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GENEALOGICAL     NOTES 


OF 


B^TO'FPIiE      F^MIWE^, 


BEING   A   REPRINT   OP   THE 


AMOS    OTIS    PAPERS, 


ORIGINALLY   PUBLISHED   IN 


THE    BARNSTABLE    PATRIOT. 


REVISED  BY  C.  F.  SWIFT, 

Largely  from  Notes  Made   by   the  Author. 


VOLUME   I. 


BARNSTABLE,  MASS. : 

F.  B.  &  F.  P.  GOSS,  PUBLISHEES  AND  PRINTEES. 

[  The  "Pateiot"  Pkess.  ]     ~^ 
1888. 

,'..  /^" 


-5 " .') 


F 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1885,  by 

F.  B.  Goss, 
in  the  oflSce  of  the  Librarian  of   Congress,  at  Washington. 


EDITOR'S  NOTE. 


When  Mr.  Goss,  some  months  ago,  informed  me  of  his 
intention  to  reproduce  the  papers  of  Mr.  Amos  Otis  relating 
to  the  early  families  of  Barnstable,  and  asked  me  to  assist 
in  preparing  them  for  the  press,  I  felt  that  the  undertaking 
was  one  which  merited  the  commendation  and  encourage- 
ment of  all  who  revere  the  memory  of  our  ancestors.  Hav- 
ing in  my  possession  Mr.  Otis's  extensive  revision  of  those 
papers,  together  with  some  notes  of  my  own  bearing  upon 
the  subjects,  I  consented  to  assist  in  this  work.  The  vol- 
umes, thus  presented,  will  be  as  near  as  possible  as  Mr. 
Otis  himself  would  "have  presented  them  in  his  latter  years, 
and  will  constitute  an  enduring  monument  to  his  memory. 
1  may,  I  trust,  be  permitted  to  say,  that  I  have  endeavored 
to  perform  my  duty  in  an  unobtrusive  and  friendly  way, 
erasing  some  passages  of  temporary  importance  reflecting 
upon  contemporaries  ;  correcting  a  few  verbal  slips  of  style 
and  expression  ;  and  adding  an  occasional  explanatory  note, 
sometimes  with,  but  generally  without,  my  initial.  It  will 
thus  be  apparent  that  I  should  not  be  held  responsible  for 
judgments  or  conclusions  in  the  text  which  may  be  a  subject 
of  controversy,  for  which,  of  course,  Mr.  Otis  is  alone  an- 
swerable. Neither  would  I  undertake  to  vouch  for  the  en- 
tire accuracy  of  all  these  papers.  I  can  only  say  that  thus 
far,  by  Mr.  Otis's  own  efforts  mainly,  the  series  is  much 
more  perfect  than  when  the  papers  first  issued  from  the 
press. 

CHARLES  F.  SWIFT. 


INTRODUCTION. 


For  several  years  past,  I  have  spent  much  of  my  leisure 
time  in  examining  records  and  collecting  materials  for  a  his- 
tory of  my  native  town.     Old  age  is  "creeping  on"  and  I, 
find  I  have  done   little  towards  arranging  the  materials  I; 
have  collected.  There  are  more  difficulties  to  be  surmounted 
than  the  casual  observer  dreams  of.     Records  have  been  de-, 
stnwed,   lost,    mutilated, — tradition  is  not  to  be  relied  on; 
and  the  truth  can  only  be  arrived  at  by  diligent  inquiry   and 
comparison    of  various  records  and  memorials  of  the  past. 
The  fact  is,  the  writer  of  a  local  history  finds  himself  envi- 
roned with   difficulties  at  every  step  in  his  progress,  and  is, 
compelled  to  use  such  words  as  perhaps  and  probably,  much 
oftener  than  good  taste  would  seem  to  require.     If  the  readeri 
would  be  satisfied  with  facts  chronologically  arranged,   the, 
task  would  not  be  so  difficult,  diligence  and  industry    would 
soon  accomplish  it.     But  something  more  is  required.     A 
dull  monotonous   array  of  facts  and  figures  would  soon   tire 
and  disgust  all,   excepting  perhaps  a  few  plodding  antiqua- 
rians who  are  never  happier  than  when  poring  over  a  black, 
letter  manuscript.     The  page  to   be  made  readable  must  be 
enlivened  with  descriptions,   narratives  and  personal  anec- 
dotes.    When  writing   history,  I  often  feel  that  I  am  in  the 
condition  of  the  children  of  Israel,  when  they  were  required 
by   their   Egyptian    taskmasters   to    make     bricks    without 
straw.     Three  times  I  have  written  the  first  chapter  of  a  his- 
tory of  the  toAvn  of  Barnstable,  and  three  times  have  thrown 
the  manuscript  into  the  fire.     Progressing  at. such  a  rate  my 
head  will  be  whiter  than  it  now  is,  before  the  last  chapter  is 
written. 

My  friends    are   constantly  urging  me  to   do   something 
and  not  let  the  materials  I  have  collected  be  lost,  and  I  have 


AUTHORS   INTRODUCTION.  11 

decided  to  write  a  series  of  "Family  Sketches,"  like  those 
of  Mr.  Deane  in  his  history  of  Scituate.  These  sketches, 
though  far  from  being  accurate,  are  the  most  interesting  por- 
tion of  his  work.  As  a  general  rule,  I  do  not  intend  that 
each  number  shall  occupy  more  than  a  column  and  a  half. 
To  give  a  full  history  of  some  of  the  families,  namely,  that 
of  Hinckley,  Crocker,  Otis,  Lothrop,  Bacon,  and  a  few 
others  would  require  a  volume.  These  will  necessarily  be 
longer ;  but  a  sketch  of  some  of  the  families  need  occupy 
only  a  few  paragraphs. 

I  shall  write  them  in  an  alphabetical  series,  beginning 
with  the  Allyn  family.  That  there  will  not  be  a  thousand 
mistakes,  and  omissions  in  each,  I  would  not  dare  to  affirm ; 
but  there  is  one  thing  I  will  venture  to  assert,  I  can  point 
out  more  deficiences  in  them  than  any  other  living  man.  I 
desire,  however,  that  persons  having  additional  information, 
or  the  means  of  correcting  any  error  into  which  I  may  have 
fallen  would  communicate  the  same.  I  presume  there  are 
many  documents  preserved  in  family  archives  which  would 
afford  me  valuable  aid,  in  the  work  I  have  undertaken,  and 
it  would  give  me  much  satisfaction,  if  the  owners  would  loan 
me  the  same  or  furnish  copies. 

In  giving  a  genealogical  account  of  the  families,  nearly  all 
the  facts  in  relation  to  the  history  of  the  town  will  have  to 
be  given.  In  the  Allyn  family,  I  give  some  account  of  the 
original  laying  out  of  the  town ;  in  the  Lothrop  family  a 
history  of  the  first  church,  and  in  other  families  where  the 
ancestor  was  the  leading  man  in  any  enterprise,  the  history 
of  that  work  cannot  well  be  omitted.  In  this  manner  nearly 
all  the  principal  events  in  the  history  of  the  town  will  pass 
in  review,  and  such  consideration  be  given  to  them  as  time, 
space  or  opportunity  will  admit. 

I  make  no  promises — I  claim  no  immunity  from  criticism. 
I  may  get  tired,  before  writing  one-half  of  the  proposed  sixty 
columns,  and  it  may  be  that  the  publisher  will  get  sick  of 
his  bargain  even  before  that  time.  To  those  who  take  no 
interest  in  genealogy,  I  have  only  one  remark  to  make.  My 
ancient  friend  and  schoolmaster,  Dea.  Joseph  Hawes,  would 
often  say  he  was  a  skiptic,  that  is,  if  he  met  with  an  article 
in  a  book  or  newspaper  that  did  not  please  him  he  "skipt 
over  it." 

I  have  one  more  suggestion  to  make.     I  would  recommend 


Ill  author's  introduction. 

to  those  who  do  take  an  interest  in  these  articles  to  cut  them 
out  and  paste  them  into  a  scrap  book  leaving  on  each  j^age 
a  wide  margin  for  corrections,  additions  and  notes.  To 
those  who  take  less  interest  in  the  matter,  I  would  suggest 
that  they  cut  out  the  article  in  relation  to  their  own  families 
and  paste  at  least  the  genealogical  portion,  on  the  fly  leaf  of 
their  family  bibles  : — their  grand-children  may  take  an  in- 
terest in  the  subject  if  they  do  not. 

AMOS  OTIS. 
Yarmouth,  Nov.  15,  1861. 


INDEX  TO  FAMILIES. 


ALLYN, 

Page   5 

AliWABLE. 

13 

BACOIiT, 

21 

BACHILER, 

S9 

BASSET, 

45 

•-BEARSE, 

82 

BAKER, 

68 

BARKER, 

64 

BORDEN, 

64 

BODFISH, 

68 

BLOSSOM, 

75 

BOURMAN, 

80 

BUMPAS, 

85 

BETTS, 

,88 

BLUSH, 

89 

BLACKFORD,       . 

99 

BOURNE, 

104 

it. 

140 

BURSLEY, 

137 

BERRY, 

136 

BENJAMIN, 

143 

BUTLER, 

144 

BATES, 

145 

BRYANT, 

146 

CARSELY, 

147 

CHAPMAN, 

151 

CHIPMAN, 

153 

COBB, 

166 

CLAGHORN, 

180 

CHILD, 

183 

COGGIN,                .                     .                     .                     . 

189 

COOPER,               .                     .                     .                     , 

192 

INDEX   TO  FAMILIES. 


COLEMAN, 

Page  195 

cro(;ker, 

200 

CLAP, 

249 

CAMMET, 

.  249 

COTELLE, 

250 

CANNON, 

250 

CUDWOKTH, 

252 

DAVIS, 

276 

DELAP, 

304 

DEXTEE, 

315 

DEAN, 

327 

DIMMOCK, 

328 

DYER, 

3+6 

DUNHAM, 

346 

DICKENSON, 

347 

DUNN, 

348 

DOWNS, 

349 

EASTERBROOKS, 

358 

EWELL, 

359 

EWER, 

360 

FOXWELL, 

365 

FITZRANDOLPHE, 

368 

PULLER, 

371 

FREEMAN, 

385 

FOSTER, 

388 

GOODSPEED, 

391 

GILPIN, 

408 

GILBERT, 

406 

GORHAM, 

407 

GREEN, 

445 

GARRETT, 

449 

HALL, 

450 

HATHAWAY,       . 

457 

HATCH, 

461 

HALLETT, 

473 

HAMBLEN, 

522 

ALLYN. 


THOMAS   ALLYN. 

This  name  is  variously  written  on  the  records,  Allyn, 
AUyne,  Allin  and  Allen  ;  but  the  descendants  of  Mr.  Thom- 
as Allyn,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Barnstable,  usually  write 
their  name  Allyn.  He  owned  a  large  estate,  and  was  prob- 
ably the  most  wealthy  among  the  first  settlers.  The  date 
when  he  first  came  over  is  not  ascertained.  It  appears,  by 
an  aflSdavit  made  by  him  March,  1654,  on  the  Plymouth 
Colony  records,  that  his  ancestors  resided  not  far  from  Taun-r 
ton,  in  England.  His  business  is  not  stated ;  but  he  was 
probably  engaged  in  trade.  It  appears  by  the  document 
above  referred  to,  that  he  was  in  England  in  1649,  on  busi- 
ness of  his  own,  and  as  the  agent  of  "divers  friends."  This 
visit  he  speaks  of  as  "att  my  last  being  in  Ould  England," 
implying  that  he  had  "returned  home"  more  than  once  after 
he  first  came  over. 

The  records  of  the  laying  out  of  the  lands  in  Barnstable 
in  1639  are  lost.*  The  entries  made  of  the  lands  of  Mr. 
Allyn  furnish  the  best  information  we  have  on  the  subject. 
The  house  lots  contained  from  six  to  twelve  acres,  and  were 
all  laid  out  on  the  north  side  of  the  highway  west  of  Rendez- 
vous Lane.  In  1654,  Mr.  Allen  owned  six  of  the  original 
house  lots,  namely : 

No.   1.     Originally    Isaac  Robinson's  contained  eight 

♦Note. — In  respect  to  these  records,  I  have  the  following  informa- 
tion :  My  Great-Grandfather,  Solomon  Oliis,  was  many  years  Register 
of  Ppeds.  My  father  informed  me  that  he  had  heard  many  inquire  for 
them,  and  that  his  grandfather's  uniform  answer  was,  that  they  were 
in  early  times  carried  to  Plymouth,  and  were  there  '  lost  hy  Are.  This 
is  tradition ;  but  considering  the  directness  of  the  testimony,  I  think  it 
reliable. 


6        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

acres  of  upland,  and  the  salt  marsh,  at  the  north  end.  It 
was  bounded  westerly  by  Calves  Pasture  Lane,  northerly 
partly  by  the  creek  and  partly  by  the  land  of  Tristram  Hull, 
easterly  by  the  lot  formerly  Samuel  Jackson's,  and  souther- 
ly by  the  highway.  In  1654  the  highway  was  a  few  rods 
farther  south,  at  this  place,  than  at  the  present  time.  Mr. 
Charles  Hinckley  is  the  present  owner  of  this  lot. 

No.  2.  Was  laid  out  to  Samuel  Jackson,  who  returned 
to  Scituate  in  1647.  He  sold  it  to  Samuel  Mayo,  who  sold 
the  same  to  Mr.  Allyn.  This  lot  contained  eight  acres  of 
upland,  and  the  marsh  at  the  north  end.  It  was  bounded 
westerly  by  Lot  No.  1,  north  by  the  harbor,  easterly  by  the 
highway  (now  discontinued)  leading  to  Allyn's  Creek,  and 
southerly  by  the  highway.  This  lot  is  now  owned  by  de- 
scendants of  Mr.  Allyn. 

No.  3.  Was  laid  out  to  Mr.  Allyn,  and  contained  ten 
acres  of  upland,  with  the  marsh  adjoining,  and  was  bounded 
west  by  Allyn's  Lane  or  highway  to  the  creek,  north  by  the 
harbor,  east  by  the  house  lot  of  Rev.  Joseph  Hull,  and 
southerly  by  the  present  highway.  This  land  is  owned  by 
Capt.  Matthias  Hinckley. 

No.  4.  Contained  twelve  acres  of  upland  and  the  marsh 
adjoining,  bounded  on  the  west  by  Lot  No.  3,  north  by  the 
harbor,  easterly  by  the  lot  of  the  Eev.  John  Mayo,  and 
southerly  by  the  present  highway.  On  this  lot  Rev.  Mr. 
Hull  built  his  house  in  1639,  afterwards  occupied  by  his  son- 
in-law,  Mr.  John  Bursley,  and  sold  to  Mr.  Allyn  about  the 
year  1650.  The  first  Meeting  House  stood  in  the  ancient 
grave  yard  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  This  land  is 
now  owned  by  Capt.  Matthias  Hinckley.  Capt.  Thomas 
Harris  perhaps  owns  a  small  portion  of  it. 

No.  5,  containing  twelve  acres  of  upland,  more  or  less, 
with  the  meadow  adjoining,  was  the  Rev.  John  Mayo's  be- 
fore his  removal  in  1646  to  Eastham.  It  was  bounded  west- 
erly by  Lot  No.  4,  north  by  the  harbor,  easterly  by  the  lot 
that  was  John  Casly's,  and  southerly  by  the  highway.  The 
lot  is  now  owned  by  Capt.  Thomas  Harris. 

No.  6,  contained  ten  acres  of  upland  and  the  meadow 
adjoining.  It  was  laid  out  to  John  Casly  and  by  him  sold 
to  Samuel  Mayo  and  by  the  latter  to  Mr.  Allyn.  It  was 
bounded  westerly  by  Lot  5,  north  by  the  harbor,  east  by   a 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        7 

Jot  owned  in  1654  by  Tristram  Hull,*  and  south  by  the 
highway. 

Beside  his  house  lots,  he  owned  meadow  at  Sandy 
Neck,  and  in  1647  owned  the  land  on  the  north  of  the  Hal- 
lett  Farm,  adjoining  the  bounds  of  Yarmouth.  Besides  the 
above  he  had  rights  in  the  common  lands,  and  other  large 
tracts.     He  sold  at  one  time  100  acres  to  Koger  Groodspeed. 

Mr.  Allyn's  house  lots,  with  the  lots  named  in  the  note, 
constituted  the  central  portion  of  the  village  as  originally 
laid  out.  On  the  west  probably  in  the  order  named,  were 
the  lots  of  Gov.  Hinckley,  Samuel  Hinckley,  Gen.  Cud- 
worth,  James  Hamblen,  Lawrence  Litchfield,  Henry  Goggin, 
(on  the  west  of  Goggin's  Pond)  Henry  Bourne,  William 
Crocker,  Austin  Bearse,  John  Cooper,  Thomas  Hatch,  Rob- 
ert Sheley,  William  Betts,  Henry  Coxwell,  Dollar  Davis, 
John  Crocker,.  Thomas  Shaw,  Abraham  Blish,  and  Anthony 
Annable.  The  farm  of  the  latter  is  now  owned  by  Nathan 
Jenkins, 

On  the  east  of  Rendezvous  Lane,  Mr.  John  Lothrop, 
John  Hall,  Henry  Rowley,  Isaac  Wells,  John  Smith,  Geo. 
Lewis,  Edward  Fittsrandle,  (Lot  on  west  side  of  the  road 
to  Hyannis)  Bernard  Lumbard,  Roger  Goodspeed,  (Henry 
Cobb,  Thomas  Huckins,  John  Scudder,  Samuel  Mayo,) 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  Richard  Foxwell,  Thomas  Dimmock. 
Isaac  Davis'  house  stands  near  where  the  Old  Dimmock 
house  stood.  The  Agricultural  Hall  stands  on  Foxwell's 
land. 

Mr.  Allyn  was  not  much  in  public  life.  March  1, 
1641-2  he  WHS  propounded  to  be  a  freeman  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  admitted  1652 ;  in  1644,    1651    and    1658    he   was 

*N0TE. — In  1647  the  highway  run  on  a  straight  Ihie  from  Mr.  John 
Burseley's  corner  to  the  head  of  Rendezvous  Lane.  In  1686  when  the 
present  road  was  laid  out,  the  ancient  road  was  followed  as  far  as 
Jail  Hill  when  it  was  turned  to  the  northeast  through  the  lands  of 
Capt.  Joseph  Lothrop.  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  ancient 
road  was  on  the  south  of  the  swamp  and  joined  the  present  road  where 
the  first  court  house  stood,  on  the  east  of  the  Sturgis  tavern.  Joseph 
Hull,  son  of  Tristram,  sold  Lot  No  7  in  1678  to  John  Lothrop.  Thomas 
Annable,  Doctor  Abner  Hersey,  Isaiah  Hinckley,  and  Elijah  Crocker 
have  since  owned  it.  No.  8,  6  acres,  was  Wm.  Casly's  lot,  afterwards 
Hon.  Barnabas  Lothrop's;  No.  9,  10  acres,  was  Robert  Lynnell's.  No. 
10,  12  acres,  Thomas  Lombard's  lot,  sold  to  Thomas  Lewis;  No.  11.  12 
acres,  Thomas  Lothrop's  Land,  bounded  easterly  by  Rendezvous  Lane, 
'^liese  Lots  embraced  the  central  position  of  the  village  as  it  was  orig- 
inally laid  out. 


8  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Surveyor  of  highways  ;  in  1648,  1658  and  1670  constable, 
and  in  1653  a  juryman,  offices  of  not  much  profit  or  honor. 
The  Court  in  passing  up  and  down  the  County  often  stopped 
at  his  house,  a  fact  which  indicates  that  he  set  a  gopd  table, 
and  was  well  supplied  with  provender  for  man  and  beast. 

He  married  for  his   first   wife    Winnifred .     His 

second  wife  was  Wid.  .     He  named  in  his  will,  dated 

Feb.  28,  1675,  proved  5th  of  March,  1679-80,  his  daughters- 
in-law  Sarah,  wife  of  William  Clark, 

Martha,  wife  of  Benjamin 

Kebecca,  wife  of  Samuel  Sprague. 
He  names  his  sons  Samuel  and  John,  his  daughter  Mehita- 
ble  Annable,  and  Samuel's  oldest  son,  Thomas.  After  dis- 
posing of  a  part  of  his  estate  by  legacies  he  ordered  the  rest 
to  be  equally  divided  between  his  three  children.  He  died 
in  1679,  and  was  buried  in  the  ancient  burying  ground, 

"Where  the  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep." 
Children  of  Thomas  Allyn  born  in  Barnstable: 

I.     Samuel,  born  10  Feb.,  1643-4,  bap'd  18  Feb.,    1643-4. 
n.     John,  born  1646,  bap'd  27  Sep.,  1646. 
HI.     Mehitable,  born    1648,    bap'd  28   Aug.,    1648.     She 
married  Samuel  Annable  June  1,  1667,  and  had  a  fam- 
ily of  four  children.     She  married  second  May  6, 1683, 
Cornelius  Briggs  of  Scituate.     She  inherited   one-third 
of  her  father's  estate,  Mr.  Allyn  in  his   will   giving  her 
an  equal  portion  with  her  brothers,  an  unusual    circum- 
stance in  those  days. 
Mr.  Samuel  Allyn,  son  of  Thomas,  was  a  freeman  in    1670, 
constable  1671,  called  Lieutenant  in  1678.     He  was   many 
years  Town  Clerk,  and  held  other   responsible    offices.     He 
resided  at  West  Barnstable.     In  1686,  his  house  is  described 
as  on  the  south  side  of  the  highway  about  half  of  a  mile  east 
of  Hinckley's  Bridge.     He  married  May  10,  1664,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Eev.  Thomas  Walley.     She  died,  Tuesday,  Oct. 
23,  1711,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.     Her  age  is  not  stated.     She 
was  born  in  England  and  came  over  with  her   father   in   the 
ship  Society,  Capt.  John  Pierce,  and  arrived  here  May   24, 
1662.     Mr.  Samuel   Allyn   died   Friday,    25th   November, 
1726,  aged  82  years.     Mr.    Samuel  Allyn's   will   is   dated 
Nov.  12,  1726,  and  proved  on  the  30th  of  Nov.   following. 
He  gives  to  his  daughter-in-law  Sarah,  then  wife  of  Deacon 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  9 

Samuel  Bacon,  40  shillings  ;  to  his  grandsons  Thomas  Allyn 
and  John  Jacobs,  and  his  daughter  Hannah  Lincoln,  20  shil- 
lings each ;  to  his  grandson  Samuel  Allyn,  son  of  his  son 
Joseph  "only  one  shilling" ;  and  to  his  great-grandson 
Thomas,  son  to  his  grandson  James,  40  shillings.  All  his 
other  estate,  both  real  and  personal,  he  devised  to  his  son 
Joseph  Allyn,  to  grandson  James  of  Barnstable,  to  daugh- 
.te£  Hannah  Jacob,  and  his  grandson  Samuel  Allyn  of  Barn- 
stable, to  be  divided  equally.  His  son  Joseph  and  grand- 
son James  executors.  The  inventory  of  the  estate  is  dated 
January  4,  1726-7,  but  the  oath  of  Allyn  was  refused  by  the 
Judge  of  Probate  "because  1  thought  he  could  not  do  it  with 
a  safe  conscience."     Joseph  swore  to  it  Feb.  18,  1726-7. 

Children  of  Mr.  Samuel  Allyn  born  in  Barnstable: 
I.  Thomas,  born  22  March,  1654-5,  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Hon.  John  Otis,  9  Oct.,  1688,  and  had 
three  children,  James,  Thomas  and  Hanna,h.  He  died 
25th  Nov.,  1696,  aged  31.  His  widow  married  20 
January,  1699,  David  Loring  of  Hingham.  She  died 
in  Barnstable,  June  17,  1748,  aged  79. 
tl.  Samuel,  born  19  January,  1666,  married  Sarah,  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  Taylor,  20  Dec,  1705,  and  had  Samuel, 
26  Nov.,  1706.  The  father  died  Dec,  1706,  in  the  39th 
year  of  his  age.  His  widow  married  26  January,  1708, 
Dea.  Samuel  Bacon.  She  died  Sept.  24,  1753,  aged  73. 
ni.  Joseph,  born  7  April,  1671.  He  removed  from  Barn- 
stable about  the  year  1700.  He  was  one  of  the  execu- 
tors of  the  will  of  his  father  1726.  He  then  had  a  son 
Samuel,  showing  he  was  married  and  had  a  family. 

IV.  Hannah,  born  4  Maroh,  1672-3,  married  7  Dec,  1693, 
Peter  Jacob  of  Hingham,  and  had  twelve  children. 

V.  Elizabeth,  born  26  Nov.,  1681,   died   23   Dec,    1698, 
aged  17. 

John  Allyn,  son  of  Thomas,  married  1673  Mary,  daughter 
of  John  Howland. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable : 

I.     Jdhn,  bom  3  April,  1674. 
n.     Mary,  born  5  Aiig.,  1675  ;  died  7  July,  1677. 
til.     Martha,  born  6  Aug.,  1677  ;  died  Oct.,  1680. 
IV.     Isaac,  born  8  Nov.,  1679. 

The  facUily  of  Jdhti  Allyii  was  Aot  of  Bartistable  Janu- 


10  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ary,  1683-4.  He  had  probably  removed.  There  were  at 
that  time  so  many  John  Allyns  in  New  England,  that  in  the 
absence  of  records  it  is  difficult  to  fix  the  place  of  his  after 
residence. 

In  January,  1693-4,  there  were  in  Barnstable  and  en- 
titled to  a  share  in  the  common  lands,  being  either  24  years 
of  age,  or  married,  Lieut.  Samuel  AUyn,  eldest  son  of 
Thomas,  Sen'r,  and  Samuel  and  Thomas,  sons  of  Lieut. 
Samuel.  January,  1697,  Thomas  was  dead,  and  Joseph, 
youngest  son  of  Lieut.  Samuel,  was  added  to  the  list,  he 
being  then  25  years  of  age,  but  in  1703  his  name  is  omitted. 

The  present  Allyn  families  in  Barnstable,  are  nearly  all 
descendants  of  James,  son  of  Thomas,  and  grandson  of 
Lieut.  Samuel.  His  house  was  very  ancient,  the  east  part 
two  stories,  and  the  west  one  story.  It  stood  on  Lot  No.  1, 
where  Charles  Hinckley's  house  now  is,  and  it  was  taken 
down  about  50  years  ago.  He  married  July  24,  1712, 
Susannah  Lewis,  daughter  of  Ebenezer.  He  was  21  and 
she  18  at  the  time  of  their  marriage. 

No  family  in  Barnstable  could  claim  to  be  more  respect- 
ably connected  than  this.  Their  eldest  daughter,  Elizabeth, 
born  in  1713,  married  1732,  Col.  John  Gorham,  and  re- 
moved to  Portland.  He  was  a  man  of  note  in  his  day. 
Susannah,  born  1715,  married  1735,  Capt.  Jonathan  Davis, 
Jr.,  a  shipmaster.  Anna,  born  1718,  married  in  1736, 
John  Davis,  Jr.  Thomas,  born  1719,  married  Elizabeth 
Sturgis  1752';  Hannah,  born  1721,  married  1743,  Doctor 
Abner  Hersey,  an  eminent  physician,  but  most  eccentric 
man;  Rebecca,  born  1723,  married  1742Rev.  Josiah Crock- 
er of  Taunton  ;  Abigail,  born  1725,  (an  Abia  Allin  married 
Seth  Cushman  of  Dartmouth  ;)  Mary,  born    1727,    married 

1751,  Nymphas  Marston,  Esq. ;  James,  born  1729,  married 

1752,  Lydia  Marston  ;  Sarah,  borri  1730,  married  1755, 
Mr.  Justin  Hubbard,  of  Hingham  ;  Martha,  born  1733,  died 
1740;  Olive,  born  1735,  married  1754,  Capt.  Samuel  Stur- 
gis, Jr. 

At  a  family  meeting'  almost  every  profession  in  life 
would  have  been  honorably  represente.d-  Mr.  AHyn  ,  him- 
self had  a  suit  of  armor,  and  two  of  bis  sons-in-law  had  done 
good  service  for  thpir  country  on  the  fiejld  of  battle,  so  that 
the  military  element  would  have,  been  strongly  represented  ; 
the  legal  profession  by  two  ;  divinity  by  one,  ftnd  meiiicine 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  11 

by  that  strange,  compound,  Doctor  Hersey,  perhaps  in  his 
usual  winter  dress — cowhide  boots,  baize  shirt,  red  cap  and 
leather  great  coat. 

Mr.  James  Allyn  died  Oct.  8,  1741,  (his  grave  stones 
say  1742,)  aged  50  years,  and  his  widow  Susannah  Oct.  4, 
1753,  aged  59.  In  his  will,  proved  Nov.  11,  1741,  he  pro- 
vides liberally  for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  younger  chil- 
dren. To  his  daughters,  who  had  not  already  had  their  por- 
tion, £30  each,  and  to  his  son  James  £150.  To  his  son 
Tborai'.s  he  gave  his  cane,  marked  with  his  grandfather's 
name,  his  armor,  valued  at  £16.10.,  and  all  his  warlike 
weapons  and  appurtenances,  his  hooks,  excepting  his  Great 
Bible,  his  "dwelling  house  from  top  to  bottom,"  tools  and 
stock  belonging  to  a  saddler's  trade,  &c.,  &c.  His  estate 
was  appraised  at  £3.091.  19.  4,  a  large  estate  in  those 
times. 

Thomas  was  a  saddler  by  trade.  His  house  stood  where 
Mr.  Charles  Hinckley's  now  does.  His  children  were  Polly, 
Hannah,  Susan  and  Samuel. 

James*  was  a  cabinet  maker.  He  resided  in  the  old 
Allyn  house  now  standing.  His  children  were  James,  Ben- 
jamin, two  named  Marston,  who  died  young,  Thomas,  Nym- 
phas,  who  died  young,  and  John,  who  was  educated  at 
Harvard  College,  graduated  in  1775,  and  was  afterwards 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Duxbury. 

Mr.  Thomas  Allyn  has  very  few  descendants  in  the 
male  line  now  living  in  Barnstable.  Whether  or  not  his  son 
John  and  grandson  Joseph,  who  removed  early  from  Barn- 
stable, were  the  ancestors  of  niore  proliiic  races  I  cannot  say. 

The  first  inhabitants  selected  the  beautiful  sweep  of  high 
land  between  Rendezvous  Creek  and  Cogo^en's  Pond  as  the 
seat  of  their  town,  the  principal  men  built  houses  there,  but 


*Mrs.  Chloe  Blish,  now  aged  95,  relates  the  following  witch  story 
in  relation  to  Jame?  Allyn.  She  lived  at  the  time  in  Gov.  Hinckley's 
hou?e,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road: 

Lydia  Ellis,  a  daughter  of  Lizzy  Towerhill,  (a  reputed  witch,  of 
whom  I  have  given  an  account,)  resided  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Allyn  as 
a  servant.  Lizzy  took  offence  at  the  treatment  of  her  daughter,  and 
threatened  vengeance.  A  night  or  two  after,  a  strange  cat  appeared 
in  Mr.  AUyn's  house,  mewing  and  caterwauling — unseen  hands  upset 
or  turned  bottom  upwards  every  thing  in  the  house.  Six  new  chairs, 
brought  in  the  day  before,  were  broke  to  pieces  and  destroyed.  The 
inmates  were  kept  awake  all  night,  and  for  a  long  time  after,  strange 
noises  were  heard,  at  times,  in  the  liouse,  and  the  peace  of  the  family 
greatly  disturbed. 


12  GENKALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

in  less  than  fifteen  years  half  the  lots  belonged  to  Mr.  All^'n 
and  the  houses  had  been  abandoned  or  removed.  In  select- 
ing that  location  for  the  centre  of  the  town,  one  fact  was 
overlooked  :  no  water  conld  be  procured  without  sinking 
wells  to  a  great  depth.  They  soon  were  compelled  to  re- 
move to  situations  near  to  ponds  or  springs  of  water. 


JOHN    ALLEN. 

Mr.  Baylies  in  his  history  states  that  John  Allen  re- 
moved from  Scituate  to  Barnstable  in  1649,  arid  Mr.  Deane 
in  his  history  of  Scituate,  says  he  probably  removed  from 
Barnstable  to  Scituate  in  1645.  He  appears  to  have  been  of 
Plymouth  in  1633  and  of  Scituate  in  1646,  where  he  died  in 
1662.     His  widow  was  named  Ann  and  he  had  a  son  John. 

John  Allen  of  Barnstable  was  another  man.  Perhaps 
he  was  the  John  who  was  taxed  at  Springfield  in  1639,  re- 
moved soon  after  perhaps  to  Rehoboth  1645,  and  to  New- 
port 1650  and  thence  to  Swansey  in  1669.  He  married  Oct. 
10,  1650,  Elizabeth  Bacon  of  Barnstable,  probable  a  sister 
of  Samuel.  Allen  and  his  wife  were  both  ana-baptists,  yet 
no  objection  was  made  to  their  marriage,  Gov.  Hinckley 
oflSciating  at  the  nuptials.  To  this  fact  I  shall  have  occasion 
hereafter  to  refer.  From  Barnstable  they  went  to  Newport, 
E.  I. ,  and  there  had  Elizabeth,  born  July,  1651.;  Mary, 
Feb.  4,  1653 ;  John,  Nov.,  1654;Mercey,  Dec,  1656; 
Priscilla,  Dec,  1659,  and  Samuel,  April,  1661. 


ANN ABLE 


ANTHONY  ANNABLE, 

One  ot  the  forefathers,  came  over  in  the  Ann  in  1623,  bring- 
ing with  him  his  wife,  Jane,  and  his  daughter  Sarah.  He 
remained  in  Plymouth  till  1634  when  he  removed  to  Scitu- 
ate,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  that  town  and  of  the 
church  there.  In  1640  he  removed  to  Barnstable.  With 
the  exception  of  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley,  no  Barnstable  man 
was  oftener  employed  in  the  transaction  of  public  business. 
He  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  at  its  organization,  January 
y,  1634-5,  was  always  an  exemplary  member,  yet  he  was 
never  dignitied  with  the  title  of  "Mr."  and  was  all  his  life 
called  "Goodman  Annable."  That  a  man  who  was  "most 
useful  in  church  and  state,"  thirteen  years  a  deputj'^  to  the 
Colony  Court,  on  a  committee  to  revise  the  laws,  frequently 
employed  in  most  important  and  difficult  negotiations,  apd 
one  of  the  58  {)urchasers,  was  not  thought  worthy  of  that 
dignity  may  seem  strange  to  modern  readers.  In  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony,  the  governor,  deputy  governor,  and  magis- 
trates and  assistants  ;  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  elders 
of  the  church,  school-masters,  commissioned  officers  in  the 
militia,  men  of  great  wealth,  or  men  connected  with  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  gentry  of  nobility,  alone  were  entitled  to  be 
called  mister  and  their  wives  mistress.  This  rule  was  rigidly 
enforced  in  earl}^  colonial  times,  and  in  all  lists  of  names,  it 
was  almost  the  invariable  custom,  to  commence  with  those 
who  stood  highest  in  rank  and  follow  that  order  to  the  end. 
Goodman  Annable  had  four  acres  of  land  alloted  to  him 
in  the  division  of  lands  in  1623,  to  those  who  "came  over 
in  the  shipe  called  the  Anne."  At  the  division  of  the  cattle 
in  1627,  there  had  been  no  increase  in  the  number  of  his 
family,  it  then  consisted  of  four,  namely,  himself,    his  wife 


14  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Jane  and  daughters  Sarah  and  Hannah.  His  name  appears 
in  the  earliest  list  of  freemen,  made  in  1633,  and  in  that 
year  he  was  taxed  £0.  18.,  and  in  the  following  year  9  shil- 
lings. Comparing  these  figures  with  the  other  taxes,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  was  then  a  man  to  whom  the  petition  in  Agur's 
prayer,  "give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,"  might  well 
apply.  Oct.  1,  1634,  he  was  elected  a  member  to  treat 
with  the  partners  for  the  colony  trade,  and  the  next  January 
he  was  chosen  constable  of  Scituate.  Oct.  4,  1636,  Good- 
man Annable  and  James  Cudworth  were  a  committee  from 
the  town  of  Scituate  to  assist  in  the  revision  of  the  laws  of 
the  colony.  He  was  a  juryman  that  year  and  in  1638. 
March  6,  1637-8  he  was  again  chosen  constable  of  Scituate. 
In  January  of  that  year  the  Eev.  John  Lothrop,  Mr.  Timo- 
thy Hatherly,  Goodman  Annable  and  others  of  Scituate, 
rej)re8ented  to  the  Court  that  they  had  small  portions  of 
land,  and  petitioned  to  have  the  lands  set  off  to  them,  be- 
tween the  North  and  South  rivers,  which  was  granted. 

