
The hopeful and the hopeless, first and last,
The earliest summoned and the longest spared,
Are here deposited."
The genealogical chapters in Genesis and Chronicles are commonly and very naturally regarded as being almost if not quite an exception to the testimony, "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." But the story is told of a man who had long been irreligious and thoughtless, that in some vacant hour he happened to open his Bible, and began to read the catalogue of antediluvians, in the fifth chapter of Genesis. As he read that one lived so many years and he died, and another lived so many years and he died, the uniformity of the record arrested his attention, his mind was awakened to new thoughts of the significancy of death and life, and thus he was led to realize the ends of his existence, and to dedicate himself, in penitence and trust, to a forgiving God.—New York Evangelist.
[FIRST SETTLERS OF RHODE ISLAND.]
BY THE LATE JOHN FARMER, ESQ.
Roger Williams,
John Thockmorton,
William Arnold,
William Harris,
Stukeley Westcot,
Thomas Olney, Sen.
Thomas Olney, Jun.
John Greene,
Richard Waterman,
Thomas James,
Robert Cole,
William Carpenter,
Francis Weston,
Ezekiel Holleman,
Robert Williams,
John Smith,
Hugh Bewitt,
William Wickenden,
John Field,
Thomas Hopkins,
William Hawkins,
William Hutchinson,
Edward Hutchinson, Jun.
John Coggeshall,
William Aspinwall,
Samuel Wildbore,
John Porter,
John Sandford,
Edward Hutchinson,
Thomas Savage,
William Dyre,
William Freeborn,
Philip Sherman,
John Walker,
Richard Carder,
William Baulston,
Henry Bull,
William Coddington,
John Clark,
Edward Cope,
Chad. Brown,
Daniel Brown,
Henry Brown,
John Brown,
Samuel Bennett,
Hugh Bewett,
Adam Goodwin,
Henry Fowler,
Arthur Fenner,
Henry Reddock,
Thomas Sucklin,
Christopher Smith,
Richard Pray,
Nicholas Power,
Stephen Northup,
Edward Hart,
Benjamin Herenden,
Edward Inman,
John Jones,
James Matthewson,
Henry Neale,
William Man,
—— Jinckes,
Roger Mawry,
Edward Manton,
Shadrach Manton,
George Shepard,
Edward Smith,
Benjamin Smith,
John Smith, (the Mason.)
John Smith, (Sen.)
John Smith, (Jun.)
John Smith, (Jamaica,)
Epenetus Olney,
Lawrence Wilkinson,
Daniel Williams,
Christopher Onthank,
Joshua Verin,
John Sayles,
Richard Scott,
Joan Tyler,
Joshua Winsor,
Valentine Whitman,
George Way,
William White,
Thomas Walling,
John Warren,
John Whipple,
Matthew Waller,
Robert Williams,
Joseph Williams,
William Wickenden,
Robert R. West,
Pardon Tillighast.
[MARRIAGES AND DEATHS.]
[Our authorities for most of our records of Marriages and Deaths are the newspapers. These may not always be correct.]
MARRIAGES.
Bates, John S., Esq., of Canandaigua, N. Y., to Annie M., daughter of Gen. Timothy Upham of Boston, late of Portsmouth, N. H., May 19.
Bigelow, H. J., M. D., to Susan, daughter of William Sturgis, Boston, May 8.
Brown, Abner Hartwell, M. D., of Lowell, Prof. of Chemistry in Willoughby Medical College, O., to Susan Augusta, daughter of Rev. Dr. Shurtleff, late Prof. in Dartmouth College, April 13.
Burlingame, Anson, Attorney, of Boston, to Jane Cornelia, daughter of Hon. Isaac Livermore of Cambridge, June 3.
Coffin, Rev. Ezekiel W., Minister of the Universalist Society in Attleboro', to Miss Mary Eliza Webber of Boston, May 30.
Foster, Fordyce, M. D., to Miss Adeline Jane Tower, Cohasset, March 24.
