Resurrecting the Dead Part Two: Bringing them to Life “Peter P HALL”
Posted on November 28, 2023 8 Comments
With our time line in place and our research into Peter HALL’s Pension we can begin to sketch out as much as we can of Peter Hall’s life. We don’t have to start at the Beginning I jumped into a more familiar part of history and will back fill as I go. This has been a remarkable journey for me. Hopefully you will find some inspiration for your own.
Brewing Unrest: 5 Mar 1771 The Boston Massacre
When Peter HALL was 16 years old the Bloody Massacre of 6 American’s by the British Army at Boston underscored the growing tension between the crown and the colonies. This undoubtedly made an impression on young Peter along with his older brothers James, Joel and Abel. This is an engraving by Paul Revere of the “Boston Massacre 5th of March, 1771″
by a party of the 29th Regt.
In part it reads:
Unhappy Boston see thy sons deplore
Thy hallowed walk besmear’d with guiltles Gore
While faithless P-ll and his Savage Bands
With murd’rous Rancour stretch their bloody Hands
Like fierce Barbarians grinning o’er their Prey
Approve the Carnage and enjoy the Day
Paul Revere
Declaration of Freedom: Town of Mansfield, Connecticut 10 Oct 1774
In 1774 Peter HALL was still living in the town of Mansfield in which he was born. A most interesting document is found in the Town Records of Mansfield dated 10 Oct 1774. This document was forged as the First Continental Congress is meeting in Philadelphia between September 5 and October 26, 1774, which the townspeople of Mansfield were no doubt aware. In part it reads:
So far as our Influence can extend to them, will be faithful Subjects of that Illustrious Race of Kings, So long as the Crown maintains Inviolate the Stipulate rights of the People, which God grant maybe forever. 2 That we will defend with our Lives and Fortunes, our natural and Constitutional Rights & in Obedience to the Second great Command of the Moral Law & Laws of Nature we will assist our neighbors as Occasion Requires. “God & Nature Bid the Same.”
Book 1 pg 257 10 Oct 1774
Battle of Lexington: 19 April 1775
Beginning the 2nd of March 1775, Ninety-Three men from the town of Mansfield are called to the Lexington Alarm . The total population of the town of Mansfield in 1774 is 2,446; so a good portion of the able bodied men of the town respond. The Battle of Lexington and Concord happens on April 19, 1775, the first of the American Revolutionary War. Word quickly passes throughout the land. This from the Hartford Courant, dated May 3rd at Worcester:
[Enlarge for detail]
Nineteen year old Peter HALL is among those that immediately enlist after the Battle of Lexington. He mustered in at Mansfield, Connecticut, the 5th of May 1775, to serve 7 months in Colonel Joseph SPENCER’s 2nd Regiment (at SPENCER’s promotion it became Colonel WYLLYS’). The 6th Company was under Major Return Jonathan MEIGS and his unit under Captain Noadiah HOOKER. You can see that on Saturday they joined the march to Cambridge, as reported in the Pennsylvania Gazette. So his pension file is consistent with the contemporary record.
Peter Hall’s Background in Mansfield, Connecticut
80 years after his birth
Peter P HALL was born 1 August 1755 at Mansfield, Connecticut. He was the seventh child of James HALL and Mary (LAMB) HALL, and their fourth son. In 1756 the population of Mansfield was 1,614. By the time of the Revolution he has 7 more younger siblings, the youngest, a sister, Jemina, just 3 years old, and the population of Mansfield is closing in on 2500.
Boston & Cambridge
As we return to our story 19 year old Peter HALL is on his was to join the Continental Army at Cambridge. What a sight that must have been! An estimated 14,000 troops assembled near Cambridge, Massachusetts. On July 2nd General George WASHINGTON arrived in Cambridge to take command of the newly-formed Continental Army. Writing his brother, WASHINGTON called the army that he found “a numerous army of Provincials under very little command, discipline, or order.”
Currier & Ives 1876
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art NY
According to his pension affidavit Peter HALL “enlisted at Mansfield Connecticut–served three campaigns the first at Boston & Roxbury.” Again from his pension file “[Peter] marched to Cambridge & Roxbury & was stationed at Roxbury until his time was out, where he was discharged. His regiment was paraded at Roxbury during the Battle of Bunker Hill, but was not called into action and he tells of assisting in taking & destroying a Lighthouse in Boston Bay.” Three days after the Battle of Bunker Hill, a small detachment of American troops burned the wooden parts of the lighthouse. So Peter’s testimony is consistent with the facts even 55 years later with his memory failing . Belong is an etching of the Lighthouse known as Boston Light. Sadly his Captain Noadiah HOOKER died at Roxbury. This is the first inkling we have that Peter serves on reconnaissance missions.
(Boston Public Library)
Peter HALL musters out the 18th of December of 1775. He writes “he remained in service a fortnight at Roxbury after his time was out in 1775 until the new recruits came in.” Which again gives us a measure of this young soldier. I assume he traveled back home to Mansfield the beginning of 1776. On March 17th 1776 Colonel George Washington defeats the British in the Siege of Boston, then he moves to strategically relocate his army to defend the port city of New York. He called upon and urged the soldiers already in the field for 1775 to re-enlist for another year.
New York
The Connecticut regiments of 1775 were reordered. General SPENCER’s continued under Colonel WYLLYS . Meanwhile Peter HALL “Soon after his time was out in the winter of 1776 he re-enlisted for three months & served in Captain CURTIS Company. The muster rolls show he re-enlisted in March of 1776 under Col Samuel WYLLYS now called the 22nd Continental Regiment. He marched under Washington to New York and remained in that vicinity from April to the close of the year. The 22nd Regiment assisted in fortifying the city of New York; they were ordered to the Brooklyn front on Aug. 24; engaged in Battle of Long Island Aug. 27; were in retreat from New York, Sept. 1; and with the army at White Plains. In his pension record “[Peter HALL] was for a time at New York–tells of rowing all night—to bring out [the] army from Long Island— This would have been the Sept 1st retreat from New York. As shown below rowing from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
More to be found of this harrowing retreat from Long Island in the Memoir of Benjamin Talmadge (1856):
“Gen. Washington was so fully aware of the perilous situation of this division of his army, that he immediately convened a council of war, at which the propriety of retiring to New York was decided on. After sustaining incessant fatigue and constant watchfulness for two days and nights, attended by heavy rain, exposed every moment to an attack from a vastly superior force in front, and to be cut off from the possibility of retreat to New York by the fleet, which might enter the East River, on the night of the 29th of August, Gen. Washington commenced recrossing his troops from Brooklyn to New York. To move so large a body of troops, with all their necessary appendages, across a river full a mile wide, with a rapid current, in face of a victorious, well disciplined army, nearly three times as numerous as his own, and a fleet capable of stopping the navigation, so that not one boat could have passed over, seemed to present most formidable obstacles. But, in face of these difficulties, the Commander-in- Chief so arranged his business, that on the evening of the 29th, by 10 o’clock, the troops began to retire from the lines in such a manner that no chasm was made in the lines, but as one regiment left their station on guard, the remaining troops moved to the right and left and filled up the vacancies, while Gen. Washington took his station at the ferry, and superintended the embarkation of the troops. It was one of the most anxious, busy nights that I ever recollect, and being the third in which hardly any of us had closed our eyes to sleep, we were all greatly fatigued. As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious.”
pg 10-11
Northward in retreat by Sep 6th General WASHINGTON is near Fort Washington. Across the river is Fort Lee in Hackensack Township, NJ. Peter HALL writes he was “At Hackensack, NJ —“
Peter HALL writes “of a retreat to the White Plains, of his discharge a short time before his enlistment expired in consequence of fever ague [Malaria].” “Retreated to Whiteplains where he was discharged by Col MEIGS –[he] was not called into action at Whiteplains.” So it seems to me Peter has twice been involved in a mission involving rowing and critical support but not on the front lines.
Westchester & Long Island
On 1st January 1776 the 2nd Connecticut Regiment of SPENCER’s Brigade, part of the Main Continental Army was re-designated The 22nd Continental Regiment. On 12 August 1776 SPENCER’s Brigade was re-designated as PARSON’s Brigade. On 12 November 1776 the brigade was reassigned to the Highland’s Department, basically frontier lands north of White Plains. The regiment was reassigned to MERCER’s Brigade of the Main Continental Army on the same date. November 24th, 1776 Peter HALL enlists under Colonel Return MEIGS 6th Regiment; Capt Elisha ELY, Lt Peter CURTIS 3rd battalion for 3 months. The 3rd Battalion remained in part, in Westchester [Co], NY.
Muster shows Peter Hall mustered out in January of 1777 under Col MEIGS, and on the 4th March 1777, was appointed Corporal under Col. Roger ENOS, Capt Peter CURTIS’ 3rd battalion. In 1777 we find this document from Colonel Roger ENOS of the 4th Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army know under General George WASHINGTON in New York appoints Peter HALL First Corporal.
May 12th 1777, MEIGS was promoted to colonel and given the 6th regiment of light infantry, designed for fast movement. Now at the command of his own regiment, Colonel MEIGS organized one of the most daring and successful raids of the war. What became known as the Sag Harbor or MEIG’s Raid was made in response to a successful British raid on Danbury, Connecticut. There were no American casualties in MEIGS’ raid, but six Loyalists were killed and at least 90 captured. Colonel MEIGS quick and decisive mission against the British garrison on Long Island and Tory stronghold, earned him accolades throughout the colonies. Whether Peter Hall was on this mission is not known. One such article appeared in the Virginia Gazette:
From his affidavit “In the winter of 1777 [Peter] again enlisted in Col Roger ENOS 3rd Regiment, Capt Peter Curtis’s Company again for three months and marched to Whiteplains & Horse Neck and served guarding the line and in the winter of 1778. [See map above for location of Horse neck and Sag Harbor.]
And although this is not for Peter here is an enlistment record under Col. Roger ENOS:
The 19th of July of 1778 Peter HALL re-enlists in the 1st Regiment under Capt Elisha ELY. He is on the muster roll for July & Aug & Sept 2nd under Capt Elisha ELY. He was listed as sick at Danbury, Connecticut on the 12th of September 1778. So I wonder as a part of the Light Infantry he was assigned to Capt Peter CURTIS he subsequently commanded ENOS’ Regiment of Connecticut Troops, a militia unit that served in the Hudson Valley during 1778. Again confirming what Peter has recounted in his application for pension.