In  1638  and  9  many  meetings  were  held  in  Scituate  to 
adopt  measures  respecting  a  removal  to  another  plantation. 
Five  days  were  set  apart  for  humiliation,  fasting  and  prayer 
for  success  in  their  removal.  The  first  fast  was  kept  Feb. 
22,  1637-8,  and  the  last  June  26,  1639.  Several  letters 
signed  by  Mr.  Lothrop,  Goodman  Annable  and  others  in 
behalf  of  themselves  and  other  members  of  the  church,  ad- 
dressed to  the  governor,  stating  the  grievances  under  which 
they  were  suffering,  and  asking  to  be  better  accommodated 
in  some  other  part  of  the  colony.  At  first  they  proposed  to 
remove  to  Sippican,  now  Rochester,  and  at  the  January 
Court  the  lands  at  that  place  were  granted  to  them.  But 
many  were  opposed  to  going  to  Sippicau,  preferring  a  resi- 
dence at  Mattakeese,  now  a  part  of  Barnstable.  But  the 
lands  at  the  latter  place  had  previously  been  granted  to  Mr. 
Richard  Collicut  and  others  of  Dorchester ;  but  in  June, 
1639,  this  grant  was  revoked  and  an  opening  was  made  for 
Ml'.  Lothrop  and  his  church.  In  the  previous  May  Rev. 
Joseph  Hull  of  Weymouth,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Dimmock  and 
others  romoved  to  Mattakeese,  and  commenced  the  settle- 
ment of  the  town.  After  the  revocation  of  the  grant  to  Mr. 
Collicut,  the  Court,  June  4,  1639,*  O.  S..  corresponding  to 

*The  centennial  celebration  of  the  200th  anniversary  of  the  town 
was  held  September  3,  1839,  why  and  wherefore  I  cannot  explain. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAllNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  15 

June  14,  new  style,  granted  the  lands  at  Mattakeese  to 
Messrs.  Hull  and  Dimmock  as  a  committee  for  themselves 
and  their  associates,  and  incorporated  the  town,  naming  it 
Barnstable.  June  13,  1639,  O.  S.,  a  fast  was  kept  by  Mr. 
Lothrop's  chui-ch  to  implore  "God's  directing  and  providing 
for  us  in  the  place  of  removal,"  and  on  the  2t)th  of  the  same 
month  another  fast  was  kept  "For  the  presence  of  God  in 
mercey  to  goe  with  us  to  Mattakeese." 

i\Ir.  Lothrop  and  a  majority  of  his  church  removed 
from  Scituate  to  Barnstable  Oct.  "ll,  1639,  O.  S.  (Oct.  21, 
N.  S.).  On  their  arrival,  the  tirst  settlers  had  built  them- 
selves houses,  any  many  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  found 
dwellings  provided  for  them  on  their  arrival.  Goodman 
Annable  did  not  remove  with  the  first  company,  but  some 
few  months  after. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  first  General  Court  held  in 
1639,  also  in  1640,  '41,  '42,  '43,  '44,  '45,  '47,  '50,  '51,  '53, 
'56  and  '57.  He  was  not  a  member  when  the  obnoxious 
laws  against  Quakers  were  enacted. 

In  1643  he  was  appointed  by  the  Court  a  member  of  a 
committee  to  provide  places  of  defence  against  any  hostile 
attack  of  the  Indians,  and  in  1645  "to  propose  laws  to  re- 
dress present  abuses,  and  to  prevent  future." 

In  1646  he  was  on  a  committee  of  one  from  each  town 
in  the  colony,  "to  consider  a  wav  of  defraying  the  charges 
of  the  magistrate's  tables  by  way  of  excise  on  wine  and 
other  things."  In  1661  he  is  named  as  one  of  the  grantees 
of  the  lands  in  Suck&nesset,  now  Falmouth,  and  in  1662 
land  was  granted  to  his  daughter  Hannah,  one  of  the  first 
born  children  in  the  colony,  and  in  1669  a  tract  of  land  was 
granted  to  him  on  Taunton  River,  near  Titicut. 

I  do  not  find  that  Goodman  Annable  had  a  houselot  as- 
signed to  him  in  the  village.  He  settled  at  West  Barnstable 
on  the  farm  now  owned  l)y  Nathan  Jenkins,  Esq.  It  is  thus 
described  on  the  record  : 

1.  Forty  acres  of  upland,  be  it  more  or  less,  butting 
northerly  by  the  marsh,  southerly  by  yc  commons,  bounded 
easterly  by  Goodman  Blush,  westerly  b}'  Goodman  Bhish. 

2.  Twenty-two  acres  of  marsh  butting  southerly,  partly 
upon  his  own  and  partly  upon  Gdd.  Blush's  upland,  bound- 
ed (^'istorlv  partlv  upon  ye  creek    botweon    Goodman    Wrlls 


16         GENEALOGICAL    .NOTJitt    OF    BAK^STABLE    FAMILIES. 

and  him,  and  partly  by  ye  oomuions,  westerly  liy  (jdd. 
Blush,  northerly  by  ye  commons. 

3.  Fifteen  acres  more  or  less  of  swamp  bounded  east- 
erly by  Gdd.  Blush,  westerly  by  Gdd.  Bowmans,  southerly 
by  ye  commons,  northerly  partly  by  Gdd.  Blush  and  partly 
by  Gdd.  Bowmans. 

This  is  one  of  the  best  farms  in  Barnstable.  His  land 
was  principally  on  the  north  side  of  the  present  County 
road.  Fifty-four  acres  were  afterwards  added  to  this  farm, 
extending  to  Annable's  Pond  on  the  south. 

Goodman  Annable  died  in  1674,  and  his  widow  Ann 
administered  on  his  estate.  His  age  is  not  recorded,  he 
was  probably  75  years  old.  His  widow  Ann  was  living  in 
1677  when  she  was  lined  £1  for  selling  beer  without  a  li- 
cense. In  1686  she  is  spoken  of  as  recently  deceased.  She 
is  called  "the  agad  widow  Annible"  in  1678,  and  was  prob- 
ably nearly  80  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

Gdd.  Annable  resided  in  the  Colony  iifty  and  one 
years.  He  was  a  puritan  of  the  school  of  blessed  John  Rob- 
inson, neither  bigoted  nor  intolerant.  Sympathizing  iu 
feeling  with  Cud  worth,  Hatheriy  and  other  leading  men  of 
the  tolerant  party — an  opponent  of  the  harsh  measures,  and 
bloody  laws  enacted  and  enforced  against  Quakers  and  ana- 
baptists in  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  and  adopted  in  the 
Plymouth  Colony  in  1653,  but  never  enforced  in  Barnsta- 
ble. His  moral  character  was  unimpeachable.  He  was 
never  a  party  to  a  law  suit,  and  only  in  one  instance  en- 
gaged in  any  controversy  with  his  neighbors.  In  1664,  he 
Avas  presented  for  removing  a  land-mark.  The  Court  after 
a  full  investigation  of  the  charge,  decided  that  he  was  blame- 
able  for  removing  the  boundary  ;  but  being  convinced  that 
he  did  not  willfully  intend  to  do  wrong,  the  complaint  was 
dismissed. 

Intellectually  Goodman  Annable  had  many  superiors  in 
the  Colony.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  discreet, 
cautious, — never  acting  hastily  or  unadvisedly,  a  good 
neighbor,  a  useful  man,  and  one  who  exhibited  in  his  daily 
walk,  his  Christian  character. 

His  descendants  for  several  generations  inherited  from 
him,  to  some  extent,  the  same  excellent  traits  of  character. 
None  of  them  were  brilliant  men  ;  but  I  have  never  heard 
of  an  Annable  who  was  convicted  of  crime  or  who  was  a  bad 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  17 

neighbor.  There  were  not  manj'  of  this  name  who  came  over. 
There  was  a  John  at  Ipswich  in  1642,  a  tailor,  and  a  Mat- 
thew at  Newbury  aged  18,  1672.  Goodman  Annable  uni- 
formly wrote  his  name  as  it  is  now  written ;  but  it  occurs 
also  on  the  records  written  Annible,  Anible,  Anniball  and 
Anable. 

The  following  account  of  his  family  differs  from  that 
given  either  by  Mr.  Ueane  or  by  Mr.  Savage.  The  latter 
in  attempting  to  correct  the  errors  of  the  former,  made 
greater  mistakes  himself,  1  have  carefully  examined  all  ac- 
cessible records,  and  have  not  varied  from  these  gentlemen 
only  on  evidence  which  appears  entirely  conclusive.  I  am 
aware  that  my  account  is  defective,  all  I  claim  is  that  it  is 
fuller  and  has  a  less  number  of  mistakes  in  it  than  those 
which  have  been  published : 

Anthony  Annable  came  over  in  the  Ann  in  1623,  bring- 
ing with  him  his  wife  Jane  and  his  daughter  Sarah.  Mr. 
Savage  says  daughters  Sarah  and  Hannah.  On  the  list  of 
the  first  born  in  Plymouth  is  Hannah,  daughter  of  Anthony 
Annable.  A  grant  of  land  was  afterwards  made  to  her  in 
virtue  of  her  right  as  one  of  the  first  born.  No  stronger 
evidence  of  a  fact  can  be  adduced.  The  members  of  the 
Court  knew  that  Hannah  Annable  was  born  in  Plymouth, 
otherwise  they  would  not  have  made  the  grant. 

Mr.  Savage  says  Susannah  was  jjrobably  born  in  Barn- 
stable. If  so  she  was  very  young  when  she  married  on  the 
13th  of  May,  1652,  William  Hatch,  Jr.,  of  Scituate. 

His  first  wife,  Jane,  died  in  Barnstable,  and  was  buried 
Dec.  13,  1643,  on  the  Lower  side  of  the  Calves  Pasture. 
The  exact  locality  of  her  grave  is  not  known  ;  but  is  proba- 
bly at  a  place  called  Hemp  Bottom.  He  married,  March  3, 
1644-5,  his  second  wife,  Ann  Clark.  There  are  three  sever- 
al entries  of  this  marriage,  two  on  the  Plymouth  and  one  on 
the  Barnstable  town  records.  The  entr}'  in  the  'Court 
Orders"  (vol.  2,  page  80,  of  the  printed  volumes)  is  the 
only  one  that  can  be  cnlled  an  original  record,  the  other  two 
are  copies,  and  the  transcriber  evidently  made  a  mistake  of 
one  year  in  the  date.  The  chirography  of  the  entry  on  the 
"Court  Orders"  is  very  obscure.  The  late  Judge  Mitchell, 
who  was  familiar  with  the  records,  having  spent  his  leisure 
time  for  several  years  in  their  examination,  copied  the  name 
"Ann  Clark."     Mr.  Pulsifer  and  Doctor  Shurtleff,  gentle- 


18         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

men  equally  distinguished  for  their  skill  in  deciphering  an- 
cient manuscripts,  read  the  name  Ann  Elocke.  I  prefer  the 
reading  of  Judge  Mitchell. 

Mr.  Savage  adds :  "The  second  wife  was  buried  1 6th  of 
May,  1651,  and  he  married  soon  third  wife,  Ann  Barker,  by 
whom  he  had  Desire,  11th  Oct  ,  1653,  and  the  wife  was 
buried  about  16th  March,  1658."  Mr.  Savage  or  his  aman- 
uensis has  strangely  mixed  up  in  the  passage  quoted,  facts 
in  relation  to  the  families  of  Anthony  Annable  and  Abra- 
ham Blish.  They  were  both  good  neighbors,  very  kind  and 
accommodating  to  each  other,  but  I  doubt  whether  they  ever 
swapped  wives,*  as  the  passage  quoted  indicates. 

Family  of  Anthony  Annable    by  his   wife   Jane — born  in 

England: 
I.     Sarah,    born    about    1622,  married  Nov.   22,   1638,  by 
Mr.  Winslow,  at  Green's  Harbor,  to  Henry  Ewell  of 
Scituate.     She  died  in  1687,  leaving  a  family. 
Born  in  Plymouth  : 
n.     Hannah,  born  about  1625,  being  his  first  born  child, 
after  his  arrival.        She    married,    March    10,   1644-5, 
Thomas  Bowman  of  Barnstable, 
ni.     Susannah,  born  about  1630,  married  13th  May,  1652, 
Wm.  Hatch,  Jr.,  of  Scituate. 

Born  in  /Scituate: 

IV.  A  daughter  stillborn,  buried  8th  April,  1635. 

V.  Deborah,  baptized  May  7,  1637. 

By  his  second  wife,  Ann   Clark,  born  in  Barnstable: 

VI.  Samuel,  born  January  22,  bap'd  Feb.  8,  1645-6,  mar- 
ried, June  1,  1667,  Mehitable  AUyn,  died  1678,  aged 
32. 

VII.  Esek,  (or  Ezekiel)  bap'd  29th  April,  1649,  probably 
died  young. 

VIII.  Desire,  bap'd  16th  Oct.,  1653,  married  January  18, 
1676-7,  John  Barker,  Esq.,  died  at  Scituate  July  24, 
1706. 

Samuel  Annable   married     June    1,    1667,    Mehitable, 

*NOTE.— Mr.  Savage  will  put  this  matter  right  in  his  fourth  vol- 
ume, soon  to  be  published.  That  he  has  made  so  few  mistakes  is  won- 
derful. The  late  Capt.  Isaac  Bacon,  Sen.,  said  he  wished  it  was  the 
fashion  to  swap  wives,  as  it  was  old  horses— he  would  cheat  somebody 
most  d nably. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  19 

dauffliter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Allyn  of  Barnstable.  He  resided 
at  West  Barnstable,  and  inherited  a  large  portion  of  the  es- 
tate of  his  father,  whom  he  survived  only  four  years,  dying 
in  the  year  1678,  aged  32.  His  widow  married,  May  6, 
1683,  Cornelius  Briggs  of  Scituate. 

Family  0/  iSamuel  Annable: 

I.  Samuel,  born  14th  July,  1669,  married  Patience  Dog- 
get,  April  11,  1695,  and  had  Desire,  3d  Jan'y,  1695; 
Anna,  27th  Sept.,  1697,  married,  Aug.  19th,  1720, 
Nathaniel  Bacon;  Jane,  24th  Dec,  1699,  married  Oct. 
8th,  1719,  Dea.  Kobert  Davis;  Samuel,  14th  January, 
1702 ;  Patience,  15th  May,  1705,  married  Joseph  Ba- 
con, 1722 ;  Thomas,  21st  June,  1708,  married  Ann 
Gorham  Aug.  7th,  1740.  The  father  died  June  21st, 
1744,  and  his  widow  Patience,  Oct.  11th,  1760,  aged 
90  years. 

n.     Hannah,  born  March,  1672,  liied  August  following. 

III.  John,  born  19th  July,  1673,  married  June  16th,  1692, 
Experience,  daughter  of  Edward  Taylor,  and  had  Sam- 
uel, born  3d  Sept.,  1693 ;  Mehitable,  28th  Sept.,  1695, 
married,  July  23d,  1713,  Andrew  Hallet,  died  Oct. 
23d,  1767 ;  John,  born  April,  1697,  died  May  follow- 
ing ;  John,  born  3d  May,  "1698,  removed  to  Rochester ; 
Mary,  born  Dec,  1701,  married  David  Hallet  Aug. 
19th,  1720;  Cornelius,  born  3d  November,  1704,  and 
Abigail,  born  30th  April,  1710,  married  Oct.  22d, 
1730,  Wally  Crocker. 

IV.  Anna,  born  4th  March,  1675-6,  married  Oct.  14th, 
1696,  Dea.  John  Barker.  She  died  March  21st,  1732- 
3,  "aged  near  57  years,"  and  is  buried  at  West  Barn- 
stable. 

The  estate  of  Samuel  Annable,  deceased,  included  the 
farm  of  his  father,  then  in  possession  of  his  mother,  and  the 
fifty-four  acres  on  the  south  side  of  the  highway  which  he 
held  in  his  own  right  by  a  grant  from  the  town,  and  the  es- 
tate which  his  wife  held  in  her  right,  by  gift  from  her  father, 
was  settled,  by  order  of  the  Court,  Oct.  30,  1678,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"The  seate  of  land  which  was  formerly  Mr.  Thomas 
Allyn's"  at  Barnstable,  was  settled  upon  Samuel,  the  eldest 
son,  he  paying  to  his  sister  Anna  £25,  one-half  in  current 


20  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

silver  money  of  New  England,  and  the  other  half  in  "cur- 
rent pay  att  prise  current"  within  two  years  after  he  become 
of  age. 

To  John  Annable,  the  youngest  son,  the  farm  that  the 
''aged  widdow  Annible  hath  her  life  in,  and  now  liveth  on ; 
which  was  pte  of  the  lands  which  formerly  Anthony  Anni- 
ble lived  on,"  he  to  pay  his  sister  £25,  one-half  in  current 
silver  money  of  New  England,  and  one-half  in  current  pay, 
within  two  years  after  he  becomes  of  age. 

To  the  widow  Mehitable  Annable  was  assigned  all  the 
moveables  and  all  the  stock,  "to  be  att  her  own  dispose  for- 
and  towards  the  bringing  up  of  the  childien,  hopeing  that 
shee  will  have  a  care  to  bringe  them  up  in  a  way  of  educa- 
tion as  the  estate  will  beare,  and  to  have  all  the  proffitts  of 
all  the  lands  untill  the  said  Samuel  Annible  and  John  Anni- 
ble comes  to  be  of  age,  and  then  the  third  in  the  proffitts  of 
the  land  during  her  natural  life." 

In  1703  there  were  only  two  of  the  family,  Samuel  and 
John,  in  Barnstable  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  common  lands. 
The  West  Barnstable  family  disappeared  many  years  ago, 
some  removed  to  Rochester  and  some  to  other  places,  and 
the  ancient  farm  is  now  owned  by  strangers.  The  Barnsta- 
ble family  eighty  years  ago  •^as  numerous,  wealthy  and  in- 
fluential,^now  there  is  not  a  solitary  voter  of  the  name  in 
the  town.  The  family  has  dwindled  down,  and  almost  be- 
come extinct.  There  are  a  few  of  the  descendants  of  An- 
thonj'  Annable  in  Boston,  and  in  other  places.  The  last 
parcel  of  the  Annable  farm  (formerly  Mr.  Thomas  Allyn) 
was  sold  out  of  the  family  the  present  year  (1861),  smd 
there  is  no  memorial  of  the  family,  now  remaining  in  Barn- 
stable, save  the  monuments  in  the  giave  yards  which  mark 
the  places  of  their  sepulchres. 


BACON, 


NATHANIEL    BACON. 

To  write  a  genealogical  memoir  of  Nathaniel  Bacon  and 
his  descendants  would  require  a  volume.  I  shall  not  attempt 
it.  Among  the  many  of  the  name  who  came  over  early, 
were  Nathaniel  and  Samuel,  supposed  to  be  brothers,  and 
Elizabeth,  probably  a  sister,  all  of  whom  settled  in  Barnsta- 
ble.* Michael  of  Dedham,  who  has  numerous  descendants 
probably  came  from  Ireland.  William  of  Salem,  who  mar- 
ried Rebecca,  daughter  of  Thomas  Potter,  mayor  of  Coven- 
try, had  resided  in  Dublin.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Irish 
rebellion,  she  was  sent  over  to  this  country,  and  her  husband 
followed  soon  after.  Andrew  who  was  early  of  Cambridge, 
and  one  of  the  magistrates  at  Hartford,  1637,  and  died  at 
Hadley  1669,  probably  came  from  Rutlandshire,  England. 
He  has  no  descendants  in  the  male  line,  his  son  Isaac  having 
died  young.  Nathaniel  Bacon  of  Middietown,  was  a  neph- 
ew of  Andrew  and  a  son  of  William  of  Stretton,  Rutland 
County,  England.  The  Bacons  of  Connecticut  were  prom- 
inent men,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  same  names  in  the 
Connecticut  and  Barnstable  indicates  a  community  of  origin. 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Bacon  was  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  the 
house  lot  assigned  to  him,  is  now  owned  by  his  descendants. 
Without  a  plan,  it  will  be  difficult  to  state  intelligibly,  the 
manner  in  which  the  lots  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Meeting 
House  in  the  East  Parish  were  laid   out.     The   locations    of 

*Mr.  Savajre  in  commenting  on  the  evidence  given  in  1661  by 
Dea  jolin  Fletcher  of  IMill'oril,  Conn.,  relative  to  the  ancestry  of  Na- 
thaniel Bacon,  of  M,iddletown,  remarks  that  it  "might  without  vio- 
lence be  construed  to  refer  equally  to  the  Barnstable  family,  though  it 
is  leSvS  probable."  It  it  very  much  "less  probable."  The  affidavits  of 
Dea.  Fletcher  and  some  others  were  talsen  at  New  Haven,  before  Na- 
thaniel Bacon,  Esq  ,  and  tliey  state  distinctly  that  "Nathaniel  Bacon 
then  present,  was  the  oldest  son  of  William  Bacon, "&c.  The  abstracts 
nt  thuap.  affidavits  ffiven  bv_Hinman.  are  wanting  in  clearness,  and 
^ge. 


22  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

all  the  roads,  excepting  that  to  Hyannis,  anciently  Baker's 
Lane,  have  been  changed,  and  the  ancient  boundaries  on  the 
dividing  lines  between  the  lots  have  mostly  been  removed. 
As  early  as  1653,  nearly  all  the  land  in  this  neighborhood 
had  changed  ownership.  The  present  county  I'oad,  proba- 
bly passed  on  the  south  of  Mr.  James  Lewis'  house,  now 
owned  by  Frederick  W.  Crocker,  Esq.  When  the  town 
was  settled,  the  present  county  road,  from  the  Meeting 
House  to  Baker's  Lane,  was  a  deep  gully,  impassable  for 
teams.  When  the  present  road  was  laid  out  in  1686  it  was 
located  "up  Cobb's  Hill"  through  this  gully.  The  "Old 
Mill  Way"  joined  the  county  road  on  the  east  of  the  Meet- 
ing House,  the  gate  at  the  entrance  standing  north  of  the 
town  pound.  From  this  point  the  "Old  Mill  Way"  extend- 
ed north  to  the  Mill  Pond,  and  thence  across  the  ancient 
causeway  sometimes  called  Blushe's  bridge,  to  the  Common 
Field.  The  ends  of  the  house  lots  butted  on  Mill  Way  not 
on  the  county  road.  Beginning  at  the  south  the  first  lot 
on  west  side  was  Roger  Goodspeed's.  His  house  stood  on 
this  lot  in  1649,  but  in  1653,  he  had  surrendered  it  to  the 
town  and  taken  other  lands  in  exchange.  The  Meeting 
House  on  Cobb's  Hill  and  the  lands  now  occupied  for  bury- 
ing grounds  were  included  in  this  lot. 

The  second  lot  on  the  north  of  Goodspeed's  contained 
seven  acres,  and  was  set  off  to  Elder  Henry  Cobb. 

The  third  lot  containing  six  acres  was  laid  out  to  Thomas 
Huckins  by  an  order  of  the  town  dated  14th  Sep.  1640. 

The  tourth  lot,  where  the  late  Dea.  Joseph  Chipman  re- 
sided, was  Dolar  and  Nicholas  Davis. 

On  the  east  of  the  "Mill  Way"  the  first  lot  was  Mr.  Na- 
thaniel Bacon's,  bounded  south  by  the  county  road,  west  by 
Roger  Goodspeed  and  the  Mill  Way,  north  (^in  1654)  by 
Goodman  Cobb,  and  east  partly  by  Goodman  Cobb,  and 
pi»rtly  by  Goodman  Foxwell's  land.  At  the  settlement  of 
the  town  the  land  on  the  north  of  the  Bacon  house  lot  was  a 
dense  swamp,  unfit  for  cultivation,  or  building  purposes. 
It  contained  some  valuable  timber  and  was  reserved  as  town 
commons.  It  was  subsequently  granted  in  small  lots  to 
Goodman  Cobb,  John  Davis  and  others,  and  subsequently 
bought  by  the  Bacon  family.  The  land  between  the  swamp 
and  mill  pond,  on  the  east  of  the  Way  was  mostly  owned  by. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  23 

Dolar  Davis  who  sold  it  to  Abraham  Blish  in  1657,  who 
afterwards  sold  it  to  the  Bacons. 

Mr.  Bacon  owned  sixteen  acres  of  land  in  the  old  Com- 
mon Field,  a  name  still  retained  and  eleven  acres  in  the  new 
Common  Field.*  He  also  owned  the  house  lot  and  land 
now  owned  by  Frederick  Cobb,  containing  twelve  acres, 
"bounded  northerly  by  the  highway,  westerly  by  the  road 
running  into  ye  woods,  80  rods,  easterly  by  Goodman  Fox- 
well."  Also  four  acres  bought  of  Henry  Taylor,  "bounded 
southerly  by  ye  highway,  northerly  by  Mr.  Dimmock's 
marsh,  easterly  partly  by  Mr.  Dimmock  and  partly  by  John 
Scudder's  upland,  westerly  by  Nicolas  Davis." 

In  addition  to  these  lots  he  owned  thirty-two  acres  of  land 
and  meadow  at  Cotuit,  meadows  in  the  mill  pond  and  at 
Sand}^  Neck,  and  other  tracts  of  land  and  rights  in  the  com- 
mons. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  a  tanner  and  currier.  He  had  vats  in  the 
low  grounds  near  his  house.  As  there  were  other  tanneries 
in  town,  it  is  probable  that  he  worked  at  his  trade  in  the 
winter  and  was  employed  in  the  cultivation  of  his  lands  the 
remainder  of  the  year.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  life, 
his  public  duties  absorbed  a  large  part  of  his  time. 

He  built  his  house  in  the  year  1642.  It  was  taken  down 
about  thirty-five  years  ago  and  the  old  oak  timber  was  as 
sound  and  as  hard  as  when  cut  from  the  forest.  It  was  two 
stories  high,  and  built  in  the  style  then  common.  It  was 
about  22  feet  in  the  front  and  26  feet  in  the  rear.  The 
lower  story  was  divided  into  three  rooms.  The  front  room 
was  16  feet  square,  low  in  the  walls  with  a  large  summer 
beam  across  the  centre  overhead.  The  bedroom  floor  was 
elevated  two  feet  above  the  other  floors  to  give  more  height 
to  the  cellar  under  it.  The  kitchen  was  very  small.  The 
second  story,  which  was  very  low  in  the  wall,  was  divided 
into  three  rooms  corresponding  in  size  with  those  in  the 
lower  story.  The  chimney  was  of  stone,  few  if.  any  bricks 
had  then  been  made  in  the  Colony.     The  fire  place  in  the 

*The  Old  Commou  Field  extended  from  Blushes  Point  to  the  west 
Waterintc  place,  bounded  north  by  the  harbor,  and  south  by  the  mill 
pond.  The  name  is  a  free  translation  of  the  Indian  name  Mattakeese 
which  means  ''old"  or  "worn  out  planting  lands."  The  new  Com- 
mon Field  extended  from  the  V\est  Watering  place  to  the  bounds  of 
Yarmouth,  bounded  norib  by  the  harbor,  and  south  by  the  County 
Rnqd.  and  included  the  Indian  reservation. 


24        GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF  BAEKSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

front  room  was  eight  feet  wide,  four  feet  deep,  and  the  n^an- 
tle  laid  high,  so  that  a  tall  person  could  walk  under  it  by 
stooping  a  little.  The  oven  was  often  built  on  the  outside 
of  the  house  with  the  mouth  opening  in  one  corner  on  the 
back  side  of  the  lire  place.  The  fire  was  built  in  the  centre, 
and  on  a  cold  winter  evening  a  seat  in  the  chimney  corner  was 
a  luxury  unknown  in  modern  times.  The  fire  place  in  the 
kitchen  was  necessarily  smaller,  in  a  house  of  this  construc- 
tion, especially  when  the  oven  opened  into  it.  There  was 
usually  a  fire  place  in  the  front  chamber.  The  windows 
were  small  and  oiled  paper  was  used  instead  of  glass  in  many 
houses.  The  successive  occupants  of  this  house,  altered 
and  enlarged  it  so  many  times,  that  in  1825  it  was  entirely 
unlike  the  original.  The  height  of  the  rooms  had  been  in- 
creased, by  lengthening  the  posts  three  feet, — a  large  addi- 
tion had  been  put  on  the  west,  and  several  on  the  rear. 
So  that  it  covered  more  than  four  times  as  much  ground  a^ 
at  first. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  proposed  as  a  freeman  in  June  1645  and 
admitted  June  1646.  In  1650  he  was  constable  of  the  town 
of  Barnstable,  and  a  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court  thirteen 
years  from  1652  to  1665.  In  1657  he  was  chosen  an  assist- 
ant and  was  re-elected  annually  till  his  death  in  1673.  In 
1658  and  1667  he  was  a  member  of  the  council  of  war.  He 
frequently  served  on  committees  appointed  hy  the  Court, 
and  was  a  prominent  and  influential  man  in  the  Colony. 

It  would  be  instructive  and  interesting  to  trace  step  by 
step  the  progress  of  Mr.  Bacon  through  life.  He  came  to 
Barnstable  a  young  man,  comparatively  poor,  without 
friends  to  assist  him,  and  without  the  advantages  of  a  o-ood 
education  ;  but  a  good  moral  character,  good  business  habits, 
energy  and  industry  more  than  compensated  for  the  want  of 
these  advantages.  He  died  Oct.  1673,  probably  not  60 
years  of  age.  His  widow  survived  him  many  years.  She 
was  living  in  1691. 

I  do  not  find  his  will  on  record ;  he  probably  made  none. 
The  inventory  of  his  estate,  appraised  at  £632,  10.  2,  is 
dated  Oct  29,  1673,  sworn  to  by  his  widow  Mistress  Han- 
nah Bacon,  and  letters  of  administration  granted   to    her. 

On  the  4th  of  March  following  "Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley,  Mr. 
Thomas    Walley,    William  Crocker,    John  Thompson,   and 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  25 

Thomas  Huckins  were  appointed  by  the  Court  to  settle  the 
estate  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Bacon  deceased,  among  Mrs.  Han- 
nah Bacon  and  her  children,  which  settlement  under  their 
hands,  or  any  three  of  their  hands,  shall  be  accompted 
against  all  claims,  or  contentions  at  any  time  arising  about 
the  aforesaid  estate  or  any  pai-t  thereof." 

Nathaniel  Bacon  married  Dec.  4,  1642,  Miss  Hannah, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Mayo,then  teacher  of  the  church 
in  Barnstable, 

Children  Born  in  Barnstable. 
I.  Hannah,  burn  Sept.  4,  1643,  bap'd  8th  Dec.  1644.  She 
married  Mr.  Thomas  Walley,  Jr.,  son  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Walley  of  Barnstable,  and  had  one  son  Thomas,  who 
died  leaving  no  issue ;  and  daughters,  Hannah,  who 
m.  iirsi,  Wm  Stone,  and  had  two  dau's ;  second,  James 
Leonard,  by  whom  she  had  Lydia  who  m.  Thomas 
Cobb  ;  and  Elizabeth,  who  m.  Edward  Adams,  Hannah 
m.  Feb.16,1675,  her  second  husband  Rev. George  Shove 
of  Taunton,  and  had  Mary  Aug  11,  1676,  Johanna 
Sept.  28,  1678;  Edward  Oct.  3,  1680,  and  Mercy  May 
1682.  She  is  named  as  one  of  the  "remote  members" 
of  the  Barnstable  church  in  1683.  She  died  in  Taun- 
ton Sept.  1685,  aged  42  vears. 
II.  Nathaniel,  bap'd  i5th  Feb.  1645-6. 
ni.  Mary,  born  Aug.  12.1648,  bap'd  20  Aug.  1648. 

IV.  Samuel,  born  Feb.  25,  1650-1. 

V.  Elizabeth,  born  Jan'y  28,  1653-4.  She  died  unmarried 
in  1676,  according  to  the  Plymouth  records  '-in  the 
28th  year  of  her  age."  She  was  only  21,  or  at  most, 
22  years  of  age.  Her  estate  was  settled  by  agreement 
on  record. 

VI.  Jeremiah,  born  May  8,  1657. 

VII.  Mercy,  born  Feb.  28,  1659-60,  married  Hon.  John 
Otis,  the  third  of  the  name,  July  18,  1683.       She  died 

Note. — In  the  account  of  the  Allyn  family  I  inadvertantly  stated 
that  Capt.  Samuel  Mayo  bought  his  house  lot  of  John  Ca.sely.  This  is 
a  mistake.  John  Casely's  house  lot  ■w-a.s  on  tlie  South  side  of  the  road. 
Itconlained  four  acres,  the  south-we.st  corner  being  near  the  Jaii  lands. 
An  investigation  of  this  noatter,  seems  ti  confirm  the  trndition  that 
the  present  road  between  Jail  Hill  and  the  old  Sturges  tavern  was  a 
private  way  belonging  to  the  Lotbrops,  before  the  year  1686,  when  It 
was  laid  out  as  a  public  highway.  In  1654  there  was  a  highway  from 
near  the  Savings  Bank  Building  to  the  wharf  now  owned  by  Josiah 
Hinckley,  and  the  house  lots  were  bounded  by  that  road. 


26         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Dec.  10,  1737  aged  77  years.     She  was  buried  at  "West 
Barnstable,  where  a  monument  is  erected  to  her   mem- 
ory.—  [See  Otis  Family.] 
VIII.   John,  born  June,  1651  the  record  says,  but   accord- 
ing to  his  grave  stones  in  the  burying  ground  near  the 
Meeting   House  in  the  East  Parish,   he    was    born     in 
June  1665.     He  "died  Aug.  20,  1731,  iu  the  67th  year 
of  his  age." 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  2d,   bought  a  part  of  the   house  lot  of 
Elder  Henry  Cobb,  including  the  stone  or  fortification  house 
thereon,  afterwards   owned   by   the   third  Nathaniel    Bacon, 
who  kept  a  public   house.     He  also  inherited  the  mansion 
house  of  his  father ;    but   his   mother  having  a  life   estate 
therein,  it  did  not  come  into  his  possession. 

He  married  March  27,  1673,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Gov. 
Thomas  Hinckley.  She  died  February  16,  l()86-7,  aged 
40.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  Hannah  [Lumbert?]  a 
young  woman.  He  died  Dec,  1691,  aged  46.  In  his  will 
dated  Aug.  6,  1691,  proved  May  9,  1692,  he  does  not  pro- 
vide liberally  for  his  wife  Hannah*,  and  contraiy  to  the 
usual  custom,  did  not  name  her  execijtrix  of  his  will. 

He  also  names  his  son  Natlianiel^arid  Samuel,  his  daughter 
Mary  and  Elizabeth,  l^f^-^is  second  wife,  and 
his  "honored  mother  Baoon."  He  had  two  dwelling 
houses,  to  Nathaniel  he  gave  "one  house  which  he  will,"  and . 
the  other  to  his  younger  son  Samuel.  He  appointed  as 
executors  of  his  will,  "My  loving  brethen  Jeremiah  Bacon 
and  John  Otis,  and  my  trusty  and  well  beloved  friends 
Jonathan  Russel  and  Lieut.  James  Lewis,  all  of  this  town  of 
Barnstable." 
Children  of  Naih'l  Bacon  2d,  and  his  wife  Sarah  Hinckley , 

born  in  Barnstable. 
I.  Nathaniel,  born  Sept.  9,  1674.  He  was  married  by 
Maj.  Mayhew,  Nov.  11,  1696,  to  Ruth  Doggett,  at 
Martha's  Vineyard.  His  children  were  Thomas,  born 
Sept.  30,  1697  ;  removed  to  Eastham  ;  David  born  Dec. 
11,  1700;  Jonathan,  born  March  11,  1703  ;  Hannah,  born 
Jan'y  15,  1704-5,  and  Sarah,  born  Jan'y   6,    1707-8.     He 

*In  1698  she  married  John  Davis,  Jr.,  his  third  wife,  and    had    Nicho- 
las. Jodediah,  Desire,  Noah  and  perhaps  other  children       In    1705  she 
is  called  of  Palmouih.     She  had  one  daughtei-,  Elizabeth,    by   her  sec- 
ond husband. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    I'AMILIES.  27 

died  ill  Barnstable  Jan'y  1737-8  aged  (i3,  and  his  widow 
died  Aug  6,  1756,  aged  80.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the 
church,  a  blaclcsmith  by  trade,  and  kept  a  public  house. 

II.  Mary,  born  Oct.  9,  1677,  married  Xov.  5,  1702,  John 
Crociver,  of  Barnstable.     She  died  March  1711,  aged  33. 

III.  Elizabeth,   born  April    11,    1680,    married   Aug.    31, 
1704  Israel  Tapper,  of  Sandwich. 

IV.  Samuel,  born  Jan'y  20,  1682,  married  March  30,  1704 
Mary,  daughter  of   Thomas    Huckins.      His    second    wife 
was  Sarah,  daughter  of   Edward    Taylor,    and    wido^v    of 
Samuel  Allyn,  Jr.,  whom  he  married  26th    Jan'y  1708. — 
His  children  were  Ebenezer,  born    March  16,   1705,    died 
July  17,  1706;  Ebenezer,    Dec.    4,    1708;    ^Mercv,    born 
May  22,  1710;  and  Edward.  Jan'y  23,   1714-15.  ' 
Deacon  Samuel  Bacon,  resided  in  the  ancient  far^iily  man- 
sion which  he  transmitted  to  his  son   Edward.     Dea.   Bacon 
died  April  29,  1728,  aged  46,  and  his   widow    Sarah,    Sept. 
24,  1753,  aged  73.     Ebenezer  of  this  family  married  Jan'y 
17,  1734,  Lydia  Lothrop,  and    he    removed   with    his    wife 
and  five  children  in  1745,  to  Lebanon,  Conn.     His  house,  a 
one  story,  gambrel  roofed,  double  house,  stood  on  the    east- 
erly part  of  the  land,  which, w.as  the  great  lot    of  l{ev.    Mr. 
Lothrop,  where  Daniel   Downes    now    lives.       He    sold   his 
house  and  land  to  Capt.  John  Cnllio,  a  Scotchman.     Mercy, 
daughter  of  Deacon  Samuel,  married  Aug.  5,1744,  Jonathan 
Hallett,  of  Hyannis,  a  son  of  David  Hallett.     The  late  Ben- 
jamin Hallett,  Esq.,  was  a  son,  and  the  present   Hon.    Ben- 
jamin F.  Hallett,  of  Boston,  a  grandson,    and  of  the    sixth 
generation  from  Nathaniel  Bacon,   the  first  settler.     He   has 
numerous  descendants. 