Gilman, Woodbury, M. D., to Miss C. W. Hayes, only daughter of Lewis Hayes, Esq., Kittery, Me.
Harding, Spencer S., of Boston, to Louisa T., daughter of Prof. Joseph Dana of Athens, O., April 6.
Johnson, Rev. John, appointed missionary to China, to Arethusa Anna, daughter of Abel Stevens, Esq., of Eastport, Me., May 30.
Lemon, John J., of Boston, to Miss Emma L. Badger of Philadelphia, daughter of the late George Dier Badger of Windham, Ct., March 20.
Russell, Bradford, Attorney, Groton, to Miss Maria Prouty of Sterling, March 25.
Seeger, Edwin, M. D., of Springfield, to Elizabeth A., daughter of Hon. John H. White of Lancaster, N. H., May 31.
Shattuck, Joel, Esq., of Pepperell, to Mrs. Nancy Parker of Boston, April 14.
Stearns, Rev. Oakham S., of Southbridge, to Anna Judson, daughter of Rev. B. C. Grafton of Medford, June 8.
Terrill, Charles Frederick, to Hannah Williams, daughter of W. Warland Clapp of Boston, Editor of the Evening Gazette, May 28.
DEATHS.
Adams, Mrs. Mehitable T., May 9, a. 79, widow of the late Dea. Nehemiah Adams of Salem, and mother of Rev. N. Adams of Boston.
Aiken, Daniel, Wexford, Canada West, a. 120. He had contracted seven marriages, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren were 570—370 males and 200 females.—New York Observer.
Blake, Rev. Caleb, Westford, May 11, a. 85. He gr. H. C. 1784, and was settled in Westford forty-five years.
Brimmer, Hon. Martin, Boston, April 25, for some years Mayor. H. C. 1814.
Burnham, Benjamin, Essex, April 14, a. 92, a soldier of the Revolution. Twelve persons have died in Essex since Jan. 12, whose united ages amount to 970 years.
Carpenter, Rev. Chester W., Sinclairville, N. Y., April 17, a. 35. He died at Beaver, Pa., while returning home from Mobile. He gr. A. C., 1839.
Carpenter, Mrs. Hannah, Chichester, N. H., April 21, a. 80, wife of Rev. Josiah Carpenter.
Cotton, John, M. D., Marietta, O., April 2, a. 86. Dr. Cotton was a lineal descendant of Rev. John Cotton of the first church, Boston, and was a man of literary and scientific attainments and deep piety.
Daggett, Hon. Timothy, Edgarton, April 26, a. 79.
Day, Orrin, Esq., Catskill, N. Y., Dec. 25, a. 80. He was one of those philanthropic men who formed the American Bible Society, was a corporate member of the A. B. C. F. M., and a patron of all good institutions.
Dunbar, Elijah, Esq., Keene, N. H., May 18, a. 88. D. C. 1783. Attorney.
Ellsworth, Mrs. Nancy G., Lafayette, La., Jan. 15, a. 54. She was the wife of Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, late Commissioner of Patents, and dau. of Hon. Elizur Goodrich of New Haven, Ct.
Fisk, Dea. Ebenezer, Shelburne, Dec. 21, a. 62. He was a brother of the Rev. Pliny Fisk, Missionary to Palestine.
Fitch, Dea. Elijah, Hopkinton, April 27, a. 68. He was a son of Rev. Elijah Fitch, second pastor of the church in that town.
Fuller, Abraham W., Esq., Boston, April 6, a. 63. Counsellor at Law.
Gould, Mrs. Sally McCurdy, May 19, widow of the late Hon. James Gould of Litchfield, Ct.
Gray, Rev. Thomas, D. D., Pastor of the Congregational Church, Roxbury, (Jamaica Plains,) June 1, a. 75. H. C. 1790.
Harvey, Rev. Benjamin, Frankfort, N. Y., March 18, a. 112. He was of the Baptist denomination, and had been a preacher more than seventy years.
Hodgdon, Albert E., Barnstead, N. H., May 20, a. 25. D. C. 1842. Attorney.