The Cordwainer & Shoes
October 26, 1775 of Black Buckled shoes
We can assume Peter Hall was back home, at Hartford, Connecticut in October in 1776 [Having relocated from Mansfield]. This would have been a month after he was listed as sick at Danbury. This is remarkably evidenced by this advertisement:
We know from records kept by Benjamin Tallmadge in 1777 that Peter Hall was a shoemaker [cordwainer]. Is this advertisement evidence of his entrepreneurship looking to train and secure two journeyman shoemakers who would likely be supplying the Continental Army with as many shoes as they could produce? The Army’s need for shoes far exceeded the supply. Soldiers generally wore black leather buckled or laced shoes that were affixed with canvas or leather gaiters covering the ankles to keep out dirt and water. There was no distinction between left and right shoes at this time. Cleats known as “ice creepers” were attached to shoes with a leather strap for travel through snow and ice. Only mounted soldiers wore boots, if they could get them.
November 6th 1776 Peter is listed as a Quartermaster enrolled in Colonel Elisha SHELDON’s Light Horse militia known as the Continental 2nd Regiment of Dragoons [More on this unit below] . Meanwhile also in November the Connecticut Assembly voted to raise four State battalions to join the Continental army near New York to serve until March, ’77 and the United States Congress asked the four New England governments to supply the Continental army with 10,000 pairs of shoes and stockings. Not a bad opportunity for a soldier with many Army connections.
One readily available supply of leather that Congress attempted to organize, was the hides of slaughtered army beef. During the winter of 1777-1778 the effort to systematize the collection of hides and leather was temporarily shelved and the army had to fend for itself. Each brigade appointed an officer to exchange government hides for shoes. This was a temporary measure and by March it was abandoned. So there would have been ample opportunity for Peter HALL to engage in a bit of a side hustle. In addition to his skill in making shoes he would have been useful in making/securing leather cartridge boxes, belts and other much needed equipment. As a Quartermaster Peter would have been charged with finding requisite supplies—and what better than having your own journeyman making shoes or boots.
Elisha Sheldon’s Light Horse Militia
By January 1777 Sheldon had formed the authorized six troops, all commanded by captains:
Colonel Elisha SHELDON and his captains recruited Continental troops from across Connecticut. Colonel SHELDON’s Light Horse militia was known as the Continental 2nd Regiment of Dragoons or sometimes “Sheldon’s Horse” for short. The entire regiment was gathered at Wethersfield, Connecticut for organization and initial preparations for the 1777 campaign. [At this time Peter HALL is not a part of the Light Dragoons] According to Benjamin TALLMADGE’s Memoirs, his troops were all mounted on dapple gray horses with black straps and black bearskin holster-covers, of which he was quite proud. TALLMADGE took command of the 1st Troop but wasn’t there for long, as he was promoted to Major on April 7, 1777 where he was a senior staff officer under Colonel SHELDON. The second troop had darker horses and were called the Blacks; but the colors of the 3rd through 6th troops is not known. Each troop had a captain, a lieutenant, a commissioned officer [cornet], a quartermaster, 2 sergeants, 2 corporals, a farrier, a trumpeter and 34 privates. They wore, when in uniform, dark blue woolen coats with cream or buff faced collars, light breeches, knee high black leather boots with silver spurs. They had metal helmets with white horsehair plumes. They carried a cavalry saber, a pistol and a musket. Like most Continental units, the organization of dragoons was in constant flux with discharges, enlistments, deaths and promotions.
- 1st Troop: Capt. Benjamin TALLMADGE
- 2nd Troop: Capt. Jean Louis de VERNEJOUX
- 3rd Troop: Capt. Josiah STODDARD
- 5th Troop: Captain William BARNETT
- 4th Troop: Capt. Epaphras BULL
- 6th Troop: Captain Nathaniel CRAFTS
In September, 1777 2,500 American troops assemble at Pawlet, Vermont, referred to as the Pawlet Expedition. The location of Pawlet surrounded by mountains and with a narrow pass made it an ideal location to base operations and easy to protect. The Vermont road along the western side could not accommodate wagons north of Pawlet so food and ammunition could only be carried by horse. Substantial numbers of the Connecticut Horse arrived at Pawlet on August 28 and September 1st . I believe that this is what precipitated Peter HALL’s enlistment in the Dragoons. An interesting description from the Maryland Gazette:
After the Battle of Monmouth [June 28, 1778], General WASHINGTON moved his main army to White Plains. They remained at White Plains until late in the fall when the troops went into winter quarters at different points. It would be the largest American force of regular troops brought together in a single encampment during the entire Revolutionary War. By August of 1778, MEIGS’ regiment had reported to White Plains. How Peter appears under both Capt Elisha ELY and under Capt BULL is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps he was released from one regiment and assigned to another. The Records show MEIGS was assigned to a committee of officers along with Colonels WYLLYS, BRADLEY, and SWIFT, to settle a dispute over officers’ ranks, filing their report on August 29th. This was known as the Arrangement of November 15, 1778. I have a feeling that Peter HALL’s assignments fell within the arrangement.
The 2nd Light Dragoons were not a typical regiment, they were often assigned to different roles and seldom served as a whole. So Peter Hall could have been assigned to do work under either Capt BULL or Capt MEIGS and may well have acted as a courier and scout moving between commanders. The Dragoons were messengers, scouts, spies and in some cases acted as the personal bodyguards to General WASHINGTON himself. From his pension file affidavits Peter HALL states he “ knew Gen Washington, Putnam, Lee, Sullivan, Gates, Schulyer & many others.” As a Quartermaster and as a part of the 2nd Light Dragoons—that isn’t a stretch.
On the 6th Nov 1777 Peter enlists in the 2nd regiment of Elisha Sheldon’s Light Dragoons. Although the printed “Records of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution” pg 442 lists Peter Hall as a quartermaster in the First regiment, in other records he is under the fourth [like the one above]. Or the list [below]. He is under Captain Epaphras BULL who made up the 4th. Epaphras BULL was from Hartford as was Peter [after his first enlistment]. We learn in the above record from Benjamin TALLMADGE that Peter HALL was a shoemaker, 5’7″ tall with a dark complexion, dark hair and dark eyes.
“After my command in the lines before Philadelphia closed, which was in January, 1778, the light horse having been ordered to Trenton, I repaired to that place with my detachment, and from thence the 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons removed to Chatham, New Jersey, for Winter quarters. Here we were permitted to rest from the fatigues of a severe and bloody campaign. But our brethren at Valley Forge passed a Winter of extreme suffering, being in want of provisions and clothing to an alarming degree.”
Benjamin TALLMADGE Memoir pg 27
In August and September, 1778, Captain BULL was assigned to surveillance of ship movements in Long Island Sound. In the summer of ’78 the Regiment was on the Hudson, and in the fall formed part of Gen. Chas. Scott’s Light Corps on the lines in Westchester. This is consistent with Peter Hall being at Horseneck, NY. At the same time letters show that Benjamin TALMADGE is at Bedford, New York and Ridgefield, Connecticut while Colonel WASHINGTON is at Windsor and later Fishkill.
To George Washington from Captain Epaphras BULL, 26 August 1778
Maroneck [Mamaroneck, N.Y.] 26th Augt 1778
May it Please your Excellency—there has passed by this Place to the Wtward, to day 3 Sloops & one Schooner Loaded with Hay—& one Row Gally, 2 Brigs & one Sloop from the Eastward come to anchor this afternoon Just Et of Hempstead Harbour, and as far Etward as I can see, appears to be 8 or 10 Sail Vessels, believe shall be able to give an Acct of them Tomorrow. I have the Honour to present your Excellency with 20 or 30 wt Blackfish they are now in a ⟨Car⟩, shoud be glad to know when ’twil best suit to send them up, I am your Excellencys Most Obt Hble sert
Epaps Bull
Letter from Epaphras BULL to George WASHINGTON
“My station during the campaign of 1778, was in the county of Westchester, and occasionally along the shores of the Sound. No important blow was given the enemy during this campaign, by the American. army, although the light troops in advance (as was always the case with our regiment) were frequently in conflict with similar corps of the enemy. When the campaign closed, our regiment went to Durham, in Connecticut, for Winter quarters. A part of the time, however, I was from choice stationed at Greenfield, from whence I could easily cross to Long Island.“
Benjamin TALLAMDGE Memoir pg 30
Peter HALL’s discharge date from Sheldon’s horse may be 27 November 1778 but that date is somewhat uncertain. [See above.] Where he was for the next period is also uncertain but what follows is my best reconstruction.
Pawlet, Vermont
Zadock EVEREST came to Addison County, Vermont in the summer of 1765. He built a log house and there and kept the first public house in the county. After the breaking out of the war he removed his family to Whitehall, and he himself sought refuge in Pawlet. In 1779 Peter HALL was engaged in building a picket fort for two months, [Fort Warren], at Castleton, Vermont. This is the only record I have found for him in 1779. However, I suspect he was living at Pawlet, Vermont at this time. In Hiel Holliseter’s “Pawlet from One Hundred Years” 1867 we find that Mandana’s brother’s Lemuel CLARK was a Selectmen in Pawlet in 1777 and Capt. Zadock EVEREST in 1781 [under whom Peter served]. In 1780 Mandana’s brothers Lemuel and Elisha CLARK held Pawlet town offices. In April 1780 Peter HALL served 7 days at Skeensborough [Later known as Whitehall] and Ticoderoga in Colonel Ira ALLEN’s, General John STARK’s militia and traveled 74 miles. Pawlet is about 35 miles south of Ticonderoga. The British abandon Fort Ticonderoga in 1781.
Who does Peter serve with under General John STARK ; Captain Zadock EVEREST’s Company? His future wife, Mandana’s brother, Elisha CLARK Jr. This amusing article [below] appeared about Major General John STARK in 1778. John STARK had a colorful life, when he was 24 he was abducted by the Abenaki tribe, and made to run the gauntlet of warriors armed with sticks. It is said, STARK grabbed the stick from the first warrior’s hands and proceeded to attack him, taking the rest of the warriors by surprise. The chief was so impressed that STARK was adopted into the tribe, where he spent the winter. [He may have been the source for the story line in the Outlander TV series where Ian Murray Jr runs the gauntlet by the Mohawk, before being adopted into the tribe. S4 Ep 13]
Major General John STARK served in the French American Wars and for the patriots in the Revolutionary War.