Hon.  Edward  Bacon,  youngest  son  of  Dea.  Samuel,  was 
a  distinguished  man  in  his  time.  He  held  many  important 
offices.  He  took  an  active  part  during  the  Revolution,  and 
in  the  stirring  times  immediately  preceding  it.  His  patriot- 
ism was  at  one  time  doubted  :  but  the  resolutions  passed  by 
the  town  and  recoi'ded,  vindicate  his  character  as  patriot  and 
a  man.  He  inherited  the  ancient  mansion  house  of  the 
Bacons,  afterwards  owned  by  his  youngest  son  Ebenezer. 
He  married  Sept.  7,  1744,  Patience  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Marston ;  she  died  Oct.  21,  1764,  and  he  married  Dec.  21, 
1765,    Rachel   Doane,    of    VVellfleet.       He    died  March  16. 


28         GENEALOGrCAL   IfOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES, 

1783,  aged  68,  and  is  buried  near  the  church  in  the  East 
Parish.  His  widow  Racbael  in.  Dr.  Thomas  Smith, 
Woods  Holl.  He  had  nine  children,  five  of  whom  died  in 
iniancy,  namely :  1.  Edward,  born  Oct.  19,  1742,  who 
married  Lydia  Gorham,  and  died  in  1811.  2.  Lydia,  born 
February  3,  1744-5,  died  April  28,  1745.  3.  Nymphas, 
June  2,  1746,  died  Dec.  i  ,  1746.  4.  Sajnanel,  Oct.  17, 
1747,  died  Nov,  7.  1747.  5.  James,  Oct.  30,  1748,  who 
married  Johanna  Hamblen,  and  removed  to  Freeport  Maine, 
fi.  Susannah,  Dec.  13,  1750,  died  March  24,  1753.  7. 
Sarah,  born  Dec.  25,  1752,  died  April  11,  1776.  8.  Susan- 
nah, Feb.  14,  1755;  and  Ebenezer,  Aug.  30,  1756,  a  dis- 
tinguished man.  He  held  many  important  offices  was  a  cor- 
rect business  man,  of  sound  judgment,  intelligent,  a  good 
neighbor  and  citizen,  and  hospitable  to  a  fault.  Whatever 
Squire  Bacon  said  was  regarded  as  law  by  his  neighbors,  a, 
fact  which  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  worth  and  influence. 
He  died  of  consumption,  in  1811,  aged  55  years,  leaving  a 
numerous  family,  who  were  "trained  up  in  the  way  they 
should  go,"  and  now  that  "they  are  old  they  do  not  depart 
from  it."  ji/y 

Samuel  Bacon,  son  of  Nntharfel,  removed  to  Hingham, 
and  married  17th  Dec,  1675,  Mary,  daughter  of  John  Jacob. 
He  died  in  Hingham,  Feb.  18,  1680-1,  aged  29  years,  11 
mos.,  -23  days.  In  his  -will  dated  Jan'y  13,  1680-1  he  names 
his  honored  mother.  Hannah  Bacon,  widow ;  his  two  dauo-h- 
ters,  Hannah  and  Mary,  and  his  wife,  Mary,  whom  he  ap- 
points sole  executrix  ;  and  for  overseers,  his  father-in-law, 
John  Jacob,  of  Hingham,  his  brother-in-law  George  Shove, 
of  Taunton,  Shubael  Dimmock,  of  Barnstable,  and  his  broth- 
er Jeremiah  Bacon.  He  had  property  in  Hingham  and 
Barnstable,  all  of  which  was  apprized  at  £334,8,2.  His 
childien  born  in  Hingham  were  Hannah,  born  Oct.  1676, 
died  ;i<jed  two  months.  Hannah,  again,  born  Feb.  16,  1678 
and  Mary,  born  Feb.  1680.  Respecting  these  daughters  I 
have  no  certain  information.  Tradition  says  they  removed 
to  Barnstable,  never  married,  and  built  the  large  two  story 
gambrel  roofed  house  occupied  by  John  Bacon,  Jr.,  and 
afterwards  by  his  son,  the  late  Capt.  Isaac  Bacon. 

Jeremiah  Bacon,  son  of  Nathaniel,  was  a  tanner.  His 
house  which  was  a  two  story  building  with  a  Leantoo  on  the 


o 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         29 

west  end,  stood  a  little  distance  north-east  from  William 
Cobb's  house.  His  tannery  was  in  the  low  ground  on  the 
north-east  his  house.  He  married  Dee.  1686,  Eliza- 
beth Howes  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  in  1706,  aged  49,  leav- 
ing a  good  estate,  which  was  settled  Feb.  15,  1712-13.  His 
house  lot,  a  part  of  the  Dimmock  farm,  contained  nine  acres 
and  he  had  thirty  acres  in  the  Common  Field,  adjoining  the 
house  lot  on  the  north,  lands  at  Stony  Cove,  and  at  Middle- 
boro,  meadows  and  wood  land.  Of  the  homestead  two  and 
three  fourths  acres  were  set  off  to  Job,  bounded  south  by 
the  highway,  west  by  land  of  .Vlr.  John  Otis,  (now  Lot  N. 
Otis,)  and  the  meadow  of  Samuel  Dimmock,  north  by  the 
Creek.  This  land  is  now  owned  by  William  Cobb.  To 
Samuel,  his  eldest  son,  and  his  mother,  three  acres,  bounded 
south  by  the  highway,  west  by  Job  Bacon,  and  north  by  the 
creek,  with  the  barn  and  other  buildings  thereon.  This  land 
is  now  owned  by  Solomon  Hinckley.  To  Jeremiah,  second 
son,  3  and  1-2  acres,  bounded  south  by  the  highway,  west 
by  Samuel  Bacon's  land,  (now  by  the  town  road  to  the 
Common  Field,)  north  by  the  creek,  and  east  by  Shubael 
Dimmock's  laud.  This  lot  was  afterwards  owned  by  Jamos 
Delap,  and  is  now  owned  by  the  widow  Anna  Otis.  Samuel 
had  10,  Jeremiah  9  1-2  and  Job  9  acres  in  the  Common 
Field.  Joseph  had  land  at  Stony  Cove,  and  1-3  of  land  at 
Middleboro,  &c.  Ebenezer  one  third  of  land  at  Middleboro, 
&c.  Nathaniel  had  one  third  of  land  at  Middleboro,  &c.  ;  in 
his  portion  were  1  silver  spoon,  1  silver  porringer,  &c. — 
His  Wid.  Elizabeth,  and  daughters  Anna  and  Mary  had  por- 
tions set  to  them  in  severalty.  Sarah  and  Elizabeth  are  not 
named,  and  were  probably  dead. 
Children  of  Jeremiah  Bacon  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  Howes 

born  in  Barnstable. 
I.     Sarah,  born  Oct.  16,  1687,  probably  died  young. 
H.     Anna,  born  Mar.  16,  1688-9. 

HI.Mercy,  born  Jan'y  30,  1689-90,  married  Mar.  19,  1719, 
Thomas  Joyce  of  Yarmouth,  had  a  large  family  of  girls 
noted  for  their  beauty,  which  however  did  not  prevent  the 
father  from  committing  suicide. 
IV.  Samuel,  born  Aug.  15,  1692.  He  married  three 
wives.  1st,  Deborah  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Otis,  who 
came  from  Nantucket   and   settled    in    Barnstable.       She 


30  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

died  May  29th,  1721.  2d,  he  marvied  J;m'y  7,  1724-5 
Wid.  Hannah  JRussell,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Paine,  Esq., 
of  Harwich.  She  had  previously  married  on  the  20th  of 
Jan'y  1715-16,  Philip  Eussel).  'She  died  May  8,  1753 
aged  58,  (the  church  records  say  "about  50.")  3d  Mary 
Howland,  Feb.  21,  1754.  He  was  a  captain,  a  man  of 
some  property,  and  had  the  bump  of  self  esteem  largely 
developed.  Notwithstanding  his  official  standing  and  his 
being  junior  to  Dea.  Samuel,  he  vvas  always  known  as 
Scussion  Sam,  a  nickname  exceedingly  mortifying  to  his 
dignity.  He  believed  that  his  family  was  entitled  to  more 
respect  than  the  other  Bacon  families  and  was  often  vexed 
because  his  neighbors  thought  otherwise.  He  had  a  habit 
of  saying,  "we  \vill  discuss  that  matter,"  hence  his  nick- 
name. He  resided  in  the  house  which  was  his  father's 
and  died  Jan'y  29,  1770  aged  77.  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were  Sarah,  Feb.  24,  1713-14,  who  married 
Jabez  Linnell,  Nov.  11,  1736;  Oris,  May  7,  1715,  mar- 
ried Hannah  Lewis  Nov.  23,  1738,  and  died  July  11, 
1773,  without  issue,  and  bequeathed  his  estate  to  his 
nephew,  the  late  Mr.  Oris  Bacon ;  Thomas,  Oct.  23,  1716, 
married  Desire  Hallett  Feb.  1,  1745  ;  Susannah,  Dec.  24, 
1718,  married  Nath'l  Cobb  De^  14,  1738  ;  Deborah,  Dec. 
4,  1720,  married  Peter  Pierce-'Nov.  12,  1741  ;  Hannah, 
baptized  Feb.  13,  1725-6,  and  Mary  baptized  July  26, 
1730.  There  are  no  descendants  in  the  male  line  of  Capt. 
Samuel  Bacon  now  living  in  Barnstable.  A  great-grandson 
residing  in  AVisconsin  has  many.  Oris  Bacon,  son  of  Oris 
died  at  Lima  Centre,  Wisconsin,  Nov.  21,  1862,  aged  85 
years,  7  months,  5  days. 

V.  Jeremiah,  born  Oct.  2,  "1694,  married  Abigail  Parker 
(she  married  2d,  Nov.  10,  1732,  Mr.  Eliphalet  Carpenter 
of  Woodstock,)  and  had  Prince  June  15,  1720,  and  Jer- 
emiah, Jan'y  14,  1723-4.  The  latter  married  Hannah 
Taylor  April  23,  1750. 

VI.  Joseph,  born  June  15.  1695,  married  Patience  Annable 

1722,  and  had  seven  children.     1.  Joseph  born  April  11, 

1723,  married  Mirian  Coleman  Dec.  13,  1750  ;  2.  Desire' 
born  Dec.  3,  1724,  married  Joseph  Davis,  Jr.,  Sept.  24, 
1745.  3.  Jane,  born  Feb.  28  1727-8  married  James 
Davis,  Jr.,  Sept.  24,  1745.     4.  Samuel,  father  of  Robert 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  31 

Bacon  of  Boston,  born  March  28,  1731.  He  died  on 
board  the  Jersey  prison  ship.  One  account  says : 
"Samuel  Bacon  of  Barnstable,  died  on  board  the  prison 
ship  at  St.  Lucia  1781."  5.  Patience,  born  June  29, 
173-1,  married  May  19,  1747,  Ben.  Davis.  6.  Annah, 
born  July  29,  1737,  died  June  20,  1761.  7.  Mercy,  born 
April  17,  1740,  married  Sept.  4,  1760,  Ben.  Lumbert. 

VII.  Ebenezer,  born  March  11,  1698. 

VIII.  Nathaniel,  born  Sept.  11,  1700,  married  June  11, 
1726,  Sarah  Cobb.  He  lived  in  the  Otis  Loring  house 
and  removed  to  New  Jersey  about  1750.  He  had  born  in 
Barnstable,  Rebecca,  Dec.  17,  1726  ;  Jeremiah,  born  June 
25,  1732;  Elizabeth,  born  May  1,  1734;  Sarah,  born  May 
9,  1736  ;  (she  said  her  sister  Elizabeth  walked  from  New 
Jersey,  barefooted  ;)  died  unmarried  in  1815;  Nathaniel 
born  March  3,  1737-8. 

IX.  Job,  born  March  23,  1703,  married  Elizabeth  Mills, 
March  10,  1725. 

X.  Elizabeth,  born  Aug.  6,  1705. 

John  Bacon,  Esq.,  youngest  son  of  Nathaniel,  was  eight 
years  of  age  when  his  father  died  in  1673.  Beside  his  share 
in  his  father's  estate,  his  brothers  Nathaniel  and  Samuel 
bought  for  him  Nov.  25,  1676,  twelve  acres  of  land  of 
Major  John  Walley,  administrator  on  the  estate  of  Nicholas 
Davis,  deceased.  The  eastern  half,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  transferred  to  his  sister  Mercy,  afterwards  wife  of  Hon. 
John  Otis. 

Extracts*  from  ancient  deeds,  and  other  records,  enable 
me  to  state  in  an  intelligible  form  the  original  laying  out  of 
the  lands  east  of  Cobb's,  or  Meeting  House  Hill.  The  house 
lot  of  Roger  Goodspeed  as  already  stated  was  bounded  west 
by  the  present  Mill  Lane  and  the  Hyannis  road.  On  the 
north  side  of  the  highway  the  next  lot  on  the  east  was  laid 
out  to  Nathaniel  Bacon,  this  extended  to  the  top  of  the  Hill 
a  little  east  of  the  spot  where  the  late  Capt.  Isaac  Bacon's 
house  stood.  On  the  south  side  of  the  road,  the  lot  next 
east  of  Goodspeed's  was  owned  in  1654  by  the  Wid.  Mary 
Hallett,  and  is  now  owned  by  S.  B.  Phinney  and  the  heirs 
of  Timothy  Reed,  deceased.     The  next    lot  was  laid  out   to 


*The  extracts  referred  to  are  omitteo. 


32  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Lieutenant  James  Lewis  and  is  now  owned  by  F.  W.  Crock- 
er. Tlie  next  lot  now  owned  by  Frederick  Cobb,  on  the 
east  of  the  Lane  (called  Cobb's  lane)  was  laid  out  to  Nath'l 
Bacon.  The  eastern  boundary  of  this  lot  corresponding 
with  the  eastern  boundary  of  his  house  lot  on  the  north  side 
of  the  highway.  Richard  Foxwell's  lots  were  next  east, 
four  acres  lying  on  each  side  of  the  road.  The  Bacons 
bought  this  land  early.  A  part  of  that  bought  of  Foxwell 
on  the  north  side  is  yet  owned  by  them,  and  a  part  by  the 
Agricultural  society.  The  Foxwell  land  on  the  south  of  the 
road  is  now  owned  by  Joseph  H.  Hallet  and  James  Otis. 
Next  east  of  the  Foxwell  land  on  the  south  of  the  road,  was 
the  great  lot  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb  containing  sixty  acres. — 
It  extended  to  the  range  of  fence  a  little  west  of  the  present 
dwelling  house  of  Joseph  Cobb.  Henry  Taylor  owned  two 
acres  at  the  north  east  comer  of  this  lot.  Next  east  of  Elder 
Cobb's  great  lot  was  the  farm  of  Joshua  Lumbard  extendino- 
to  the  range  on  the  east  of  the  house  of  Amos  Otis,  deceased, 
and  bounded  east  by  the  great  lot  of  Rev.  John  Lothrop. 
Joshua  Lumbert,  when  he  removed  to  South  Sea,  sold  this 
lot.  The  front  was  owned  by  Schoolmaster  Lewis,  and  the 
rear  by  Robert  Shelly,  who  sold  -to  Samuel  Norman.  Mr. 
Lothrop's  great  lot  contained  45  acres,  and  extended  to  the 
range  of  fence  between  the  houses  of  Daniel  Downes  and 
Joshua  Thayer.  This  lot  was  sold  by  the  heirs  of  Mr. 
Lothrop  to  John  Scudder,  and  he  sold  his  house  and  six 
acres  of  land  to  Stephen  Davis,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
land  to  the  Bacons.  On  the  north  side  of  the  road  the  lot 
next  east  of  Foxwell's  was  Nicholas  Davis' ;  this  land  ex- 
tended to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Dimmock  farm,  which 
is  the  range  of  fence  between  the  houses  of  Charles  Sturo-is 
and  Solomon  Hinckley.  From  this  point,  the  Dimmock 
land  was  bounded  115  rods  on  the  south  by  the  highway  to 
the  turn  in  the  road  east  of  the  house  of  William  W.  Stur- 
gis.  The  Dimmocks  sold  some  of  their  laud  very  early. 
Nicholas  Davis  bought  six  acres  at  the  west  end  and  which 
was  a  part  of  the  tracts  which  his  administrator  sold  to  John 
Bacon,  but  was  afterwards  transferred  to  his  sister  Mercy 
and  is  now  owned  by  her  descendants  Solomon  Hinckley 
and  Lot  N.  Otis.  Four  acres  on  the  east  of  the  last  named 
lot  were  bought  by  Henry  Taylor,  and  by  him  sold  in  1659 
to  Nath'l    Bacon.     John  Scudder   bought  six    acres  of  the 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.         33 

Dimtnock  land  which  he  sold  to  the  Bacons.  The  two  last  lots 
were  afterwards  the  property  of  Jeremiah  Bacon,  and  divid- 
ed in  1712  as  above  stated. 

The  Bacons  owned  extensive  tracts  of  land.  John  Ba- 
con, Esq.,  owned  on  the  road  the  lots  which  belonged  to  Fox- 
well,  and  the  lot  of  Nicholas  Davis.  He  owned  a  house  and 
farm  at  Strawberry  Hill  at  South  Sea,  and  extensive  tracts 
of  wood  land  and  meadows. 

He  was  bred  a  lawyer,  and  had  an  extensive  practice. 
He  was  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  held 
other  offices.  He  wrote  the  worst  hand,  for  a  man  of  busi- 
ness, that  I  have  ever  met  with ;  his  lines  were  crooked  in 
every  direction ;  his  letters  cramped  and  awkwardly  formed, 
and  difficult  to  decipher;  the  execution  shabby  and  misera- 
ble. It  has  been  remarked  that  a  man's  character  is  devel- 
oped in  his  hand-writing.  If  John  Bacon,  Esq.,  is  to 
be  judged  by  that  rule,  a  high  estimate  cannot  be  placed  on 
his  orderly  habits  or  intellectual  endowments.  He  was  much 
employed  in  public  business,  was  a  church  member  in  good 
standing,  and  his  moral  character  was  unblemished. 

John  Bacon,  Esq.,  youngest  son  of  Nathaniel,  married 
June  17,  1686,  Mary,  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Hawes 
of  Yarmouth.  She  died,  March  5,  1725-6,  aged  61  years. 
He  married  for  his  second  wife,  Sept.  9,  1726,  Madame 
Sarah  Warren  of  Plymouth,  a  widow-woman  having  children 
and  grand-children  of  her  own.  He  died  "Aug.  20,  1731, 
in  the  67th  year  of  his  age,'"  and  is  buried  in  the  grave  yard 
near  the  Meeting  House  in  the  East  Parish. 

In  his  Will,  a  most  elaborate  document,  occupying  four 
and  one-half  large  and  closely  written  pages  on  the  records, 
he  provides  that  in  certain  contingencies,  his  negro  slave 
Dinah  shall  be  sold  by  his  executors,  "and  all  she  is  sold  for 
shall  be  improved  by  my  executors  in  buying  of  Bibles,  and 
they  shall  give  them  equally  alike  unto  each  of  my  said 
wife's  and  my  grand-children."  Whether  this  pious  act  was 
performed  by  his  executors,  I  am  not  informed. 

He  left  a  large  estate,  which  he  divided  nearly  in  equal 
•  proportions  to  his  children  then  living.  His  wife  was  pro- 
vided for  in  a  marriage  contract  dated  27th  of  May,  1729. 
He  owned  his  homestead  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  con- 
taining about  thirty  acres,  bought  of  Foxwell,  Nicholas 
Davis  and  Abraham  Blish ;    this  he  divided  into  five  lots, 


34         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

giving  to  Nathaniel  the  eastern,  containing  six  acres,  on 
which  his  son  had  built  a  two-story  single  house.  This  lot 
is  now  owned  by  Charles  Sturgis,  S.  B.  Pbinney  and  Joseph 
Basset.  The  next  lot  on  the  west,  to  his  daughter  Desire 
Green,  on  which  there  had  also  been  built  a  two-story  single 
house,  afterward  owned  by  Lot  Thacher.  The  next  lot  con- 
taining five  acres,  he  gave  by  deed  to  his  son  Solomon,  who 
sold  it  to  John  Sturgis,  jr.  These  two  lots  are  now  owned 
by  Joseph  Basset.  The  fourth  lot  with  the  mansion  house 
thereon,  he  gave  to  his  son  Judah,  and  the  west  lot  to  his 
son  John  by  deed.  These,  excepting  about  an  acre  at  the 
southwest,  are  now  owned  by  the  Barnstable  County  Agri- 
cultural Society.  The  Foxwell  land  on  the  south  side  of  the 
road  he  gave  to  Judah  with  the  barn,  orchard,  &c. 

His  farm  and  dwelling-house  at  Strawberry  Hill,  South 
Sea,  he  gave  1-8  to  Hannah,  1-8  to  Solomon,  1-4  to  Nathan- 
iel, 1-4  to  John,  and  1-4  to  Judah.  Solomon  to  have  the 
improvement  of  the  house  till  he  had  one  of  his  own. 

His  woodland  he  gave  in  equal  shares  to  Desire, 
Nathaniel,  John,  Solomon  and  Judah. 

His  meadows  he  divided  to  his  sons,  and  daughter 
Desire. 

His  clothing  he  divided  to  Nathaniel  1-4,  and  his  best  hat 
and  wig,  John  1-2  and  his  cane,  Solomon  1-4  and  law  books, 
and  to  Judah  1-4  and  his  horse  furniture. 

His  "household  wares,"  1-3  to  Desire,  and  1-3  to  Hannah 
and  I  presume  the  other  3d  to  his  wife.  His  one-sixth  of 
the  mill  at  Blushe's  Bridge  he  gave  to  Solomon ;  and  his 
great  Bible  to  Hannah.  He  gave  to  all  his  sons  and  grand- 
sons, liberty  to  use  his  two  landing-places,  one  at  the  mill 
and  the  other  at  Blushe's  Point.  To  his  grand-daughter 
Mary,  daughter  of  his  son  Isaac,  then  deceased,  20  shillings, 
and  if  Isaac's  widow  had  another  child,  then  £40,  provided 
either  lived  to  be  21  years  of  age. 

His  orchard  he  gave  to  Judah,  but  his  children,  not- 
withstanding, were  to  have  the  fruit  of  five  trees  each  for 
seven  years. 

Judah  had  the  largest  share  in  the  estate,  but  he  had 
duties  to  perform  that  the  others  had  not.  He  had  to  pro- 
vide among  other  things  "a  good  gentle  beast  to  go  in  my 
wife's  calach  to  any  part  of  Barnstable,  and  once  a  year  to 
Plymouth." 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  35 

Children  (if  John  Bacon,  Enq.,  and  his  wife  Mary  Haues. 

I.  Hannah,  born  June  7,  1687,  married  March  25,  1709, 
Ebenczer  Morton,  of  Plymouth,  and  had  a  family. 

II.  Desire,  born  March  15,  16>^8-9,  mMrried  March  25, 
1709,  (at  the  same  time  with  her  sister  Hannah) 
William  Green,  and  had  six  children.  She  died 
Dec.  29,  1730,  aged  41.  He  died  Jan'y  28,  1756, 
"aged  about  70." 

III.  Nathaniel,  born  Jan'y  16,  1691-2,  married  Aug.  19, 
1720,  Anna  Annabie,  who  died  soon,  leaving  no  issue. 
He  married  in  1730,  Thankful  Lumbert,  by  whom  he 
had  Lemuel,  Benjamin,  Jabez,  Hannah  and  Jane,  bap- 
tized April  26,  1741.  She  had  afterwards  Lurania, 
illegitimate,  baptized  Aug.  28,  1743.  She  married 
Sept.  7,  1744,  Augustine  Bearse,  and  had  other  chil- 
dren. She  died  Nov.,  1774,  aged  "about  70."  Jabez 
died  1757,  leaving  his  estate  to  his  brothers  and 
sisters. 

IV.  Patience,  born  June  15,  1694 ;  died  young. 

V.  John,  born  March  24,  1697,  mariied  IGlizabeth  Free- 
man, May  3,  1726.  The  records  says  he  died  "abroad 
May  24,  1745."  He  fell  overboard  at  sea  and  was 
drowned.*  He  owned  and  occupied  the  large  two- 
story  gambrel-roofed  dwelling,  on  the  rising  ground 
east  of  the  ancient  mansion-house  of  the  Bacons. 
He  was  called  a  saddler  in  1729 ;  but  I  have 
understood  he  was  a  sea  captain  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  He  had  ten  children,  Mary,  born 
March  24,  1725-6,  died  in  infancy ;  John,  born 
April  29,  1728;  he  died  a  young  man  leaving  no 
issue;  Barnabas,  born  April  17,  1729,  died  in 
infancy;  a  daughter,  Jan'y  3,  1730-1,  died  "in  half 
an  hour";  Elizabeth,  born  May  8,  1731,  married 
Oct.  6,  1755,  Thomas  Dimmock;  Isaac,  born  Dec. 
25,  1732,  married  Oct.  29,  1762,  Alice  Talor.  He 
died  June  26,  1819,  aged  87  years.  He  resided  in 
the  house  which  was  his  father's.      He  had  a  small 


♦The  circumstances  are  thus  told  :  When  he  fell  overboard  there  was 
only  one  other  man  on  deck — a  man  who  stammered,  but  a  good  sing- 
er. When  Capt.  Bacon  fell  overboard  he  attempted  to  call  the  crew, 
but  could  not  articulate  a  word.  One  said  to  him  "sing  it,"  and  he 
commenced  and  sung  "John  Bacon's  overboard.'' 


36  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

farm  which  he  cultivated,  raising  a  large  quantity  of 
onions  for  market.  He  was  master  of  a  packet  run- 
ning between  Boston  and  Barnstable  many  years,  and 
in  the  fall  carried  a  large  quantity  of  onions  to  the 
Boston  market.  He  was  tall,  over  six  feet,  and 
well  proportioned — a  man  that  was  never  vexed 
at  anything.  If  a  man  assailed  him,  he  would 
always  have  a  witty  reply,  and  thus  turn  the  tables 
on  his  opponent.  Many  anecdotes  are  related  of 
him.  In  the  article  on  the  Annable  family  a  char- 
acteristic story  is  told  of  him.  This  packet  was 
called  "the  Somerset,"  not  her  real  name — a  small 
craft — the  remains  of  which  lie  in  the  raft  dock  at 
Blushe's  Point.  One  time  he  sailed  from  Barnstable 
with  a  southwest  wind.  After  crossing  the  bar  his 
vessel  began  to  leak.  Unable  to  keep  her  free  by 
pumping,  he  hove  about  to  return,  and  continuing  to 
pump  she  was  soon  free.  It  did  not  take  Capt.  Isaac 
long  to  find  the  trouble.  A  wicked  rat  had  gnawed 
a  hole  through  the  planking  on  the  starboard  side, 
which  was  under  water  when  on  the  other  tack.  He 
made  a  plug,  let  himself  down  on  the  side  of  the  ves- 
sel, and  drove  it  in  the  rat-hole,  hove  about  and 
went  to  Boston. 

One  year  straw  to  bunch  early  ripe  onions  could 
not  be  procured,  and  the  farmers  cut  green  bull- 
rushes  for  the  purpose.  Purchasers  who  wanted 
onions  for  the  West  India  market,  objected  to  them. 
In  reply,  Capt.  Bacon  said:  "Gentlemen,  these  are 
what  are  called  'tarnity  onions';  they'll  keep  to  all 
eternity."  He  sold  his  onions,  but  the  purchasers 
had  to  throw  them  overboard  in  a  week  after. 

Capt.  Samuel  Hutchins,  no  relation  of  Capt.  Ba- 
con's, also  run  a  packet  to  Boston  and  carried  onions. 
At  one  time  he  sold  a  load  to  be  delivered  in  Salem. 
Capt.  Bacon  heard  of  it,  and  having  his  vessel  loaded, 
sailed  for  Salem,  and  called  on  the  merchant  to  buy. 
The  merchant  said  he  had  engaged  a  load  of  Capt. 
Huckins.  Capt.  Bacon  replied :  "He  is  my  son-in- 
law  and  these  are  the  very  onions." 

The  town  records  say  the  7th  child  of  John 
Bacon,  jr.,  was  named  Mark,  the  church  records  say 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  37 

Mercy,  born  Jan'y  27,  1734-5,  baptized  Feb.  2, 
1734-5.  She  died  unmarried  March  29,' 1765  ;  Sim- 
eon, born  July  26,  1736,  died  March  21,  1740; 
Desire,  born  May  20,  1738  ;  she  was  never  married, 
lived  in  the  house  with  her  brother  Isaac,  in  which 
she  had  a  life  estate.  She  died  March  2,  1811 ; 
Mary,  born  Aug.  23,  1740.  married  Joseph  Bavis.- 

VI.  Isaac,  born  March  29,  1699,  married  Hannah  Ste- 
vens. He  removed  to  Provincetown  where  he  died 
in  1730,  leaving  a  daughter  Mary,  and  a  posthumous 
child,  born  after  the  death  of  the  father. 

VII.  Solomon,  born  April  3,  1701,  married  July  16,  1726, 
Hannah  Capron,  a  Tiehobeth  name.  He  was  a  phy- 
sician and  resided  some  time  in  Barnstable.  Whether 
he  removed  or  died  young,  I  am  unable  to  say.  I 
have  a  memorandum  that  he  had  a  daughter  Sarah, 
who  died  April  11,  1775,  aged  20. 

VIII.  Judah,  born  Dec.  9,  1703.  I  do  not  find  that  he  left 
issue. 

Nathaniel  Bacon,  including  the  male  and  female  lines, 
is  the  ancestor  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  eminent 
men  of  Cape  Cod.  The  sketch  which  I  have  givein,  is  only 
an  outline.  There  are  an  abundance  of  materials  for  an  in- 
teresting, useful  and  popular  work,  and  I  hope  the  author  of 
the  Sears'  Memorial  will  deem  it  a  subject  worthy  of  his 
eloquent  pen. 

The  descendants  of  Jeremiah  Bacon  did  not  inherit  the 
business  talents  for  which  the  other  branches  of  the  Bacon 
family  were  distinguished.  Some  of  them  were  noted  for 
their  pleasant  humor  and  ready  wit.  The  saying  of  Nathan- 
iel, brother  of  the  second  Oris,  are  often  repeated  in  the 
neighborhood  where  he  resided.  He  married  a  grand- 
daughter  of  William  Blatchford,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  the 
reputed  witch.  He  was  a  poor  man,  had  a  large  family, 
and  died  at  the  Almshouse  in  Barnstable.  At  first  he  re- 
sided near  the  late  Mr.  Ebenezer  Sturgis,  afterwards  in  a 
small  house,  at  a  distance  from  neighbors.  On  a  cold, 
stormy  winter's  day,  when  the  roads  were  blocked  by  drifts 
of  snow,  he  sat  in  his  comfortable  room,  while  Mr.  Sturgis 
and  his  sons  were  out  watering  and  taking  care  of  their  large 
stock  of  cattle.  Nathaniel  remai-ked  :  "I  am  thankful  that 
I  do  not  own  that  stock  of  cattle ;  Sally  and  I  have  been 


38  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

sitting  at  ease  by  a  cheerful,  blazing  fire,   they  have  been 
toiling  all  day,  exposed  to  the  cold,  driving  storm. 

When  in  the  eastern  country  he  boastingly  said, 
'Squire  Bacon  and  I  keep  more  cows  than  any  other  two 
men  in  Barnstable";  Nathaniel  had  one;  'Squire  Bacon 
twenty. 

He  tooli  up  a  bar  of  iron  in  a  blaclismith's  shop  and 
said,  "I  can  bite  an  inch  off  of  this  bar,"  at  the  same  time 
showing  a  good  set  of  teeth.  A  l)et  on  the  performance  of 
the  feat  was  accepted.  Putting  the  iron  near  his  open 
mouth,  he  brouglit  his  teeth  quiclily  together.  "There, 
gentlemen,"  said  he,  "I  have  bitten  more 'than  an  inch 
off." 

Of  his  wife  he  related  the  following  anecdote :  One 
stormy  winter  morning,  when  he  had  no  wood  to  kindle  a 
fire,  no  provisions  in  his  house,  and  six  small  children 
clamoring  for  breakfast,  his  wife  got  up,  scraped  a  little 
frost  from  a  window,  and  looking  out  exclaimed  in  piteous 
tones,  -'Oh,  what  would  I  give  for  one  pipe  of  tobacco." 

Samuel  Bacon,  of  Barnstable,  took  the  oath  of  fidelity 
in  1657.  How  long  he  had  then  been  of  Barnstable  does 
not  appear.  In  1(562,  he  had  a  grant  of  "six  acres  of  land 
more  or  less,  sixty  poles  north  and  south,  and  18  poles 
wide,"  (less  than  5  acres)  at  the  head  of  Richard  Foxwell's 
land,  bounded  northerly  thereby,  east  by  the  land  of  James 
Cobb,  south  by  the  commons,  and  west  by  Xathaniel  Bacon. 
He  married  9th  of  May,  1669,  Martha  Foxwell,  and  had 

I.     Samuel,  born  March  9,  1669-70.'^ 
n.  Martha,  born  Jan'y,  1671. 

This  family  disappeared  early.  Sifcu<sl  is  supposed  to 
have  been  a  brother  of  Nathaniel  and  "M^jtbeth .  but  I  find 
no  positive  evidence  that  such  was  tlie  fEt 


BACHILER 


REV.    STEPHEN    BACHILER. 

This  eccentric  and  learned  divine  has  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  white  man  who  settled  within  the  present  limitn  of 
the  town  of  Barnstable.  He  lived  a  hundred  years,  and  his 
long  life  was  checkered  with  exciting  incidents  on  which  the 
imaginative  pen  of  the  novelist  would  delight  to  dwell.  He 
was  born  in  England  in  1561,  received  orders  in  the  estab- 
lished church,  was  settled  in  the  ministry,  and  ejected  by 
the  bishops  for  non-conformity,  at  whose  hands  Gov.  Winth- 
rop  says  he  had  suffered  much.  He  married  early  in  life, 
and  four  of  his  sons  and  three  daughters  are  named  :  John 
Wing,  afterwards  of  Sandwich,  married  his  daughter  Debo- 
rah, probably  before  his  removal  to  Holland,  where  he  re- 
sided several  years.  During  his  residence  in  that  country, 
Christopher  Hussey,  the  ancestor  of  the  Nantucket  family  of 
that  name,  became  enamored  with  his  daughter  Theodate, 
and  sought  her  hand  in  marriage  ;  but  Mr.  Bachiler  refused 
assent,  without  the  bridegroom  would  agree  to  remove  to 
New  England.  Hussey  assented  to  the  condition  imposed, 
and  took,  probably  in  1629,  Theodate  to  wife.  Mr.  Bach- 
iler, intending  to  emigrate  to  New  England,  soon  after  re- 
turned to  London..  Mr.  Lewis  states  that  his  church  in 
Holland  consisted  of  six  members  beside  himself,  and  that 
these  returned  with  him  to  London.  No  names  are  given  ; 
but  it  is  uniformly  stated  that  they  were  his  friends,  or  mem- 
bers of  his  own  family.  If  so,  the  seven  probably  were  Mr. 
Bachiler  and  his  wife,  John  Wing  and  his  wife  Deborah, 
John  Sanborn  and  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Bachiler,  and 
Theodate  Hussey.  Sanborn's  wife  died  in  England,  and  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  came  over.  His  sons  John.  William 
and  Stephen  came  over  with  their  grandfather  and  settled  in 
Hampton.  Christopher  Hussey  and  his  mother,  the  widow- 
Mary  Hussey,  were  afterwards  members  of  his  church,  and 


40  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

followed  their  pastor  in  all  his  wanderings.  Mr.  Savage, 
whose  authority  is  not  to  be  rejected  on  light  or  inconclu- 
sive testimony,  thinks  the  Husseys  came  over  in  the  same 
ship  with  ?tlr.  Bachiler.  The  court  records,  and  the  decis- 
ions of  the  ecclesiastical  councils  favor  his  supposition,  and 
it  will  be  hard  to  show  how  the  ubiquitous  number  of  six 
members  is  made  up,  if  he  is  not  right. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1632,  Mr.  Bachiler  and  his  com- 
pany embarked  at  London  in  the  ship  \\'illiam  and  Francis, 
Capt.  Thomas,  and  arrived  in  Boston  Thursday,  June  5, 
1632,  after  a  tedious  passage  of  88  days,  and  on  the  day 
next  after  liis  arrival  went  to  Lynn. 