Holman, Gen. Silas, Bolton, March 25, a. 86. He was connected with the State Legislature between 20 and 30 years, and was one of the Governor's Council during the administrations of Strong and Brooks.
Kellogg, Mrs. Susan C., Williamstown, April 8, a. 48, widow of the late Prof. Kellogg.
Meigs, Mrs. Elisabeth, New Britain, Ct., March 5, a. 92, widow of the late Major John Meigs of the U. S. Army in the Revolution.
Moore, Rev. George, Quincy, Ill., March 11, a. 35, H. C. 1834, minister of the Unitarian Society in that place.
Nevers, Gen. John, Northfield, March 30, a. 74.
Parker, Mrs. Martha L., Lancaster, April 30, a. 23, wife of Dr. J. O. Parker of Shirley, and daughter of Dr. C. Carter of Lancaster.
Patten, Jean, Bedford, N. H., Feb. 16, a. 78, daughter of Hon. Matthew Patten.
Peabody, Rev. William B. O., D. D., Springfield, May 28, a. 47. H. C. 1816.
Revere, John, M. D., New York, April 29, a. 60. He gr. H. C. 1807, and was a Prof. in the Medical Department of N. Y. University.
Robinson, Rev. Charles, Lenox, March 3, a. 45. He was a missionary at Siam, and died on board the barque Draco, on his return home.
Safford, Charles G., M. D., Rutland, April 27, a. 42. He was a native of Exeter, N. H., gr. D. C. 1825, and Andover Theo. Sem'y, and was a minister in Gilmanton, N. H. Having lost his health, he gave up the ministry, studied medicine, and practised till his death.
Sanborn, Mrs. Martha, Reading, May 2, a. 59, wife of Rev. Peter Sanborn.
Savage, Mrs. Lucy W., May 16, a. 57, wife of Rev. James Savage of Bedford, N. H.
Shurtleff, Benjamin, M. D., Boston, April 12, a. 72, B. U. 1796, M. D. H. U. He was an honorary member of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, and a brief memoir of him may be expected in our next number.
Smith, Rev. Eli, Hollis, N. H., May 11, a. 87, B. U. 1792. Minister in Hollis.
Stewart, Enos, Esq., Davenport, Iowa, formerly of Boston, a. 48. He was a native of Coleraine, H. C. 1820.
Strong, Rev. Caleb, Montreal, Canada, Jan. 4, pastor of the American Presbyterian Church. He was a son of Hon. Lewis Strong, and grandson of Gov. Strong of Northampton. Y. C. 1835.
Thayer, Dea. Shadrach, South Braintree, May 4, a. 71.
Thomas, Rev. Daniel, Abington, a. 67.
Tuck, Mrs. Sarah A., Exeter, N. H., Feb. 20, a. 36, wife of Amos Tuck, Esq., an attorney, and daughter of David Nudd, Esq., of Hampton, N. H.
Upham, Albert G., M. D., Boston, June 16, a. 29, B. C. 1840. He was a member of the N. E. Historical and Genealogical Society. A brief memoir of him may be expected in our next number.
Wigglesworth, Samuel, M. D., Boston, April 7, a. 35. H. C. 1831.
Worcester, Dr. Noah, Cincinnati, O., April 4, a. 36. H. C. 1832, M. D. at D. C. 1838, Prof. in Medical College, Cincinnati, O.
Wright, Mrs. Eleanor, Dec. 20, 1846, a. 85. She was the widow of the late Silas Wright of Weybridge, Vt., and mother of Gov. Wright of New York. Mr. Wright died in May, 1843, a. 84. This couple lived together as husband and wife 61 years.
[NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.]
The American Loyalists, or Biographical Sketches of Adherents to the British Crown in the War of the Revolution; alphabetically arranged; with a preliminary Historical Essay. By James Sabine. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown. MDCCCXLVII.
Mr. Sabine, it is believed, is a merchant at Eastport, Me., but still has been in the habit of composing for the press. He has written articles for the North American Review, and is the author of the Memoir of Commodore Preble in Prof. Sparks's American Biography.