During the Revolutionary War, women and children traveled with both the British and Revolutionary armies. Whether part of a soldier’s family or not, they often did the housekeeping duties including laundry and food preparation. Women did much of the nursing and treatment to prevent illnesses. I suspect that Mandana CLARK fulfilled such a roll for her brothers living in Pawlet. We know by 1783 that Elisha Clark is an inn holder there. I think it might be safe to say that Mandana was likely associated with said inn. And this may well have been where they met. I also think the fact that 3 brothers and one nephew of Mandana who served with Peter through their shared service in the same regiment may have been another factor.
In January of 1781 Mandana’s brother Lemuel CLARK is the moderator of the Pawlet Town meeting. Later this year on Oct 4th Peter is listed on a muster roll for Captain Zadock EVEREST’s company under Colonel Ira ALLEN and serves 16 days and travels 8 miles on the Northern Frontier. Capt. Zaddock EVEREST is listed as a selectman in Pawlet that same year. And on the same day as the muster, 4 Oct 1781, Peter HALL and Mandana marry at Pawlet, Vermont.
Also in 1781 we find a letter from Colonel Roger ENOS to John STARK dated 26 Oct 1781 where Col. ENOS is at Saratoga and John STARK is at Castleton. Again In keeping with Peter HALL’s affidavit. May 1st of 1782 of the 30 men in Captain Zadock EVEREST’s company, three are Mandana CLARK’s brothers: Lemuel, Elihu and Smith Clark as well as her nephew Ozias CLARK (son of previously mentioned brother Elisha CLARK) along with their now brother-in-law Peter HALL. Two events happen in 1783, the first settlement of Orwell, Addison, Vermont is made and Peter and Mandana’s first child, Elisha HALL is born the 8th of June. So in summary it appears those who acted earlier as scouts and had experience with the terrain of Pawlet and later Orwell, not surprisingly ended up settling there.
Orwell, Vermont
“Some of the land of this township is broken and hilly; the remaining part is very level, handsome land, and produces abundant crops of all kinds of grain. The principal streams are East Creek, which rises in Benson and falls into Lake Champlain, on the north side of Mount Independence . . . The width of the lake between Mt. Independence and Ticonderoga is about eighty rods . . . In common with most of the towns on Lake Champlain, the scenery in Orwell and its vicinity is truly delightful.” Gazetteer of Vermont, Hayward, 1849
From the 1963 History of the Town of Orwell by Doris S Bishop we learn: “Of the three or four thousand troops…who garrisoned at Mt. Independence, no doubt many were attracted by the rich rolling country to the east.” And: “Between seventy and eighty humble log cabins had been erected before the actual organizing of the town, which occurred December 12, 1787” Among the 71 men who took the Freeman’s Oath and the Oath of Allegiance were Peter HALL and Mandana’s brothers Elisha and Smith CLARK. pg 13
In 1784 this advertisement as well as the one above; a meeting of proprietors for Orwell is to be held at the Inn/ dwelling of Elisha CLARK jun. in Pawlet. Orwell lies about 36 Miles north in the areas that Peter HALL and his brothers-in-law have previously scouted [see above map].
It appears the family relocates to Orwell in 1786, likely one of the families with modest cabins mentioned above. On the 8th March of 1787 Peter and Mandana’s daughter Cynthia HALL is born in Orwell. Over the next few years Mandana and Peter have children: Elisha, Elijah, Cynthia, Daniel Webster, James Mortimer Fayette and Albert Erastus Bolivar HALL.
Property in Orwell
Ozias CLARK is an original proprietor receiving lands of John TEMPLE the 13rd of February 1785 in Orwell. None of the original landowners of Orwell lived there and only 3 ever visited, then only once or twice a year to collect rents. This is the time of much land speculation. Later this same year on the 17th of June Peter and Mandana’s second son Elijah is born at Pawlet. The 26th of October Ozias CLARK (Mandana’s nephew) deeds land to Peter HALL in Orwell [Proprietor’s Records for Orwell pg 27]. Over the next 40 years there are at least 20 land transactions involving Peter HALL as Grantee or Grantor. Placing where these lands are is difficult. One reference says his farm was East of the SANFORD’s Farm and we have his wife’s grave marker at the Peter Hall Cemetery. So somewhere in this vicinity is where I expect was Peter HALL’s farm
The following is the recording of a bid on the land previously John TEMPLE’s for 11 pounds, 7 Shillings and 1-6 pence at auction. I believe the other 50 acres he already secured from Ozias CLARK making in total 100 acres.
It is not clear that this is the land I have shown on the map above or his original parcels as he may have sold these lands for those he later settled on.
LATER LIFE
The first occurrence of his name as Peter “P” HALL is on the 1800 Census and then a deed dated 26 May 1801. We do not know what the “P” stands for but it was used in deeds consistently from then on. One person listed him as Peter H HALL and that has spread everywhere. It is incorrect as the census and many land records consistently use Peter “P” HALL. It seems possible at one point a P was mistaken for an H. There were two other Peter HALLs in Vermont on the 1800 census. I suspect this is may be the reason for his adopting the initial “P”. The other two Peter HALL’s in 1800 Vermont: were in Westminster, Windham and Greensboro, Orleans.
The record gets pretty sparse outside of census and land records at this point. I found this record that shows that Peter P HALL was an Orwell Commissioner in 1810. He would have been 55 at this time.
26 Dec 1810
The household was 6 members in 1790 Census; 8 in 1800; 7 in 1810; 6 in 1820; and 3 in 1830. Peter’s wife, Mandana, dies the 5thof October 1829 at the age of 74. Of the 3 in listed in the 1830 census: 1 is Peter P HALL age 70-79; 1 Male 20-29 which could be his youngest son, Albert Erastus Bolivar HALL; and 1 female age 50-59 which could possibly be his daughter Cynthia or could be someone looking after him [More research needed]. to put things in context this part of an Orwell Chronology.
So from 1786 until he died 52 years later Peter P HALL would have seen a lot of changes in Orwell. Where once there were woods, there was farm land. Where once wheat was grown, it gave way to sheep and cattle. He was there for the first town meetings as well as the formation of local churches. I don’t know whether he continued as a shoemaker—but suppose he did. in 1816 he would have witnessed the Eagle Hotel being built in 1816. It was a luxurious hotel for many years but fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1971.
The Pensioners for Addison County, Vermont Under The Act of June 7, 1832 does not list Peter HALL. He swore his original application under this act on 3 August 1832. His original application is turned down and it in part seems because he did not have anyone to testify to his service. The Act of 1832 provided every surviving officer and soldier who served at least 2 years in the continental army and other units with a pension of full pay for life. The 14th of March 1833 the sworn testimony of Bela Rogers with whom he served in 1775 under Capt. Noadiah Hooker’s Company. And then in 15 January 1834 the remarkable letter from Orwell‘s residents including the Town Constable, Selectmen, Town Clerk and Town Treasurer seems to have changed the ruling. Over a period of 7 years Peter P HALL served his country first with the Connecticut Army then with the Continentals, then Sheldon’s 2nd Dragoons and finally in Vermont under Colonel Ira Allen. It is rather sad that his original application was denied and that it was not until April 11, 1834 that he received the pension he deserved. It appears he received back pay to 1832 so I like to think he died with some amount of dignity and comfort the 25th of October 1838, at the age of 83. [Note all trees including my own had Peter’s date of death as 25th of October 1835. This clipping and his pension record show that the correct date is 1838]
Brandon, Rutland, Vermont
and he is listed as Corporal
That made it possible to find this notice of probate:
Generally speaking we don’t have a description of what someone looks like or what kind of person someone was who lived 265 years ago. But we know Peter P HALL was 5’7′ with dark eyes and dark hair and dark complexion. we know he was an able bodied soldier that survived a bout of malaria as well as a second hospitalization which may have been a relapse. But moreover his townspeople wrote about his character:
“we are confident we speak the feelings of all acquainted with him—we might add that Mr Hall is & has been from an early day a regular member of the Christian Church & an exemplary Christian. —The state of Mr Hall’s income is such that a pension would be a timely aid to his infirmity & would be well used by him—should your honor grant our request by placing Mr Hall on the Pension List we confidently believe you will not have conferred it on a more deserving man.”
The exact location of Peter’s burial is unknown. A cousin tells me it was elsewhere in Orwell—however the small burial plot where Mandana’s grave is as marked on the map above—is completely grown over. There were only 2 stones there more recently. The location is consistent with where he lived—so I suspect his stone if there is one is buried beneath the debris. Locally you’d hope some one would at least get a proper Rev War marker for him. The small grave next to Mandana’s is marked HH. So perhaps a child who died young.
“The remains of this cemetery are in a hedge row in the Ochs Orchard . . . A 1977 survey for VOCA noted only 3 stones. VOCA’s 1990 update places the cemetery 2/10 mile east of the intersection with Church Street. Only one stone remained.” [Source: Jenks, Margaret R.: Orwell Cemetery Inscriptions, Addison County, Vermont, privately published Granville, NY, 2007, p.40]
CLOSING
And finally through a new death date I was able to extend my deed search and came up with a Deed for the sale of 1/2 a pew in the Orwell Center Meeting House from Peter HALL to Dan GOODELL. Further we learn that this was. “The said pew 10 is situated on the ground floor in the square body of pews of said house East and adjoining the Broad Aisle in the house. It being the Pew that was originally Bidd off in the original sale of the pews in said house by myself and Gershom HALE and stands in the records…” Furthermore he apparently aquired the half belonging to Gershom HALE and that was the half he was conferring to Dan GOODELL for the sum of Ten dollars! This I believe was the Baptist Meeting House which probably also functioned as a Town Hall. First Baptist Church of Orwell, was first organized in December 21, 1787. Their church building, located in the eastern part of the town was built in 1810.
And finally with the Baptist clue we find in the Southern Baptist Convention records for Orwell, Vermont. Peter hall appears in the many lists of members and then in 1838 he is listed along with his date of death.