Mr.  Lewis*  states  that  "In  Mr.  Bachiler's  church  were 
six  persons  who  had  belonged  to  a  church  with  him  in  Eng- 
land;  and  of  these  he  constituted  a  church  at  Lynn,  to 
which  he  admitted  such  as  desired  to  become  members,  and 
commenced  the  exercise  of  his  public  ministrations  on  Sun- 
day, the  8th  of  June,  without  installation."  Four  months 
after  a  complaint  was  made  of  some  irregularities  in  his  con- 
duct.  He  was  arraigned  before  the  court  at  Boston,  Oct. 
3,  when  the  following  order  was  passed:  "Mr.  Bachiler  is 
required  to  forbeare  exercising  his  gifts  as  a  pastor  or  teacher 
pul)liqely  in  our  Pattent,  unlesse  it  be  to  those  he  brought 
with  him,  for  his  contempt  of  authority,  and  until  some  scan- 
dies  be  removed."  Mr.  Bachiler,  however,  succeeded  in 
regaining  the  esteem  of  the  people,  and  the  court  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1633,  removed  their  injunction  against  him.  In 
1635,  some  of  the  members  became  dissatisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  their  pastor,  "and  doubting  whether  they  were 
regularly  organized  as  a  church,"  withdrew  from  the  com- 
munion. A  council  of  ministers  was  held  on  the  15th  of 
March,  and  after  deliberating  three  days,  decided  ."that 
although  the  church  had  not  lieen  properly  instituted,  yet 
after-consent  and  practice  of  a  church-state  had  supplied  that 
defect.  So  all  were  reconciled,"  says  the  record.  Mr. 
Bachiler,  however,  perceiving  no  prospect  of  terminating 
the  difficulties,  requested  a  dismission  for  himself  and  the 
six  who  had  accompanied  him  from  England,  which  was 
granted,  on  the  supposition  that  he  intended  to  remove  fi-om 


*The  dates  given  by  the  aiithoi-  of  the  history  of  Lynn  are  not  always 
reliable.  He  states  that  Hussuy  settled  in  Lynn  in  1630.  The  evidence 
favors  the  supposition  that  he  did  not  come  over  till  1632. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  41 

Lynn.  Instead  of  this,  he  remained  and  formed  another 
church  of  his  friends,  that  is  of  those  who  came  over  with 
him. 

This  conduct  gave  great  offence  to  "the  most  and  chief 
of  the  town"  of  Lynn,  and  they  entered  a  complaint  against 
Mr.  Bachiler  to  the  assistants  who  forbade  him  to  proceed 
in  the  organization  of  his  church  until  the  subject  was  con- 
sidered by  other  ministers.  Still  he  goes  on.  The  magis- 
trates require  his  attendance  before  them.  He  refuses  to 
obey;  they  send  the  marshall  who  brought  him  into  their 
presence.  He  submits  and  agrees  to  leave  the  town  in  three 
months. 

Mr.  Bachiler  was  admitted  a  freeman  May  6,  1635,  and 
removed  from  Lynn  to  Ipswich  in  Feb.  163H,  where  he  re- 
ceived a  grant  of  fifty  acres  of  land,  and  had  the  prospect 
of  a  settlement ;  but  some  difiiculty  arose  and  he  left  the 
place. 

Gov.  Withrop  in  the  first  volume  of  his  history,  under 
the  date  of  March  30,  1(338,  has  the  following  passage  : 

"Another  plantation  was  now  in  hand  at  Mattakeese 
["MOW  Yarmouth," \s  written  on  the  marginjsix  miles  beyond 
Sandwich.  The  undertaker  of  this  was  one  Mr.  Batcheller, 
late  pastor  at  Saugus,  (since  called  Lynn)  being  about  76 
years  of  age ;  yet  he  walked  thither  on  foot  in  a  very  hard 
season." 

"He  and  his  company,  being  all  poor  men,  finding  the 
difiiculty,  gave  it  over  and  others  undertook  it." 

Mr.  Bachiler  settled  in  the  easterly  part  of  Mattakeese, 
at  a  place  which  is  known  to  this  day  as  "OW  Town."  The 
names  of  his  associates  are  not  given  ;  probably  the  com- 
pany consisted  of  persons  who  belonged  to,  or  were  con- 
nected by  marriage,  with  the  family  of  Mr.  Bachiler,  namely, 
sons,  sons-in-law  and  grand-sons,  with  their  families.* 

Mr .  Bachiler  probably  obtained  the  consent  of  Mr. 
Collicut,  to  whom  the  lands  at  Mattakeese  had  been  granted, 
before  he  undertook  to  establish  a  plantation ;  for  without 

*There  is  a  remarkable  parallelism  between  the  character  of  Mr. 
Bachiler  and  thatof  Mr.  Wm.  Nickerson,  the  ancestorof  the  family  of 
that  name.  Both  were,  or  assumed  to  be,  i-eligious  men;  bi>th  were 
stiff-necked  and  wayward;  both  were  often  involved  in  difHculties; 
both  were  undertakers  of  uew  plantations,  and  in  both  their  families, 
the  same  clannish  feeling  prevailed.  Bachiler  had  more  wives  and 
Nickerson  more  law  suits;  the  former  "undertook"  several  planta- 
tions; the  latter  only  or.e;  otherwise  their  histories  were  parallel. 


42  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

such  consent  he  would  have  been  a  trespasser  and  liable  to 
ejectment.  The  terms  of  the  grant  cannot  be  quoted  ;  but 
it  does  not  thence  follow  that  no  permit  was  given  or  grunt 
made.  VVe  know  by  the  Old  Colony  records  that  in  ll)37 
or  1638,  certain  lands  in  Barnstable  were  run  out  into  house 
and  other  lots  ;  that  these  lands  were  laid  out  by  or  under 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Richard  Collicut  of  Dorchester.  He 
was  a  surveyor,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  ever  in 
Barnstable.  The  Plymouth  records  tell  us  the  thing  was 
done ;  but  they  do  not  tell  us  who  did  it.  The  passage 
quoted  from  (iov.  VVinthrop  clearly  and  distinctly  states 
that  at,  (jr  about  the  time,  the  Plymouth  records  say  the 
lands  were  run  out,  Mr.  Eachiler  and  his  company  under- 
took to  form  a  plantation  at  Mattakeese.  The  very  lirst 
thing  that  he  and  his  company  did,  undoubtedly,  was  to  do 
what  all  such  companies  did  in  those  times  tirst  do  ;  that  is 
run  out  house  lots  for  each  of  their  party,  and  farming  lands 
and  meadows  to  be  held  by  each  in  severalty.  Not  to  pre- 
sume this,  is  to  presume  that  Mr.  Eachiler  and  his  company 
were  not  only  wanting  in  common  prudence,  but  wanting  in 
common  sense.  The  tirst  settlers  in  new  countries 
never  failed  to  appropriate  a  sufficiency  of  laud  to  them- 
selves, and  in  order  to  make  such  appropriation,  they  must 
tirst  run  them  out  and  put  up  boundaries. 

That  there  were  some  among  his  company  that  could 
survey  lands,  scarce  admits  of  doubt.  Mr.  Bachilcr,  as  Mr. 
Prince  informs  us,  was  a  "man  of  learning  and  ingenuity, 
and  wrote  a  tine  and  curious  hand,"  and  he  could  undoubt- 
edly run  lines  and  draw  plans.  His  son  John  Wing,  one  of 
the  company,  was  a  man  of  skill  and  energy — and  he  proba- 
bly had  with  him  his  sons  Daniel,  Stephen  and  John,  three 
stout  youths,  if  not  all  men  grown — one  of  whom  in  after- 
times  was  a  surveyor  of  lands. 

That  Mr.  Bachiler's  party  were  capable  of  doino-  all 
that  the  Colony  records  say  was  done,  does  not  admit  of 
doubt,  and  in  the  absence  of  all  proof  to  the  contrary,  it  is 
to  be  presumed  that  they  did  do  it. 

Sandwich  was  settled  in  1637,  mostly  by  people  from 
Lynn — old  neighbors  and  acquaintances  of  Mr.  Bachiler's 
company — and  it  is  probable,  that  being  the  nearest  settle- 
ment to  Mattakeese,  that  they  left  their  women  and  little 
ones  there  till  shelter  could  be  procured  for  them  in  the  new 
settlement. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  43 

The  tir^t  house  built  within  the  present  Iionnds  of  Yar- 
mouth (of  which  there  is  a  record),  is  that  of  Mr.  Stephen 
Hopkins,  aftei  wards  owned  b}'  his  son  Gyles,  and  by  him 
sohl  to  Andrew  Hallet,  jr.  This  was  in  the  summer  of  1()38, 
and  was  built  as  a  temporary  residence  for  his  servants  who 
had  the  care  of  cattle  sent  from  Plymouth  to  be  wintered  at 
Mattakeese.  \\'hether  or  not  cattle  had  been  sent  from 
Plymouth  in  previous  years  does  not  appear;  if  so,  then 
Mr.  Bachiler  found  whites  within  a  mile  of  the  place  he  select- 
ed for  settlement.  It  was  also  in  the  inunediate  vicinity  of 
"lyanough's  town,"  a  place  not  inhabited  by  the  Indians  in 
the  winter,  and  their  deserted  wigwams  perhaps  afforded 
them  a  temporary  shelter. 

Mr.  Bachiler  and  his  company  were  all  poor  men,  illy 
provided  with  the  means  of  establishing  a  plantation,  even 
in  the  mild  season  of  the  year,  and  it  is  hardly  possible  that 
they  could  have  sustained  themselves  during  the  intensely 
cold  winter  of  1637,  without  some  kindly  herdsmen,  or 
some  friendly  Indians  gave  them  shelter  while  they  were 
preparing  their  rude  habitations. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1638,  Mr.  Bachiler,  "finding 
the  difficulties  great,"  abandoned  his  plantation  at  Matta- 
keese. John  Wing  and  his  family  stopped  in  Sandwich. 
Mr.  Bachiler  and  Christopher  Hussey  went  to  Newbury, 
aud  on  the  6th  of  September  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
gave  them  and  others  leave  to  begin  a  plantation  at  Hamp- 
ton, of  which  he  became  the  minister.  The  next  year,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Felt,  he  was  excommunicated  for  unchastity, 
though  Gov.  Winthrop  says  he  was  then  "about  eighty 
years  of  age,  and  had  a  lusty,  comely  woman  to  wife  ."  In 
November,  1641,  he  was  restored  to  the  church,  but  not  to 
his  oflice.  About  this  time  his  house  in  Hampton  took  fire 
and  was  consumed  with  nearly  all  his  property. 

In  1644,  the  people  of  Exeter  invited  him  to  settle 
there;  but  the  court  forbid  his  settlement.  In  1647,  he 
was  at  Portsmouth,  now  Portland,  where  in  1650,  he  being 
then  89  years  old,  his  second  wife  Helena  being  dead,  he 
married  his  third  wife  Mary,  without  publishing  his  inten- 
tion of  marriage  according  to  law,  for  which  he  was  fined 
ten  pounds,  half  of  which  was  afterwards  remitted. 

With  his  third  wife  he  lived  only  a  few  months.  She 
went  to  Kittery,  and,  according  to  the  York  records,  on  the 
15th  of  October,  1651,  was  presented  for  committing  adnl- 


44  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

tery  with  George  Rogers,  and  sentenced  "to  receive  forty 
stripes  save  one,  at  the  first  town  meeting  held  at  Kittery 
six  weeks  after  her  delivery,  and  be  branded  with  the  letter 
A."  In  October,  1656,  she  petitioned  for  a  divorce  from 
Mr.  Bachiler,  because  he  had  five  years  before  "transported 
himself  to  Ould  England,  and  betaken  himself  to  another 
wife,"  and  because  she  desired  "disposing  herselfe  in  the 
way  of  marriage."  Whether  or  not  she  obtained  a  divorce 
does  not  appear  on  record. 

Mr.  Bachiler,  atter  his  return  to  England,  married  a 
fourth  wife,  his  third  being  then  living.  At  last  he  died  in 
the  year  1660,  at  Hackney,  near  Loudon,  in  the  one  hun- 
dreth  year  of  his  age.* 

No  record  of  his  family  is  preserved  .  Four  sons  and 
three  daughters  are  named.  Henry,  settled  at  Reading ; 
Nathaniel,  born  about  1611,  "a  chip  of  the  old  block,"  set- 
tled at  Hampton,  and  Francis  and  Stephen,  both  remained 
in  London,  the  latter  said  to  have  been  livinsr  in  1685.  Of 
his  daughters,  one  as  before  stated,  married  John  Sanborn, 
and  died  before  1632.  Theodate,  married  Christopher 
Hussey,  and  died  in  Hampton  in  1649.  Deborah  married 
John  Wing  of  Sandwich.  On  the  Yarmouth  town  records  I 
find  the  following  entry  :  "Old  Goody  Wing  desesed  the 
last  of  January,  '91  and  '92,"  that  it  Jan'y  31,  1692,  N.  S. 
This  record  probably  refers  to  Deborah,  widow  of  the  first 
John  Wing.  Her  son  John  resided  at  Sawtucket  (now 
Brewster),  then  within  the  corporate  jurisdiction  of  Yar- 
mouth, and  his  aged  mother  probably  resided  with  him. 
There  is  no  one  beside  to  whom  the  record  will  apply.  Her 
age  is  not  given,  but  an  approximation  to  it  may  be  made. 
Her  son  Daniel  of  Sandwich,  if  he  had  then  been  living, 
would  have  been  70  years  of  age,  consequently  the  mother 
must  have  been  about  90  years  of  age  at  her  death 


*In  preparing  this  article,  I  have  consulted  Gov.  Winthrop's  Histo- 
ry, thK  Ph  month  and  Mnssachnetts  Records,  Felt's,  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary,  and  Lewis's  History  of  Lynn; 
the  latter  gives  the  fullest  sketch  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Bachiler  yet  pub- 
lished. The  reading  of  the  extraats  from  the  records,  given  by  Mr. 
Lewis,  leave  the  impression  on  the  mind  that  Mr.  Bachiler  was  not 
suoli  a  man  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  should  be,  A  literary  friend, 
who  for  .several  years  has  behn  collecting  materials  for  a  memoir  of 
Mr.  Bachiler,  says  he  is  not  deserving  of  the  odium  which  has  been 
heaped  on  his  character. 


BASSET. 


WILLIAM    BASSET. 

William  Basset,  one  of  the  forefathers,  came  over  in 
the  ship  Fortune  in  1621 ;  settled  first  in  Plymouth,  then  in 
Duxhury,  and  finally  in  Bridgewater — of  which  town  he  was 
an  original  proprietor.  He  died  there  in  1667.  He  was 
comparatively  wealthy,  being  a  large  land-holder,  only  four 
in  Plymouth  paying  a  higher  tax  in  the  year  1633.  He  had 
a  large  library,  from  which  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  he  was 
an  educated  man.  In  1648,  he  was  fined  five  shillings  for 
neglecting  "to  mend  guns  in  seasonable  times" — an  offence 
of  not  a  very  heinious  character — but  it  shows  that  he  was 
a  mechanic  as  well  as  a  planter.  Many  of  his  descendants 
have  been  large  land-holders,  and  even  to  this  day  a  Basset 
who  has  not  a  good  landed  estate,  thinks  that  he  is  misera- 
bly poor. 

His  name  is  on  the  earliest  list  of  freemen,  made  in 
1633  ;  he  was  a  volunteer  in  the  company  raised  in  1637,  to 
assist  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  in  the  Pequod  war ;  a 
member  of  the  committee  of  the  town  of  Duxbury  to  lay  out 
bounds,  and  to  decide  on  the  fitness  of  persons  applying  to 
become  residents,  and  was  representative  to  the  Old  Colony 
Court  six  years.  His  son  William  settled  in  Sandwich ; 
was  there  in  1651,  and  is  the  ancestor  of  the  families  of  that 
name  in  that  town,  and  of  some  of  the  families  in  Barnsta- 
ble and  Dennis.  His  son,  Col.  William  Basset,  was  mar- 
shall  of  Plymouth  Colony  at  the  time  of  the  union  with 
Massachusetts,  and  in  1710,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Infe- 
rior Court,  and  afterwards  Eegister  of  Probate.  He  was  an 
excellent  penman,  and  wrote  a  very  small,  yet  distinct  and 
beautiful  hand,  easily  read.  The  records  show  that  he  was 
a  careful  and  correct  man.  He  was  the  most  distinguished 
of  any  of  the  name  in  Massachusetts.     He  died  in  Sand- 


46  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

wich,  Sept.  29,  1721,  in  the  65th  year  of  his  age. 

Elisha  Basset,  a  grandson  of  Col.  Basset,  removed  to 
Dennis,  then  a  part  of  Yarmouth.  He  was  a  captain  in  the 
Provincial  militia ;  had  three  commissions,  each  signed  by  a 
different  Royal  Governor.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
lievolution  he  was  a  zealous  whig  and  surrendered  his  com- 
mission, and  was  offered  a  captain's  commission  in  the  Con- 
tinental Army ;  but  the  circumstances  of  his  family  obliged 
him  to  decline  accepting  it.  He  was  the  representative  from 
Yarmouth  at  the  Provincial  Congress,  as  it  was  called,  which 
assembled  at  Cambridge  and  Watertown  in  the  years  1774 
and  75. 

Nathaniel  Basset,  son  of  the  tirst  William,  is  the  ances- 
tor of  the  Yarmouth,  Chatham  and  Hyannis,  and  some  of  the 
West  Barnstable  families  of  the  name.  On  the  2d  of  March, 
1651-2,  "Nathaniell  Basset  and  Joseph  Prior,  for  disturb- 
ing the  church  of  'Duxburrou,'  on  the  Lord's  day,  were 
sentenced  each  of  them  to  pay  twenty  shillings  fine,  or  the 
next  towne  meeting  or  training  day  both  of  them  to  bee 
bound  unto  a  post  for  the  space  of  two  hours,  in  some  public 
place,  with  a  paper  on  their  heads  on  which  theire  capital 
crime  shall  be  written  perspecusly,  soe  as  may  bee  read." 
Whether  they  paid  the  fines  imposed,  or  suffered  the  novel 
mode  of  punishment  to  which  they  were  sentenced,  does  not 
appear. 

Nathaniel  settled  first  in  Marshfield,  but  removed  to 
Yarmouth  where  he  was  an  inhabitant  in  1664,.  and  perhaps 
earlier.  He  resided  near  the  first  meeting-house,  and  his 
descendants  still  enjoy  his  lands.  Notwithstandino-  the  trifl- 
ing irregularity  in  his  conduct  when  a  young  man  at  Dux- 
bury,  he  was  a  very  worthy  and  respectable  citizen,  had  a 
large  family — ten  of  whom  lived  to  mature  age.  He  died 
January  16,  1709-10,  aged  82. 

No  record  of  the  family  of  the  first  William  Basset  has 
been  preserved.  It  appears  that  he  was  married  but  had  no 
children  at  the  division  of  the  land  in  1623  ;  but  at  the  divis- 
ion of  the  cattle  in  1627,  he  had  two,  William  and  EHzabeth. 
His  wife  was  named  Elizabeth,  and  it  is  stated  by  Jndo-e 
Mitchell  that  she  was   probably  a  Tilden.*     His  children, 


His  wife  Mary  presented  the  inventory  of  his  estate.  May  13  1667 
and  took  the  oath  required.  The  names  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth  were 
formerly  considered  synonymous,  and  it  may  be  that  Mary  was  not  his 
second  wife.  j  ^^  uio 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    EAMILIES.  47 

horn  in  Plymouth  and  Duxbury,  were 

I.  William,  born  1624,  removed  to  Sandwich,  was  called 
Mr.,  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Hugh  Burt  of  Lynn, 
and  died  in  1670,  leaving  a  large  estate.  Had  daughter 
Mary  born  21st  November,  1654;  William,  2d,  1656,  and 
probably  others.  Col.  William,  3d,  married  Rachel,  had 
Mary,  Oct.  20,  1676;  Nathan,  1677;  Eachel,  Oct.  25, 
1679  ;  William,  Jonathan,  and  another  daughter.  Wil- 
liam married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Elisha  Bourne,  and 
had  Elisha,  who  removed  to  Yarmouth,  and  other  chil- 
dren. Nathan  married  Mary  Huckins,  1690,  removed  to 
Chilmark  and  had  eleven  children.  His  son  Nathan 
graduated  at  Harvard  in  1719,  and  was  afterwards  set- 
tled in  Charleston,  8.  C.  An  interesting  account  of  the 
Bassets  of  Martha's  Vineyard  has  recently  been  pub- 
lished by  R.  L.  Pease,  Esq.  Mary,  the  wife  of  Nathan, 
was  a  daughter  of  John  Huckins  of  Barnstable,  and 
was  brought  up  in  the  family  of  her  grandfather.  Elder 
John  Chipman.  The  account  of  her  religious  expe- 
rience, written  \>y  herself,  is  a  narrative  of  thrilling  in- 
terest.    Jonathan  married  Mary ,  and  died  Dec. 

13,  1683,  leaving,  I  think,  one  son,  Jonathan,  who  is 
named  in  his  grandfather's  will. 

H.  Elizabeth,  born  about  1626,  married  Thomas  Burgess, 
jr.,  of  Sandwich,  8th  Nov.  1648,  was  divorced  June 
10,  1661.  He  removed  to  Rhode  Island,  and  was  a 
resident  at  Newport  in  1671,  having  a  wife  Lydia. 

HI.  Nathaniel,  born  1628,  married  for  his  first  wife  a 
daughter  of  John  Joyce  [Mary  or  Dorcas]  of  Yar- 
mouth. His  wife  Hannah,  who  died  in  1709,  was  prob- 
ably a  second  wife.  The  record  of  his  family  is  lost. 
His  will,  dated  Jan'ry  10,  1709-10,  six  days  before  his 
death,  is  a  carefully  drawn  instrument,  witnessed  by 
Rev.  Daniel  Greenleaf,  Experience  Rider,  and  his 
nephew  Col.  William  Basset,  and  furnishes  much  gen- 
ealogical information.  He  names  his  nine  children  then 
living,  says  he  is  "aged  and  under  much  decay  of 
body,"  being  then  82  years  of  age.  To  his  son  Wil- 
liam he  gave  meadow  and  upland,  which  was  John 
Joyce's  drying  ground,  bought  of  Mr.  Thomas  Wally, 
and  meadow  bought  of  Mr.  Thornton.  He  names  the 
eldest  son  of  Thomas  Mulford  of  Truro,  who  married 
his  daughter  Mary  ;  the  eldest  son  of  his  son  Nathan- 


48  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

iel;  the  eldest  sou  of  his  son  Joseph;  to  Nathaniel  he 
gave  property  that  was  his  Grandmother  Joyce's,  and 
his  lands  in  Middleboro'.  He  names  his  daughter-iu-law 
Joannah,  perhaps  wife  of  Nathaniel,  who  removed  to 
Windham,  Conn.,  and  his  daughter  Euth  Basset.  He 
gives  certain  property  unto  six  of  his  children,  Mary 
Mulford,  Samuel  Basset,  Hannah  Covell,  Joseph  Bas- 
set, Sarah  Nickerson  and  Nathan  Basset,  Mr.  Thomas 
Mulford  of  Truro,  and  his  son  Joseph  of  Yarmouth, 
Executors.  Estate  appraised  at  £228,11.  One  of  the 
oldest  monuments  in  the  Yarmouth  grave-yard  is  that 
of  Dorcas  Basset,  who  died  June  9,  1707,  aged  31. 
She  was  probably  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel.  Though 
William  is  first  named  in  the  will,  he  was  probably  the 
youngest  son. 
IV.  Sarah,  born  about  1630,  married  in  1648,  Peregrine 
\^'hite  of  Marshfield,  the  first  born  of  the  English  at 
Cape  Cod  Harbor,  Nov.  1620.  Her  third  son  Jona- 
than, born  June  4,  1658,  is  the  ancestor  of  the  White 
families  in  Yarmouth. 

His  other  children  named  aie  Euth,  who  married  John 
Sprague,  1655;  Jane;  Joseph,  who  settled  with  his  father 
in  Bridgewater,  married  Martha  Hobart,  1677,  and  died 
1712.  He  had  Joseph,  William,  Elnathan,  Jeremiah,  Lydia, 
Euth  and  Elizabeth.  The  posterity  of  Joseph  are  numer- 
ous. 

William,  son  of  Nathaniel,  married  Feb.  23,  1710, 
Martha  Godfrey,  and  had  Isaac,  July  17,  1711 ;  Moses, 
Nov.  4,  1713  ;  Fear,  April  12,  1716,  who  married  Joseph 
Eogers  of  Harwich,  Oct.  19,  1737.  His  second  wife  was 
Sarah  Jenkins  of  Barnstable,  to  whom  he  was  married 
Jan'y  30,  1722-3.  He  and  his  wife  Sarah  were  dismissed 
from  the  Yarmouth  to  the  Barnstable  Church,  Aug.  1727. 
His  children  recorded  as  born  in  Barnstable  are  Samuel, 
Aug.  21,  1724;  Experience,  May  5,  1727;  Mary,  May  18, 
1729,  and  Nathaniel,  Sept.  4,  1732.  Only  the  two  last 
were  baptized  in  Barnstable.  He  had  probably  another  son, 
William,  born  in  Yarmouth,  who  married  May  8,  1741, 
Margaret  Merryfield.  The  Bassets  of  West  Barnstable  are 
descendants  of  William,  son  of  Nathaniel,  and  of  Samuel  of 
Yarmouth,  a  great-grandson  of  Col.  William  of  Sandwich. 
This  Samuel  married  June  15,  1743,  Susannah  Lumbard  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  49 

Truro,  and  had  born  in  Barnstable,  Xehemiah,  Sept.  22, 
1743;  Ebenezer,  Dec.  27,  1744,  and  probably  others. 
There  was  also  a  Nathan  Basset,  jr.,  called  of  Middleboro', 
who  settled  at  West  Barnstable  and  married  Oct.  25,  1739, 
Thankful  Fuller,  and  had  born  in  Barnstable,  Nathan,  Dec. 
30,  1750,  and  Cornelius,  Jan'y  20,  1753,  and  perhaps 
others. 

Joseph,  son  of  Nathaniel,  is  the  ancestor  of  the  Yai"- 
mouth  and  Hyannis  families.  He  married  Feb.  27,  1706-7, 
Susannah  Howes,  she  died  Feb.  27,  1718-19,  and  he  mar- 
ried for  his  second  wife  Thankful  Hallet,  Dec.  3,  1719. 
His  childre>i  were  Sarah,  born  Dec.  10,  1707,  died  July  3, 
1736;  Joseph,  June  15,  1709;  Daniel,  Nov.  17,  1710; 
Joshua,  Sept.  13,  1712;  Susannah,  Jan.  22,  1714-15,  mar- 
ried JohnHawes,  Jan'y  2,  1732;  Samuel,  Oct.  23,  1716,  a 
whaleman  died  unmarried,  1740 ;  John,  Dec.  14,  1720 ; 
Ebenezer,  July  9,  1722,  died  Aug.  16, 1723  ;  Thankful,  mai-- 
ried  1750,  Joshua  Brimhall  of  Hingham,  and  Nathan,  Oct. 
17,  1725. 

Mrs.  Thankful  Basset  died  Aug.  12,  1736,  and  Mr. 
Joseph  Basset,  Jan'y  6,  1749-50. 

Joseph  Basset,  son  of  Joseph,  married  Feb.  25,  1737, 
Mary  Whelden.  He  died  Sept.  5,  1833,  aged  94.  He  had 
1st,  Joseph,  Dec.  23,  1738,  who  inherited  the  paternal  es- 
tate ;  married  three  times.  One  of  his  wives  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Capt.  John  Bearse,  who  came  over  as  a  revenue  offi- 
cer before  the  lievolution.  He  bought  the  Kev.  Mr.  Smith's 
house,  in  Yarmouth,  where  Joseph  Basset  and  Elisha  Doane 
afterwards  kept  a  public  house.  He  had  two  children  who 
lived  to  mature  age,  Susannah,  who  married  the  late  Elisha 
Doane,  Esq.,  and  Joseph,  now  living,  unmarried,  on  the 
Basset  farm.  2d,  Mary,  Oct.  20,  1744,  married  Edward 
Sturgis,  jr.,  Jan'y  28,  1767.  3d,  Jonathan,  Nov.  10,  1746, 
and  Samuel,  Dec.  4,  1748,  both  of  whom  removed  to  Hal- 
lowell,  Maine. 

Daniel  Basset,  son  of  Joseph,  married  July  1,  1735, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Seth  Crowell,  and  had  one  son, 
Daniel,  born  Aug^  7,  1736.  The  father  died  soon  after  and 
his  widow  married  in  1742,  Hezekiah  Marchant,  and  re- 
moved to  Hyannis.  Daniel,  the  grandfather  of  the  present 
Hon.  Zenas  D.  Basset,  resided  at  Hyannis,  and  is  the  an- 
cestor of  the  Bassets  in  that  vicinity.     He  married  a  daugh- 


50  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ter  of  Jabez  Bearae,  and  had  sons  Joseph,  Daniel  and  Seth. 
He  was  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Continental  Army.  Joseph,  his 
son  who  enlisted  as  a  soldier,  but  served  in  the  capacity  of 
waiter  to  his  father,  was  one  of  the  last  surviving  revolu- 
tionary pensioners  of  the  town  of  Barnstable.  He  died  July 
7,  1855,  aged  93.  He  married  two  wives  and  was  the  father 
of  twenty-four  children,  of  whom  the  Hon.  Zenas  D.  is  the 
oldest.  One  of  his  wives  had  four  children  by  a  former  hus- 
band, so  that  in  fact  there  were  twenty-eight  in  his  family 
who  called  him  father. 

Joshua,  son  of  Joseph,  was  an  ensign  in  Col.  Gorham's 
llegiment  in  the  expedition  to  Louisburg,  in  1745.  He 
married  in  1738,  Hannah  Brimhall  of  Hingham,  and  had 
Sarah,  Oct.  28,  1739;  Susannah,  May  16,  1741;  Anna, 
March  3,  1742-3,  and  Joshua,  Nov.  18,  1744.  The  latter 
probably  died  young. 

Nathan  Basset,  son  of  Joseph,  lived  in  the  ancient 
Hallet  house,  situated  nearly  opposite  the  Barnstable  Bank. 
He  married  first,  Hannah  Hallet,  1751,  by  whom  he  had 
seven  children,  and  second,  Desire,  widow  of  Prince  Crow- 
ell.  He  had  1st,  John,  Nov.  4,  1753,  who  has  no  descend- 
ants now  living;  2d,  Thankful,  Nov.  3,  1756,  who  died 
young;  3d,  Joseph,  Feb.  13,  1759;  4th,  Ebenezer,  May 
24,  1761 ;  5th,  Thankful,  Sept.  19,  1763,  married  Ebenezer 
Taylor  ;  6th,  Francis,  Jan'y  14,  1766  ;  7th,  Joshua,  Aug.  7, 
1768,  father  of  the  present  Capt.  Joshua  Basset. 

Nathan  Basset,  son  of  Nathaniel,  is  the  ancestor  of  the 
Chatham  and  Harwich  families.  He  married  March  7,  1709, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Crowell  of  Yarmouth,  He  died 
in  1728,  leaving  seven  children.  She  died  in  1742,  and 
names  in  her  will  sons  Nathan,  Thomas,  Nathaniel,  who 
married  Sarah  Chase  of  Yarmouth,  Aug.  23,  1729,  Samuel, 
and  daughters  Mary  Basset,  Dorcas  Nickerson  and  Hannah 
Co  veil. 

Capt.  Elisha  Basset  of  Sandwich,  grandson  of  Col. 
William,  married  Ruhama,  daughter  of  Samuel  Jennings  of 
Sandwich,  and  removed  to  Dennis,  then  Yarmouth.  His 
children,  born  in  Yarmouth,  were,  1st,  Lydia,  Aug.  14, 
1740,  married  Abraham  Howes,  1761 ;  2d,  Abigail,  Jan'y 
30,  1742  ;  3d,  Elisha,  March  14,  1744-5,  who  removed  with 
his  family  to  Ashfield  in  1797,  where  he  has  descendants; 
4th,  Samuel,  April  17,  1747,  who  went  to  Barnstable;  5th, 
William,  June  22,  1750,  married  Betty  Howes,  and  had  one 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.         51 

son,  the  Hon.  Francis  Basset,  whose  parent  died  when  he 
was  a  child  ;  6th,  Deborah,  Oct.  30,  1752  ;  7tii,  Lot,  Jan'y 
22,  1755. 


Note. — I  intended  in  this  series  of  articles  to  write  sketches  of  the 
families  of  the  first  comers,  and  of  no  other.  I  have  been  induced  to 
depart  from  that  rule  in  this  instance.  Nearly  all  of  the  materials 
used  in  preparing  this  article  I  collected  fifteen  years  ago,  and  I  am 
aware  that  it  is  not  so  full  or  so  accurate  as  it  might  be  made.  Hon. 
Francis  Basset  has  an  extended  memoir  of  his  family,  which  he  has 
spent  much  time  in  preparing,  and  I  presume  will  publish  it  at  some 
fuuire  time. 


BEARSE. 


AUSTIN    OR    AUGUSTINE    BEAESE. 

Austin  or  Augustine  Bearae,  the  ancestor  of  this  family, 
came  over  in  the  ship  Confidence  of  London,  from  South- 
ampton, 24th  April,  lI'SS,  and  was  then  twenty  years  of 
age.  He  came  to  Barnstable  with  the  first  company  in  1639. 
His  house  lot,  containing  twelve  acres  of  very  rocky  land, 
was  in  the  westerly  part  of  the  East  Parish,  and  was  bounded 
westerly  by  John  Crocker's  land,  now  owned  by  his  heirs, 
northerly  by  the  meadow,  easterly  by  Goodman  Isaac  Eob- 
inson's  land,  and  "southerly  into  ye  woods."  He  owned 
six  acres  of  meadow  adjoining  his  upland  on  the  north,  and 
two  thatch  islands,  still  known  as  Bearse's  islands.  He  had 
also  six  acres  of  land  in  the  Calves  Pasture,  esteemed  to  be 
the  best  soil  in  the  town,  eight  acres  of  planting  land  on  the 
north  side  of  Shoal  pond,  and  bounded  by  Goodman  Coop- 
er's, now  called  Huckins'  Neck,  and  thirty  acres  at  the 
Indian  pond,  bounded  easterly  by  the  Herring  River.  The 
Indian  pond  lot  he  sold  to  Thomas  Allyn,  who  sold  the 
same  in  1665  to  Roger  Goadspeed. 

He  was  proposed  to,  be  admitted  a  freeman  June  3, 
1652,  and  admitted  May  3,  following.  His  name  rarely  oc- 
curs in  the  records.  He  was  a  grand  juror  in  1653  and 
1662,  and  a  surveyor  of  highways  in  1674. 

He  became  a  member  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  church,  April 
29,  1643.  His  name  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list,  he  being 
the  first  named  who  joined  after  its  removal  to  Barnstable.* 
He  appears  to  have  been  very  exact  in  the  performance  of 
his  religious  duties,  causing  his  children  to  be  baptized  on 
the  Sabbath  next  following  the  day  of  their  birth.     His  son 


*Since  writing  tbis  passage  I  have  become  satisfied  that  there  is  an 
omission  in  the  Uape  Church  records  preserved  1642,  of  members  ad- 
mitted in  1640  and  1641. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  53 

Joseph  was  hoi-n  on  Sunday,  Jan'y  25,  1651,  O.  S.,  and 
was  carried  two  miles  to  the  church  and  baptized  the  same 
day.  Many  believed  in  those  times  that  children  dying  un- 
baptized  were  lost,  and  it  was  consequently  the  duty  of  the 
parent  to  present  his  child  early  for  baptism.  Goodman 
Bearse  was  influenced  by  this  feeling;  he  did  not  wish, -by 
a  week's  delay,  to  peril  the  eternal  salvation  ot  his  child. 
Now  such  an  act  would  l)e  pronounced  unnecessary  and 
ciuel. 

The  subject  of  baptism  had  disturbed  Mr.  Lothrop's 
church  from  its  organization.  In  London  the  Baptists 
quietly  separated  themselves  and  formed  the  flrst  Baptist 
Church  in  England.  In  iScituate  the  same  question  arose, 
di.sturl)ing  the  harmony  of  the  church,  and  to  avoid  these 
troubles,  Mr.  Lothrop  and  a  majority  of  his  church  came  to 
Barnstable.  His  book  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  printed  in 
London,  was  written  and  prepared  for  the  press  while  he 
was  in  Barnstable.  I  have  not  met  with  a  copy,  but  inci- 
dentally from  his  records,  I  infer  that  he  considered  baptism 
an  ordinance  of  primary  importance,  and  that  the  parent, 
being  a  church  member,  who  unnecessarily  delayed  the 
performance,  thereby  periled  the  salvation  of  the  child. 
Some  of  the  old  divines  taught  this  doctrine,  and  at  the 
present  day  it  is  not  entirely  obsolete. 

Goodman  Bearse  was  brought  up  under  such  teachings, 
and  however  differently  the  present  generation  may  view 
such  questions,  he  did  what  he  honestly  believed  to  be  his 
duty,  and  he  that  does  that  is  to  be  justified. 