The subject of his present work is both novel and interesting, and one upon which we are too ignorant. The most intelligent and best informed among us have but little knowledge of the names and characters of the Loyalists, or Tories of the Revolution, (probably twenty thousand in number,) and of the reasons which influenced, of the hopes and fears which agitated, and of the rewards or miseries which awaited them. Separated from their homes and kindred, outlaws, wanderers, and exiles, they have left but few memorials to their posterity. The difficult task of collecting and arranging fragmentary events and incidents relating to them, scattered here and there, we think the author has succeeded admirably in accomplishing. We find among the sketches, notices of many distinguished and influential men, and while some were notorious for their want of principle, there were many who, we cannot doubt, were true and honest in espousing the cause of the mother country. Then, though we cannot justify any, let us not censure all. "The winners in the Revolutionary strife are now twenty millions; and, strong, rich, and prosperous, can afford to speak of the losers in terms of moderation."
The Historical Essay, containing one hundred and fourteen pages, which precedes the "Biographical Sketches," indicates much acquaintance with the Revolution and its causes, and is very valuable and highly appropriate.
The work makes a handsome volume of 733 pages, and is well worthy of being perused, and of a place in the library of the historian.
A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson; from the year 1634 to the year 1847. By John Stetson Barry. "Virtus nobilitat omnia." Boston: Printed for the author by William A. Hall & Co. 1847.
The name of Stetson is spelt differently in old records; as Stitson, Sturtson, Studson, Stedson, Stutson, and Stetson. The last is the usual method of spelling the name, though some families spell it Stutson. The first of the name and the ancestor of all in this country was Robert Stetson, commonly called Cornet Robert, because he was Cornet of the first horse company raised in Plymouth colony, Ms., in the year 1658 or '9. He settled in Scituate, Ms., in the year 1634, but it is not known satisfactorily whence he originated, though tradition says he came from the county of Kent, England.
Among his descendants are many who have held offices of trust and responsibility, and who have stood high in public esteem.
The pamphlet contains 116 pages, and gives a pretty full account of the Stetson family. We hope it will be an additional incentive to others to prepare memorials of their ancestors.
An Oration delivered before the New England Society in the city of New York, December 22, 1846. By Charles W. Upham. New York: Published by John S. Taylor, Brick Church Chapel, 151 Nassau Street. 1847.
This is an excellent address, written in a clear, graceful, and forcible manner. After describing the influences, both in the Old World and in the New, which were at work, and the combination of which resulted in the advent of our fathers to these desert shores, the orator remarks upon the Puritans, and the chief elements of their character and the result of their labors. The blessings of a free government and religious liberty are largely descanted upon, and the address closes as follows: "If the sons of New England rear the school-house and the church wherever they select their homes; if they preserve the reliance upon their own individual energies, the love of knowledge, the trust in Providence, the spirit of patriotic faith and hope, which made its most barren regions blossom and become fruitful around their fathers, then will the glorious vision of those fathers be realized, and the Continent rejoice, in all its latitudes and from sea to sea, in the blessings of freedom and education, of peace and prosperity, of virtue and religion."
A Sermon preached at Northwood, N. H., March 12, 1847, on the death of Dea. Simon Batchelder. By Elliot C. Cogswell, Pastor of the Congregational Church. Published by request. Concord: Printed by Morrill, Silsby, & Co. 1847.