The pages in this record are out of order and sequence and it appears many pages are missing. But I did do a through search for his wife Mandana and for her brothers surnamed CLARK. None appears in the record. However in 1830 Peter and Mandana’s daughter Cynthia BRUNDAGE is listed under her married name. The other church in town early on was Congregational and I suspect this is where Mandana attended along with her brothers. So another possible avenue for future exploration… In looking through the records there appears to be half or more of the parishioners not attending with spouses. So perhaps religious independence was more prevalent than we might imagine back then.
Before I began this quest to resurrect Peter he was just another of my sixteen, fourth great grandfathers. I not only feel that I have a better sense of who he was as a person, but a better sense of his part in the greater formation of my beloved country. It saddens me to be living in times that so many fought for our freedom, for our Democracy and for our Republic and yet we are threatened by ill-informed, historically illiterate people that lust after power and autocrats. May we somehow rise to this moment in history and recapture the spirits of the ordinary people who came before us. May we honor the lives of our forebears by bringing their ordinary and sometimes extraordinary, lives back to life.
As far as process goes the amount of material available on the Revolutionary War is enormous including actual letters in the National Archives and Institutional archives like Yale that should not be overlooked. Letters and dairies exist broadly to give you context. Good luck in your own resurrections. They certainly enrich our understanding of our ancestors and what they did to make our lives possible. Thank you Grandpa Peter!
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved.
A Tornado in November: Remembering
Posted on November 18, 2023 2 Comments
Dorothy repeats after the good witch, Glinda, “There’s no place like home”. Dorothy then clicks her heels three times. The makeshift sheet otherwise known as the stage curtain drops and we scurry about. The curtain rises, “Where am I?” asks, a bewildered Dorothy and in a blink of an eye we are bowing to raucous applause as the final curtain drops on Miss Buckley’s 4th grade production of the “Wizard of Oz”. Miss Buckley whistles and trumpets “Bravo” in her Boston laced accent.
As the audience of the visiting class departs, we are in high spirits. The room is buzzing with a mixture of pride, excitement and anticipation. This is the day before Thanksgiving and our last performance. Only, the young Miss Buckley, a brand new teacher would attempt a production of the Wizard of Oz with fourth graders. We are her pride and joy and we adore her. Miss Buckley’s enthusiasm is contagious, even though we’ve only been together since August, we have bonded tightly.
After removing our costumes and taking down the elaborate decorations we are all anticipating the party Miss Buckley has promised us.
Untypically, she leaves the class unsupervised as she retrieves ice cream from the faculty room freezer. It’s just down the hall , “Be back in a jiffy,” she says. The minutes pass and our excitement turns to concern. A class of fourth graders are not used to being left alone, there’s always an adult in charge. We discuss sending someone to find her. As we are deciding who will go to the office, the door opens with Miss Buckley and no ice cream.
Miss Buckley is blowing her nose and dabbing tears from her cheeks. We gather round as she tells us, “President Kennedy has been shot.” We know how much she admires him as they both come from Boston and to our ears they both pronounce idea “eye dear,” which we find amusing, so much so that we often correct her. She tells us what she knows about the shooting and tries to reassure us.
We retreat into silence, trying to make sense of what she has just said. This isn’t just any president; John Fitzgerald Kennedy, is my president. When I was six I worked on his campaign stuffing and stamping envelopes. I delivered pamphlets door to door placing them carefully under the door mat or rolled to fit between the door knob and frame. I learned it was illegal to put them in a mailbox. I watched excerpts from the Democratic Convention held in Los Angeles on our Black and White television. And on election night I was allowed to stay up until close to midnight when it looked like Kennedy might win.
Back in the classroom we hear the voice of Principal Brown, over the loudspeaker. We already know what he is going to say, “President Kennedy has been shot.” He follows with, “the bell will ring shortly and you are all to go home to your families.” And just like that the sunny, autumn day before Thanksgiving in 1963 turned our world upside down. We packed up and said goodbye in robotic fashion. All of us, just as bewildered as Dorothy awakening from the tornado in the Wizard of Oz. I lived across the street from Castro Elementary School, but I still had to travel a distance across the playground, down a set of stairs, across another playground and through the park, to get to our house on the corner. I cannot remember any of the journey. All I wanted was to be home.
As I come through the front door, my mother seems surprised to see me. The television is on. She switches the stations to find more news. Some stations have regular programming. There is confusion about the president’s condition. “Grave” I think someone said. The tones are somber and then the words, “President Kennedy is dead.”
John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States from 1961 to 1963, and the youngest man elected to the office of President. He died on November 22, 1963, the youngest President to die. Years later I would read Franz Werfel’s book ‘The Song of Bernadette’. In it he wrote “ Youth ceases at the moment when death becomes a reality to us.” Something of my youth was definitely shed that day. Like Dorothy we were uprooted and thrown into a totally new and unpredictable world and then when we returned to school on Tuesday, it was supposed to be back to normal. But the truth is, it never was the same.
Please see my Writing Challenge: Where were you when Kennedy was shot? if you are interested in doing your own writing for the 60th anniversary of JFK’s death this coming Wednesday.
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved
Revolutionary War Details in Ancestor’s Pension Files: Peter P Hall
Posted on November 11, 2023 4 Comments
In honor of Veteran’s Day I decided to look a little closer into the pension files of some ancestors. While reading through the Pension Application files I found this lovely letter. A bit heart breaking but, worth sharing. The point is we all need to take the time to read deeply and reflect on the sacrifices made by our ancestors. Especially our veterans.
Affidavits for Revolutionary War Pension
Transcription follows:
Orwell, Rutland Co, Vermont To the Hon Secretary of War for the United States of America,
Sir the undersigned the constituted authority of the Town of Orwell– having learned that the application of Mr Peter Hall (through his agent B. Temple Esq of Rutland) for a pension for Revolutionary Services—has not been granted to this time, they have to offer a few remarks for your consideration & information— Mr Hall was one of the first settlers of this town a farmer, his character for honesty, truth & patriotism stands as fair as any man of our acquaintance for that moral honesty he has become proverbial among us— We have ever believed he was justly entitled to a pension and we heard his tales of Revolutionary Services when his mind was good, it is now gone, which places him under embarrassment about procuring testimony–his statement here every one believes –& all regret the state of his mind is such that he can do nothing to assist himself— He enlisted at Mansfield Connecticut under Capt Peter Curtis–served three campaigns the first at Boston, Roxbury and he tells of assisting in taking & destroying a Lighthouse in Boston Bay. At Hackensack, NJ —He was for a time at NewYork–tells of rowing all night—to bring out [the] army from Long Island—of a retreat to the White Plains, of his discharge a short time before his enlistment expired in consequence of fever ague [Malaria]. –is Positive he was discharged by Col. Meigs–this is the most we can learn from him. —& In saying we believe– is we are confident we speak the feelings of all acquainted with him—we might add that Mr Hall is & has been from an early day a regular member of the Christian Church & an exemplary Christian. —The state of Mr Hall’s income is such that a pension would be a timely aid to his infirmity & would be well used by him—should your honor grant our request by placing Mr Hall on the Pension List we confidently believe you will nut have conferred it on a more deserving man—we remain with the highest respect your humble servants. Orwell 15 January 1834 Signed Mr B. Temple of Rutland, agent for Mr Hall; Roswell Bottems Jr Town Clerk; Bishop Bottom and Ruluff White, Selectmen; Chauncey H Conkey 1st Constable; Asa Fletcher Town Treasurer
What an impressive testimony to my 4th great grandfather Peter Hall that his fellow townspeople would have written such a description of his character.
Following this are many additional affidavits and the most interesting is from fellow soldier, Bela Rogers:
I Bela Rogers of Castleton in the county of Rutland and State of Vermont and the age of eighty six and a Soldier in the Revolution do testify and say that I was acquainted with Peter Hall who is now ? while in the army of the Revolutionary war. I knew him at Farmington in Connecticut. He belonged to Capt. Noadiah Hooker’s Company. The year 1775 the regiment I between was commanded by a Mr Spencer [Later General Spencer of Spencer’s brigade]. He the said Peter Hall enlisted and I enlisted in the month of May in the year 1775 and was discharged the same year in the month of Decem. The said Peter Hall belonged to the same company that I did and we both were discharged at Roxbury and further this respondent saith not. Given under my hand at ? this 14th day March 1833 Bela Rogers.
Transcription of Peter Hall’s original application which was at first rejected:
3rd of August 1832 Rutland Vermont
In 1775 He [Peter Hall] lived in Mansfield, Connecticut & immediately after the Battle of Lexington [April 19, 1775] he enlisted for seven months in Col. Meigs Regt, Capt Ely: Company Lt. Curtis — he does not remember the names of the other officers –marched to Cambridge & Roxbury & was stationed at Roxbury until his time was out, when he was discharged. His regiment was paraded at Roxbury during the Battle of Bunker Hill, but was not called into action. Soon after his time was out in the winter of 1776 he enlisted for three months & served in Captain Curtis Company I (being the LT Curtis above mentioned promoted) and marched for Whiteplains and after his time was out he again enlisted for seven months in the same company & Regt & marched to New York where he was when the enemy took the place in Sept 1776 — retreated to Whiteplains where he was discharged by Col Meigs –was not called into action at Whiteplains. In the winter of 1777 he again enlisted in Capt Curtis’s Company again for three months and marched to Whiteplains & Horse Neck and served guarding the line and in the winter of 1778 he again enlisted and, served three months in Capt Curtis Company again in guarding the line about Horse Neck and Whiteplains making in whole twenty three months of service. In addition to this he remained in service a fortnight at Roxbury after his time was out in 1775 until the new recruits came in. His memory is very much gone & he couldn’t remember the names of other officers under whom he served nor the precise time when he entered & left service –nor other regiments with whom he served. He knew Gen Washington, Putnam, Lee, Sullivan, Gates, Schulyer & many others whose names he forgets. He never recvd . a written discharge except from Col. Meigs above mentioned & this he has lost — He has no documentary evidence, &knows no person whose testimony he can procure who can testify as to his services, He was born in Mansfield 1 August 1755 his age is recorded in his Bible, & in the town clerk’s office in Mansfield. Soon after the close of the revolutionary war he moved to Orwell, Vermont where he has ever since lived. –He is known to Rev. W Kellogg, & to Apollos Austin Esq. whose affidavits he has present & to most of the inhabitants of Orwell. He forgot to mention that the last year of the war he lived in Pawlet, Vermont & volunteered service about two months at Castleton & assisted in building a Picket Fort there –but he has forgotten the names of the officers under whom he served. R.C. Royce Registrar signed Peter Hall.