He  was  one  of  the  very  few  against  whom  no  complaint 
was  ever  made  ;  a  fact  which  speaks  well  for  his  character  as 
a  man  and  a  citizen.  He  was  a  farmer,  lived  on  the  produce 
of  his  land,  and  brought  up  his  large  family  to  be  like  him- 
self, useful  members  of  society.  His  house  stood  on  the 
north  side  of  the  road,  and  his  cellar  and  some  remains  of 
his  orchard,  existed  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century.  I  find  no  record  of  his  death,  or  settlement  of  his 
estate  on  the  Probate  records.  He  was  living  in  1686  ;  but 
died  before  the  year  1697.  A  road  from  his  house  to  Hyan- 
nis  is  still  known  as  Bearse's  Way.  His  grandsons  settled 
early  at  Hyannis.  John  Jenkins  and  John  Dexter  after- 
vt^ards  owned  the  ancient  homestead.  The  planting  lands  at 
Shoal  Pond  were  occupied  by  his  descendants  till  recently. 

The  marriage  of  Goodman  Austin  Bearse  is  not  on  rec- 


54  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ord.     His  children,  born  in  Barnstable,  were 

I.  Mary,  born  1640,  bap'd  May  6,  1643. 

II.  Martha,  born  1642,  bap'd  May  6,  1643. 

III.  Priscilla,  born  March  10,  1643-4,  bap'd  March  11, 
1643-4,  married  Dea.  John  Hall,  jr.,  of  Yarmouth, 
1660. 

IV.  Sarah,  born  March  28,  1646,  bap'd  March  29,  mar- 
ried John  Hamblin  of  Bai-nstable,  Aug.  1667,  and 
had  twelve  children. 

V.  Abigail,  born  Dec.  18,  1647,  bap'd  Dec.  19,  married 
April  12,  1670,  Allen  Nichols  of  Barnstable,  and  had 
nine  children. 

VI.  Hannah,  born  Nov.  16,  1649,  bap'd  Nov.  18. 

VII.  Joseph,  born  Jan'y  25,  1651-2,  bap'd  same  day,  mar- 
ried Dec.  3,  1676.  Martha  Taylor. 

VIII.  Hester,  born  Oct.  2,  1653,  bap'd  same  day. 

IX.  Lydia,  born  end  of  Sept.  1655. 

X.  Rebecca,,  born  Sept.  1657,  married  Feb.  1670-1, 
William  Hunter.  Additional  investigation  will  prob- 
ably show  the  above  to  be  an  error  of  the  record. 
William  Hunter  of  Sandwich,  married  liebecca, 
daughter  of  Wid.  Jane  Besse,  who  married  second, 
the  notorious  Marshall  George  Barlow.  If  the  record 
is  correct,  she  was  only  13  years,  5  months  old  when 
married. 

XI.  James,  born  end  of  July,  1660.  He  was  admitted  a 
townsman  in  1683,  being  then  only  23  years  of  age. 
In  the  division  of  the  meadows  in  1694,  he  had  four 
acres,  and  in  the  final  division  in  1697,  the  same 
number  was  confirmed  to  him.  In  the  division  of  the 
common  lands  in  1703,  his  name  does  not  appear  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  adopted  for  the  admission  of 
townsmen,  and  the  division  of  common  land ;  the 
above  facts  indicate  that  James  Bearse  was  married  in 
1683,  as  no  unmarried  men  were  admitted  townsmen 
till  24  years  of  age ;  that  he  was  a  man  who  had 
good  property,  (2  1-2  or  3  being  the  average),  this 
proportion  indicates,  and  his  name  not  appearing  on 
the  list  in  1703,  shows  that  he  was  then  dead  or  had 
removed  from  town.  There  was  a  Bearse  family 
early  in  Halifax,  Plymouth  county.  An  Austin 
Bearse  is  named  who  removed  to  Cornwall,  Nova 
Scotia.    Andrew  Bearse  of  Halifax,  Plymouth  county, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  55 

raaiTied  Margaret   Dawes  of  East  Bridewater,  1736. 

There   were    others  of  the    name  in  Halifax.     It  is 

probable  that  James,  son  of  Austin,  removed  to  that 

town. 
Joseph  Bearse,  son  of  Austin,  probably  was  a  soldier  in 
King  Philip's  war,  his  sons  having  rights  in  the  town  of 
Gorham,  granted  to  the  heirs  of  the  soldiers  who  served 
with  Capt.  Gorhara.  He  married  Dec.  3,  1676,  Martha 
Taylor,  daughter  of  Richard  of  Yarmouth,  a  "tailor"  by 
trade,  and  so  called  to  distinguish  him  from  another  of  the 
same  name  called  "Kock."'  He  died  about  the  year  1695. 
She  died  January  27,  1727-8,  aged  77  years. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable: 

I.  Mary,  born  Aug.  16,  1677.  8he  did  not  marry — 
was  admitted  to  the  East  Church,  1742,  and  died 
Jan'y  19,  1760,  aged  84  years. 

n.  Joseph,  born  Feb.  21,  1679.  He  was  one  of  the 
Grantees  of  Gorham,  and  his  name  is  on  the  list  of 
the  first  settlers  in  that  town,  dated  1733.  He  re- 
sided at  Hyannis  before  his  removal  to  Maine. 

ni.  Benjamin,  born  June  21,  1682,  married,  Feb.  4, 
1701-2,  Sarah  Cobb,  second,  Anna  Nickerson  of 
Chatham. 

IV.  Priscilla,  born  Dec.  31,  1683,  died  March  31,  1684. 

V.  EI)enezer,  born  Jan'y  20,  1687,  married  Nov.  25, 
1708,  Elizabeth  Cobb,  and  second  Joanna  Lumbert, 
Sept.  4,  1712. 

VI.  John,  born  May  8,  1687,  married  Nov.  15,  1711, 
Elinor  Lewis. 

VII.  Josiah,  born  March  10,  1690,  married  first,  Nov.  2, 
1716,  Zeurich  Newcomb  of  Edgartown,  and  second 
Mary.     Removed  to  Gi'eenwich,  Conn.,  1734. 

VIII.  James,  born  Oct.  3,  1692,  married  Mary  Fuller, 
March  17,  1719-20. 

Benjamin  Bearse.  son  of  Joseph,  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  at  Hyannis.  His  homestead  was  bounded  east  by 
David  Hallet's  land,  the  corner  being  two  rods  from  Hallet's 
house,  and  is  now  owned  by  his  descendants.  In  his  will 
dated  March  26,  1748,  proved  on  the  7th  of  July  following, 
he  named  his  sons  Augustine,  Benjamin,  Joseph,  Samuel, 
Peter  and  Stephen;  his  daughters  Martha  Lewis,  Priscilla 
Lewis,  Sarah   Nickerson  and  Thankful  Nickerson,  and  his 


50        GENEALOGICAL   NoTES   OF  BARNSTABLE   I'AMILIES.. 

wife  Anna,  to  whom  he  gave  all  the  household  goods  she 
brought  with  her,  and  the  imj)rovement  of  one-third  of  all 
his  real  and  personal  estate.  To  Augustine  he  ga\e  land 
bounded  S.  E.  and  N.  by  the  heirs  of  Jonathan  Lewis,  de- 
ceased ;  to  Joseph  and  Samuel  his  house  and  orchard ;  to 
Peter  a  house  and  one  acre  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  the 
road;  to  Stephen  and  Benjamin  all  his  lands  m  Gorham 
town  ;  to  Joseph,  Peter  and  Samuel  all  the  rest  of  his  real 
and  personal  estate,  they  paying  debts,  legacies,  and  allow- 
ing Augustine  a  convenient  way  to  the  landing  "where  I 
make  oysters,"  and  a  place  to  land  and  dry  fish  ;  to  Benja- 
min, Martha  and  Priscilla  £12  old  tenor  each  ($5.33),  and 
to  Sarah  and  Thankful  £2  each,  a  bed  and  other  articles  to 
be  divided  equally.  His  personal  estate  was  appraised  at 
£431,  16,9.,  6p.,  and  his  real  estate  at  £910,  and  his  mu- 
latto boy  Tom  at  £()() — all  I  presume  in  old  tenor  currency, 
corn  being  appraised  at  £1  per  bushel — that  is  50  coppers 
equal  to  44  cents. 

He  was  engaged  in  the  fisheries,  and  the  soccess  ot* 
himself  and  sons  was  sung  b}'  some  contemporar}'  trouba- 
dour, whose  verses  are  remembered  though  the  name  of  the 
poet  is  forgotten.  He  married  first,  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Cobb,  Feb,  4,  1701-2,  she  died  Jmiuary  14,  1742, 
and  he  married  in  1747  his  second  wife,  Anna  Nickerson  of 
Chatham.  He  died  May  15,  1748,  aged  66,  and  is  buried 
with  his  first  wife  in  the  old  graVe-yard  in  Hyannis,  where 
their  son  Samuel  caused  grave  stones  to  be  erected  to  their 
memory. 

Children  of  benjamin  Bearse  born  in  Barnstable  : 

1.  Martha,  born  9th  Nov. ,  1702,  married  Antipas  Lewis, 

Oct.  15,  1730. 

H.  Augustine,  born  3d  June,  1704,  married  June  3, 
■1728,  Bethia,  daughter  of  John  Linnell,  she  died  7th 
Oct.,  1743,  aged  39,  and  he  married  Sept.  7,  1744, 
for  his  second  wife.  Thankful,  widow  of  Nathaniel 
Bacon.  He  died  June  2,  1751,  aged  47,  and  his 
widow,  Nov.  1774,  aged  70.  He  resided  at  first  at 
1  Hyannis,  perhaps  after  his  second  marriage,  with  his 

wife  at  Barnstable.  He  was  engaged  in  the  whale 
,  fishery  and  owned  try-works  which  were  sold  after 
his  death.  He  had  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are 
named    in    his  will.     1.     Prince,     born  12th  March 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  57 

1730-1,  married  Desire  Downs,  1754;  2d,  Temper- 
ance, 17th  INIarch,  1732-3,  married  Lemuel  Lewis, 
March  7,  1750;  3d,  Mercv,  9th  March,  1734-5,  mar- 
ried Feb.  20,  1752,  Thomas  Buck;  4th,  Lydia,  25th 
Dec,  1736;  5th,  Simeon,  27th  June,  1739;  6th, 
Sarah  bap'd  March  9th,  1745-6,  married  Samuel 
Bearse  Nov.  15,  1764;  Levi,  bap'd  Oct.  25,  1747. 

III.  Elizabeth,  3d  May,  1706,  probably  died  young. 

IV.  Joseph,  30th  Oct".  1708,  married  Lydia  Deane  Oct. 
12,  1749,  died  in  1751,  leavinsj  a  son  Joseph,  bau'd 
Apl.  14,  1754.  She  married  Feb.  17, 1756,  Thomas 
Annis. 

V.  Benjamin,  26th  March,  1710.  He  was  a  blacksmith, 
and  married  Jean  or  Jane,  daughter  of  Moses  God- 
frey of  Chatham,  to  which  town  he  removed,  and  is 
the  ancestor  of  the  Bearse  families  in  that  town.  He 
died  in  1753,  letiving  widow  Jean,  sons  Jonathan, 
George,  Benjamin,  David  and  Moses,  and  daughters 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Thomas  Eldridge,  Hannah,  Sarah 
and  Martha.  His  real  estate  was  appraised  at  £399, 
lis.,  and  his  personal  estate  at  £204,  2s.,  Sd.,  prob- 
ably in  lawful  money. 

VI.;      Jesse,  22d  Oct.,  1712,  probably  died  young. 

VII,  Priscilla,  5th  June,  1713,  married  Oct.  16,  1735, 
Elnathan  Lewis. 

Villi    David,  27th  March,  1716,  probably  died  younsr. 

IX.  \    Peter,  25:h  Oct.,  1718,  mariied  Xov    12,'l74l',  Deb- 
orah, diughter    of  Capt.  Samuel  Bacon,  and  had  1st, 
Samuel,   lOth   Sept.,    1742,  who  married   Nov.   15, 
[1764,  Sarah  Bearse;  2d,  Jesse,  2d  Nov.  1743;  3d, 
)avid,  20th   Nov.,  1745;  4th,    Edward,  12th  June, 
L750. 

Samuel,  9th  Dec,  1720,  died  Oct.  30,  1751,  aged  30 
wears.  He  resided  in  Yarmouth  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  in  his  will  dated  15th  Oct.,  1751,  he  or- 
ders tomb-stones  to  be  placed  at  the  graves  of  his 
fafther  Benjamin  and  mother  Sarah.  He  devises  his 
estate  to  his  brothers,  sisters  and  cousins  [nephews] . 
To\his  cousin  [nephew]  Samuel,  son  of  his  brother 
Peter,  his  gold  buttons. 

Xli  Sarah,  5th  July,  1722,  married  Ebenezer  Nickerson 
of  Tarmouth,  Feb.  17,  1744. 


58  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Xn.     Thankful,  Feb.  4,  1724,  inarried  Shobael  Nickerson, 

i\larch  (),  1746. 
XIII.  Stephen,  named  in  his  father's  will,  but  I  lind  noth- 
ing farther  respecting  him. 
Ebenezer  Bearse,  son  of  Joseph,  married  25th  Nov., 
1708,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sairiuel  Cobb.  She  died  15th 
July,  1711,  and  he  married  Joanna  Lambert,  Sept.  4,  1712. 
He  died  Feb.  1759,  and  his  widow  being  "non  compus,'" 
had  a  guardian  appointed  May  9,  1759.  In  his  will  he 
names  his  grandsons  Daniel  and  Solomon,  children  of  his 
son  Stephen,  deceased,  his  son  Ebenezer,  and  daughters 
Bethiah  Lovell,  Abigail  Lewis,  Elizabeth  Basset  and  Ruth 
Pitcher. 

Uhildren  born  in  Barnistahle. 

I.  Bethiah.  born  (jth  Aug.,  1709,  married  John  Lovell 
Nov.  14,  1732. 

II.  Samuel,  26th  Feb.,  1711.  His  grandfather  Coi)b 
gave  him  a  legacy  in  his  will,  and  his  father  was  ap- 
pointed his  guardian  March  27,  1728.  He  probably 
died  unmarried. 

III.  Elizabeth,  22d  March,  1714,  died  young. 

IV.  Abigail,  22d  Nov.,  1715,  married  Melatiah  Lewis, 
Oct.  I,  1742. 

V.  Ebenezer,  1st  March,  1717,  married  Mary  Berry  of 
Yarmouth,  1754. 

VI.  Daniel,  17th  July,  1720.     Probably  died  young. 

VII.  Stephen,  born  1st  Oct.,  1721,  married  Hannah  Cole- 
man, June  9,  1748,  and  had  sons  Daniel  and  Solo- 
mon, named  in  their  grandfather's  will. 

VIII.  Rebecca,  born  3d  June,  1725.     Probably  died  young. 

IX.  Patience,  bap'd  6th  April,  1729.  Probably  died 
young. 

X.  Elizabeth,  bap'd  19th  Oct.,  1729,  married  Nathaniel 
Basset  of  Rochester,  1752. 

XI.  Ruth,  bap'd  2d  June,  1734,  married  Jonathan  Pitcher, 
Feb.  9,  1758. 

John  Bearse,  son  of  Joseph,  married  Eleanor  Lew- 
is 15th  Nov.,  1711.  He  died  May  3,  1760,  aged  72.  His 
children  were  Lydia,  born  28th  July,  1712,  who  married 
Capt.  John  Cullio,  a  Scotchman,  Jan'y  1,  1735  ;  John,  who 
married  Lydia  Lumbert,  Feb.  12,  1746 ;  Hannah,  who 
married  Jabez  Bearse,  March  26,  1761,  second  wife;  Elea- 


GENEALOGICAL    XOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  59 

nor,  who  married  John  Loggee,  Jan'y  13,  1753;  Martha, 
who  married  Isaac  Lewis,  F'eb.  10,  1748  ;  Mary  and  Dinah. 

Josiiah  Boart<e,  son  of  Jo8e])h,  married  Zerviah  New- 
corab,  hy  whom  he  had  no  children,  and  second  Mary.  He 
was  dismis-:ed  from  the  East  Barnstable  Church  to  the 
Church  in  Greenwich,  Conn.,  Dec.  29,  1734,  and  afterwards 
to  New  Fairlield,  in  the  same  8tate.  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were  Anna,  11th  Jul}',  1719;  Josiah,  3d  Feb., 
17-20-1;  Eunice,  2d  Jan'ry,  1722-3,  died  April  (5,  1727; 
Jonathan,  born  22d  Nov. ,1724,  died  Dec.  2,  1731;  Lois, 
born  17th  July,  172«  ;  Thomas,  10th  March,  1728-9,  and 
Eunice,  13th  Feb.,  1731-2;  Martha,  June  26,  1738;  Mary, 
May  8,  1741. 

James  Bearse,  son  of  Joseph,  married  March  19,  1719- 
20,  Mary  Fuller,  and  second.  Thankful  Linnell  in  1726. 
He  died  Oct.  11,  1758,  aged  G6.  In  his  will  dated  13th 
Sept.,  1758,  he  gives  to  his  v/ife  Thankful,  his  Indian  maid 
servant  Thankful  Pees,  and  other  pi-operty  in  lieu  of  dower. 
To  his  son  Jabez,  the  estate  that  was  Augustine  Bearse's,and 
one-half  of  the  cedar  swamp  near  his  house  ;  to  his  daughter 
Thankful  Lumbert,  £20  lawful  money,  and  one-fourth  of 
his  in-door  moveables  ;  and  to  Lemuel  all  the  rest  of  his  es- 
tate.    His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were 

I.  Jabez,  20th  Feb.,  1720-1.  married  Nov.  26,  1747, 
Elizabeth  Hallet,  and  second,  March  26,  1761,  Hannah 
Bearse. 

II.  James,  3d  Feb.,  1728-9,  died  Sept.  29,  1729. 

III.  Lemuel,  3d  May,  1731,  married  Patience  Phinney, 
April  30,  1761. 

IV.  Thankful,  1st  Aug.,  1736,  married  Lemuel  Lumbert, 
Sept.  20,  1753. 


BAKER. 

The  Baker  families  in  Barnstable  and  West  Barnstable, 
are  descendants  of  Rev.  Nicholas  Baker  of  Scituate  ;  the 
Hyannis  families  from  Francis,  who  settled  in  Yarmouth. 

Rev.  Nicholas  Baker  was  a  graduate  of  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  England,  had  his  Batchelor's  degree  in 
1(331-2,  and  Master  of  Arts,  1635.  His  brother  Nathan- 
iel came  over  with  him  and  both  settled  at  Hingham  in  1635. 
He  received  a  share  in  the  first  division  of  house  lots  in  that 
town.  He  afterwards  became  a  large  landholder  in  Hull. 
He  was  ordained  in  Scituate  in  1660,  where  he  was  instru- 
mental in  effecting  a  reconciliation  of  the  two  churches 
which  had  held  no  conmiunication  with  each  other  for  twen- 
ty-five years.  Cotton  Mather  says  :  "Honest  Nicholas  Ba- 
ker of  Scituate,  was  so  good  a  logician  that  he  could  oifer 
up  to  God  a  reasonable  service,  so  good  an  arithmetician 
that  he  could  wisely  number  his  days,  and  so  good  an  ora- 
tor that  he  persuaded  himself  to  be  a  Christian."  He  died 
Aug.  22,  1678,  aged  67,  of  "that  horror  of  mankind,  and 
rein'oach  of  medicine,  the  stone,"  a  memorable  example  of 
patience  under  suffering. 

He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  died  at  Scituate 
in  1661,  and  he  married  the  following  year  his  second  wife 
Grace,  who  died  in  Barnstable,  January  22,  1696-7.  In  his 
will  dated  1678,  he  names  his  wife  Grace,  whom  he  appoint- 
ed executrix,  his  brother  Nathaniel  Baker,  his  sons  Samuel 
and  Nicholas,  and  four  daughters,  namely,  Mary,  who  mar- 
ried Stephen  Vinal,  26th  Feb.,  1662;  Elizabeth,  married 
1664,  John  Vinal ;  Sarah,  married  Josiah  Litchfield,  and 
Deborah  married  1678,  Israel  Chittenden. 

Samuel,  to  whom  his  father  gave  an  estate  in  Hull,  Mas 
a  freeman  of  that  town  in  1677.  He  married  Fear,  daugh- 
ter of  Isaac  Robinson,  and  had  a  family.  May  12,  1687,  he 
was  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  Barnstable,  and  the  same  year 
he  and  his  wife  were  admitted  to  the  Barnstable  Church  by 
dismission  from  the  Church  at  Hull.  The  veneral)le  Isaac 
Robinson  resided  a  year  or  two  at  the  close  of  his  life  with 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  61 

his  daughter  Fear,  and  the  fact  that  the  widow  Grace  Baker 
had  also  resided  in  this  family,  probably  gave  rise  to  the 
tradition  that  Isaac  Robinson's  mother  came  over  with  him, 
and  died  in  Barnstable. 

I  find  no  record  of  the  children  of  Samuel  and  Fear 
Baker.  Deacon  John  and  Nathaniel  were  their  sons,  and 
Mary,  who  married  Oct.  26,  1699,  Adam  Jones,  and  Grace, 
who  married  Dec.  16,  1701,  Israel  Luce,  were  probably 
their  daughters. 

Deacon  John  Baker  married  14th  Oct.  1696,  Anna, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Annable.  She  died  March  21,  1732-3, 
"aged  near  57  ^'ears,"  and  was  buried  in  the  ancient  grave- 
yard at  West  Barnstable.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  he 
removed  to  Windham,  Conn. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Annah,  8th  Sept.,  1697,  married  Oct.  17,  1717,  Capt. 
Samuel  Lombard.     She  died  May  19,  1747. 

II.  Mary,  18th  Aug.,  1699,  married  April  20,  1720,  Ben- 
jamin Lothrop,  and  afterwards  removed  to  Connec- 
ticut. 

III.  John,  14th  June,  1701,     Died  young. 

IV.  Eebecca,  8th  Sept .  1704. 

V.  Samuel,  7th  Sept.,  1706,  married  May  St),  1732, 
Prudence  Jenkins ;  had  1st,  Martha,  24th  Jan'y, 
1732-3;  2d,  Anna,  12th  May,  1735;  3d,,Bethia, 
12th  June,  1737;  4th,  Samuel,  30th  Sept.,  1740; 
5th,  Mercy,  30th  May,  1743.  This  family  removed 
to  Windham,  Conn. 

VI.  Mary,  25th  March,  1710,  married  Lemuel  Hedge  of 
Yarmouth,  1733. 

VII.  Mehitabel,  7lh  May  1712,  married  Eben'r  Crosby  of 
Yarmouth,  Jan'y  10,  1734. 

VIII.  Abigail,  1st  Feb.,  1713-4,  married  Ichabod  Lathrop 
of  Tolland,  Conn.,  Nov.  9,  1732. 

IX.  John,  1st  Dec,  1716,  married  Mercy  Gary  of  Wind- 
ham, Conn.,  Dec.  7,  1744. 

X.  Hannah,  24th  March,  1718. 

Nathaniel  Baker  resided  in  the  East  Parish,  his  house, 
yet  remaining,  is  on  Baker's  Lane.  His  first  wife,  the 
mother  of  all  his  children,  is  not  named  on  the  record,  tie 
married  5th  Jan'y,  1718-19,  AVid.  Mercy  Lewis.  He  died 
in  1750,  and  his  widow,  Dec. 7,  1768,  aged  80,  according  to 


(32  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

the  Church  records  ;  but  according  to  the  town  records,  she 
was  older. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Benney,  born  15th  Aug.,  1705,  died  June,  1706. 

II.  Mercy,  born  4th  Feb."  1706,  married  Nov.  7,  1728, 
Sylvanus  Cobb,  and  had  eight  children. 

III.  Sarah,  born  4th  Oct.,  1708,  died  Nov.  19,  1708. 

IV.  Nathaniel,  born  15th  Dec,  1709,  married  1732,  Ann 
Lumbard  of  Newtown,  and  had  1st,  Isaac,  born  2d 
April,  1734;  2d,  Mercy,  Gth  May,  1738;  3d,  Benne, 
2d  Oct.,  1751 ;  4th,  Anna,  18th  Jan'y,  1754.  Isaac 
of  this  family  married  Rebecca  Lewis,  Oct.  6,  1754, 
and  had  Rebecca,  James,  Lewis,  Ezekiel,  Nathaniel, 
John,  who  removed  to  Brewster,  and  Isaac  who  died 
in  Barnstable,  unmarried,  about  20  years  ago. 

V.  Nicholas,  born  Gth  Nov.,  1711, 'married  Dorcas  Back- 
us of  Sandwich,  was  of  Dighton,  removed  to  Barn- 
stable in  1635.  He  was  a  mariner,  and  died  Jan'y 
31,  1739-40.  He  had  1st,  Nath'l  who  died  young ; 
2d,  Ebenezer,  and  3d,  David. 

VI.  Sarah,  2d  Nov.,  1713,  married  Oct.  26,  1732,  Jona. 
Sturgis. 

VII.  Thankful,  28th  March,  1715,  married  Jan'y  1,  1734, 
Jesse  Cobb. 

VIII.  Benne,  28th  Sept.,  1716,  married  Patience  Lumbard, 
Nov.  19,  1741.  He  died  29th  Dec,  1747,  and  she 
died  28th  Dec,  1748,  leaving  two  orphan  children, 
John,  born  3d  Jan'y,  1743,  and  Thankful,  born  29th 
June,  1745 — both  of  whom  married  and  had  families. 

IX.  Elizabeth,  born  9th  March,  1718,  married  Benjamin 
Nye,  Jr.,  of  Falmouth,  Sept.  28,  1738. 

There  are  very  few  descendants  of  Honest  Nicholas 
Baker,  now  remaining  in  Barnstable.  Dea.  John,  who  re- 
moved to  Windham,  Conn.,  was  a  prominent  man;  but  the 
other  members  of  the  family  have  not  been  distinguished. 

The  Baker  families  at  Hyannis  are  descendants  of  Fran- 
cis, who  settled  in  Yarmouth..  Their  pedigree  is  as  follows  : 
Francis  Baker,  from  Great  St.  Albans,  Hertfordshire,  Eno-- 
land,  came  over  in  the  Planter,  1635,  aged  24,  married  in 
1641,  Isabel  Twining,  and  had  six  sons  and  two  dauo-hters. 
Nathaniel,  his  eldest  son,  born  March  27,  1642,  had  three 
sons;  Samuel,  the  eldest,  born  Oct.  29,  1670,  married  July 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  63 

30,  1702,  Elizabeth  Berry,  and  had  three  sons  and  five 
daughters ;  the  eldest  son,  Judah,  born  Aug.  19,  1705, 
married  Feb.  15,  1728-9,  Mercy  Burgess,  and  had  three 
sons  and  five  daughters ;  the  oldest  son,  Timothy,  born  Ap. 

21,  1732,  married  ,  1753,  Kezia,  and   had    six    sons 

(one  of  whom  v/as  the  father  of  the  present  Capt.  Timothy 
Baker),  and  three  daughters. 

The  descendants  of  Francis  Baker  of  Yarmouth,  may 
be  numbered  by  tens  of  thousands.  Xone  have  l)een  very 
much  distinguished  ;  but  among  them  will  be  found  very 
many  able  seamen,  and  good  business  men. 


BARKER   AND  BORDEN. 


John  Barker,  Sen.,  of  Duxhni-y,  married  in  1632,  Ann, 
daughter  of  John  William.s,  Sen.,  of  Scitiiate.  He  removed 
to  Marshfield,  then  called  Kexamc,  in  1(338,  and  was  drowned 
in  1652.  He  had  children  Deborah,  John,  Williams,  and 
perhaps  others.  His  widow  Ann  married  Abraham  Blush 
of  Barnstable,  and  died  Feb.  16,  1657-.S.  Deborah  came  to 
Barnstable  with  her  mother  and  probably  her  son  .John.  At 
fourteen  John  chose  his  n.ncle,  Capt.  John  Williams  of  Scit- 
nate,  his  guardian,  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  be 
brought  up  to  some  trade  or  profitable  employment.  After 
he  l)ecame  of  age,  John  sued  his  uncle,  who  was  a  man  of 
great  wealth,  for  wages  during  his  minority,  averring  that 
his  uncle  had  violated  his  contract ;  that  he  had  not  brought 
him  up  to  a  trade  that  would  be  of  use  to  him,  and  that  his 
uncle  had  kept  hmi  employed  in  menial  duties,  and  there- 
fore he  was  entitled  towages.  He  also  brought  an  action 
for  rents  collected  from  his  estate  in  Marshfield,  during  his 
minority,  and  his  uncle  brought  an  action  against  him  for 
slander.  The  details  of  these  actions  occupy  much  space  on 
the  records.  They  were  finally  settled  by  the  good  offices 
of  mutual  friends.  Afterwards  he  had  another  lawsuit  with 
his  uncle,  making  it  evident  that  they  did  not  live  together 
on  terms  of  amity  or  friendship. 

He  was  a  sergeant  in  Philip's  war,  probably  in  the 
company  of  which  his  uncle  was  captain,  and  was  severelj' 
wounded  in  an  engagement  with  the  Indians,  from  the  effects 
of  which  it  seems  he  never  entirely  recovered,  for  in  1680 
he  was  freed  from  serving  in  the  ti-ain  bands  on  account  of 
the  injury  received.  He  removed  from  Scituate  in  1676  or 
7,  and  resided  in  Barnstable  till  1683,  and  perhaps  later, 
when  he  removed  to  Marshfield,  of  which  town  he  was  the 
deputy  in  1689,  and  soon  after  returned  to  Scituate,  where 
he  died  Dec.  1729,  aged  nearly  30  years. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  65 

John  Barker,  Esq.,  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  Colony. 
He  was  often  engaged  as  an  attorney  for  parties  in  the  tran- 
saction of  legal  and  other  business  ;  was  a  referee  in  many 
important  cases.  Though  a  resident  of  Barnstable,  only 
when  young,  and  for  about  ten  years  after  the  time  of  his 
marriage,  he  was  not  entirely  disconnected  with  the  business 
of  the  town  and  county,  after  his  removal.  He  was  one  of 
the  referees  in  the  important  case  between  the  Winslows  and 
Clarks,  which  alienated  those  families  and  made  their  de- 
scendants bitter  enemies  for  more  than  a  century. 

The  account  which  Mr.  Deane  gives  of  this  family  will 
not  bear  the  test  of  criticism.  He  says  that  Williams  Bar- 
ker was  a  son  of  John  Barker,  Esq.,  second  of  the  name, 
and  that  Capt.  John  Williams  gave  his  farm  in  Scituate  to 
Williams  Barker.  The  latter  was  a  brother,  not  a  son  of 
John  Barker,  2d.  Capt.  Williams  in  his  will,  gives  to 
"Nephew  Williams  Barker,  son  of  John  Barker  of  Marsh- 
field,  the  200  acre  farm  formerly  purchased  of  Mr.  Hath- 
erly."  He  also  gives  legacies  to  nephews  John  Barker  of 
Marshfield  and  Abraham  Blush  of  Boston. 

It  can  be  shown  by  the  Barnstable  town  records  that  if 
John  Barker,  2d.,  had  a  son  Williams,  he  could  not  have 
been  over  six  years  of  age  at  the  date  of  Capt.  John  Wil- 
liams' will  in  1691 ;  yet  Mr;  Deane  assures  us  that  Samuel 
Barker,  Esq.,  only  son  of  Williams  Barker,  was  born  in  the 
year  1684;  that  is,  that  Samuel  was  only  one  year  younger 
than  his  father  Williams.  If  this  is  true,  the  Barkers  of 
early  times  were  a  more  prolific  race  than  the  present  John 
Barker of  Bwnstable. 

The  following  account  of  his  family  is  principally  ob- 
tained from  the  Barnstable  town  records.  He  married  Jan. 
18,  1676-7,  Desire,  youngest  daughter  of  Anthony  Annable 
of  Barnstable.  She  died,  according  to  the  inscription  on  her 
grave-stones,  at  Scituate,  July  24,  1706,  in  the  53d  year  of 
her  age.  He  married  the  same  year  for  his  second  wife 
Hannah,  daughter  of  Thomas  Loring  of  Hingham,  and  widow 
of  Eev.   Jeremiah  Gushing  of  Scituate.     She  died  May  30, 

1710,  aged  46,  and  he  took  for  his  third  wife  Sarah , 

who  died  Sept.  7,  1730. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.      John,  born  4th  May,  1678.     He  married  in  1706,  Han- 
nah, daughter  of  Eev.  Jeremiah  Gushing,  whose  widow 


66         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

had  married,  as  above  stated,  his  father.  This  is  the 
statement  of  iMr.  Savage,  and  I  think  reliable,  though 
in  direct  conflict  with  the  account  given  by  Mr.  Deane. 

II.  Desire,  born  22d  Sept.,  1680. 

III.  Anne,  26th  Aug.,  1682,  died  22d  Nov.,  1682. 

IV.  Anne,  born  1st  Nov.,  1683. 

He  probably  had  other  children  after  his  removal  from 
Barnstable.  His  sister  Deborah  married  William  Barden, 
Burden  or  Borden.  He  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  youths  of 
fourteen  years  of  age,  of  good  habits,  sent  over  to  be  bound 
out  as  apprentices.  He  came  over  probably  in  1638,  and 
was  bound  to  Thomas  Boardman  of  Plymouth,  to  learn  the 
trade  of  a  carpenter,  Jan'y  10,  1638-9  ;  six  and  one-half 
years  of  the  term  of  his  apprenticeship  being  unexpired, 
Boardman  released  him,  and  he  was  bound  to  John  Barker 
of  Marshfield,  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  bricklayer.  After  the 
expiration  of  his  apprenticeship,  he  went  to  Concord,  then 
a  mere  settlement,  and  after  his  marriage  he  resided  a  short 
time  in  Duxbury.  From  Barnstable  he  removed  to  Middle- 
borough,  his  wife  being  dismissed  from  the  Barnstable 
Church  to  Middleborough  in  1683.  31st  Oct.,  1666,  John 
Bates  and  William  Barden  were  fined  3  shillings,  4  pence 
each  for  "breaking  the  King's  peace  by  striking  each  other. 
Burden  was  drunk  at  the  time,  and  was  fined  5  shillings  be- 
side, and  Bates  was  ordered  by  the  Court  to  pay  Burden  20 
shillings  for  abusing  him." 

He  married  Feb.,  1660,  Deborah  Barker,  and  had 
children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  : 

I.  Mercy,  born  1st  Nov.,  1662. 

II.  Deborah,  28th  June,  1665. 

III.  John,  17th  March,  1667-8. 

IV.  Stephen,  15th  April,  1669. 

V.  Abraham,  14th  May,  1674. 

VI.  Joseph,  Sept.,   1675. 

VII.  Anna,  26th  Aug.,  1677. 

John  "Bardon,"  son  of  William,  had  John,  born  May 
1,  1704,  in  Middleborough,  Ichabod,  Dec.  18,  1705. 

Stephen  "Borden,"  son  of  William  of  Middleborouo-h, 
had  Sarah,  Apl.  30,  1695  ;  William,  Mar.  2,  1697  ;  Abigail, 
Mar.  3,  1698-9;  Stephen,  May,   1701;  Timothy,  Jan'y  3,' 
1703-4;    Mary,    Oct.    27,    1705,  and   Hannah,  March  13 
1707-8\ 

Abraham,  son  of  William,  married  Mary  Booth,  1697. 


OENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  1)7 

Perhaps  the  reader  may  think  I  am  severe  in  my  criti- 
cisms on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Deane.  Ail  I  do  is  to  take  his  own 
statements  and  place  them  in  a  position  where  their  absurd- 
ity will  be  seen.  No  one  has  a  higher  respect  for  Mr.  Deane 
than  the  writer.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  the  work,  and  the 
wonder  is  that  he  has  made  so  few,  rather  than  so  many 
mistakes. 

In  his  article  on  the  Gushing  family,  he  says  that  Sam- 
uel Barker,  Esq.,  was  a  son  of  John  Barker,  Esq.,  and  that 
he  married  in  1706,  Hannah  Cushing.  This  is  much  more 
probable  than  his  other  statement  that  Samuel  was  the  son 
of  Williams. 

The  children  of  this  Samuel  were,  Samuel,  Ignatius, 
Ezekiel,  Hannah  and  Deborah.  Samuel  manned  Deborah 
Gorham  of  Barnstable.  The  Crocker's  at  West  Barnstable 
are  also  connected  by  marriage  with  the  Barkers. 

The  Bordens  of  Fall  River  probably  descend  from  Ste- 
phen, son  of  William  of  Barnstable,  and  not  from  the  Rhode 
Island  families  of  the  name. 


BODFISH. 


The  ancestor  of  this  family  wrote  his  name  "Rob- 
ert Botfish,"  yet  on  the  records  it  is  written  Botfish,  Bot- 
ffish,  Bodfish,  Badfish,  Bootfish  and  Boatfish.  He  was  early 
at  Lynn,  a  freeman  May  5th,  1635,  and  of  Sandwich  in  1637, 
of  which  town  he  was  one  of  the  original  proprietors.  The 
Indian  title  to  the  lands  in  Sandwich  was  purchased  by 
William  Bradford  and  his  partners  of  the  old  Plymouth 
Company  in  1637,  for  £16,  19  shillings,  payable  "in  com- 
odities,"  and  Jan'y  24,  1647-8,  they  assigned  their  rights  to 
Edmund  Freeman,  and  on  the  26th  of  February  following, 
he  assigned  the  same  to  George  Allen,  John  Vincent,  Wil- 
liam Newland,  Robert  Botfish.  Anthony  Wright  and  Rich- 
ard Bourne,  a  committee  of  the  proprietors  of  the  town  of 
Sandwich.  In  1640,  the  meadow  lands  were  divided,  giv- 
ing to  each  in  proportion  to  his  "quality  and  condition." 
Robert  Bodfish  had  five  acres  assigned  to  him,  a  little  less 
than  an  average  amount. 