The text on which this discourse is founded is contained in Acts viii: 2. "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him." It is divided into six heads. When the good man dies the people of God lose, 1. His society. 2. His sympathy. 3. His counsels. 4. His prayers. 5. His coöperation. 6. His admonitions. The subject is well treated, and the language affectionate and appropriate. Dea. Batchelder was born, March 5, 1758. He was the son of Davis Batchelder of Northampton, who moved to Northwood about 1770; who married, 1. Mary Taylor of Hampton, by whom he had four children; 2. Ruth Palmer; and 3. a Widow Marston; by whom, (the last two wives,) he had fourteen children, four of whom survive. Dea. Batchelder at the age of eighteen enlisted in the war of the Revolution, in 1776, and served in Capt. Adams's company and Col. Poor's regiment at Winter Hill in Charlestown, Newport, R. I., and Ticonderoga, N. Y. April 4, 1778, he married Rachel Johnson, daughter of Benjamin Johnson, with whom he lived about fifty-two years, she dying Jan. 5, 1830, aged 73. By her he had seven children, five of whom still survive. He died March 10, 1847, aged 89 years and 5 days.
A Discourse delivered before the Rhode Island Historical Society, on the evening of Wednesday, January 13, 1847. By Hon. Job Durfee, Chief-Justice of Rhode Island. Published at the request of the Society. Providence: Charles Burnett, Jr. 1847.
The subject of this discourse is "Rhode Island's Idea of Government." Judge Durfee speaks of the "origin of this idea—of the various forms which it took in its progress towards its realization in that state, in minds of much diversity of character and creed; and of that 'lively experiment,' which it subsequently held forth, that 'a most flourishing civil state may stand, and be best maintained, with a full liberty in religious concernments'—a liberty which implied an emancipation of reason from the thraldom of arbitrary authority, and the full freedom of inquiry in all matters of speculative faith."
Though to the founders of Rhode Island, and particularly to Roger Williams, belong the fame and glory of having realized this idea in the form of a civil government, they were by no means the first to maintain it. Long before the Reformation it originated among the Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont, and by means of the crusade against them by Innocent III., it was spread far and wide. The Reformation and the coming of the Puritans to America tended to confirm it, but never was it fully realized till Roger Williams and his followers came to "the forest-shaded banks of the Mooshausic," and established a government on the principle that "the State has no right to interfere between conscience and God."
After dwelling largely on the early history and influence of Rhode Island, the author passes to the time of the Revolution. We find that this little state, though royally armed in her Charter, stood among the foremost in the great struggle for independence. She was the first to direct her officers to disregard the Stamp Act, and to assure them indemnity for so doing; the first to recommend the permanent establishment of a Continental Congress; the first to adopt the Articles of Confederation; the first to brave royalty in arms; the first to enact and declare independence; the first to establish a naval armament of her own; and the first to recommend to Congress the establishment of a Continental Navy. The oration closes with an eloquent appeal to preserve the history and early records of the State. Appended is a Poem by Sarah Helen Whitman, recited before the Rhode Island Historical Society, previous to the delivery of the address.
A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845. By Joshua Coffin, A. B. S. H. S.
"For out of the old fieldes, as men saithe,
Cometh the new come from yere to yere,
And out of old bookes in good faithe
Cometh this new science that men lere."
Chaucer.
"Lives there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own my native land?"
Scott.
Boston: Published by Samuel G. Drake, No. 56 Cornhill. Printed by George Coolidge. 1845.
This is an exceedingly valuable and highly interesting work, and appears to have been written with great labor, and con amore. The author seems, as he says, "to have made a broad distinction between fact and tradition, and to have related nothing as fact, which he did not believe to be true." The representation of the character of the inhabitants of Newbury and their transactions, we think is accurately given, and seems to have been given "sine ira, sine studio." Copious extracts are made from the town records, and many from the church records, which latter exhibit more fully the peculiar traits of our ancestors.
The town of Newbury was originally one of the largest towns in the county, being about thirteen miles long, and about six miles broad in the widest place, and containing about thirty thousand acres, of which nearly two thousand were covered with water. In 1764 it was divided into two towns, Newbury and Newburyport, and in 1819 West Newbury was set off and incorporated as a separate town.
This volume is embellished with portraits of Dr. John Clarke, the physician in Newbury from 1637 to 1651, who died in Boston in 1664, aged 66, Chief-Justice Sewall, Rev. Mr. Whitefield, and Rev. Dr. Parish, and also with a map of the town and engravings of the old-town meeting-house which stood one hundred and six years, from 1700 to 1806, and of a house which "was infested with demons" in 1679, and where, "before the devil was chained up, the invisible hand did begin to put forth an astonishing visibility!" The Appendix, containing among other things a List of Grantees, and Genealogies of the First Settlers from 1635 to 1700, is a very important part of the work. The conclusion, comprising about fifty pages, is also valuable.