From historical records we learn that a few months after hostilities at Lexington and Concord erupted, Col. Return Jonathan Meigs, aged 35 a militia captain, enlisted on July 1, 1775 as a major in the 2nd Connecticut Continental Regiment. The regiment was formed on May 1, 1775, commanded by Colonel Joseph Spencer [ Later known as Spencer’s Brigade]. So this is probably when Peter Hall enlisted. Spencer was promoted to Brigadier General on June 25th and the command fell to newly commissioned Colonel Samuel Wyllys. The Muster Roll for Peter Hall is under the 2nd Regiment Col. Wyllys. Further on August 9, 1776, now, General Spencer was promoted to Major-General of the Continental Army, and given command of a division composed of Parsons’ and Wadsworth’s Connecticut Brigades. In January 1776, due to a pressing request from General Washington, the Connecticut Council of Safety voted four regiments of 728 men to be raised to serve at camp near Boston until 1st of April. 1st raised under Colonel James Wadsworth, was present at Long Island at time of the battle August 27th, half of his division being engaged; present at White Plains October 25th, and on December 14th was ordered eastward, and took command in Rhode Island, which was surrounded by Admiral Sir Peter Parker’s forces. General Spencer remained in command through 1777. Colonel Noadiah Hooker was of Farmington, Connecticut. He marched to Roxbury as a captain in early stages of the American Revolution and was promoted to colonel in 1776. It appears that Peter was a lucky man in not facing many battles but he repeatedly enlisted to serve his country and was a witness to history.
The testimony of Peter Hall, though not remembering all the details is consistent with the facts. His pension file includes this summary in response to an inquiry.
So we have confirmation that he served about 2 years and 1.5 months over the course of the Revolutionary War and was granted a pension after August 3, 1832. He died the 25th of October at the age of 80. I encourage all of you to honor a veteran this day, by digging a little deeper.
ADDITIONS
In the DAR applications this gem which gives he was a shoemaker dark eyes, dark hair, and dark complexion and 5’7″. Also more details including under War service.
Governor Trumbull included the 5th Connecticut Light Horse Militia commanded by Major Elisha Sheldon as part of the state militia contingent sent to General Washington in New York after the Battle of White Plains. They Raided Fort St. George and Corum (Long Island, NY) 11/23/1780 during Peter Hall’s tenure.
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved
Writing Challenge: Where were you when Kennedy was shot?
Posted on November 7, 2023 1 Comment
One of my Genealogy class students, Frank, suggested that we write a piece on what we remember of where we were and what we were doing when President Kennedy was shot. November 22, 2023 will be the sixtieth anniversary of this national tragedy. As luck would have it they were both Wednesdays before Thanksgiving. It seem like a good way for us to tell part of our own story.
If you happen to be reading this and were not alive then I suggest you interview someone in your family.
I will post what I wrote in a later blog post but I thought reflecting on my process might be helpful to budding family history writers.
After our class decided to take up Frank’s challenge. I let the idea roll around in my head for a couple of days.
A couple of decades ago I had written a piece on one of my teachers and it included a bit on what had happened that day. But the focus of that writing, was on the teacher. I read it, but put it aside. In my mind I kept drawing in things to be included in the story, but then kept realizing that they were unnecessary tangents. I did not want to write a long story or a detailed story. I wanted it to be sparse—and not flowery—a true indication of the day.
As is often the case when I write I fall asleep at night thinking about how to frame or create the story. And usually I am rewarded waking up with an idea. I woke with the start of an idea but it was not yet formulated. As I wrote— it made itself known. I wrote in first person present and I dropped right into what was happening with no preamble. Without thinking about it in advance it perfectly mapped out what happened for me as that day unfolded.
There is a tendency with new writers (and some seasoned ones) to explain. Nothing on that day came with a explanation—and I wanted the reader to feel that. I did not want to add lots of adjectives or sensory clues. I just knew that up front. I think I felt a bit like a news writer. These were not things I was fully conscious of when I started—but as I said earlier they made themselves known.
I read my writing out loud to see if there were an awkward places. I rearranged a couple of clauses to make it read better. I added a quote and a small bit of detail but the rest was simply as it flowed. I could write a longer story from it—but I don’t want to. At least not now. Sixty years is a long time. I wrote what I remembered without filler or embellishment.
If you decide to take up this challenge your story is unique. How you tell it is both a reflection of you as a person, and your experience as a writer. There is no wrong or right way to do it. All I can suggest is that you be authentic. Do not try to sound like anyone but yourself. One member of my class does not like to write, except lists. If that is you write a list. Anything you write will give your descendants a better idea of who you were and what you experienced. That is the point. They won’t give a damn about your grammar or your skill. They will just be grateful that you wrote something down.
Please feel free to add snippets of your story in the comment or a link to your story.
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved
Writing Challenge: Playing with Sentences
Posted on October 26, 2023 1 Comment
I tried this out on my Genealogy Class and the results were terrific. So I offer it up for your consideration. This is a true beginners exercise, but even seasoned writer’s can have fun with it.
Ground Rules
- Limit yourself to one or two sentences to start
- You can write about anything you want. Maybe pick an ancestor and describe something about them ie Grandma Jones always wore a red gingham apron.
- Limit yourself to 5 minutes to write your initial sentence or two
Okay once you have your one or two sentences you are going to revise them as many ways as you can in 5 minutes. Try:
- Rearranging the words
- Adding sentences
- Putting in more or less descriptors
- Write whatever comes to mind
- Have fun
My Example
- She walked into the room and the fragrance of orange blossoms was overpowering.
- The fragrance of orange blossoms nearly knocked her over as she entered the conservatory.
- A familiar scent, tickled her memory; instantly transporting her back to her grand mum’s orangery.
- What was that smell? She inhaled it like someone thirsty for something they did not know they needed. Her shoulders relaxed as she pondered forgotten memories.
The whole idea of this exercise is to get your creative juices flowing. There is not RIGHT way to WRITE anything. There are many, many choices we have in selecting words, their order, their context. Playfulness often unlocks depth and interest in our writing. Especially with Family History Writing. Ask yourself, “Who is my audience?” If its your descendants ask yourself, “Will they read this, will it interest them?” If your answer is NO. Then its time to move past your first draft of a sentence to something a bit more interesting.
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved
Old Rehoboth, Massachusetts & the Ring of Green: Mapping the Past on Greenwood Ave, East Providence, Rhode Island
Posted on October 16, 2023 12 Comments
Background
Two years ago in the lead up to visiting Rehoboth and Swansea, Massachusetts I contacted the East Providence Historical Society and I asked for help in locating the original home lot of Robert WHEATON on the Ring of Green. Sandra Turgeon and I exchanged emails and arranged to meet at the East Providence Historical Society at Hunt’s Mills.
Adjacent the Hunt House as it stands today is where Stephen Payne built a sawmill, grist mill and tannery back in 1643 on the Ten Mile River. If you follow the River westward it forms the southern boundary of the approximately 300 acre of the Ring of Green. Whether this or any other of the numerous Mills along Ten Mile River may have been where Robert WHEATON’s Tannery was located we will never know.
We did have a fruitful meeting and later I spent an afternoon talking photos along Greenwood Ave and the ends of Pearl and Chauncey avenues trying to make sense of the original home lots as shown in the Volumes by John G Erhardt. Below you see his drawing of the Ring of Green. Which for those not in the know, is now in East Providence [Rumford], Rhode Island, for the original Rehoboth was not where it is today.
The Ring of Green
The homelots of the original proprietors of Rehoboth were laid out around a common or green. This area would be where livestock was allowed to graze and a meeting house/church would be built. Five gates were scattered about the green where you could enter or exit. The green was fenced and surrounded by house / farm lots of six, eight or twelve acres depending on the wealth of the proprietor. Rehoboth was the name chosen by Samuel Newman. To the native Narragansett and Wapanog, it was known as Seaconk or Seekonk. I will not wasde into the controversy over what Seekonk means as Richard LeBaron Bowen gives up the first 24 pages to an exploration in his Early Rehoboth Vol. 2.
In the map above the lots on the south of the Ring from Isaac Martin to Obadiah Holmes lay along what is now Greenwood Ave. The bottom parts of those lots are now part of the Agawam Hunt Golf Course. Sorting out what the lots were then and where they are today has been a major challenge. I have come up with many iterations of that map with lots superimposed onto a aerial view of Google maps of the present day. But it was never quite matching up. I worked on it many times since my visit and then set it aside.
At the very beginning we knew the locations of Samuel NEWMAN’s lot but not all the area it encompassed. We know that the Phanuel BISHOP House at #150 Greenwood Ave was located on NEWMAN’s property. And we knew that the Caleb ABELL house is located at #66 Greenwood Ave and that another ABELL house is located at #30 Greenwood. But where exactly lay the lots of Robert WHEATON and his neighbor Robert FULLER were guestimates.
The Two Roberts: WHEATON & FULLER
The Puzzle
Then Sandra contacted me and we started working afresh. Although its still a work in progress its getting closer and closer. So if there were rudimentary surveying and property disputes back then—it wasn’t going to be easy to reconstruct the past. What is evident is that the separate, discrete lots of the original 1645 Ring of Green were consolidated over time and then more recently separated back again into smaller lots. The exact location of property lines is going at be suspect at best. But I am going to put forward what we have so far and amend it, as necessary.
I have highlighted Greenwood Ave. Courtesy of Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston
So I decided to take another approach that led to this chart. As I said this is a work in progress. But I am confident it is close.
Plotting them onto a 1928 Map of Greenwood Avenue it looks like this.
Holmes, Abell & Allen Houses
I did not take photos of every lot but starting with #8 Here goes. This is the lot of Obadiah HOLMES. It is said that this house, built about 1760’s on the foundation of a house that burned during King Phillips War.
Next up is #30 originally John ALLEN and later Capt. Robert ABELL. Later known as the Harold BOSWORTH Hose built about 1910’s.
The following property was also owned at one time by the ABELL family. The original foundation goes back to the 17th century. The first house built in 1643 burned in 1676. The current house dates about 1750. The original lot belonged to Edward HALL then Caleb ABELL.