Jan'y  1,  1638-9,  Robert  Bodfish  "desired  to  become  a 
freeman  of  the  Plymouth  Colony ;  in  1641  he  tvas  a  sur- 
veyor of  highways;  in  1644  on  the  grand  jury,  and  the 
same  year  licensed  "to  draw  wine  in  Sandwich."  He  died 
in  1651,  leaving  a  wife  Bridget,  who  became  Dec  15,  1657, 
the  second  wife  of  Samuel  Hinckley  (the  father  of  Governor 
Thomas.)  He  had  a  son  Joseph,  born  in  Sandwich  April  3, 
1651,  a  daughter  Mary,  who  married  Nov.,  1659,  John 
Crocker,  and  Sarah,  who  married  June  21,  1663,  Peter 
Blossom,  and  a  son  Robert,  who  did  not  become  an  in- 
habitant of  Barnstable.  The  family  removed  to  Barnstable 
in  1657. 

Joseph,  the  ancestor  of  all  ot  the  name  in  Barnstable, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  69 

married  Elizabeth  Besse,  daughter  of  Anthony  Besse,*  of 
Sandwich.  He  resided  at  West  Barnstable  ;  his  house  was 
on  r)ursley's  Lane,  (Proprietor's  Records),  on  the  farm 
owned  bj  the  late  Lemuel  Bursley,  and  died  Dec.  2,  1744, 
in  the  94th  year  of  his  age. 

When  he  was  eighteen,  Plymouth  had  been  settled  fifty 
years,  and  though  liberal  bounties  had  been  paid  to  English 
and  Indians  for  wolves'  heads,  yet  these  ravenous  animals 
abounded  in  the  Colony.  In  1654,  the  whole  number  killed 
was  nineteen — of  which  three  were  killed  in  Barnstable,  and 
in  1655,  thirty-one — nine  in  Barnstable.  In  1690,  the 
number  killed  was  thirteen,  and  in  1691,  nineteen.  Jona- 
than Bodfish  said  his  grandfather  could  set  a  trap,  as  cun- 
ningly as  the  oldest  Indians,  and  that  the  duck  or  the  goose 
that  ventured  to  come  within  gunshot  of  him,  rarely  escaped 
being  shot.  Wolf  Neck,  so  named  because  it  was  the  resort 
of  these  animals,  was  about  half  a  mile  from  Joseph  Bod- 
fish's  house,  and  there  he  set  his  traps.  Once  he  narrowly 
escaped  losing  his  own  life.  Seeing  a  large  wolf  in  his  trap, 
he  incautiously  approached  with  a  rotten  pine  pole  in  his 
hand.  He  struck — the  pole  broke  in  his  hand,  and  the  en- 
raged beast  sprang  at  him  with  the  trap  and  broken  chain 
attached  to  his  leg.  Mr.  Bodfish  stepped  suddenly  one  side, 
and  the  wolf  passed  by  him.  Before  the  wolf  could  recover, 
Mr.  Bodfish  was  beyond  his  reach.  This  trap  is  preserved 
in  his  family  as  an  heir-loom. 

♦Anthony  Besse,  born  in  1609.  Came  over  in  the  James,  1636,  from 
London,  settled  in  Lynn  and  removed  to  Sandwicli  in  1637,  and  was 
many  years  a  preacher  to  the  Indians.  He  died  in  1657,  leaving  wife 
Jane,  and  children  Nehemiah :  David,  born  May  23,  1649,  killed  in  the 
Rehobeth  battle  March  26,  1676 ;  Ann,  who  was  the  wife  of  Andrew 
Hallet,  Jr.,  of  Yarmouth ;  Mary ;  and  Elizabeth  who  married  Joseph 
Bodfish. 

His  widow  married,  second,  George  Barlow,  and  had  by  him  John, 
who  has  descendants,  and  Rebecca  who  married  William  Hunter.  The 
widow  Barlow  died  in  1693.  Her  last  marriage  was  an  unhappy  con- 
nection. Barlow  was  appointed  June  1,  1658,  Marshal  of  Sandwich, 
Barnstable  and  Yarmouth.  His  name  adds  no  honor  to  the  annals  of 
the  Old  Colony — a  hard-hearted,  intolerant,  tyrannical  man,  abusing  the 
power  entrusted  to  him,  and  seemingly  taking  delight  in  confiscating  the 
property  of  innocent  men  and  women,  or  in  dragging  them  to  prison,  to 
the  stocks,  or  the  whipping  post. 

In  his  family  he  exercised  the  same  tyrannical  spirit,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  aid  of  the  magistrate  was  frequently  called  into  requi- 
sition to  settle  the  difficulties  that  arose.  The  reader  of  the  Colony  rec- 
ords may  think  the  Besses  were  not  the  most  amiable  of  women — per- 
haps they  were  not;  but  in  these  family  quarrels  Barlow  was  in  fault, 
and  deserving  of  the  infamy  yhich  will  forever  attach  to  his  name. 


70  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Some  years  after  a  wolf  was  followed  by  hunters  from 
Wareham  to  Barnstable,  and  they  wished  Mr.  Bodfish  to 
join  them,  but  he  declined.  Having  studied  the  habits  of 
the  animal,  he  felt  certain  it  would  return  on  the  same  track. 
Taking  his  gun  he  went  into  the  woods,  concealed  himself 
within  gunshot  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  track,  and  waited 
for  the  return  of  the  wolf.  He'  was  not  disappointed,  the 
wolf  at  last  appeared  and  was  shot.  He  returned  to  his 
house,  and  soon  after  the  ^^'areham  hunters  came  in  and  re- 
ported that  they  had  followed  the  wolf  to  the  lower  part  of 
Yarmouth,  and  the  dogs  had  there  lost,  the  track,  and  they 
gave  up  the  pursuit.  They  felt  a  little  chagrined  when  the 
dead  body  of  the  wolf  was  shown  to  them. 

All  his  sons,  excepting  Benjamin,  were  good  gunners. 
Wolf  hunting,  however,  was  not  a  sport  in  which  they  en- 
gaged. It  is  said  that  the  last  woH"  killed  in  Barnstable  was 
shot  by' Joseph  Bodfish ;  but  this  story  requires  confirma- 
tion. 

Joseph  Bodfish*  joined  the  Church  in  Barnstable,  Feb. 
12,  1689,  N.  S.,  and  "his  wife  Elizabeth  on  the  Itith  July 
following.  His  seven  children,  Benjamin,  Ebenezer,  Nathan, 
Robert,  Elizabeth  and  Melatiah,  were  baptized  March  26, 
1699,  and  his  daughter  Sarah,  April  6,  1700. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

\  <■ 

I.  John,  born    Dec.    2,  1675.     Removed  to  Sandwiah,r 

where  he.  has  descendants.     He  married  Sarah  'N-j^r' 
May  24','  17Q.4,  and  had  Mary,March_9, 1705-6  ;'John, 
Feb.   5  •  1708,'9  ;  Hannahv  Sept.    23,  1711 ;  Joantia, 
..     0*1    22;   1714;  Sarah,  March    21,1717;  Elizabeth', 
.    ;/,  March:.30,  1720.;  Joseph,  Sept.  20,-1725. 
n.'       Joseph,    born    Oct.    1677,    married    Oct.    11,   1712, 
.  „,■      Thankful.-Blnsh^  daughter  of  Joseph.     He   was  not 
-':       liykg  in  I'735.  .;  ■  • 

HI;-     MarY,  born  March  1,  1679-80,  married  Josiah  Swift, 

.!;-::^  of.S.;.  Apiifis,  1706..  .: 

IV;  "\  Hannah,  born  May,  1681,  married  Richard  Thomas. 
He  had  baptized  Dec.  4,  1715,  Peleg,  Ebenezer  and 
Ann.     The  children  of  Richard  and  Hannah  recorded, 

♦Erroneously  printed  "Bradford''  in  the  Genealogical  Register  for 
1856,  page  350.  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  was  baptized  on  the  day  she  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Church— a  fact  perhaps  not  without  significance  in  the 
history  of  the  Besses. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  71 

are  Annt;,  born  June  15,  1715,  aud  Joseph,  born 
Aug.  24,  1721.  His  son  Ebenezer  and  grandson 
Nathan,  had  families  resident  iu  Barnstable.  Joseph 
Boddsh,  Sen.,  calls  Ebenezer  Thomas  his  grandson. 

V.  Benjamin,  born  July  20,  l(iS3,  married  Nov.  lU,  1709, 
Lydia  Crocker,  daughter  of  Jonathan,  He  died  in 
1760,  i^ged  77.  He  was  an  active  man,  and  may  be 
called  the  founder  of  the  Bodtish  family  of  recent 
times.  He  bought  for  £100,  by  a  deed  from  bis 
father-in-law,  Jonathan  Crocker,  dated  Oct.  2(1,  171o, 
one-half  of  the  twenty-acre  lot  and  meadow  which 
the  latter  bought  of  his  father,  John  Crocker,  includ- 
ing the  dwelling-house  then  standing  thereon.  This 
tract  of  land  is  situated  on  the  east  of  Scorton  Hill, 
and  is  bounded  southerly  by  the  County  road.  Jt 
was  a  part  of  the  great  lot  of  Abraham  Blush,  con- 
taining fifty  acres,  and  sold  by  him  Feb.  10,  1()()8, 
to  John  Crocker,  Sen.,  and  by  him  given  in  his  will 
to  children  of  his  brother,  Dea.  \V''illiam  Crocker,  of 
whom  the  John  Crocker,  first  named,  was  one.  The 
house  above  mentioned,  a  high,  single  house,  with  a 
leantoo,  \Yas  occupied  by  Benjamin  Bod  fish  and  his 
son  Jonathan  till  1809,  when  it  was  taken  down,  and 
the  present  Bodfish  house  built  on  the  same  spot. 

VI.  Nathan,  born  Dec.  27,  1685.  He  married  Abigail 
Bursley,  daughter  of  John.  She  died  March  '61, 
1739,  in  the  49th  year  of  her  age,  and  is  called  on 
her  grave-stones  at  West  Barnstable,  the  wife  of 
Nathaniel.  I  find  no  record  of  his  family,  and  tradi- 
tion says  he  had  no  children.  A  Nathan  Bodfish 
married  Patience  Hathaway,  and  had  Abigail,  July 
10,  1756,  and  Patience,  Dec.  10,  1761.  But  this 
man  was  perhaps  a  son  of  Robert,  by  his  first  wife. 

Vn.  Ebenezer,  born  March  10,  1687-8,  removed  to  \A'ood- 
bridge,  N.  J.,  where  he  died  unmarried  in  1739,  and 
bequeathed  his  estate  by  will  to  his  brother  Benjamin, 
who  was  executor,  and  to  his  sisters  Hannah  Thomas 
and  Mary  Swift. 

\^in.  Elizabeth,  born  Aug.  27,  1690,  married  and  had  a 
family — not  living  in  1735. 

IX.  Rebecca,  born  Feb.  22,  1692-3,  married  Benjamin 
Fuller,  March  25,  1714.  She  died  March  10,  1727-8, 
leaving  a  family. 


72  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

X.  Melatiah,  bora  April  17,  1669,  married  Samuel  Ffil- 
ler,  June  20,  1725-6.  ""^ 

XI.  Robert,  born  Oct.  10,  1698.  He  was  published  in 
1729,  to  Jemima  Nye  of  Sandwich.  He  afterwards 
married  Dec.  10,  1739,  Elizabeth  Hadaway,  and  had 
Elizabeth,  Sept.  11,  1741,  and  Ebenezer,  Feb.  15, 
1743-4. 

XH.     Sarah,  born  Feb.  20,  1700,  married  March  8,  1726-7, 
Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  his  second  wife,  by  whom  she  had 
Sarah,  born  Jan'y  22,  1727-8. 
Joseph   Bodtish,  son  of  Joseph,  born  Oct.   1677,  mar- 
ried 11th  Oct.  1712,. Thankful,  daughter  of  Joseph  Blush  of 
West  Barnstable. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Elizabeth,  6th  Sept.,  1713,  married  Eben  Goodsp^ed, 
3d,  Sept.  29,  1736. 

II.  Hannah,  18th  July,  1716,  married  Samuel  Blossom, 
Oct.  28,  1744. 

III.  Mary,  17th  June,  1719,  married  Joseph  Nye  of  Sand- 
wich, Dec.  10,  1741. 

IV.  Joseph,  8th  March,  1722,  married  Mehetabel  Good- 
speed,  1749.  He  resided  at  West  Barnstable,  and 
had  Mary,  Hannah,  Thankful,  Lydia  and  Euth,  twins, 
Thankful  again,  Elizabeth  and  Joseph. 

V.  Thankful,  6th  June,  1724,  married  Peter  Conant, 
May  4,  1741. 

Benjamin  Bodfish,  son  of  Joseph,  born  20th  July,  1683, 
married  Lydia  Crocker,  10th  Nov.  1709. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Sylvanus,  2d  Sept.,  1710,  married  Mary  Smith,  Dec. 
20,  1738. 

II.  Hannah,  12th  Feb.,  1712,  married  Caleb  Nye  of 
Sandwich. 

III.  Thankful,  19th  Feb.,  1714,  married  Joseph  Shelly  of 
Ray  n  ham. 

IV.  Solomon,  20th  March,  1716,  married  Hannah  Burs- 
ley,  Jr. 

V.  Joseph,  16th  April,  1718,  married  and  had  a  family. 

VI.  Benjamin,  18th  March,  1720. 

VII.  Lydia,  baptized  9th  Juno,  1723. 

VIII.  Rachel,  baptized  Jan'ry,  1725-6. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  73 

IX.  Jonathan,  born  10th  Aug.,  1727,  married  Desire 
Howland,  May  3,  1753.  He  died  Jan'y  1818,  aged 
91,  and  his  wife  April  1813,  aged  81.  The  farm  ot 
Mr.  Jonathan  Bodfish  and  his  sons,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  consisted  of  six  hundred  acres  of  tillage,  mead- 
ow and  woodland.  They  had  all  their  property  in 
common,  and  at  the  end  of  each  year  invested  their 
surplus  earnings  in  real  estate.  They  were  farmers, 
raising  large  crops — often  400  bushels  of  Indian  corn 
in  a  season — and  of  other  agricultural  products,  a 
proportional  amount.  They  usually  kept  50  head  of 
cattle  and  120  sheep.  Benjamin  was  a  ca,rpenter  and 
mason,  and  a  very  skillful  workman.  Isaac  lived 
thirteen  years  with  Edward  Wing,  receiving  from 
$10  to  $13  per  month  as  wages.  It  is  said  of  him, 
that  during  all  this  time,  his  idle  expenses  amounted 
to  only  20  cents.  The  earnings  of  both  were  put 
into  the  common  stock.  For  more  than  seventy 
years  the  property  of  Jonathan  Bodfish  was  owned  in 
common,  and  during  the  whole  time  nothing  occurred 
to  disturb  the  harmony  and  good  feeling  which  sub- 
sisted between  the  different  members  of  the  family. 
They  were  hai'd- working,  prudent  and  industrious ; 
and  in  all  their  dealings  were  honest  and  honorable. 
Jonathan,  the  father,  was  treasurer,  and  all  deeds, 
excepting  enough  to  make  his  sons  voters  and  qualify 
them  for  holding  civil  offices,  were  taken  in  his  name. 
Jonathan  Bodfish,  the  father  of  this  remarkable  fam- 
ily, was  a  venerable  old  man — the  patriarch  of  his 
family.  In  person  he  was  nearly  six  feet  tall,  large 
and  well  proportioned,  weighing  ordinarily  230 
pounds.  His  sons,  excepting  Josiah,  were  over  six 
feet,  large  boned,  spare  men,  and  in  personal  appear- 
ance, would  hardly  be  recognized  as  belonging  to  the 
same  family  with  Jonathan. 
The  children  of  Jonathan  Bodfish  born  in  Barnstable 

were 

I.  Sylvanus,  born  Nov.  15,  1754;  died  in  1801,  aged 
47.  He  did  not  marry,  and  his  estate  was  a  part  of 
the  common  stock. 

II.  Benjamin,  born  April  14,  1756,  died  Jan'y  14,  1827, 
aged  70.  He  was  a  carpenter,  mason  and  farmer ; 
did  not  marry,  and  his  estate  was  also  a  part  of  the 


74         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

common  stock. 

III.  John,  born  March  16,  1761,  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Joseph  Smith,  and  had  a  family  .  He  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Barnstable.  He 
died  Aug.  1847,  aged  86,  and  his  wife  in  1849. 

IV.  Isaac,  born  July  22,  1763,  married  Elizabeth  Bod- 
fish,  and  had  a  family.  He  died  Aug.  30,  1837, 
aged  74. 

V.  Josiah,  born  Nov.  8,  1765;  died  Oct.  8,  1845,  aged 
80.     He  did  not  marry. 

VI.  Deborah,  born  June  11,  1768,  married  Benjamin 
Goodspeed. 

VII.  Simeon,  born  Feb.  10,  1771 ;  died  young. 

VIII.  Alice,  born  about  1773 ;  did  not  marry,  and  died 
April  21,  1854,  aged  81. 

Some  members  of  the  Bodfish  family  removed  to  New 
York,  New  Jersey  and  other  places,  and  their  connection 
with  the  Barnstable  stock  can  be  easily  traced. 


BLOSSOM. 


Deacon  Thomas  Blossom,  one  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  the 
ancestor  of  the  Blossom  family  of  Barnstal)le,  came  from 
Leyden  to  Plymouth,  England ;  hut  being  on  board  the 
Speedwell,  did  not  obtain  a  [)assage  in  the  Mayflower  from 
England  in  1620.  He  returned  to  Leyden  to  encourage  the 
emigration  of  the  residue  of  Mr.  liobinson's  Church.  He 
came  over  in  1629,  with  Mr.  Higginson  and  others,  who 
were  bound  to  Salem.  Judge  Mitchell  says  he  was  first 
deacon  of  the  Church  in  Plymouth,  and  his  letter  to  Gov. 
Bradford  gives  evidence  that  he  was  a  well  educated  and  a 
pious  man.  He  died  in  Plymouth  in  the  year  1632.*  Of 
bis  family  no  record  has  been  preserved.  He  had  a  son  in 
1620,  who  went  to  England  with  him  and  returned  to  Ley- 
den ;  but  was  not  living  Dec.  1625.  At  the  latter  date  he 
had  two  other  children,  but  their  names  are  not  recorded. 
Circumstantial  evidence  proves,  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt, 
that  he  had  two  sons  who  survived  him  ;  Thomas,  who  was 
sixteen  or  over  in  1643,  and  Peter  who  was  younger. 

Anna,  the  widow  of  Dea.  Thomas  Blossom,  married 
Henry  Rowley,  Oct.  17,  1633.  They  were  members  of 
Mr.  Lothrop's  Church  at  its  organization,  Jan'ry  8,  1634-5, 
and  removed  with  him  to  Barnstable  in  1639.  Thomas  and 
Peter  came  to  Barnstable  with  their  mother,  and  were  prob- 
ably members  of  the  family  of  their  father-in-law.     Thomas 


*The  date  of  the  death  of  Deacon  Blossom  is  uncertain.  Gov.  Brad- 
ford, who  was  his  contemporary,  says  he  died  of  tiie  malignant  fever 
which  pervaded  in  the  summer  of  1633.  The  accurate  Prince  copies 
Gov.  Bradford's  statementj  and  the  caro-tul  Mr.  Savage  refers  to  Prince 
as  his  authority.  Judge  Mitchel  says  "about  1633."  Notwitlistanding 
this  array  of  authorities  it  can  perhaps  be  demonstrated  that  Dea.  Blos- 
som died  in  1632.  In  the  tax  lists  for  the  town  of  Plymouth,  dated  Jan'y 
12, 1633,  N.  S.,  (1632  O.  S.),  Dea.  Thomas  Blossom  is  not  taxed ;  but  the 
Wid.  Blossom  is.  The  record  now  existing  was  made  in  March  1632-3, 
and  proves  conclusively  that  Dea.  Blossom  was  dead  when  that  record 
was  made. 


76  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

was  a  landholder  in  1647,  and  he  and  his  brother  Peter  had 
a  lot  granted  to  them  in  partnership  at  Cotuit.  Thomas 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  householder.  He  resided  in 
the  easterly  part  of  the  town,  and  after  his  marriage,  proba- 
bly at  the  house  of  Thomas  Lothrop,  who  was  father-in-law 
to  his  wife.  He  was  a  mariner,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
April  22,  1650,  was  on  a  fishing  voyage. 

Peter  removed  with  his  fathei'-in-law  to  West  Barnsta- 
ble about  the  year  1650.  His  farm,  containing  forty  acres 
of  upland,  was  on  the  east  of  the  Bursley  farm,  and  separa- 
ted from  it  by  Boat  Cove  and  the  stream  of  fresh  water  emp- 
tying into  it.  On  the  northeast  it  was  bounded  by  Thomas 
Sharv's  marsh  and  the  land  of  Henry  Rowley,  and  on  the 
southeast  by  the  farm  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter,  Sen'r.  He 
owned  twelve  acres  of  meadow.  A  part  of  his  land  is  now 
owned  by  his  descendants. 

Children  of  Deacon   Thomas  Blossom  born  in  Leyden. 

I.  A  son,  who  died  before  Dec.  1625. 

II.  Thomas,  born  about  the  year  1620,  married  June  18, 
1645,  by  Major  John  Freeman,  to  Sarah  Ewer,  at  the 
house  of  Thomas  Lothrop  in  Barnstable.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  Ewer,  deceased,  of  Charlestown, 
and  was  then  residing  with  her  mother.  He  and  another 
Barnstable  man,  Samuel  Hallet,  were  drowned  at  Nau- 
set,  April  22,  1650.  He  left  one  child,  a  daughter 
named  "Sara,"  and  had,  perhaps,  a  posthumous  son 
named  Peter. 

JH.  Peter,  born  after  the  year  1627,  married  Sarah  Bodfish, 
June  21,  1663.  He  resided  at  West  Barnstable,  was  a 
farmer,  and  died  about  1700,  intestate.  His  estate  was 
settled  Oct.  5,  1706,  by  mutual  agreement  between  his 
widow  Sarah  and  sons  Thomas,  Joseph  and  Jabez,  and 
daughters  Thankful  Fuller  and  Mercy  Howland.  His 
children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  Mercy,  born  9th  April,  1664;  died  in  1670. 

II.  Thomas,  born   20th   Dec,  1667,  married   Dec.    1695, 
Fear  Robinson.     He  resided  at  West  Barnstable. 

III.  Sarah,  born  1669;  died  1671. 

IV.  Joseph,  born  10th  Dec.  1673,  married  Marv  Pinchon, 
17th  June,  1696. 

V.  Thankful,  born  1675,  married  Joseph  Fuller,  1700. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  77 

VI.  Mary,    born    Aug.  1678,  married    Shubael   Rowland, 
Dec.  13,  1700. 

VII.  Jabez,  born    16th    Feb..   1680,   married  Mary  Good- 
speed,  9th  Sept.  1710. 

Thomas  Blossom,  son  of  Peter,  married  Dec.  1695, 
Fear,  daughter  of  John  Robinson  of  Falmouth,  and  a  great- 
grand-daughter  of  Rev.  John  Robinson  of  Leyden.  His 
children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  Peter,  born  28th  Aug.  1698,  married  Hannah  Isum, 
June  9,  1720.  According  to  the  town  record  he  had 
an  only  son,  Seth,  born  15th  March,  1721-2.  Seth 
married  Jan'ry  8,  1746-7,  Sarah  Churchill  of  Sand- 
wich, and  second  Abigail  Crocker  of  Barnstable,  Jan'ry 
10,  1754.  Children— Churchill,  15th  Oct.  1749  ;  David, 
12th  Jan'ry,  1755;  Peter,  4th  Dec.  1756;  Abigail, 
10th  May,  1760  ;  Seth,  4th  Dec.  1763 ;  Hannah,  15th 
Aug.  1766;  Levi,  15th  April,  1772,  who  removed  to 
Bridge  water. 

II.  John,  born  17th'  April,  1699,  married  April  6,  1726, 
Thankful  Burgess  of  Yarmouth,  and  had  two  children 
born  in  Yarmouth.  Fear,  Feb.  3d,  1730-1,  and  Thank- 
ful, March  5th,  1732-3. 

III.  Sarah,  born  16th  Dec.  1703;  died  young. 

IV.  Elizabeth,  born  Oct.  1705,  married  July  1,  1725,  Israel 
Butler. 

V.  Sarah,  30th  July,  1709,  married  James  Case  of  Leba- 
non, Sept.  23,  1736. 

Joseph  Blossom,  son  of  Peter,  married  17th  June,  1696, 
Mary  Pinchon.  She  died  April  6,  1706,  and  he  married 
second,  Mary  . 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  A  child,  born  14th  March,  1696-7  ;  died  March,  1696-7. 

II.  A  son,  born  May,  1702  ;  died  May,  1702. 

III.  Joseph,  born  14th  March,  1703-4,  married  Temperance 
Fuller,  March  30,  1727.  Children  born  in  Barnstable : 
Lydia,  19th  March,  1729,  married  Matthias  Fuller, 
1765;  James,  born  9th  Feb.  1731,  married  Jan'ry  19, 
1758,  Bethia  Smith  ;  Sarah,  14th  Oct.  1734,  and  Mary, 
14th  Sept.  1736. 

IV.  A  son.  May  1705  ;  died  June,  1705. 

V.  Mary,  11th  Dec.  1709,  married  Joseph  Bates  of  Mid- 
dleborough.  1743. 


78     GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

VI.  Thankful,  25th  March,  1711 ;  married  Ebeu'r  Thomas, 

Dec.  8,  1736. 

Jabez  Blossom,  son  of  Peter,  married  9th  of  Sept.  1710, 
Mercy  Goodspeed. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Sylvanus,  born  20th  Jan'ry,  1713,  married  Charity  Snell, 
1738,  and  settled  in  South  Bridgewater.  His  grandson 
Alden  went  to  Turner,  Maine,  where  he  was  a  general 
and  high-sheriff. 

Sylvanus  is  the  only  child  of  Jabez  recorded  ;  but  there 
was  a  Jabez  Blossom,  Jr.,  who  married  May  17,  1739, 
Hannah  Backhouse  of  Sandwich  ;  also,  a  Ruth,  who  married 
June  8,  1738,  Sylvanus  Barrows. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  there  was  a  Peter  Blossom, 
born  as  early  as  1680,  who  was  entitled  to  a  share  in  the 
division  of  lands  in  1703.  If  he  was  a  son  of  Peter,  son  of 
Dea.  Thomas,  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  omission  of 
his  name  on  the  town  and  probate  records.  Perhaps  he  was 
a  son  of  Thomas,  Jr.  None  of  the  Blossoms,  excepting  the 
deacon,  appear  to  have  been  church  members,  consequently 
their  children's  names  do  not  appear  on  the  church  records. 

There  was  a  Samuel  Blossom  of  Barnstable,  who  mar- 
ried Hannah  Bodfish,  Oct.  28,  1744,  and  had  Thankful,  5th 
Sept.  1745  ;  Joseph,  28th  Oct.  1747  ;  Samuel  and  Hannah, 
twins,  24th  Jan'ry,  1752,  and  Mehitable,  23d  June,  1753. 
The  mother  of  this  family  was  a  church  member. 

There  was  also  a  Benjamin  Blossom  of  Sandwich,  pub- 
lished Dec.  22d,  1750,  to  Elizabeth  Linnell,  and  married  Oct. 
31,1751,  Bathsheba  Percival,  and  had  one  son  born  in  Barn- 
stable, Benjamin,  18th  Aug.  1753. 

James  Blossom,  son  of  Joseph,  married  Jan'ry  19th, 
1758,  Bethia  Smith,  and  had  children  born  in  Barnstable : 
James,  Feb.  3,  1760  ;  Temperance.  Oct.  1761;  Matthias, 
Sept.  12,  1765;  Lucretia,  Oct.  8,  1768,  and  Asenath,  Aug. 
30,  1770. 

There  was  also  a  Thomas  Blossom  of  Yarmouth,  who 
married  Thankful  Paddock,  1749,  and  had  five  children 
born  in  Yarmouth,  namely  :  Enos,  Aug.  18,  1750  ;  Thomas, 
March  11,  1753;  Thankful,  Jan'y  6,  1756;  Sarah,  July 
13th,  1758,  and  Ezra,  May  10,  1761. 

Benjamin  Blossom,  of  Sandwich,  by  his  wife  Elizabeth, 
had  Sarah.  Oct.  23.  1752:  Mary,  Nov.  27.  1757  ;  Meribah, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  79 

Jan'y  27,  1760. 

Mehitable,  wife  of  Joseph  Blossom,  of  Cushnet,  died 
Mai-ch  16,  1771,  aged  80  years,  6  mos.,  and  10  days. 

Benjamin,  of  Acushnet,  died  Oct.  25th,  1797,  aged  76, 
who  had  by  his  wife  Rebecca,  Levi,  who  died  May  8th, 
1785,  aged  8  1-2  months. 


Note. — Some  of  the  Blossoms  lived  in  Sandwich,  a  fact  that  I  was  not 
aware  of  when  I  commenced  writing  this  article.  A  consultation  of  the 
records  of  that  town,  will,  I  presume,  enable  those  interested  to  flU  up 
the  gaps  in  this  genealogy. 


THOMAS  BOURMAN. 


This  name  is  written  on  the  records  Bourmaii,  Burman 
and  Boreman.  Some  of  his  descendants  write  it  Bowman, 
others  Bowerman.  Thomas  Boardman's  name  is  written 
Boardman  and  Boreman.  In  some  cases  it  is  difficult  to 
decide  which  man  is  intended.  Thomas  Boreman  was  taxed 
in  Plymouth  in  1633,  and  in  the  following  year  contracted 
to  repair  the  fort  on  the  hill  which  was  a  wooden  structure, 
and  Thomas  Boardman  being  a  carpenter,  I  infer  that  he 
was  the  man  intended.  A  Thomas  Boreman  was  a  freeman 
of  Massachusetts,  March  4,  1634,  and  a  representative  from 
Ipswich,  1636.  It  has  been  supposed  that  he  removed  to 
Barnstable,  but  I  think  it  very  doubtful.  Thomas  Bourman 
of  Barnstable  could  not  write,  and  though  one  of  the  first 
settlers,  he  was  not  admitted  to  be  a  townsman  for  some 
reason  ;  perhaps  he  favored  the  Quakers.  It  is  not  proba- 
ble that  the  inhabitants  of  Ipswich  would  have  selected  such 
a  man  for  their  representative.  Again,  Bourman  was  in 
aftertimes  a  common  name  in  that  town,  and  there  is  no  evi- 
dence whatever  that  Thomas  of  Ipswich  removed. 

Thomas  Bourman  was  of  Barnstable  in  1643.  He  re- 
sided at  West  Barnstable,  on  a  farm  on  the  South  side  of 
the  cove  of  meadow,  at  the  head  of  Bridge  Creek.  It  is 
thus  described  on  the  town  records  : 

1.  Twenty-five  acres  of  upland,  be  it  more  or  less, 
butting  northerly  upon  ye  marsh,  easterly  upon  a  brook, 
and  westerlj'  upon  a  brook,  and  so  running  eighty  rods 
southerly  into  ye  woods. 

2.  Sixteen  acres  of  marsh,  more  or  less,  bounded 
westerly  partly  by  John  Jenkins,  and  partly  by  a  ditch  cast 
up  between  Abraham  Blush  and  him  ;  northerly,  partly  by 
ye  highway,  and  partly  bj'  Gdd.  Blush,  easterly,  partly  by 
ye  great  swamp  and  partly  by  Gdd.  Blush's,  his  marsh. 

3.  Five  acres  of  upland,  more  or  less,  butting  north- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  81 

erly  upon  ye  marsh,  southerly  upon  a  foot-path,  easterly 
upon  a  flashy  swamp,  westerly  upon  his  own  land. 

The  above  described  land  and  meadow  with  his  dwelling 
house  thereon,  he  sold  28th  Oct.  1662,  to  Robert  Parker 
for  £78.  Bourman  signed  this  deed  with  his  mark;  his 
will  is  signed  in  the  same  manner  ;  but  the  latter  would  not 
be  evidence  that  the  testator  was  never  able  to  write. 

He  was  a  surveyor  of  highways  in  1648,  and  a  grand 
juror  in  1650,  and  was  a  proprietor  of  the  lands  in  Sucka- 
nesset,  now  Falmouth.  He  died  in  1663,  and  is  called  of 
Barnstable  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Children  born  in  JBarnstable. 

He  married  10th  of  March,  1644-5.  Hannah,  daughter 
of  Anthony  Annable,  and  his  children  born  in  Barnstable 
were 

I.  Hannah,  May  1646. 

II.  Thomas,  Sept.  1648,  married  Mary  Harper,  April  9, 
1678. 

HI.     Samuel,    July,    1651,  slain   at   Rehobeth,  March  26, 
1676. 

IV.  Desire,  ^lay  1654. 

V.  Mary,  March  1656. 

VI.  Mehitablc,  Sept.  1658. 

VII.  Tristram,  Aug.  1661. 

This  family  removed  to  Falmouth.  They  eai'ly  joined 
the  Friends.  Thomas,  22d  April,  1690,  bought  of  Jonathan 
Hatch,  Senior,  and  Robert  Harper,  agents  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Suckanesset,  one  hundred  acres  of  land  formerly  John 
Robinson's,  described  as  situate  on  the  easterly  side  of  the 
"Five  Mile  River,"  bounded  from  the  head  of  the  river  on  a 
straight  line  to  the  pond,  northerly  by  the  pond  and  south- 
erly by  the  river.  One  acre  to  be  on  the  south  easterly  side 
of  the  road  that  leads  from  the  river  to  Sandwich. 

Samuel  Bourman  was  a  soldier  in  King  Philip's  war 
from  Barnstable,  and  was  slain  at  Rehobeth  March  26,  1676. 
In  the  same  battle  Lieut.  Samuel  Fuller,  John  Lewis,  Elea- 
zer  Clapp,  Samuel  Linnet  and  Samuel  Childs  of  Barnstable 
were  also  killed. 

Thomas  Bourman  was  town  clerk  of  Falmouth  1702, 
1704   and   1705.     March    26,  1691,  Thomas   Bourman   and 


82  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

William  Wyatt,  a  committee  to  laj^  out  lands  at  Woods 
Hole. 

The  following  account  of  the  family  after  the  removal 
to  Falmouth,  collected  by  Mr.  Neweir  Hoxie  of  Sandwich, 
from  ancient  papers,  is  the  best  I  have  been  able  to  obtain. 
The  illumination  of  dates  would  made  it  more  intelligible  : 

Thomas  Bourman,  though  belonging  to  the  Society  of 
Friends,  was  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  ministrj-  in  the 
town  of  Falmouth.  All  non-conformists  were  then  required 
to  pay  a  double  tax,  one  to  their  own  society  and  one  to  the 
settled  minister  of  the  town.  Many  resisted  this  law  as 
tyrannical  and  oppressive,  and  of  this  number  was  Thomas 
Bourman.  In  the  winter  of  1705-6,  he  was  committed  to 
Barnstable  Jail  for  non-payment  of  a  ministerial  tax.  On 
the  4th  of  the  11th  mo.,  1705-6,  the  Friends  monthly  meet- 
ing, held  at  the  house  of  William  Allen  in  Sandwich,  ordered 
"A  bed  and  bedding  to  be  sent  to  Thomas  Bourman,  he  be- 
ing in  prison  for  the  priest's  rate."  The  following  distraints 
was  subsequently  made  of  his  property  to  pay  his  taxes  to 
Rev.  Joseph  Metcalf,  of  Falmouth,  one  whose  ministry 
neither  himself  nor  his  family  attended  : 

19th,  3d  mo.  1709—2  cows,  worth  £5,  for  £3,  12s.  U. 
tax. 

13th,  3d  mo. — 1  cow  and  calf,  worth  £2,  2s.  tax. 

22d,  3d  mo. — 1  cow  worth  £3,  10s.  for  £1,  13s.  tax. 

24th,  1st  mo.  1710—1  cow  worth  £2,  14s.  for  £1,  17s. 
tax. 

17th,  1st  mo.  1715—1  cow  worth  £3,  10s.  for  £l,  3s. 
Id.  tax. 

9th,  1715—1  fat  swine  worth  £3,  00,  for  £1  tax. 

21st,  nth  mo.  1716—2  calves  worth  £2,  10s.  for  £1, 
25.  M. 

lOtb,  3d  mo.  1728—5  sheep  worth  £2,  10s.  for  £0, 
16s.  tax. 

30th,  3d  mo.  1728—12  lbs.  wool  worth  £1,  10s.  for 
£0,  16s.  \0d. 

As  these  distraints  were  made  by  different  constables, 
the  presumption  is  that  the  three  first  named  were  for  taxes 
of  former  years. 