Brookline Jubilee. A Discourse delivered in Brookline, at the request of its Inhabitants, on 15 March, 1847, the day, which completed half a Century from his Ordination, by John Pierce, D. D., fifth minister of the first Congregational Church and Society in said town. Boston: James Munroe and Company. MDCCCXLVII.
The text on which this discourse is founded is in Psalm xxxvii: 25. "I have been young and now am old."
It is indeed pleasant in these "moving times," when ministers are not settled during even good behavior, but only so long as they please the fastidious taste of their people, to behold a pastor who has remained with his flock a long series of years, who stands among them, a relic of a former generation, to guide them by his counsels and guard them with his watchful care. It is alike honorable to the pastor and his people to meet in one common jubilee, to thank the bounteous Giver of all things for his mercies, and strengthen the ties which have so long bound them together. In the present case, however, not a church merely, but a whole town have united to honor one who may be regarded as their father, and whose name is identified with the town.
The sermon contains, as might be expected from Dr. Pierce, an immense amount of historical facts, some of them of a general, but most of them of a local character. The town of Brookline was incorporated Nov. 13, 1705, O. S., and the first Congregational church was gathered Oct. 26, 1717, O. S., of which Dr. Pierce is the fifth pastor. Since his settlement nearly all who were then around him have departed this life, while he, now enjoying a "green old age," stands almost alone. The discourse is very valuable for the history it contains, and is written in a candid and an affectionate manner. Appended is an exceedingly interesting account of the proceedings of the day, which was published in the Christian Register, and other papers in Boston. We regret that we have not room to insert extracts from it. Dr. Pierce will go down to the grave beloved and respected by all ministers and people who knew him, whether of his own or other denominations.
A Discourse on the Cambridge Church-Gathering in 1636; delivered in the First Church, on Sunday, February 22, 1846. By William Newell, Pastor of the First Church in Cambridge. Boston: James Munroe and Company. 1846.
The text is from Psalm xliv. 1-3. "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedest them.... For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them."
This discourse contains an account of the formation of the church in Cambridge, and of some of the events preceding it, and brief notices of the principal actors. It contains also many other valuable facts. There is an appendix containing nineteen pages of great value, embracing among other things a list of the members of the church, "taken and registered in the 11 month, 1658," and brief genealogical notices of one hundred and seventeen individuals. In giving this sermon to the public, Mr. Newell has rendered an important service.
[FOOTNOTES:]
[1] This Memoir is an abstract, (taken by permission,) of a "Memoir of John Endecott, First Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, by Charles M. Endicott, a descendant, of the seventh generation;"—a work well prepared, and handsomely printed in folio form, containing 116 pages, and just issued from the press, solely for the private use of the family. Our Memoir will be introduced with a few preliminary remarks, and, occasionally, will be interspersed with passages respecting the early history of the country.
[2] See Morton's New England Memorial. The Planter's Plea notices the event as rather the effect of accident from the prevailing winds, than any design on the part of the master.
[3] Letter to the elder Adams, among the MSS. of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
[4] The Rev. Mr. Felt has recently found among some papers at the State House, Boston, a bill made out in Gov. Endecott's own hand-writing, and presented to the General Court, for the cure of a man committed to his care. He there styles himself "Chirurgeon."
[5] Deposited there by C. M. Endicott, Esq., in 1828.
[6] Perhaps Roger Conant and two or three others, in some respects, might have been exceptions.