Robert Wheaton’s and Robert Fuller’s Lots
Both Robert WHEATON bc 1606 and Robert FULLER bc 1615 settled originally at Salem, Massachusetts. Robert WHEATON was a tanner and Robert FULLER a bricklayer or mason. Robert WHEATON appears on the records in Salem in 1636 and Robert FULLER in November of 1639. The Roberts each married sisters Alice and Sarah BOWEN, daughters of Richard BOWEN. It is most likely that Richard BOWEN was instrumental in the Roberts moving to Rehoboth as he was with the Rev. Newman at Weymouth, Massachusetts before relocating to Rehoboth. The border between Robert WHEATON’s property and Robert Fuller’s was in dispute for thirty years. Robert FULLER turned over his home lot to his son Benjamin in 1679, only after the property dispute was settled:
As a side note Sarah (BOWEN) FULLER wife of Robert FULLER died 14 October 1676, prehaps killed by Indians. That same year all but two houses on the Ring of the Green were burnt to the ground and Robert and Sarah’s sons Samuel and John FULLER were killed in August. It is presumed that their sister Abigail was also a victim of King Phillip’s War. It is perhaps for this reason Robert FULLER removes to Salem in 1676 where he lives with his new wife Margaret the widow of Christopher WALLER. In their 80’s Margaret and Robert FULLER return to Rehoboth. She dies in 1699 and he in 1706. By comparison Robert WHEATON’s family survive King Philips War intact. Robert died in 1696 in his 90th year, his wife Alice sometime between the time of the writing of his will in 1686 and the settlement of his estate in 1696. It is suggested that they are buried near their son, the Rev Ephraim WHEATON at Old Burial Hill but no markers exist. However there are some field stones in the general vicinity.
” An agreement made the 28th [torn] of 1679 Betwixt Robat Wheaton and Robert ffuller both of Rehoboth in order to make the ending of a contriversie that hath ben longe between them Respecting the Bounds of thire home lott, the said Robat Wheaton ingageing in the persone of Mr James Browne and other neighbors; that betwixt this day and winter sets in he would puk his fence and set it in the bounds where the thre stakes stands, and they both agreeingthat they both agreeing that those stakes shall be the bound between them: witness my hand the day and yeare above written, The Marke of Robert Wheaton. “ William Carpenter, Town Clerk Rehoboth Town Meetings Book II
So the answer to my quest is probably the same hunch I had when wandering up and down Greenwood Ave. It would be closest to the lot of #70 today. Of course the house there is much more recent.
To the right (west) is a wooded stream bisected lot that would have been Robert FULLER’s his house being located across Greenwood Ave on the North side where it is less steep. I suspect Hayward Place and this wooded area would be a part of his original lot.
View from the Backside to the South
All of these lots along Greenwood had their southern boundary at Ten Mile River. Their lots would have encompassed what is now the Agawam Country Club & Golf Course. So I also went to the south side and took photographs shooting northward.
I think it interesting to compare this view with one 100 years earlier.
Continuing Along Greenwood Ave
This House at #90 Greenwood Ave is known as the 1871 William W. ELLIS house. The house was altered in the 20th century. This is likely on what was the Ephraim HUNT lot back in 1645. The woods to the left side of photo would be that of Robert FULLER lot.
This house at #98 built in the 1860’s would be the approximate location of the John HOULBROKE lot.
That is Followed by the Nathaniel BISHOP House at #106 Greenwood Ave. This house built in the 1860’s by Nathaniel BISHOP on the approximate Robert MORRIS lot.
These two house at #108 and #132 were originally the William SMITH lot and Town Land lots. #132 was later consolidated into the holdings of Samuel NEWMAN. #108 is known as the Arthur WEAVER house built in the early 1900’s.
And finally we arrive at the Property originally belonging to Samuel NEWMAN known now as the Phanuel BISHOP house. It was built in the 1770’s .
Located on property previously owned by the Rev. Samuel NEWMAN
Further research may yield adjustments but I decided to publish this in the event someone has information that will further clarify what we think we know. Additions and corrections are always welcome. Thank you’s to Sandra Turgeon and Lende Mcmullen.
Note: Please if you visit this neighborhood be respectful of the people who live here. And don’t forget to pay your respects at Newman Cemetery which is what remains of the green, of the “Ring of Green.”
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 All Rights Reserved
Special Ancestors: Asa Ami Paden
Posted on October 7, 2023 4 Comments
I happened to think of Asa today when teaching a genealogy class. I was talking about being the custodian of historic documents and it made me think of my cousin, Nancy Black Young [my 2nd cousin twice removed], who had sent me a few years ago, documents regarding my 2nd great uncle, Asa PADEN. But that wasn’t the first time I had heard about Asa. Back in the 1970’s when I began corresponding with my cousin, Elsie PADEN [my 1st cousin twice removed] she wrote to me about Asa and later she included him in her “Personal Glimpses of the Paden Family : from 1790 to 1977 October 1972.”
So off I go to my binder of Elsie’s letters and her first mention of Asa in our correspondence. In a letter to me dated Jan 30, 1975, speaking about James Lewis PADEN, her grandfather, she writes:
“The reason for Asa Paden’s name on the 1880 census was because he was under his father’s care even at 33 years of age because of his mental ‘Condition.’ The census reports stating that Asa was ‘insane’ falls short of the truth. Asa was not ‘insane’. He was not even Feeble-minded as we know it today. He was ‘odd’ perhaps, and no doubt his IQ was below 75. I remember him as quite an old man when I was six or seven. He lived with his brother, James Lewis and his wife Millie Coats Paden on the Nebraska homestead, having gone to live with them after his father, Alexander’s death. It was always my understanding that Asa, too served in the Civil War the latter part of the conflict. That of course is possible as he would have been around 17 years of age, and because the Union Army was so desperately in need of men…” [I have not found an official record of his service. As my cousin Malia suggests perhaps he just tagged along].
It was later torn down
My grandfather Milo MOSIER was born here in 1899
What intrigued me in Elsie Paden’s letter was the following description: “I distinctly remember Asa’s room in Grandma’s farm house. It was small, on the southwest corner of the second story, having two windows, one on the west and one on the south. Asa Collected bottles of every color, shape and size. He had them tastefully arranged on the window sills, and on other furniture in his bedroom. The sun reflected through the colored bottles made lovely rainbows on the walls. He could name the places he found the bottles and loved telling about them. He kept them washed and shiny. So you see why I feel quite sure ‘insane’ is a cruel word to describe him. I presume people in that era could not understand how one could be sane and collect bottles! He was such a gentle, kind person and did whatever he was told to do with no complaint. He had plenty of opportunity to find bottles as the homestead was on the Mormon trail from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Salt Lake City.” This description of Asa written and read by me over 48 years ago stuck. I can see a rainbow reflected on a wall and think of my Great Uncle Asa, who I never met. Such is the power of word pictures to build a connection with our past.
Asa was born in 1847 in Sandusky, County Ohio, the eleventh of thirteen children. He is listed on the 1850 census with his family. Then in 1860, twelve year old Asa is listed at the Ohio Institution for Idiots, also known later as the Ohio Institution for the Feeble minded. Its mission “to furnish special means of improvement to that portion of our youth who are so deficient in mind, or have such marked peculiarities and eccentricities of intellect as to deprive them of the benefits of other educational institutions and ordinary methods of instruction.” This institution was founded in 1857 and my guess is the “experts” convinced his parent parents Alexander PADEN and Anna Maria REMSBURG that they could take better care of educating Asa. Perhaps he was there just for a short stint for “improvement.” In 1860 the Institute was located in a rented house on Friend Street (now East Main St). There were a total of 32 “insane” resident, ages ranging from 8-16; 2 Physicians, 1 Physician Assistant, 3 teachers, 3 laborers and 8 domestics.
However, by the 1870 census, Asa is back living with his parents in Limerick, Ohio, and we are left to wonder. Did he help out in the Civil War? When was he released? What happened to him when he was there? In 1880, as Elsie mentioned, Asa is living with his father, Alexander, and Asa is listed as insane. They are both living in the household of Asa’s brother, John PADEN. For occupation it says Asa “does errands.” That made me smile. Based on Elsie’s remarks above, he probably was very good at doing errands and lending a hand where needed. Below is a photo of Asa, something of the gentleness Elsie spoke of seems to shine through.
Asa, never married, never had children. There are few left to remember him, but I wanted to give him his due. When I wrote to my 3rd cousin, Malia Hammerstrom, I found out she had written about Asa a few years ago. I am grateful to her for letting me share her photo of his gravestone and for her additions to Asa’s Story. Thanks are also due to my cousin, Nancy. I have the document between Asa’s father and his brother, James L, arranging for his guardianship and care. It reads in part “Whereas as the party of the second part agrees to keep his brother Asa A Paden of unsound mind, during his life time to furnish him with board and clothing and all the necessities of life For the payment of same the said Alexander Paden party of the first part has this day deeded to James L. Paden….80 acres and valued at Two Thousand Dollars which is a part of Asa A Paden’s dower at the death of Alexander Paden. In case James L. Paden should die before his brother Asa A Paden the said Asa shall receive his support from the estate of said James L. Paden.
I can not find Asa in 1900 but I do find him in 1910 after his brother James L PADEN has died and he is living with his sister-in-law, Millie and family on the Paden farm pictured above. Asa is listed as being able to read and write but “none” is listed for his occupation. I muse, they should have listed him as a “bottle collector. As Elsie and Malia noted the Mormon Trail, as it came through Nebraska, it took various routes. In 1851 flooding and heavy rainfall forced the Mormons to take a more northern route. The Paden homestead was located in Colfax County in the southern and eastern part, right where the 1851 trail comes through. This makes Asa’s searching for cast off items along the trail make sense.
Asa would have been searching a few decades after those heading west had passed through. Not only could Asa understand the value of discarded things—it seems he knew how to make them beautiful. Asa died in 1915 and is buried at the Purple Cane Cemetery near Rogers, Nebraska. Nancy Black Young and Malia Hammerstorm were doing family history searches and found Asa’s plot and realized no marker had been placed there. Cousins Nancy, Sherry Campbell, Pam Maldonado, and Malia purchased Uncle Asa a stone that was placed on his grave in the spring of 2018, so he should not be forgotten. Thank you for remembering Asa. A family that cares for all of its members and especially the special ones, is a family I am proud to share.