His  son,  Thomas  Bowman,  also,  refused  to  pay  his 
ministerial  tax,  and  in  1727  the  constable  seized  three  bush- 
els of  Malt,  worth   16s.  6ri.  to  pay  the   same.     On   the   2d 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  83 

oftheSdmo.  1728;  the  constable  seized  one  Linen  Wheel 
and  one  Bason,  worth  20  shillings. 

These  exactions  were  very  moderate  in  comparison-  with 
those  made  by  Constable  Barlow  half  a  century  earlier. 

Thomas  Bourman,  born  in  Barnstable,  Sept.  1648,  mar- 
ried Mary  Harper,  April  9,  1678.  Their  children  were 
Samuel ;  Thomas,  who  married  Jane  Harby  ;  Stephen,  who 
did  not  marry  ;  Benjamin,  who  married  Hannah ;  Han- 
nah, who  married  Nathan  Barlow  1719,  and  Wait,  who 
married  Benjamin  Allen,  1720. 

Thomas  Bourman,  son  of  the  second  Thomas,  resided 
at  West  Falmouth  on  the  estate  now  owned  by  Capt.  Nathan- 
iel Eldred.  He  married  Jane  Harby,  and  had  children : 
Ichabod ;  Judah,  who  married  Mary  Dillingham  1758  ;  Da- 
vid, married  Kuth  Dillingham  1751,  and  Hannah  Wing  1770  ; 
Silas,  married  second,  Lydia  Gilford ;  Joseph,  married  Rest 
Swift,  Sept.  17,  1766;  Sarah,  married  Melatiah  Gifford 
1743;  Jane,  married  Joseph  Bowman;  Elizabeth;  Peace, 
who  did  not  marry,  and  Deborah. 

Benjamin  Bourman.  son  of  Thomas  2d,  married  Han- 
nah  .     He  resided  at  Teeticket,  Falmouth,  was  a  man  of 

enterprise  and  wealth,  and  died  in  the  year  1743,  leaving 
sons  Daniel,  Samuel  and  Stephen,  and  a  daughter  "Rest,'" 
all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  Friends'  Meeting.  He  wrote 
his  name  Bowerman,  as  many  of  the  family  now  do.  In  the 
inventory  of  his  estate,  one-half  of  the  sloop  Falmouth  and 
one-eighth  of  the  sloop  Woods  Hole,  are  appraised.  His 
son  Stephen,  married  1756,  Hannah,  daughter  of  Caleb  and 
Reliance  Allen  ;  Samuel  married  three  wives ;  first,  1743, 
Rose  Landers;  second,  1746,  Jemimah  Wing;  third,  Oct. 
10,  1785,  Grace  Hoxie.  Daniel  married  Joanna,  daughter 
of  Simeon  Hathaway,  and  had  Barnabas,  grandfather  of  the 
present  Barnabas,  and  a  daughter  "Rest,"  who  rested  in 
single  life. 

Beside  those  mentioned  in  the  will  of  Benjamin  Bour- 
man, Mr.  Hoxie  says  he  had  a  son  Enos,  who  married  in 
1764,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Recompence  and  Lydia  Land- 
ei's ;  Joseph,  who  died  young;  Wait,  who  married  1741, 
Benjamin  Swift,  and  a  son  Benjamin,  who  married  in  1755, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Gifford.  This 
Benjamin  lived  at  Teeticket.  His  children,  Elihu,  married 
Sept.    23,  1779,  Anny   Allen;  Harper,  who  married,  first. 


84  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Elizabeth  Shepherd,  and  second,  Meribah  Jones ;  Hannah, 
who  married  Eben  Allen  ;  Zacheus,  married  Sept.  26,  1810, 
Elizabeth  Wing;  Benjamin,  married  1796,  Phebe  Shepherd  ; 
Elizabeth;  Anna,  married  Abel  Hoxie ;  Samuel,  and  Eest 
who  married  Francis  Allen.  Several  of  this  family  lived  to 
a  great  age. 


BUMPAS. 


Edward  Bompasse  came  over  in  the  Fortune,  and  arrived 
at  Plymoutii  Nov.  10,  1621.  The  name  is  probably  the 
French  Bon  pas — a  similar  name  to  the  English  Goodspeed. 
At  the  division  of  the  land  in  1623,  and  of  the  cattle  in  1627, 
he  was  unmarried.  He  sold  land  in  Plymouth  in  1628,  and 
removed  to  Duxbury  and  there  bought  land  of  William  Pal- 
mer, on  which  he  built  a  house  and  -'palisado,"  which  he 
sold  to  John  Washburn  in  1634.  In  1640  he  was  of  Marsh- 
field,  and  was  living  at  Duck  Hill  in  that  town  in  1684. 

It  appears  that  he  married  about  the  time  he  removed 
to  Duxbury,  and  according  to  the  Marshfield  records  his 
wife  was  named  Hannah.  The  record  says  "Hannah,  widow 
of  old  Edward  Bumpas,  died  12th  Feb.  1693,"  and  that 
Edward  Bumpas  died  nine  days  before.  Mr.  Savage  sup- 
poses that  the  latter  record  refers  to  Edward  Bumpas,  Jr. 

This  Barnstable  family  descend  from  Thomas,  prob- 
ably the  youngest  son  ot  Edward,  the  pilgrim.  He  was  not 
a  proprietor,  and  I  do  not  find  that  he  was  admitted  an  in- 
habitant of  Barnstable.  He  and  his  son  Thomas  claimed  to 
be  proprietors,  but  the  lands  laid  out  to  them  in  1716,  were 
in  consideration  of  fifteen  shares  purchased  by  them  of  Lieut. 
John  Howland,  and  in  settlement  of  "their  whole  right  or 
pretence  to  any  claim  in  the  division  of  the  common  land  in 
Barnstable."  Thomas  Bumpas'  house  was  on  "Lovell's 
Way,"  in  Cokachoiset,  now  Osterville. 

Samuel  Bumpas'  house  was  at  Skonkonet,  now  called 
Bump's  river,  and  on  the  road  south  of  Thompson's 
bridge.  His  house  stood  near  the  cedar  swamp.  His  house 
lot  and  other  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Thompson's  bridge, 
laid  out  to  him  in  1716,  was  for  one  share  he  bought  of  his 
brother-in-law  Samuel  Parker,  and  one  of  John  Howland. 


86  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

The  family  in  Barnstable  is  extinct,  but  the  descendants 
of  Edward  in  other  parts  of  the  country  are  very  numerous. 

No  record  has  been  preserved  of  the  family  of  the  first 
Edward.  His  children  as  well  as  can  now  be  ascertained 
were : 

I.  Faith,  born  1631. 

II.  Sarah,  married  March,  1659,  Thomas  Durham. 

HI.  John,  born  1636,  probably  the  oldest  son,  had  at 
Middleborough,  Mary,  born  1671  ;  John,  1673, 
Samuel,  1676;  James,  1678;  at  Rochester,  Sarah, 
16th  Sept.  1685;  Edward,  16th  Sept.  1688,  and 
Jeremiah,  24th  Aug.  1692.  I'he  latter  married 
Nov.  15,  1712,  Jane  Lovell  of  Barnstable.  The  fam- 
ily was  afterwards  in  Wareham. 

IV.  Edward,  born  1638.  Mr.  Savage  supposes  he  died 
in  Marshfield  in  1693. 

V.  Joseph,  born  1639,  first  of  Plymouth,  and  afterwards 
of  Middleborough.  Mr.  Winsor  in  his  history  of 
Duxbury  doubts  whether  Joseph  was  a  son  of  Ed- 
ward, though  he  puts  his  name  among  his  children. 
A  deed  of  land  recently  found  settles  this  question. 
He  was  a  son  of  Edward,  and  had  Lydia,  born  2d 
Aug.  1669  ;  Wybra,  15th  May,  1672  ;  Joseph,  25th 
Aug.  1674 ;  Rebecca,  17th  Dec.  1677  ;  James,  25th 
Dec.  1679;  Penelope,  2lst  Dec.  1681;  Mary,  12th 
Aug.  1684,  and  Mehitable,  21st  Jan'y,  1692. 

VI.  Jacob,  born  1644.  Mr.  Deane  says  he  was  of  Scit- 
uate  in  1676,  where  he  married  in  1677,  Elizabeth, 
widow  of   William   Blackmore,  and    had   Benjamin, 

1678,  and  Jacob,  1680.     Benjamin  had  nine  children, 
and  has  numerous  descendants. 

VII.  Hannah,  born  1646. 

VIII.  Philip.  Winsor  says  Philip  was  the  son  of  Edward, 
and  he  was  living  in  1677  ;  but  gives  no  additional 
information. 

IX.  Thomas,    born    about   the   year  1660,  married  Nov. 

1679,  Phebe,    eldest    daughter  of    John    Lovell   of 
Barnstable.     His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

Ghildren  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Hannah,  born  28th  July,  1680,  married  Samuel  Par- 

ker,   Dec.    12,    1695.     The   bride    was  15,  and  the 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.         87 

bridegroom  35. 

II.  Jean,  born  Dec.  1681. 

III.  Mary,  born  April,  1683. 

IV.  Samuel,  born  Janr'y  1685,  married  Joanna  Warren, 
Aug.  1,  1717,  and  had  Sarah,  April  5,  1718,  married 
Samuel  Lothrop,  July  17,  1740;  Joanna,  May  15, 
1719,  married  Samuel  Hamblin,  Jr.,  Nov.  16,  1749  ; 
Jubez,  June  25,  1721;  Thomas,  March  20,  1722-3; 
John,  May  17,  1725  ;  Warren,  June  28,  1727  ;  Bethia, 
Aug.  23,  1729,  married  Seth  Phinney,  Oct.  26,  1748  ; 
Mary,  Jan'y  1,  1731-2,  and  Phebe,  April  21,  1734. 

V.  Thomas,  born  May,  1687. 

VI.  Sarah,  born  Jan'ry  1688. 

VII.  Elizabeth,  born  Jan'y  1690. 

VIII.  Abigail,  born  Oct.  1693. 

IX.  John,  baptized  June  21,  1696. 

X.  Benjamin,  born  27th,  March  1703. 

Phebe,  wife  of  Thomas  Bumpas,  became  a  member  of 
the  Barnstable  Church,  May  24,  1696,  and  on  the  21st  of 
June  following,  his  children  Samuel,  Thomas,  John,  Mary, 
Sarah,  Abigail  and  Elizabeth  were  baptized.  Hannah,  his 
eldest  child,  was  then  married,  and  respecting  Jane  under 
the  date  of  July  5,  1696,  is  the  following  entry:  "Jane  of 
Phebe,  wife  of  Thomas  Bump,  ye  girl  being  about  14  or  15 
years  old,  was  examined,  and  being  one  of  ye  family  and 
looked  upon  in  her  minority,  was  baptized."  The  baptism 
of  Benjamin  does  not  appear  on  the  church  records.  Phebe 
Bumpas  of  Barnstable,  married  Nov.  11,  1724,  John  Fish. 
She  was  probably  daughter  of  Thomas,  Sen'r,  The  Thank- 
ful Bumbas,  who  married  Dec.  12,  1744,  Jonathan  Hamblin, 
was  perhaps  another  daughter.  There  was  also  a  Samuel 
Bumpus,  Jr.,  of  Barnstable,  who  married  in  1733,  Sarah 
Rogers.of  Plymouth.  She  died  April  10,  1736,  leaving  a 
son  Levi,  born  March  17,  1734-5. 


BETTS. 


WILLIAM    BETTS, 

Aged  twenty  years,  came  over  in  the  Thomas  and  John, 
Richard  Lombard,  master,  from  Gravesend,  6th  Jan'y  1635. 
He  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  Oct.  25,  1635,  married 
Alice,  Goodman  Ensign's  maid  in  the  Bay  (Massachusetts), 
Nov.  23,  1638,  removed  with  the  church  to  Barnstable  in 
1639.  Mr.  Savage  says  he  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  that 
he  was  afterwards  of  Dorchester.  In  the  list  of  those  who 
were  able  to  bear  arms  in  1643,  his  name  is  written  Beetts. 
Perhaps  the  name  is  Bills.  There  was  a  family  of  that  name 
early  in  Barnstable.  The  children  of  William  Betts,  born 
in  Barnstable,  were : 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Hannah,  bap'd  Jan'y  26,  1639-40. 

II.  Samuel,  bap'd  Feb.  5,  1642-3. 

III.  Hope,  a  son,  bap'd  Mar.  16,  1644-5. 

After  the  date  of  the  birth  of  his  son  Hope,  his  name 
disappears  on  the  Barnstable  records.  His  lands  are  not 
recorded ;  probably  they  were  transferred  to  another  with- 
out a  formal  deed,  as  was  the  custom  at  the  first  settlement. 
He,  perhaps,  settled  in  the  westerly  part  of  the  plantation, 
near  John  Crocker. 


BLUSH. 


ABRAHAM     BLUSH. 

This  name  is  uniformly  written  on  tlie  Colony  and  early 
Barnstable  records  Blush.  Many  of  his  descendants  now 
spell  their  name  Blish,  though  the  popular,  pronunciation  of 
the  name  continues  to  he  Blush. 

He  was  an  early  settler  at  Duxbury.  Nov.  1,  1637,  he 
bought  of  Richard  Moore,  for  twenty-one  pounds  sterling, 
(payable  in  money  or  beaver, )  a  dwelling-house  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  at  Eagle's  Nest  in  Duxbury.  On  the  26th  of 
Nov.  1638,  he  sold  the  easterly  half  of  the  land  to  John 
Willis  for  £8,  lOs.  sterling. 

He  was  of  Barnstable  in  1641,  and  was  probably  one  of 
the  first  settlers ;  was  propounded  to  be  admitted  a  freeman 
June  1,  1641;  again  in  1651,  and  1652.  The  date  of  his 
admission  is  not  given  ;  his  name  is  on  the  list  of  freemen 
in  1670.  He  was  a  grand-juror  in  1642,  1658,  and  1663  ; 
surveyor  of  highways  1645,  1650  and  1652;  constable, 
1656,  1660  and  1667.  He  is  styled  a  planter,  and  was  a 
large  landholder,  owning  at  West  Barnstable  eight  acres  of 
land  on  the  east  side  of  Bridge  Creek  or  Cuve,  and  seven- 
teen acres  of  meadow  adjoining.  Fourteen  acres  of  upland, 
eight  on  the  south,  and  six  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  and 
bounded  easterly  by  the  Annable  land,  and  three  acres  of 
meadow  adjoining.  His  great  lot  containing  forty  acres  was 
on  the  east  of  Scorton  Hill,  and  bounded  southerly  by  the 
highway.  This  he  sold  Feb.  10,  1668,  to  John  Crocker, 
Sen'r,  for  £5,  10s. 

In  1662,  he  owned  another  sti'ip  of  land  on  the  east  of 
the  Annable  Farm,  containing  eight  acres,  extending  from 
the  marsh  across  the  highway  to  Annable's  pond. 

The  above  lands  were  his  W^est  Barnstable  farm,  on 
which  it  appears  that  he  resided  in  1643,  being  one  of  the 


90     GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OE  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

earliest  settlers  in  that  part  of  the  town.  His  old  home- 
stead on  the  west  of  the  Annable  land  was  owned  by  him 
and  his  descendants  about  two  centuries. 

July  17,  1G58,  he  bought  for  £75,  the  Dolar  Davis 
farm,  in  the  easterly  part  of  the  town  containing  fifty  acres 
of  upland  and  ten  of  meadow.  Twelve  acres  ol  this  land 
was  at  Stony  Cove,  and  was  sold  by  him  in  1680  to  Nathan- 
iel and  Jeremiah  Bacon ;  twenty-two  acres  in  the  Old  Com- 
mon Field,  and  sixteen  acres  (his  house  lot),  on  the  south 
of  the  Mill  Pond.  His  dwelling-house  stood  a  short  dis- 
tance south-easterly  from  the  present  water-mill.  The 
causeway  which  forms  the  Mill  Dam  was  called  in  early 
times  Blushe's  Bridge,  and  the  point  of  land  at  the  western 
extremity  of  the  Old  Common  Field  is  now  known  as 
Blushe's  Point. 

The  first  wife  of  Abraham  Blush  was  named  Anne, 
perhaps  Anne  Pratt.  She  was  buried  in  Barnstable,  ac- 
cording to  the  Town  and  Colony  records,  May  16,  1651 ; 
but  according  to  the  Chui'cli  records,  which  are  more  relia- 
ble, on  the  26th  of  May,  1653.  His  second  wife  was  Han- 
nah, daughter  of  John  Williams  of  Scituate,  and  widow  of 
.John  Barker  of  Marshfield.  She  was  buried  in  Barnstable, 
March  16,  1658,  according  to  the  Colony  records ;  but  the 
Barnstable  record  probably  gives  the  ti'ue  date,  Feb.  16, 
1657-8.  He  married  for  his  third  wife,  January  4,  1658-9, 
Alice,  widow  of  John  Derby  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  Sept. 
7,  1683  ;  his  age  is  not  stated.  His  children  born  in  Barn- 
stable were 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.      Sarah,  born  2d  Dec.  1641,  bap'd  5th  Dec.  1641. 

H.  Joseph,  born  1st  April,  1648,  bap'd  9th  April,  1648; 
married  Hannah  Hull,  15th  Sept.  1674 ;  died  June  14, 
"1730,  aged  82  years. 

HI.  Abraham,  born  16th  Oct.  1654.  In  the  will  of  his 
uncle,  Capt.  John  Williams  of  Scituate,  he  is  called  of 
Boston  in  1691.  In  1698,  Thomas  Brattle  of  Boston, 
conveyed  to  Abraham  Blush  and  twenty  others,  land 
called  Brattle  Close.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  church  in  Brattle  street  in  1698.  Mr.  Savage  does 
not  find  that  he  had  a  family. 
Joseph  Blush,  son  of  Abraham,  married  Sept.  15,  1674, 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.         91 

Hannah,  daughter  of  Tristram  Hull.  He  resided  at  West 
Barnstable.  He  died  June  14,  1730,  aged  82,  and  his 
widow  died  Nov.  15,  1733,  aged  75  years.  His  will  is  da- 
ted June  25,  1722,  and  Avas  proved  Aug.  30,  1731.  He 
names  his  wife  Hannah,  and  sons  Tristam  sole  executor, 
Benjamin,  Abraham  and  Joseph  ^  and  daughters  Annah, 
Thankful  and  Mary.  He  gives  his  cane  to  his  son  Joseph, 
and  remembers  all  his  grand-children  then  four  years  of 
age. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.         Joseph,  born  13th  Sept.  1675,  married  Hannah  Child, 

30th  July,  1702. 
H.        John,  born  17th  Feb.  1676-7 ;  died  young. 
HI.      Annah,  born  Feb.  1678-9. 

IV.  Abraham,  born  27th  Feb.   1680-1,  married  Temper- 
ance Fuller,  Nov.  Nov.  12,  1736. 

V.  Reuben,  born  14th  Aug.  1683,  married  two  wives. 

VI.  Sarah,  born  Aug.  1685,  died  3d  Jan'y  1686. 

VII.  Sarah,  born  Sept.  1687,  died  1705. 

VIII.  Thankful,  born  Sept.  1689,  married  Joseph  Bodfish, 
Oct.  11,  1712. 

IX.  John,  born  1st  Jan'y  1691 ;  died  Oct.  14,  1711. 

X.  Tristram,  born  April,  1694. 

XI.  Mary,  born  April  1696,  married  Samuel  Jones  26th 
June,  1718. 

XII.  Benjamin,  born  April,  1699. 

Joseph  Blush,  Jr.,  son  of  Joseph,  resided  at  West 
Barnstable.  He  married  30th  July,  1702,  Hannah,  daugh- 
ter of  Eichard  Child.  She  died  11th  Nov.  1732,  aged  58 
years,  and  he  married  in  1733  his  second  wife,  Eem ember 
Backus  of  Sandwich.  He  died  March  4,  1754,  aged  79 
years. 

Children  bom  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Joseph,  born  2d  Feb.  1704,  married  Oct.  28,  1730, 
Mercy  Crocker,  and  had  Joseph,  born  July  20,  1731, 
who  married  Sarah  Crocker,  May  19,  1757.  During 
the  Revolution  he  was  an  active  and  energetic  Whig. 
Hannah,  born  Oct.  28,  1732,  married  Zachariah  Perry 
ot  Sandwich,  Feb.  7,  1744-5  ;  William,  Dec.  22,  1733  ; 
Samuel,  bap'd  March   16,  1734-5 ;  Seth,  bap'd  March 


92  GENEALOGfCAL  NOTES   OF  BAENSTAELE   FAMILIES. 

25,  1739;  Mercy,  born  Oct.  24,  1740;  Benjamin, 
bap'd  July  18,  1742;  Ebenezer,  born  April  1,  1744, 
and  Timothy,  Feb.  16,  1745-6. 

II.  Abigail,  born  29th  Nov.  1705,  married  Seth  Crocker. 

III.  Sarah,  born  1st  Oct.  1707,  married  Seth  Hamblin,  Oct, 
9,  1735. 

IV.  Mehitable,   14th    June,   1711,  married   Ben.    Jenkins, 
Oct.  29,  1730. 

V.  Abraham,  born  29th  Sept.  1712  ;  died  Feb.  8,  1723-4. 

VI.  Hannah,  14th  June,  1715. 

Al)raham  Blush,  son  of  Joseph,  married  Nov.  12,  1736, 
Temperance  Fuller.  He  was  fifty-live  and  she  was  only 
twenty  at  their  marriage.  Joseph  Blush,  Jr.,  had  a  son 
Abraham  born  in  1712,  who  died  in  1724,  and  as  there  was 
no  other  Abraham  in  Barnstable,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the 
match  was  made  notwithstanding  the  disparity  in  the  ages 
of  the  bride  and  bridegroom. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Abraham,  20th  Oct.  1737. 

II.  Elijah,  5th   March,   1738-9,  married  Sarah  Stewart, 
Jan'y  25,  1761. 

III.  Rebecca,  14th  Nov.  1740. 

IV.  Benjamin,  9th  May,  1743. 

V.  Elisha,  23d  April,  1745  ;  died  17th  Nov.  1645. 

VI.  Elisha,  1st  March,  1746-7. 

VII.  Martha,  14th  July,  1749. 
VIH.  Temperance,  21st  Nov.  1751. 

IX.      Timothy,  3d  Aug.  1756,  probably  died  young. 

Reuben  Blush,  son  of  Joseph,  is  not  named,  if  my  ab- 
stract is  reliable,  in  his  father's  will,  and  though  he  mar- 
ried twice  and  had  a  family,  the  births  of  his  children  are 
not  on  the  Barnstable  records.  By  his  first  wife  Elizabeth, 
he  had  six  children  baptized  Dec.  20,  1730,  namely  :  John', 
Silas,  Reuben,  Elizabeth,  Hannah  and  Thankful. 

He  married  for  his  second  wife,  Mary  Thomas,  Oct, 
25,  1735.  In  his  will  dated  July  3d,  1738,  proved  on  the 
20th  Oct.  following,  he  names  his  wife  Mary,  and  sons  John, 
Reuben  and  Silas.  His  widow,  who  is  styled  Mrs.,  married 
March  5,  1745,  Lieut.  John  Annable. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  93 

Tristram  Blush,  son  of  Joseph,  married  Oct.  17,  1717, 
Anne  Fuller,  and  had  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely : 

I.  Benjamin,  June  16.  1718. 

II.  Anna,  Nov.  19,  1719. 

III.  Sylvanus,  Oct.  13,  1721. 

IV.  Thankful,  bap'd  Nov.   1725.     A  Thankful  Blush  mar- 
ried Caleb  P^rry  of  Sandwich,  Oct.  1758. 

John  Blush,  son  of  Reuben,  married  Nov.  15,  1739, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Goodspeed,  Jr.,  and  had  John, 
Nov.  14,  1745;  Mary,  Feb.  17,  1748,  (who  had  Mary 
Crocker  by  Enoch  Crocker,  Auaj.  20,  1765;)  Stacy,  March 
26,  1751,  and  Eebecca,  Oct.  14^  1756. 

Reuben  Blush,  son  of  Reuben,  married  May  11,  1747, 
Ruth  Childs,  and  had  Reuben,  20th  Oct.  1747  ;  David,  11th 
May,  1749;  Thomas,  21st  July,  1751,  and  Elizabeth,  19th 
Oct.  1755. 

Silas  Blush,  son  of  Reuben,  married  Nancy  Tobey  of 
Falmouth  in  1747,  and  had  Rebecca  bap'd  Jan'y  25,  1748-9  ; 
Abigail,  June  2,  1751 ;  Mercy,  Sept.  30,  1752  ;  Silas,  Aug. 
1,  1756;  Elisha,  Jan'y  15,  1759,  and  Mercy,  April  18, 
1762. 

Silas  of  this  family  married  Chloe,  daughter  of  Nicholas 
Cobb.  His  widow  is  now  living  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-six. 

His  brother  Elisha  was  a  very  worthy  man ;  but  he 
made  one  sad  mistake,  he  married  for  his  first  wife  a  woman 
because  she  had  lands  and  money. 

ELISHA    BLUSH AUNT    "BECK"    AND    HER    MUSEUM. 

Elisha  Blush  married  for  his  first  wife  June  2,  1790, 
Rebecca  Linnell — familiarly  known  as  "Aunt  Beck," — the 
third  wife  and  widow  of  Johif  Linnell,  deceased.  The  first 
wife  of  the  latter  was  Mercy  Sturgis,  his  second,  Ruth,  a  sis- 
ter of  Rebecca,  and  both  daughters  of  James  Linnell.  By 
Mercy  and  Ruth  he  had  no  issue,  by  Rebecca  a  daughter 
Abigail.  By  the  ecclesiastical  law  of  England  it  was  then 
illegal  for  a  man  to  marry  his  deceased  wife's  sister,  and  the 
issue  of  such  marriages  was  declared  illegitimate.  Under 
this  law  the  other  heirs  of  John  Linnell  claimed  his  large  es- 
tate to  the  exclusion  of  his  widow  and  daughter.  Before 
anv  settlement   was    made,  the    daughter   died,  the  widow 


94  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

married,  and  the.  law  was  changed.  The  matter  was  finally 
settled  by  compromise,  and  Rebecca  Blush  came  into  posses- 
sion of  nearly  all  her  first  husband's  estate. 

Elisha  Blush  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  a  very  honest 
and  worthy  man,  and  an  exemplary  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Church.  At  the  time  of  his  first  marriage  he  was  thirty- 
one  and  his  wife  forty-six  years  of  age.  She  died  Nov.  7, 
1830,  aged  86  years,  and  six  weeks  and  three  days  after  he 
married  Eebecca  Linnell,  a  grand  niece  of  his  first  wife,  a 
young  woman  aged  29.  Elisha  Blush  died  May  1836,  aged 
77,  and  his  widow  is  the  present  wife  of  the  Rev.  Scolly  G. 
Usher,  now  a  practicing  physician  at  the  West. 

When  young  I  had  often  heard  of  Aunt  Beck's  Museum, 
and  there  are  very  few  in  Barnstable  who  have  not.  In  the 
winter  of  1825,  I  resided  in  her  neighborhood,  and  made 
several  calls  to  examine  her  curiosities.  Her  house,  yet  re- 
maining, is  an  old-fashioned,  low  double-house,  facing  due 
South,  with  two  front-rooms,  a  kitchen,  bedroom  and  pan- 
try on  the  lower  floor.  The  east  front-room,  which  was 
her  sitting-room,  is  about  fourteen  feet  square.  The  west 
room  is  smaller.  Around  the  house  and  out-buildings  every 
thing  was  remarkably  neat.  The  wood  and  fencing  stuff 
was  carefully  piled,  the  chips  at  the  wood-pile  were  raked 
up,  and  there  Avas  no  straw  or  litter  to  be  seen  about  the 
barn  or  fences.  It  was  an  estate  that  the  stranger  would 
notice  for  its  neat  and  tidy  appearance. 

In  my  visits  to  her  house  the  east  front-room  was  the 
only  portion  I  was  permitted  to  see,  though  I  occasionally 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  curiosities  in  the  adjoining  rooms 
through  the  half-opened  doors.  I  was  accompanied  in  my 
visits  by  a  young  lady  who  was  a  neighbor,  and  on  excel- 
lent terms  with  Aunt  Beck.  She  charged  me  not  to  look 
around  the  room  when  I  entered,  but  keep  my  eye  on  the 
lady  of  the  house,  or  on  the  fire-place.  To  observe  such 
precautions  was  absolutely  necessary,  for  the  stranger  who, 
on  entering,  should  stare  around  the  room,  would  soon  feel 
the  weight  of  Aunt  Beck's  ire,  or  her  broom-stick.  1  fol- 
lowed my  instructions,  and  was  invited  to  take  one  of  the 
two  chairs  in  the  room.  It  was  a  cool  evening,  and  all  be- 
ing seated  close  to  the  fire,  we  were  soon  engaged  in  a 
friendly  chat,  and  I  soon  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  the 
curiosities.     In  the  northeast  corner  of  the  room   stood  a 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  95 

bedstead  with  a  few  rajrged,  dirty  bed-clothes  spread  thereon. 
The  space  under  the  bed  was  occupied  partly  as  a  pantry. 
Several  pans  of  milk  were  set  there  for  cream  to  rise,  (for 
Aunt  Beck  made  her  own  butter)  ;  but  when  she  made  more 
than  she  used  in  her  family,  she  would  complain  of  the  dull- 
ness of  the  market.  In  front  of  the  bed  and  near  the  centre 
of  the  room  stood  a  common  table  about  three  feet  square. 
Respecting  this  table  a  neighbor,  Captain  Elisha  Hall,  as- 
sured me  that  to  his  certain  knowledge  it  had  stood  in  the 
same  place  twenty  years,  how  much  longer  he  could  not  say. 
On  this  table,  for  very  many  successive  years,  she  had  laid 
whatever  she  thought  curious  or  worth  preserving.  When 
an  article  was  laid  thereon  it  was  rarely  removed,  for  no  one 
would  dare  meddle  with  Aunt  Beck's  curiosities.  Feathers 
were  her  delight ;  but  many  were  perishable  articles,  and  in 
the  process  of  time  had  rotted  and  changed  into  a  black 
mould,  covering  the  table  with  a  stratum  of  about  an  inch  in 
thickness. 

In  front  of  the  larger  table  stood  a  smaller  one  near 
the  tire-place,  from  which  the  family  partook  of  their  meals. 
This  table  was  permanently  located,  and  I  was  informed  by 
the  neighbors  that  no  perceptible  change  had  been  made  in 
the  ORDER,  or  more  properly  disorderly,  arrangements  of 
the  furniture  and  curiosities  for  the  ten  years  next  preceding 
my  visit.  The  evening  was  cool,  and  though  my  hostess 
was  the  owner  of  extensive  tracts  of  woodland,  covered  with 
a  heavy  growth,  she  could  not  afford  herself  a  comfortable 
tire.  A  few  brands  and  two  or  three  dead  sticks,  added 
after  we  came  in,  cast  a  flickering  light  over  the  room  ;  but, 
fortunately  for  our  olfactories,  did  not  inci'ease  its  tempera- 
ture. 

The  floor,  excepting  narrow  paths  between  the  doors, 
fire-place  and  bed,  was  entirely  covered  with  broken  crock- 
ery, old  pots,  kettles,  pails,  tubs,  &c.,  &c.,  and  the  walls 
were  completely  festooned  with  old  clothing,  useless  articles 
of  furniture,  bunches  of  dried  herbs,  &c.,  &c.,  in  fact  every 
article  named  in  the  humorous  will  of  Father  A-bby,  except- 
ing a  "tub  of  soap."  The  other  articles  named  in  the  same 
stanza  were  conspicuous  : 

"A  long  cart  rope, 
A  frying-pan  and  kettle. 
An  old  sword  blade,  a  garden  spade, 
A  pi-uning-hook  and  sickle." 


96  GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

But  in  justice  to  Aunt  Beck,  I  should  state  that  she  did 
for  many  long  years  contemplate  making  "a  tub  of  soap." 
For  thirty  years  she  saved  all  her  beef-bones  for  that  pur- 
pose, depositing  the  same  in  her  large  kitchen  fire-place  and 
in  other  places  about  the  room.  During  the  warm  summer 
of  1820,  these  bones  became  so  offensive  that  Aunt  Beck 
reluctantly  consented  to  have  them  removed,  and  Captain 
Elisha  Hall, who  saw  them  carted  away,  says  there  was  more 
than  an  ox-cart  load. 

Of  the  other  rooms  in  the  house  I  cannot  speak  from 
pei'sonal  knowledge ;  but  the  lady  who  went  with  me  and 
who  is  now  living,  informed  me  that  in  the  west  room  there 
was  a  bed,  a  shoemaker's  bench,  flour  barrels,  chests  con- 
taining valuable  bedding,  too  good  to  use,  and  a  nameless 
variety  of  other  articles  scattered  over  the  bed  and  chairs  ; 
from  the  walls  were  suspended  a  saddle  and  pillion,  and 
many  other  things  preserved  as  rare  curiosities.  In  time  the 
room  became  so  completely  filled  that  it  was  diflicult  to  en- 
ter it.  The  kitchen,  bedroom,  pantry  and  chambers  were 
filled  with  vile  trash  and  trumpery,  covered  with  dirt  and 
litter. 

This  description  may  seem  imaginary  or  improbable  to 
the  stranger ;  but  there  are  hundreds  now  living  in  Barn- 
stable who  can  testify  that  the  picture  is  not  drawn  in  too 
strong  colors.  Truth  is  sometimes  stranger  than  fiction,  and 
this  maxim  applies  in  all  its  force  to  Rebecca  Blush.  That 
she  was  a  monomaniac  is  true  ;  but  that  she  was  insane  on 
all  subjects  is  not  true.  Early  in  life  she  was  neat,  industri- 
ous and  very  economical,  but  her  prudent  habits  soon  degen- 
erated into  parsimony.  Economy  is  a  vii'tue  to  be  inculcat- 
ed, but  when  the  love  of  money  becomes  the  ruling  passion, 
and  a  man  saves  that  he  ma}^  hoard  and  accumulate,  he 
becomes  a  miser,  and  as  such,  is  despised.  The  miser  accu- 
mulates money,  or  that  which  can  be  converted  into  money. 
Aunt  Beck  saved  not  only  money,  but  useless  articles  that 
others  threw  away.  These  she  would  pick  up  in  the  fields, 
and  by  the  roadside,  and  store  away  in  her  house.  During 
the  latter  part  of  her  life  she  seldom  went  from  home. 
During  more  than  twenty  years  she  thus  gathered  up  useless 
trash,  and  as  she  did  not  allow  any  thing  (except  the  bones) 
to  be  carried  out  for  more  than  forty  years,  it  requires  no 
great  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  form  a  correct  picture  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  97 

the  condition  and  appearance  of  the  place,  she  called  her 
home. 

Her  estate,  if  she  had  allowed  her  husband  to  have 
managed  it,  would  have  been  much  larger  at  her  death.  Her 
wood  she  would  not  be  allowed  to  be  cut  and  sold,  and  the 
proceeds  invested.  She  lost  by  investing  her  money  in 
mortgages  on  old  houses  and  worn-out  lands,  and  loaning  to 
persons  who  never  paid  their  notes.  She  also  had  a  habit 
of  hiding  parcels  of  coin  among  the  rubbish  in  her  house, 
and  sometimes  she  would  forget  not  only  where  she  had 
placed  the  treasure,  but  how  many  such  deposits  she  had 
made.  It  is  said  that  some  of  her  visitors,  who  were  not 
over-much  honest,  often  carried  away  these  deposits,  un- 
known and  unsuspected  by  her. 

On  one  subject,  saving,  Rebecca  Blush  was  not  of 
sound  mind.  She  was,  however,  a  woman  naturally  of  strong 
mind — no  one  could  be  captain  over  her.  She  knew  more 
or  less  of  almost  every  family  in  town,  and  was  always  very 
particular  in  her  inquiries  respecting  the  health  of  the  fam- 
ilies of  her  visitors.  She  delighted  in  repeating  ancient  bal- 
lads and  nursery  tales.  In  her  religious  opinions  she  was 
Orthodox;  and  she  hated  the  Methodists,  not  because  they 
were  innovators,  but  because  the  preachers  called  at  her 
house,  and  because  her  husband  contributed  something  to 
their  suppoi-t. 

Not  a  dollar  of  the  money  saved  and  accumulated  by 
her,  during  a  long  life  of  toil  and  self-denial,  now  remains. 
In  a  few  short  years  it  took  to  itself  wings  and  flew  away. 
Her  curiosities,  which  she  had  spent  so  many  years  in  col- 
lecting and  preserving,  were  ruthlessly  destroyed  before  her 
remains  were  deposited  in  the  grave.  She  died  on  Sunday. 
On  the  Thursday  preceding,  her  attendants  commenced  re- 
moving. She  overheard  them,  and  asked  if  it  thundered. 
They  satisfied  the  dying  woman  with  an  evasive  answer. 
Before  her  burial,  all  her  curiosities  were  either  burnt,  or 
scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 

The  old  house  soon  lost  all  its  charms,  and  its  doors 
ceased  to  attract  visitors.  Its  interior  was  cleansed  and 
painted ;  paper-hangings  adorned  the  walls,  and  handsome 
furniture  the  rooms.  Forty-five  days  after  her  death  there 
was  a  wedding-party  at  the  house.  Mr.  Blush  endeavored 
to    correct    the  sad    mistake  which    he  made  when  a  young 


98  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

man,  by  taking  in  his  old  age  a  young  woman  for  his  second 
wife,  forty-three  years  j'^ounger  than  himself,  and  fifty-seven 
years  younger  than  his  first  wife. 