[8] The Rev. Mr. Upham, in his Dedication Sermon, in 1826, thus speaks of him: "John Endecott, (a man, who to the qualities which have rendered him illustrious, as an effectual leader of colonization, as a gallant soldier, as a skillful statesman, added a knowledge of the Scriptures, and a devout piety, which will ever hallow his memory,) early in the year 1629, before the formation of this church, wrote to Gov. Bradford respecting a conference he had held with a gentleman sent to him from Plymouth, (Dr. Fuller.) on the subject of church institution and government. In this letter we find no acknowledgment of any other authority in such a matter than his own private judgment, and no desire expressed, or attempt exhibited, to force his judgment upon others." The letter here referred to is the one already cited, of May 11, 1629. "The standard," says Mr. Upham, "by which Mr. Endecott made up his judgment in this matter, was certainly no other than the standard of Protestantism—the Scriptures, as they were opened to his understanding."
[9] "Kernwood," the summer residence of Francis Peabody, Esq., is situated on the borders of this stream, and for beauty of location is not surpassed in that part of the country.
[10] Charles M. Endicott, Esq., distinctly recollects his visiting, when quite a boy, one of these ruins on the borders of this stream, situated in the midst of a locust grove, in the vicinity of the "Endecott Burying-Ground."
[11] Mass. Hist. Coll., I., iv., p. 119.
[12] The General Court, in January, 1635, unanimously agreed, that if such a Governor should come to this country, the Colonists ought to resist his authority, and maintain their rights.
[13] The very next year, only two of the Council, Vane and Dudley, would consent to spread the King's colors even in the fort, on account of the cross in them.—Winthrop's Jour., Vol. I., p. 189.
[14] Neal's History of the Puritans, Vol. II., chap. 5.
[15] Snow's History of Boston.
[16] This "faithful friend" was none other than Mrs. Leverett, the wife of the Agent.
[17] According to tradition, his tombstone was in a good state of preservation down to the commencement of the American Revolution, when it was with many others destroyed by the British soldiers, at the time they occupied Boston.
[18] The Church, (the first in Massachusetts Colony,) was established Aug. 6, 1629.
[19] This is not the church of which the Rev. Mr. Hurd is pastor.
[20] Twins.
[21] This account of the antiquities and pedigree of the Parsons Family was prepared principally from manuscripts in the possession of Samuel H. Parsons, Esq., of Hartford, Ct., by the Corresponding Secretary of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society.
[22] For minute and interesting particulars of this now important town, the reader is referred to the history of it by Rev. Daniel Lancaster. In that work the author has given pedigrees of many of the early settlers.
[23] All the fly-leaves are gone from the beginning of the Old Testament, as well as the title-page.
[24] This Deborah was the mother of the American Heroine, Deborah Sampson, who, under the name of Robert Shirtlieff, served about two years as soldier in the army of the Revolution, in Capt. Webb's Company, Col. Jackson's Regiment, and General Patterson's Brigade, and after an honorable discharge from the Continental army, returned home to her mother at Plimpton in the Old Colony; assumed her female habiliments, and was married to Benjamin Gannet of Sharon, Ms., in 1784, where she died about ten years ago, and where three of her children reside at the present day.
[25] MS. Memorandum of Capt. John Hull, made at the time and preserved among the Sewall papers. The Boston Records also say Sept. 17.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
A superscript number in brackets is a Footnote; a superscript number indicates the generation of the family, for example Joseph,3 is in the third generation of the (Parsons) family.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.
On some handheld devices, the large tables are best viewed in landscape mode and a small font size, in order to see all the columns.
Missing names and dates were usually indicated by a blank space in the original text, a few times by ——, and this is retained in the etext.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example: horrours; thraldom; intrusted.
[Pg 237], 'quotâ' replaced by 'quota'.
[Pg 258], '(31)' replaced by '(34)'.
[Pg 259], the list of children under (37) has been formatted to be consistent with the other lists.
[Pg 260], 'Jan. 4, 1748' replaced by 'Jun. 4, 1748'.
[Pg 261], the list of children under (45) has been formatted to be consistent with the other lists.
[Pg 262], '335—4 Oliver' replaced by '335—4 Olive'.
[Pg 264], 'Commonweath' replaced by 'Commonwealth'.