Asa’s story has always stuck with me. Perhaps it will inspire you to honor “special” ancestors that may be lurking in your tree.
Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved
Family Heirlooms: Egyptian Cosmetic Spoon
Posted on August 27, 2023 5 Comments
This is an example of starting to write about a particular object and ending up with much more than you bargained for. All the memories of a beloved place come streaming back. So no matter the writing—let it take you where it wants to go.
This figure sat on the coffee table of my grandparents house and I never knew the provenance of it. I never was quite sure whether it was American Indian or Egyptian in style. My grandparents did not have much in the way of toys at their house, so I sometimes played with the black princess. The toy box, stored in their pantry, which we used to drag out into the kitchen, held old wood spools and wood rings that looked like donuts. The box had a pierced metal, vented top and sides and a lovely latching mechanism on top. Reminded me a bit of an old icebox. Thinking about that box I wonder whether it previously held pigeons as mentioned in my great grandmother Lulu’s diary. When we write we are bound to remember. We are encouraged to wonder. There was also a small assortment of red plastic Hills Brothers coffee scoops in the toy box. And even though washed, they still smelled like coffee. So the wood pigeon carrier perhaps, repurposed as toy box. It had a mix of wood odors and coffee. It’s not just the fragrance of things past, it is the tactical remembering you feel in your fingertips or notes echoing in your ears.
The black princess was not really a toy. She was heavy, weighing in at two pounds—so not exactly a barbie doll! She was proportioned more like a girl than a mature woman –so that gave her a leg up on Barbie in my book. She was utilitarian as she would gladly hold nuts, collected flowers or petals from the garden or my favorite specially selected pea pebbles from my grandparent’s pea gravel paths and driveway. The black princess didn’t talk much and she was like Barbie, completely inflexible, but she was more amenable to my story telling. She made me wonder about her. And she looked like a swimmer and so we had that in common.
When my grandparents died in 1968 I never knew where the black princess ended up. I would sometimes think of her and always wonder where she was. Then one day I was talking to my cousin and it turns out she had the black princess and as she had no specific memories of it—so she lovingly sent it to me. It’s one of those objects that can instantaneously transport me back to the 1960’s in my grandparents living room on Cedar Street. Compared to my parent’s living room it seemed large. It was filled with the most glorious light filtering in from opposite sides of the room. There were two sofas: one a dark gray horse hair and another that was in a cream and gold brocade. The cream and gold brocade being the newer more modern one that had a good view of the console television. The black princess sat on the coffee table of the horse hair sofa and she had a good view of the brick fireplace and the windows with their lace curtains. I preferred her kingdom to the modern one that the family generally occupied. There was one table between the two kingdoms and that held my grandfather’s well loved upright Royal typewriter. I can smell the typewriter ribbon just thinking about it.
Once I possessed the black princess, I set out to find out more about her and each time came up empty. Then in one of those inspirational moments I took a photo and posted it on Mastodon [Free social media platform]. And sure enough Mastodon did not let me down. Thanks to @ThreeDollarBill and @CyperBunk. I learned my black princess was indeed Egyptian. And she is a “cosmetic spoon.” Who knew?
Wikipedia has a photo of a Cosmetic spoon from the Louvre: “Cosmetic Spoon: Young Girl Swimming is a late Eighteenth Dynasty ancient Egyptian carving by an unknown artist. Completed sometime between 1400 BC–1300 BC, it currently resides in the Louvre, Paris. These spoons are also referred to as “toilet spoons”. It is believed that cosmetic spoons were used to throw myrrh onto fires as offerings to gods or to the dead.” The spoons are associated with the Egyption Goddess, Nwt [Nut], Goddess of the night sky. As such she ruled over the stars and the universe. She was said to draw the dead into the night sky where she would enfold and protect them. She was also the protector of Ra, the sun god. The spoon may have been a vessel for cosmetic paints or aromatic oils however, egyptologists still argue over her purpose. In my version of the mythology she is mother gathering the souls of the dead to swim them to the heavens.
My cosmetic spoon obviously, is a replica. No matter its value is not to be measured in dollars. ASOR: The American Society of Overseas Research has a picture of an identical piece on their webpage here from the author’s collection. Save that his is Bronze: “Victorian swimming girl spoon ca. 1890.” It looks to me as that they were cast from the same mold. Whether this was from the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition as I suspect or something earlier, I do not know. If it is, who bought it? My grandmother Carrie, was still in Washington State so my guess is either my great-grandmother Lulu or her son, my grandfather, Milo. I guess it may have been Lulu and this was something he kept of hers as a keepsake. Or perhaps Lulu’s mother, Millie, had bought it when she was visiting. She writes about her visit to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition here.
My black princess is my feminist icon of connection between the living and the dead. The Zulu and Ndebele people of southern Africa believed the stars are the eyes of dead ancestors, keeping watch on the living from above. That pleases me. By the way the duck is a symbol of renewal and fertility…the law of conservation says all matter is conserved. The same amount of matter exists before and after the change [death] —nothing is created or destroyed.
Update: In an email exchange with Peter Lacovara the author mentioned in the ASOR article the spoons estimated date of production was 1870’s-1880’s. When the Suez Canal was opened in 1869 there was a resurgence of Egyptian style known as the Egyptian Revival Style that persisted into the 1920’s. That makes it even harder to pinpoint who owned it. If only I could power-up the time machine…
Please see my post on writing about heirlooms.
Kelly Wheaton © 2023 – All Rights Reserved
Fact or Fiction? A Revolutionary War soldier talked to a boy, who became a Civil War soldier
Posted on August 25, 2023 5 Comments
"There will be stories, and only some of them will be true." DUANE F. MOSIER
These words my Dad spoke after his diagnosis with lung cancer. They were words of wisdom he passed on to me and his grandchildren. In my The Challenge: Tokyo Rose I proved that a story he told about testifying at the Tokyo Rose Trial was true. Here is another story my Dad said when he was a young boy living in Weaverville, Trinity County, California there was and old “codger” as he called him who was hard of hearing. The old man told him that when he was a kid, like my Dad, he didn’t pay old folks stories much mind either. The old fella said he had talked to a man who served in the Revolutionary War. When my Dad told this story at work with a bunch of scientists, they said he was full of crap. That’s impossible. So I decided to see if Dad was right, or “full of crap.” He only knew the last name of the old man was “JONES.” He wasn’t hard to find on the 1830 census. He is listed as a gold miner, age 89. When my Dad arrived in Weaverville in 1833, my Dad would have been 7 or 8 and the old guy about 92. So that part of the story fits.
The codger was Monroe JONES and according to his obituary in the Sacramento Bee, 4th of February 1939 he was the last of the Trinity County Civil War Veterans. My Dad’s childhood friend Ruth Goodyear Dowdakin describes him as having one of those very long ear trumpets so he could hear. They may seem crude but they are said to have been remarkably effective. So we learn here that Monroe was just 3 months shy of his 99th birthday when he died and that he left a daughter and eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren! It makes me wonder how many of them had ever listened to his stories.
4 February 1939
The 1930 census told me that Monroe was born in Illinois. And sure enough I found Monroe JONES living with his parents in the 1850 Henry County, Illinois census as 6 year old, listed as Charles, with parents Milo and Mary JONES. In 1860 he is listed as, Monroe, 16, with parents Milo and Mary JONES. But in the same census for Henry County in 1850 where the JONES family is on page 23, I then found a Geo Spear, Pauper, age 96 born in Pennsylvania on page 40. He is living with a James Bacchus. He is the only 90+ year old male in the county.
So I went looking for a George SPEAR and found one on the 1800 Federal census in Amwell, Washington County, Pennsylvania age 26-44 so birth about 1756-1774. Furthermore I find in Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Volume III : Harrisburg Publishing Company, State Printer, 1906 pg 134: George Spear, Rev War Corporal 9 Sep 1778 with Continental Line Captain Jacob Bower’s Company Of Sixth Pennsylvania Regiment Commanded By Lieutenant Colonel Josiah Harmar, Esq. There are George SPEAR land transactions in Illinois as early as 1826.
The point is, that even the most outlandish stories can be true. A Revolutionary War Corporal born about 1754 when he was about 96 spoke with a young lad Monroe JONES about 6-8 years old. Then Monroe grew up to serve in the Civil War and he talked to my Dad about 1933-39 when my Dad was 8-13. So I am going to believe that my Dad talked to a Civil War Veteran who talked to a Revolutionary War Veteran.
And any way you cut it that’s one helluva story! Thanks Dad. Sadly I am unable to locate a grave for George Spear and as a Pauper he may have been buried in an unmarked grave—perhaps never claiming the pension to which he was entitled. May this stand as a memorial to your service. How many patriots lie in unmarked graves?
Kelly Wheaton © 2023 – All RIghts Reserved
Mind The Gap: Making the Connection to the Royal STEWARTs of Scotland
Posted on August 17, 2023 15 Comments
Sometimes you can prove a connection without being able to flesh out the in-between. Thus like the announcements at the train station “Mind the Gap.” Sometimes people grasp at anything to make the connection and falsify the record in doing so. This is part of a cautionary tale to be careful even when evaluating something that appears as fact with nothing to back it up but conjecture.
My STEWART line I have written about before in My Woman Warrior where I relate that my 2nd great-grandmother born Catherine Adeline STEWART claimed she was related to the Royal STEWARTS. I didn’t really give it much credence until a decade ago when YDNA testing proved that it was true. Imagine that! I also noted in the Revolutionary War pension file of her father Daniel Bertine STEWART there are several letters from descendants inquiring about the Royal STEWART connection. It surprises me how persistent these family legends can be and sometimes they turn out to be true.
DNA
The line back to my immigrant to America, Alexander STEWART (1675-1742), is solid. More about that in a moment. What isn’t solid is the name of his parents and the line backward from Alexander. What we do know is, we are patrilineal descendants of Alexander (1675-1742), because a number of male STEWART cousins are positive for the YDNA SNP: S781. That is they are direct descent from Sir John STEWART Bonkyl (c.1265-1298) who carried that SNP. The Royal STEWART FTDNA project states: The two most important branches of the family are the Scottish Royal STEWARTs, represented by descendants of King Robert II of Scotland (grandson of Alexander STEWART via eldest son Sir James STEWART); and the STEWART of Lennox… who descend from Alexander STEWART’s younger son, Sir John STEWART of Bonkyl. Sir John STEWART of Bonkyll was a military commander during the First Scottish War of Independence and during the Battle of Falkirk he commanded the Scottish archers, and was killed, 22nd of July 1298, during that Battle. He is interred in the churchyard of the Falkirk Old Parish Church.
From Sir John Stewart Bonkyl (c.1265-1298) we can trace the ascent (backward in time) as follows:
- Sir John STEWART Bonkyl‘s older brother, James was the 5th High Steward of Scotland.
- Their father Alexander STEWART (1220-1282) was the 4th High Steward of Scotland.
- Their grandfather Walter STEWART (1204-1246) was the 3rd High Steward of Scotland.
- Their great grandfather Alan Fitz Walter (1140-1204) was the 2nd High Steward of Scotland.
- Their great-great grandfather was Walter fitz Alan (1140-1204) the 1st High Steward of Scotland.
Sir John’s STEWART Bonkyl’s nephew was Walter STEWART, 6th High Steward of Scotland (1293–1327) who married Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert I the Bruce.
by Pilkington JACKSON at Bannockburn Battlefield
His son was King Robert II of Scotland, the first STEWART monarch. So to simplify Sir John STEWART [Bonkyl]’s grand-nephew was King Robert II of Scotland. So not exactly royalty but from the same STEWART family that became Royals. However, Sir John’s STEWART [Bonkyl]’s 9th great grandson Henry STUART Lord Darnley was the Stuart that married Mary Queen of Scots.
Coming forward is more problematic. Of the sons of Sir John’s Stewart Bonkyl that did not die without issue or daughter out we have:
- Sir Alan STEWART of Dreghorn whose descendants are the STEWARTs of Darnley, Earls of Essex, the Seigneurs d’ABigny and the Royal House of STUART. Also from this branch are the STEWART of Galstoun that appears to have died out. FTT43
- Sir Walter STEWART of Garlies and Dalswinton whose descendants were STEWART of Garlies, later Earls of Galloway and Lords Blantyre YSNP FTT48
- Sir James STEWART Pearston whose descendants were the Lords of Lorne, Earls of Atholl, Earls of Buchan, Earls of Traquair and Clan STEWART of Appin YSNPS A5024 FTT41 (and for the Appin branch FTT42)
- Sir Robert STEWART of Daldowie ancestors of the STEUART and Seton STEUART baronets of Allanton and Coltness STEWARTS.
The above pedigree I have annotated to show the YDNA SNPS that identify Different branches and the green boxes denote possible lineages that could be the connection. There are not easy answers to our STEWART conundrum. There are thousands of descendants but many lines daughter out. Knowing the SNP associated with our branch descending from Sir John of Bonkyll helps in eliminating possibilities. There are also issue not included in the chart specifically around other sons of Sir Alexander STEWART of Darnley and his son Sir John STEWART’s other issue not recorded on this chart. It would appear we descend from either through an un-researched line or through illegitimacy. In the chart above there are several possibilities Alexander STEWART son of Matthew the 2nd Earl of Lennox if he had male heirs. The John STEWART Methven illegitimate son of Ludovic 2nd Duke of Lennox or an unknown descendant or Esme STEWART Third Duke of Lennox. Or one of the unrecorded brothers of the aforementioned STEWARTs. The DNA proves the connection but it is the Gap that needs Minding.
ATTACHING AN ANCESTOR WITHOUT EVIDENCE
But it’s the in between that remains in question. And that’s where people clutch at any connection they can find and they get it wrong, more often than not. There are plenty of trees showing Andrew’s father as Robert STEWART which depends of on one scrap of evidence ” tradition states Alexander’s father was Robert” from an old Stewart Clan Magazine, September 1929, Vol. VIII, No. 3. Even worse is connecting Robert STEWART as a son of Reverend Andrew STEWART, II b. 1620, Gortigal, County Tyrone, Ireland, UK; died January 02, 1671. The problem is it isn’t true. Descendants of Rev. Andrew STEWART are of a different YDNA line. This is what happens when you try to connect people in your tree based on a name, without other supporting evidence. How many Robert STEWARTs do you think there are in this time period in Northern Ireland?
YDNA to the RESCUE
I have tons of these stories including one from The venerable New England Historical Genealogical Register Vol 80 pg 380 1926 in which J. Gardner Bartlett of Boston presumed that the Isaac SHELDON of Windsor, Connecticut was the same as the one born in Bakewell, Derbyshire in 1632. I wrote about that here. Then a short time later I found the Isaac of Bakewell living in Manchester, England. “Transcription: “Isaac Sheldon of Manchester, sadler, sonne of Raphe SHELDON late of SHELDON in the county of Derby, Gen’t, and Mary VENABLES of Selford, daughter of William VENABLES of the same, chapman, were married at Manchester, the seventh day of April, 1656 before Richard HAWORTH, Esq. one of the Justis of Peace in this County of Lancashire.” More on that here in which Dale Sheldon shows that this Isaac married and had a family in Manchester when the other Isaac was in Windsor Connecticut. And on top of that the YDNA of the Derbyshire SHELDONs does not match those of the Windsor, Connecticut SHELDONs. Those pesky devils int he details.
DNA allows up to prove a patrinlineal line without being able to “Fill in the GAP.” My Husband’s precise connection to Robert WHEATON of Rehoboth, Massachusetts has a “Gap.” We are lucky to have DNA to prove in essence that which we have no other evidence for. It simply isn’t always going to be possible to make connections as we would like.
WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS?
The truth in a legend can open the door to history. I don’t happen to think Royals are any better than anyone else in my tree—the Easter egg– in finding one, is there’s generally much more written about them, than your every day farmer or peasant. The bonus is being able to connect yourself and your ancestors with history. It suits me just fine if the illegitimate son of Ludovic STEWART, 2nd Duke of Lennox, John STEWART of Metheven was my ancestor, even as he was an unsavory character. The illegitimate son of an illegitimate son–reading below sounds right out of a movie script:
In September 1626 the Privy Council found he had been living in adultery in Dumbarton Castle with two servant women, Isobel Beaton and Margaret Kilmaurs, and had kept his wife, Dame Margaret, a prisoner in a ruinous and damp part of the castle for 13 days, chained to the bed, and he beat her. Isobel Beaton and Isobel Scot had previously been admonished by Dumbarton Kirk for scandalous behaviour.
Stewart was found guilty of three adulteries and sentenced to be executed “by the king’s will”, and the court ordered that he should be hanged in December 1627. It is unclear if he was hanged, but he was dead by 1630 when a legal case mentions his decease, and his widow Margaret married Sir John Seton of Gargunnock in 1629.
Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol.1 (Edinburgh, 1899), pp. xciv, 358, 378, 380, 416-8.
There are a couple of things that recommend this particular theory. John STEWART of Metheven also spent considerable time in Ireland. John STEWART Methven was said to have been lax in his duties at Dumbarton Castle, Scotland preferring to spend time in Ireland at Mongavlin Castle which he had built in 1611 and he had lands in Raphoe and Portloughe, all in Donegal. These areas were part of the Scottish Plantation of Ulster which had been granted to his father, the Duke of Lennox.
In reality the connection may be someone less noteworthy who just happened to be the 2nd, 3rd or fourth son who ended up in obscurity.
TEASING OUT THE TRUTH
Allegedly Alexander STEWART who immigrates to East Haddon, Connecticut and later settles in Voluntown married in Ireland to Margaret DIXON. Her father Robert DIXON fled Ayrshire, Scotland in 1666 for Antrim in Northern Ireland. Between 1638-1688 Covenanters who did not abide the Church of England faced persecution and sometimes death, so many fled Scotland for Ireland. By 1702 there were nine Presbyteries founded: Belfast, Down, Antrim, Coleriane, Armagh, Tyrone, Monaghan, Derry and Convoy. It is alleged that Robert DIXON married Priscilla, daughter of Hugh KENNEDY about 1670 in Ireland. The children of Robert and Priscilla DIXON were allegedly born in Ballymena, Antrim, Ireland but I can find no evidence of any DIXONs in Ballymena in 1669 but this may have been because they came after the Money Rolls in 1660 & 1663 and settled in Ballymena after 1669. Robert and Priscilla were allegedly married about 1670. In 1660 the closest DIXONS or DICKSONS to Ballymena in is a Widow DIXON in Kilead, Antrim about 16 miles away.
In the 1669 Hearth Money Rolls for Ballymena town and Estate we do find four STEWARTS: Andrew, John, Robert and a widow STEWART. Could this the alleged Robert STEWART, aka Alexander STEWART’s father (1675-1742) ? We just don’t know. There are also three Hugh KENNEDYs in Doonans, Donegal; Priestland, Antrim; and Stranocum, Balymoney, Antrim which is about 19 miles from Ballymena. And there was a John KENNEDY living on the Ballymena Estate in 1669.
Sometimes you can’t fill in the gap—it’s as simple as that. We sometimes must be satisfied with knowing the further back, but missing the in between. The Ulster diaspora to America estimates for the period 1680–1750 are about 70,000 immigrated from Ireland to America. There was a large exodus to America in 1717-1719 when the persecution of the Presbyterians was great and the rents of tenant farmers was high. In 1718 five ships carried families from both Aghadowey and Dunboe in County Londonderry and settled in what is now Maine. Also in August of 1718 Governor Samuel SHUTE agreed to allocate land in the Massachusettes colony for Ulster settlers at the urging of Ulster ministers. Massachusettes provided land grants for Ulster settlers to reinforce the frontier against Native Americans and to enhance Massachusetts‘ claim to the territory that was in dispute with Maine. Many immigrants followed and by 1720 approximately 2,600 Ulster immigrants had arrived in Boston. Among them were Andrew STEWART and his wife Margaret and her alleged brothers Robert, Archibald and John DIXSON. It is said that their son Samuel STEWART was born aboard ship on their voyage to Boston.
Until something new comes along that is where we must leave it. Alexander STEWART of Ireland who immigrated to Connecticut is by DNA confirmed to be a descendant of Sir John Bonkyll STEWART of the Royal line of STEWARTs. For now “Please Mind the GAP”!
Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All rights Reserved
Wheaton Wood 