During  the  closing  period  of  his  life,  a  term  of  nearly 
six  years,  Elisha  Blush  enjoyed  all  those  comforts  and  con- 
veniences of  life  of  which  he'  had  been  deprived  for  forty 
years,  and  to  which  a  man  having  a  competent  estate  is  enti- 
tled. This  great  change  in  his  mode  of  living  did  not,  how- 
ever, afibrd  him  unalloyed  happiness.  One  remark  which 
he  made  at  this  period  is  worth  preserving ;  it  shows  the 
effect  which  habits  of  forty  years  growth  have  on  the  human 
mind.  Some  one  congratulated  him  on  the  happy  change 
which  had  taken  place.  "Yes,"  said  he,  "I  live  more  com- 
fortably than  I  did,"  but  he  added  with  a  sigh,  "my  present 
wife  is  not  so  economical  as  my  first." 

Note. — I  read  the  manuscript  of  this  article  to  the  only  persons  now 
living  whom  I  presumed  would  have  any  feeling  in  regard  to  its  publi- 
cation. They  are  relatives  of  Aunt  Beck,  and  when  young  were  frequent 
visitors  at  her  house.  I  altered  whatever  they  said  was  not  literally 
true,  excepting  things  of  which  I  was  myself  an  eye  witness.  They  re- 
quested me  to  say  nothing  of  her  eccentricities.  I  replied  that  Aunt 
Beck  and  her  museum,  like  Sarcho  and  Dappie,  were  born  for  each  oth- 
er, and  if  the  account  of  the  museum  was  omitted,  Aunt  Beck  sunk  into 
insignificance. 


BLACHFORD. 


WILLIAM    BLACHFORD. 

According  to  tradition  William  Blachford,  the  ancestor 
of  this  family,  came  from  London.  His  wife,  Elizabeth 
Lewis,  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Lewis,  who  had  a  house 
at  Crooked,  now  called  Lampson's  Pond.  She  was  popu- 
larly known,  not  by  her  true  name,  but  as  Liza  Towerhill, 
because  the  family  of  her  husband  is  said  to  have  resided  in 
that  part  of  London.  She  was  reputed  to  be  a  witch. 
Some  of  the  marvels  which  are  related  of  her  I  have  pub- 
lished. It  is  unnecessary  now  to  re-produce  them,  or  other 
equally  improbable  relations  since  collected.  That  Elizabeth 
Blachford  was  a  witch,  and  transformed  herself  into  a  black 
cat  at  pleasure,  and  performed  most  wonderful  feats,  all  her 
neighbors  three-fourths  of  a  century  ago  believed,  or  at  least 
pretended  to  believe.  Even  at  this  day,  there  are  persons 
who  firmly  believe  that  Liza  Tower  Hill  was  a  witch,  and 
did  all  the  wonderful  things  that  they  have  heard  ancient 
people  relate. 

She  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Lewis  by  his  second 
wife,  Hannah  Hinckley.  Her  father  was  a  grand-son  of  the 
first  George  Lewis,  and  her  mother  was  a  grand-daughter 
of  the  first  Samuel,  and  own  cousin  to  Gov.  Thomas  Hinck- 
ley. Her  family  and  connections  were  among  the  most  respec- 
table and  infiuential  in  Barnstable.  She  was  born  Jan'y  17, 
1711-12,  married  William  Blachford,  Nov.  12,  1728, 
admitted  to  the  East  Church,  in  full  communion,  Jan'y  9, 
1736-7,  of  which  she  was  an  exemplany  member  until  her 
death  in  July,  1790.  She  was  honest,  industrious,  ener- 
getic and  shrewd  in  making  a  bargain.  The  records  of  Eev. 
Mr.  Green  furnish  evidence  that  she  was  an  exemplary  and 
pio'.is  woman,  fifty -three  years  of  her  life — a  period  cover- 
ing the  whole   time  in   which,  according  to  popular  belief. 


100  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

she  was  in  league  with  the  Evil  One. 

Her  husband  was  a  very  worthy  man,  admitted  to  the 
church  at  his  own  house  on  the  day  preceding  his  death  ; 
died  June  15,  1755,  leaving  a  small  estate  and  seven  chil- 
dren, four  under  seventeen,  to  be  provided  for  by  their 
mother.  She  spun  and  wove  for  those  who  were  able  to 
pay  for  her  services,  managed  her  small  farm,  working 
thereon  with  her  own  hands,*  kept  several  cows,  and  thus 
was  able  to  bring  up  her  children  respectably. 

A  question  here  arises  which  covers  the  whole  ground 
respecting  the  popular  belief  in  witchcraft.  It  is  difficult 
perhaps  satisfactorily  to  explain  this  phase  in  the  popular 
mind.  Fifty  years  before  the  time  of  Liza  Towerhill,  the 
intelligent  and  the  ignorant  alike  believed  in  the  existence 
of  witches.  The  Bible  taught  that  there  witches  in  olden 
times ;  and  the  laws  of  Old  and  New  England  recognized 
witchcraft  as  an  existing  evil,  the  practice  whereof  was  crim- 
inal and  punishable  with  death.  Eespecting  the  meaning  of 
the  words  "being  possessed  with  devils,"  and  "witches" 
in  the  Scriptures,  our  ancestors  had  vague  and  uncertain 
notions.  The  imaginations  of  the  ignorant  and  the  super- 
stitious, perhaps  aided  by  the  malice  of  the  wicked,  gave 
form  and  substance  to  those  vague  notions,  and  they  became 
visible  forms  to  their  eyes,  more  frequently  in  that  of  a  cat 
than  any  other  animal.  That  such  transformations  actually 
occurred  was  believed  by  very  many  ;  and  not  a  few  held  that 
the  hanging  of  witches  was  a  religious  duty.  We  may  re- 
gret that  such  was  the  popular  delusion,  or  we  may  laugh 
at  the  simplicity  of  those  who  believed  in  such  vageries  ;  yet 
five  generations  have  since  passed,  and  time  has  not  entirely 
eradicated  from  the  popular  mind  a  belief  in  the  existence  of 
apparitions  and  witches. 


*A  man  now  living  informs  me  that  when  a  small  boy,  he  went  with 
his  father  to  assist  Liza  in  breaking  np  a  piece  of  new  ground.  At  that 
time  she  must  have  been  over  seventy-iive  years  of  age,  yet  she  performed 
the  most  laborious  part  of  the  operation — holding  down  the  plough. 
During  the  operation  the  plough  was  suddenly  brought  up  against  a 
stump,  and  the  concussion  threw  her  over  it.  She  suffered  no  incon- 
venience by  the  accident,  and  continued  to  work  till  the  job  was  com- 
pleted. All  admit  that  she  was  not  a  weak-minded  woman,  aud  this 
anecdote  shows  that  she  was  also  physically  strong. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         101 

Phenomena  which  Science  now  enables  us  to  explain  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  which  govern  the  Universe,  were 
inexplicable  to  them,  and  without  iflaputing  to  them  wrong 
notions,  or  being  influenced  by  a  superstitious  fear,  we  may 
safely  admit  that  their  conclusions  were  honest.  All  dis- 
eases which  aflTected  both  the  mind  and  the  body,  including 
diseases  of  the  nervous  system,  epilepsy,  monomania,  &c., 
were  classed  in  ancient  times  under  the  general  head  of  being 
"possessed  of  an  evil  spirit."  Without  entering  upon  this 
inquiry,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  our  fathers  believed  that 
the  devil  had  something  to  do  with  persons  thus  afflicted.  I 
am,  however,  satisfied  that  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  witch 
stories  told,  originated  in  dream-land.  All  that  are  told  of 
Liza  Towerhill  are  of  this  class.  Some  were  proved  to  be 
so  during  the  life-time  of  the  parties.  The  case  of  Mr. 
Wood  of  West  Barnstable  is  an  illustration.  He  charged 
Liza  with  putting  a  bridle  and  saddle  on  him  and  riding  him 
many  times  to  Plum  Pudding  Pond  in  Plymouth,  where  the 
witches  held  their  nightly  orgies.  Though  Mr.  Wood  had 
palpable  evidence  of  the  falsity  of  the  charge,  yet  for  many 
years  he  continued  to  relate  the  story,  and  evidently  believed 
he  was  telling  the  truth.  This  case,  if  it  proves  anything, 
proves  that  Mr.  Wood  was  a  monomaniac. 

Another  question  arises,  how  it  happened  that  a  woman 
who  sustained  the  good  character  of  Elizabeth  Blachford, 
should  be  made  the  scape-goat  of  the  flock,  and  be  charged 
with  being  in  league  with  the  devil,  and  as  a  witch,  persecu- 
ted for  more  than  half  a  century.  Some  of  the  reasons  may 
be  found  that  induced  the  belief;  but  none  that  will  justify 
her  persecution.  Her  father's  house  was  in  the  forest,  two 
miles  from  a  neighbor.  At  that  time  wolves  and  other  wild 
animals  abounded  ;  Indians  were  constantly  scouring  the  for- 
ests for  game,  and  their  great  "trail"  from  Yarmouth  to 
Hyarmis,  now  visible,  passed  near  Mr.  Lewis'  house.  The 
solitariness  of  the  residence,  and  the  associations  of  raven- 
ous beasts,  and  of  more  cruel  Indians  therewith,  inspired 
awe,  and  led  the  popular  mind  into  the  belief  that  the  fam- 
ily must  be  connected  with  evil  spirits,  or  they  could  not 
live  in  such  a  wild  place  in  safety.  Elizabeth's  husband 
built  a  house  a  mile  west  of  her  father's,  on  the  borders  of 
Half- Way  Pond.  She  was  only  sixteen  and  one-half  years 
old,  and  that  a  young  woman  should  have  the  courage  to  live 


102    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

alone  in  the  woods,  seemed  in  that  superstitions  age  to  car- 
ry with  it  the  evidence  that  she  was  in  league  with  the  devil. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  such  reasoning  is  unconclusive  ; 
the  superstitious  never  examine  facts,  or  inquire  respecting 
the  soundness  of  the  opinions  they  adopt. 

When  Mrs.  Blachford  was  charged  with  being  a  witch, 
she  always  took  offence,  and  resented  the  charge  as  false  and 
malicious.  Her  children  would  not  allow  any  one  with  im- 
punity to  tell  them  that  their  mother  was  a  witch.  Even 
her  grandson  Uriah,  who  died  about  fifteen  years  ago,  aged 
over  eighty,  was  very  sensitive  on  the  subject,  and  the  man 
who  dared  to  tell  him  his  grandmother  was  a  witch,  he  would 
never  forget  or  forgive. 

The  days  of  witchcraft  are  now  numbered  and  past, — 
the  few  who  still  believe  in  it  cautiously  conceal  their  opin- 
ions. It  is  fortunate  for  the  reputation  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony  that  no  one  therein  was  ever  convicted,  condemned, 
or  punished  for  that  crime.  Our  rulers  had  the  good  sense 
to  punish  the  complainant  in  the  first  case  that  arose,  instead 
of  the  person  complained  of.  If  a  different  decision  had  then 
been  made,  a  thousand  complaints  would  have  arisen  and 
similar  acts  to  those  which  disgrace  the  annals  of  Salem  and 
Massachusetts,  would  now  disgrace  the  history  of  Plymouth 
and  Barnstable. 

The  ashes  of  Elizal)eth  Blachford  rest  quietly  in  the 
grave-yard  near  the  East  Church.  No  phoenix  spirit  has 
arose  therefrom  to  disturb  the  equanimity  of  the  living,  or 
disturb  the  repose  of  the  dead.  Neither  ghosts  nor  hobgob- 
lins are  seen  to  dance  over  her  grave,  or  sigh  because  the 
manes  of  the  last  witch  have  fled. 

The  family  of  William  Blachford  and  his  wife  Elizabeth 
Lewis,  born  in  Barnstable  : 

I.  Peter,  born  May  10,  1729. 

II.  Lydia,  April  5,  1734;  died  young. 

III.  Benjamin,  June  11,  1738,  married  1761,  Sai-ah  God- 
frey of  Yarmouth,  and  had  a  family. 

IV.  Kemember,  March  3,  1739-40.  married  Luke  Butler 
of  Nantucket,  Oct.  9.  1760. 

V.  Mercy,  April  13,  1742. 

VI.  David,  June  17,  1744,  married  Elizabeth  Ellis  of 
Provincetown,  1765.  He  died  Nov.  16,  1822,  ao-ed 
78.  "^ 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        103 

VII.  Lydia,  May  22,  1746,  married Ellis. 

VIII.  William,  June  25,  1750.     He  married  Monica . 


I  believe  she  was  an  Eldridge  from  Harwich.  She 
lived  at  one  time  in  a  house  built  over  a  large,  flat 
rock,  on  the  west  side  of  Monica's  Swamp  in  Barn- 
stable. After  their  marriage  they  lived  in  the  house 
which  was  his  mother's  at  Half-Way  Pond.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  Army.  He  deserted  ; 
but  being  an  invalid  and  unable  to  stand  up  straight 
no  eflbrt  was  made  to  secure  his  return  to  the  army. 
Col.  Otis  was  instructed  to  have  him  arrested  as  a 
deserter  as  an  example  to  others.  Bill,  however,  on 
his  way  home,  passed  the  house  of  Col.  Otis.  At  the 
time,  he  and  some  of  his  neighbors  were  standing  in 
his  yard.  One  of  them  said  "There  comes  Bill  Blach- 
ford."  The  Colonel  turned  quickly  around,  and  look- 
ing in  an  opposite  direction,  exclaimed,  "Where  is 
the  rascal?"  Without  turning,  the  Colonel  went  into 
his  house  and  Bill  escaped.  A  little  further  on  Bill 
met  with  others  who  knew  him,  and  they  inquired 
where  he  was  from.  Bill  replied,  "Straight  from 
the  camp."     "Then,"  replied  the  first  speaker,  "you 

have  got  most  d y  warped  by  the  way."    He  died 

Aug.  30,  1816,  aged  66,  leaving  no  children. 


BOURNE. 


RICHARD     BOURNE. 

In  the  biographical  dictionaries  and  in  many  historical 
works,  there  are  short  sketches  of  the  life  and  character  of 
Richard  Bourne.  No  biography  of  this  distinguished  man 
has  been  written.  I  shall  not  attempt  it.  My  purpose  is 
to  elucidate  one  point  in  his  character,  namely :  the  politi- 
cal influence  of  his  labors  as  a  missionary, — a  point  not  en- 
tirely overlooked  by  early  writers, — but  historians  have 
failed  to  give  to  it  that  prominence  it  deserves.  The  facts 
bearing  on  this  point  will  be  stated  in  a  condensed  form. 

Aside  from  his  labors  as  a  missionar3%  Richard  Bourne 
was  a  man  of  note.  He  was  often  a  representative  to  the 
General  Court ;  held  many  town  offices ;  often  served  on 
committees,  and  as  a  referee  in  important  cases.  He  was  a 
well-informed  man  ;  discreet,  cautious,  of  sound  judgment, 
and  of  good  common  sense.  There  is  reason  to  doubt 
whether  he  brought  to  New  England  so  large  an  estate  as 
has  been  represented.  The  division  of  the  meadows  at 
Sandwich  does  not  indicate  that  he  was  a  man  of  wealth. 
He  was  a  good  business  man,  and  while  he  carefully  guarded 
the  interests  of  the  Indians,  he  did  not  forget  to  lay  up 
treasures  for  himself. 

John  Eliot,  Thomas  Mayhew,  father  and  son,  Richard 
Bourne,  John  Cotton,  Daniel  Gookin,  and  Thomas  Tupper 
consecrated  their  lives  to  the  philanthropic  purpose  of  meli- 
orating the  condition  of  the  Indians.  They  instructed  them 
in  the  arts  of  civilized  life ;  they  established  schools,  and 
they  founded  churches.  Many  of  the  Indians  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  and  lived  pious  and  holy  lives ;  very 
many  of  them  were  taught  to  read  and  write  their  native 
language,  and  a  few  were  good  English  scholars. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        105 

Mr.  Bourne  was  the  pastor  of  the  Indian  Church  at 
Marshpee,*  gathered  in  1670.  The  apostles  Eliot  and  Cot- 
ton assisted  at  his  ordination.  His  parish  extended  from 
Provincetown  to  Middleboro' — one  hundred  miles.  He 
commenced  his  labors  as  a  missionary  about  the  year  1658, 
and  in  his  return  to  Major  Gookin,  dated  Sandwich,  Sept. 
1,  1674,  he  says  he  is  the  only  Englishman  employed  in  this 
extensive  region,  and  the  results  of  his  labors  are  stated  in 
his  return,  of  which  the  following  is  a  condensed  abstract : 

"Praying  Indians  that  do  frequently  meet  together  on 
the  Lord's  Day  to  worship  God."  He  names  twenty-two 
places  where  meetings  were  held.  The  number  of  men  and 
women  that  attended  these  meetings  was  three  hundred  and 
nine.  Young  men  and  maids,  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight.  Whole  number  of  praying  Indians,  four  hundred 
and  ninety-seven.  Of  these  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
could  read  the  Indian  language,  seventy-two  could  write, 
and  nine  could  read  English. 

The  labors  of  Mr.  Bourne  and  his  associates  have  not 
been  sufficiently  appreciated  by  historians.  In  1675,  the 
far-seeing  Philip,  Sachem  of  Mount  Hope,  had  succeeded 
in  uniting  the  Western  Indians  in  a  league,  the  avowed  ob- 
ject whereof  was  the  extermination  of  the  white  inhabitants 
of  New  England.  His  emissaries  in  vain  attempted  to  in- 
duce the  Christianized  Indians  to  join  that  league.  They 
remained  faithful.  Eichard  Bourne,  aided  by  Thomas  Tup- 
per  of  Sandwich,  Mr.  Thornton  of  Yarmouth  and  Mr.  Treat 
of  Eastham  had  a  controlling  influence  over  the  numerous 
bands  of  Indians  then  resident  in  the  County  of  Barnstable, 
in  Wareham,  Eochester  and  Middleboro'.  Mr.  Mayhew  ex- 
erted a  like  controlling  influence  over  the  natives  of  Martha's 
Vineyard  and  the  adjacent  islands. 

In  1674,  the  year  preceding  King  Philip's  war,  the  re- 
turns made  to  Major  Gookin,  show  that  the  aggregate  num- 
ber of  Christianized  or  praying  Indians 


•*Maesi-ipee.— Mr.  Hawlev.  who  understood  the  Indian  language,  says 
it  should  he  written  Massa'pe.  This  word  is  from  the  same  root  as 
Mississippi,  and  literally  moans  Great  Eiver.  The  principal  stream  in 
the  plantation  is  called  Marshpee  or  Great  River. 


10b    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

In  Massachusetts,  was                    _         _         _  -          1100 

In  Plymouth,  Mr.  Bourne's  return,           -  -         -       497 

In           '«          Mr.  Cotton's  partial,       -         -  -              40 

Estimated  number  not  enumerated,  -         -        170 

On  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Chappaquidock,  -          1500 

On  Nantucket,  -         -       300 


3607 


It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that,  at  that  time,  more  than 
one-half  of  the  Indians  had  been  converted,  or  were  nom- 
inally Christians.  Perhaps  a  fair  estimate  of  the  Indian 
population  in  1675,  in  the  territory  comprised  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  present  Srate  of  Massachusetts,  would  be  7000 ; 
one-fifth,  or  1400  ot  whom  were  warriors. 

On  account  of  the  jealousies  and  suspicions  entertained 
by  the  English  in  Massachusetts,  the  Indians  rendered  little 
service  to  the  whites.  Mr.  Eliot  and  Major  Gookin  suffered 
reproaches  and  insults  for  endeavoring  to  repress  the  popu- 
lar rage  against  their  pupils.  Some  of  the  praying  Indians 
of  Natick,  and  from  other  places  in  Massachusetts,  were 
transported  to  Deer  Island  in  Boston  harbor.  Some  of  the 
Indians  in  Plymouth  Colony,  particularly  those  at  Pembroke, 
were  conveyed  to  Clarke's  Island,  Plymouth. 

On  Martha's  Vineyard  and  on  the  Cape,  the  Indians 
were  friendly  to  the  English.  Many  enlisted  and  fought 
bravely  against  the  forces  of  Philip.  Capt.  Daniel  of  Sa- 
tucket,  (Brewster),  and  Capt.  Amos  distinguished  them- 
selves in  the  war  and  are  honorably  mentioned.  In  the 
course  of  the  war,  the  number  of  prisoners  became  embar- 
rassing, and  they  were  sent  to  the  Cape  and  Martha's  Vine- 
yard, and  were  safely  kept  by  the  friendly  Indians. 

Major  Walley  says  that  the  English  were  rarely  suc- 
cessful when  they  were  not  aided  by  Indian  auxiliaries,  and 
urges  this  as  a  reason  tor  treating  them  kindly.  The  reader 
of  the  "History  of  the  Indian  Wars"  will  find  many  facts  to 
corroborate  the  opinion  of  Major  Walley. 

In  the  spring  of  1676  the  armies  of  Philip  were  victo- 
rious, and  the  inhabitants  of  Plymouth  Colony  were  panic 
stricken  and  despondent.  If  at  that  time  the  one  thousand 
Indian  warriors,  who  were  influenced  and  controlled  by 
Bourne  and  Mayhew  had  become  enemies,  the  contest  in 
Plymouth  Colony  would  not  have  been  doubtful,  the  oiher 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.        107 

towns  would  have  been  destroyed  and  met  the  fate  of  Dart- 
mouth, Middleboro'  and  Swanzey.  At  this  time  three  hun- 
dred men  could  not  be  raised  to  march  for  the  defence  of 
Eehobeth.  All  the  towns,  excepting  Sandwich  and  Scituate, 
raised  their  quotas ;  but  many  of  the  soldiers  that  went 
forth,  returned  to  their  homes  without  marching  to  the  de- 
fence of  their  frontier  towns. 

In  1675,  Gov.  Hinckley  enumerated  the  Christianized 
Indians  embraced  in  the  region  of  country  which  had  been 
under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Bourne.  The  number  had 
increased  from  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven  in  1674,  to 
ten  hundred  and  fourteen  in  1685.  Showing  that  in  a 
period  of  eleven  years  the  number  had  more  than  doubled. 

In  1676,  no  enumeration  of  the  Indians  was  made  ;  but  it 
is  within  the  bounds  of  probability  to  assume  that  in  the 
district  of  country  under  the  supervision  and  care  of  Mr. 
Bourne  there  were  at  least  six  hundred  Indian  warriors. 
Had  these  at  this  particular  conjuncture  turned  rebels,  the 
whites  could  not  have  defended  their  towns  and  villages 
against  the  savages,  and  Plymouth  Colony  would  have  be- 
come extinct. 

It  ma}'  be  urged  that  Mr.  Bourne  could  not  have  done 
this  unaided  and  alone  ;  or,  if  he  had  not,  God  in  his  provi- 
dence would  have  raised  up  some  other  instruments  to  have 
effected  this  great  purpose.  The  fact  is  Richard  Bourne  by 
his  unremitted  labors  for  seventeen  years  made  friends  of  a 
sufficient  number  of  Indians,  naturally  hostile  to  the  English, 
to  turn  the  scale  in  Plymouth  Colony  and  give  the  prepon- 
derence  to  the  whites.  He  did  this,  and  it  is  to  him  who 
does,  that  we  are  to  award  honor.  Bourne  did  more  by  the 
moral  power  which  he  exerted  to  defend  the  Old  Colony 
than  Bradford  did  at  the  head  of  the  army.  Laurel  wreaths 
shade  the  brows  of  military  heroes — their  names  are  en- 
shrined in  a  bright  halo  of  glory — while  the  man  who  has 
done  as  good  service  for  his  country  by  moral  means,  sinks 
into  comparative  insignificance,  and  is  too  often  forgotten. 

The  Apostle  Eliot,  Mr.  Mayhew,  and  other  missiona- 
ries, performed  like  meritorious  services.  The  people  of 
Massachusetts  were  more  suspicious  of  the  good  faith  of  the 
converted  Indians,  than  the  residents  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony.  These  Indians  were  treated  unkindly  by  the  En- 
glish, yet  a  company  from  Natick  proved  faithful,  and  did 
good  service  in  the  war. 


108  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Of  the  early  history  of  Mr.  Eichard  Bourne  little  is 
known.  It  is  said  he  came  from  Devonshire,  England.  He 
was  a  householder  in  Plymouth  in  1636,  and  his  name  ap- 
pears on  the  list  of  freemen  of  the  Colony,  dated  March  7, 
1636-7.  On  the  2d  of  January  preceding,  seven  acres  of 
land  were  granted  to  him  to  belong  to.  his  dwelling-house. 
At  the  same  court  seven  acres  of  land  were  granted  to  John 
Bourne,  in  behalf  of  his  father,  Mr.  Thomas  Bourne. 

May  2,  1637,  he  was  on  a  jury  to  lay  out  the  highways 
about  Plymouth,  Duxbury  and  Eel  Eiver.  June  5,  1638, 
he  was  a  grand  juror,  and  also  a  member  of  u  coroner's  in- 
quest. On  the  4th  of  September  following,  he  was  an  in- 
habitant of  Sandwich,  and  fined  18  pence  for  having  three 
pigs  unringed.  He  was  a  deputy  to  the  first  general  court 
in  1639,  and  excepting  1643,  represented  the  town  of  Sand- 
wich till  1645  ;  again  in  1652,  1664,  '65,  '66,  '67  and  '70. 

In  the  division  of  the  meadows  in  Sandwich  in  1640, 
he  had  seven  acres  assigned  to  him. 

In  1645  he  was  on  the  committee  elected  to  draft  laws 
for  the  Colony ;  in  1652  agent  of  the  Colony  to  receive  oil 
in  Sandwich.  In  1655,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Eichard  Kerby, 
was  sentenced  to  be  punished  severely  by  whipping,  for  ut- 
tering divers  suspicious  speeches  against  Mr.  Bourne  and 
Mr.  Freeman,  but  the  execution  was  respited  till  she  should 
again  be  guilty  of  a  like  offence.  In  1659  he  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Plinckley  were  authorized  to  purchase  lands  of  the 
Indians  at  Suckinesset,*  and  the  same  year  he  and  Mr. 
Freeman  wei'e  ordered  to  view  some  land  at  Manomet,  and 
confirm  the  sapie  to  Thomas  Burgis. 

In  1658  he  was  one  of  four  referees  to  settle  a  disputed 
boundary  between  Yarmouth  and  Barnstable.  The  boundary 
established  by  them  is  the  present  bounds,  but  the  grant  of 
the  township  to  which  they  refer  in  their  report  is  lost. 

In  1661,  he  and  Nathaniel  Bacon  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Hinckley  were  authorized  to  purchase  all  lands  theft  unpur- 
chased at  Suckinesset  and  places  adjacent. 

*  Sue  KiNES  SETT  the  Indian  nnme  ol  the  town  ol  Falmouth  is  variously- 
spelled  on  the  records.  It  means  '-the  place  where  hlack  wampum 
(Indian  money)  is  made."  I  prefer  the  orthos^raphy  here  given,  because 
the  roots  of  the  words  from  which  the  name  is  compounded  can  be  more 
easily  traced.  Sucki  means  black ;  the  terminal  syllable  is  applied  to 
places  on  the  sea-shore,  or  by  water.  The  other  syllables  I  cannot  ex- 
plain. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         109 

In  1650,  he  and  others  of  Sandwich  petitioned  to  have 
larids  granted  to  them  at  the  following  places  :  Marshpee 
pond,  Cotuit  river,  and  meadow  at  Mannamuch  bay.  In 
]  (i55,  he  and  others  had  meadows  granted  them  at  Manomet, 
and  the  use  of  some  upland  meadow  at  the  end  of  Marshpee 
pond  was  granted  to  him,  if  the  Indians  consented.  In  1660, 
he  had  authority  to  locate  land  at  South  Sea,  above  Sand- 
wich, and  in  1661  Mr.  Alden  and  Mr.  Hinckley  laid  out  to 
him  "a  competency  of  meadow"  there. 

At  a  General  Court  held  at  Plymouth  June  4,  1661,  the 
Court  granted  unto  Richard  Bourne  of  Sandwich,  and  to  his 
heirs  forever,  a  long  strip  of  land  on  the  west  side  of  Pani- 
paspised  river,  where  Sandwich  men  take  alewives — in 
breadth  from  the  river  to  the  hill  or  ridge  that  runs  along 
the  length  of  it,  from  a  point  of  rocky  land  by  a  swamp 
called  Pametoopauksett,  unto  a  place  called  by  the  English 
Muddy  Hole,  by  the  Indians  Wapoompauksett.  "The 
meadow  is  that  which  was  called  Mr.  Leverich's  ;  "  also,  the 
other  strips  that  are  above,  along  the  river  side,  unto  a  point 
bounded  with  two  great  stones  or  I'ocks  ;  also  all  the  meadow 
lying  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  siiid  river  unto  Thomas 
Burgess,  Senior's  farm.*  Also,  "yearly  liberty  to  take 
twelve  thousand  alewives  at  the  river  where  Sandwich  men 
usually  take  alewives,  him  and  his  heirs  forever."  Likewise 
a  parcel  of  meadow  at  Marshpee — one-half  to  belong  to  him 
and  the  other  half  to  be  improved  by  him.  Also,  a  neck  of 
meadow  between  two  brooks  with  a  little  upland  adjoining, 
at  Mannamuchcoy,  called  by  the  Indians  Auntaanta. 

Feb.  7,  1664-5,  "Whereas,  a  motion  was  made  to  this 
Court  by  Richard  Bourne  in  the  behalf  of  those  Indians 
under  his  instruction,  as  to  their  desire  of  living  in  some 
orderly  way  of  government,  for  the  better  preventing  and 
redressing  of  things  amiss  amongst  them  by  meet  and  just 
means,  this  Court  doth  therefore  in  testimony  of  their  coun- 
tenancing and  encouraging  to  such  a  work,  doe  approve  of 


*The  farm  of  Thomas  Burgei5s  was  at  West  Sandwicb,  and  is  no^Y 
owned  by  his  descendant,  Benjamin  Burgess,  Esq.  He  had  also  another 
farm  at  Manomet,  which  adjoined  Mr.  Bourne's  land.  Mr.  Leverich's 
meadow  was  granted  in  1660,  but  fraudulent  means  having  been  used  to 
obtain  It,  the  grant  was  revoked  and  the  meadow  granted  to  Mr.  Bourne 
in  1661.  The  long  track  of  land  above  described  is  near  the  Monument 
station  on  the  Cape  Cod  Bailroad,  the  railway  passing  through  its  whole 
length. 


110  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAIMILIES. 

these  Indians  proposed,  viz  :  Paupmunnacke,*  Keecomsett, 
Watanamatucke  and  Nanquidnumacke,  Kanoonus  and  Mo- 
crust,  to  have  the  chief  inspection  and  managcraent  thereof, 
with  the  help  and  advice  of  the  said  Richard  Bourne,  as  the 
matter  may  require ;  and  that  one  of  the  aforesaid  Indians 
be  by  the  rest  instated  to  act  as  a  constable  amongst  them, 
it  being  always  provided,  notwithstanding,  that  what  homage 
accustomed  legally  due  to  any  superior  Sachem  be  not  here- 
by infringed. — [Colony  Records,  Vol.  4,  page  80.] 

April  2,  1667,  Mr.  Richard  Bourne,  William  Bassett 
and  James  Skiffe,  Senior,  with  the  commissioned  officers  of 
Sandwich,  were  appointed  on  the  Council  of  War.  He  was 
also  on  the  Council  in  1676.  June  24,  1670,  he  and  seven 
others  agreed  to  purchase  all  the  tar  made  within  the  Colony 
for  the  two  years  next  ensuing  at  8  shillings  per  small  bar- 
rel, and  12  shillings  per  large  barrel,  the  same  to  be  deliv- 
ered at  the  water-side  in  each  town. 

Nearly  all  the  purchases  of  land  of  the  Indians  made  in 
Sandwich  or  vicinity  during  the  life-time  of  Mr.  Bourne, 
were  referred  to  him,  a  fact  which  shows  that  the  English 
and  the  Indians  had  confidence  in  him  as  a  man  of  integrity. 

At  the  solicitation  of  Mr.  Bourne,  the  tract  of  land  at 
South  Sea,  containing  about  10,500  acres,  and  known  as  the 
plantation  of  Marshpee,  was  reserved  by  grant  from  the 
Colony  to  the  South  Sea  Indians.  The  late  Rev.  Mr.  Hawly 
of  Marshpee,  says,  "Mr.  Bourne  was  a  man  of  that  discern- 
ment that  he  considered  it  as  vain  to  propagate  Christian 
knowledge  among  any  people  without  a  territory  where 
they  might  remain  in  peace,  from  generation  to  generation, 
and  not  be  ousted."  The  first  deed  of  the  Marshpee  lands 
is  dated  Dec.  11,  1665,  signed  by  Tookenchosen  and  Weep- 
quish,  and  confirmed  unto  them  bj^  Quachateset,  Sachem  of 
Manomett.  In  1685,  the  lands  conveyed  by  said  deed  were 
by  the  Old  Colony  Court  "confirmed  to  them  and  secured 
to  said  South   Sea  Indians  and  their  children  forever,  so  as 

*  Paupmunnacke  was  the  sachem  of  the  Indi.ans  in  the  westerly  part 
of  Barnstable,  at  Scorton,  and  perhaps  of  Marshpee.  Keencumsett  was 
sachem  of  the  Mattakesits.  His  house  stood  a  little  distance  north  of 
the  present  Capt.  Thomas  Percival's.  He  was  constable.  The  residences 
of  the  other  sachems  named  I  cannot  define.  These  facts  show  that  as 
early  as  1665  an  orderly  form  of  government  was  established  among  the 
Indians.  They  held  coui'ts  of  their  own,  tried  criminals,  passed  judg- 
ments, etc.  Mr.  Bourne  and  Gov.  Hinckley  frequently  attended  these 
Indian  courts  and  aided  the  Indian  magistrates  in  difficult  cases. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        Ill 

never  to  be  given,  sold  or  alienated  from  them  without  all 
their  consents." 

The  first  marriage  of  Mr.  Richard  Bourne  is  not  on  the 
Colony  Records.  As  he  was  a  householder  in  Plymouth  in 
1636,  it  may  safely  be  inferred  that  he  was  then  a  married 
man.  His  first  wife,  and  the  mother  of  all  his  children,  was 
probably  Bathsheba,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Andrew  Hallet, 
Senior.  He  married  2d  July,  1677,  Ruth,  widow  of  Jona- 
than VVinslow,  and  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Sargeant  of 
Barnstable.  Mr.  Bourne  died  in  1682,  and  his  widow 
married  Eider  John  Chipman.  She  died  in  1713,  aged  71 
years. 

No  record  of  the  births  of  the  children  of  Richard 
Bourne  has  been  preserved.  His  eldest  son  was  probably 
born  in  Plymouth ;  the  others  in  Sandwich. 

I.      Job  married  Dec.  14,  1664,  Ruhama  Hallet. 

n.    Elisha,  born   1641,   married  Oct.    26,    1675,  Patience 

Skifi-. 
IH.  Shearjashub,  born  1644,  married  Bathshea  Skiff,  1673. 
IV.  Ezra,  born  May   12,   1648.     He  was   living  in   1676, 

when  he  was  fined  £2  as  a  delinquent  soldier. 

Job  Bourne,  son  of  Richard,  married  Dec.  14,  1664, 
his  cousin,  Ruhama,  daughter  of  Andrew  Hallet  of  Yar- 
mouth. He  resided  in  Sandwich,  where  he  was  find  in  1672 
for  not  serving  as  constable.  He  died  in  1676,  leaving  a 
large  landed  estate,  which  was  settled  March  6,  1676-7.  His 
widow  afterwards  married Hersey. 

in  the  record,  which  is  very  full,  it  is  stated  that  the 
deceased  left  five  children,  butthe  names  of  John  and  Hannah 
are  omitted,  probably  by  mistake.  On  the  Barnstable  Pro- 
bate records  is  an  instrument  bearing  date  of  13th  Sept. 
1714,  signed  by  Jonathan  Mory  and  his  wife  Hannah, 
called  a  settlement  of  Job  Bourne's  estate.  In  this  paper 
all  the  children  are  named  excepting  John.  Jonathan's 
mother-in-law,  Ruhama  Hersey,  is  named.  Children  of 
Job  Bourne,  born  in  Sandwich  : 

I.  Timothy,  born   18th  April,  1666,  married  Temperance 
Swift. 

II.  Hannah,    born     18th    Nov.    1667,    married    Jonathan 
Mory,    Esq.,  of  Plymouth. 

III.  Eleazer,  born  20th  July,  1670. 


112  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES  .OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

IV.  John,  born  2d  Nov.  1672.     He  resided  with  his  grand- 
mother Hallet,  at  Yarmouth. 

V.  Hezekiah,  born  25th  Sept.  1675. 

Timothy,  son  of  Job,  married  Temperance  Swift  of 
Sandwich,  and  had  Job,  Benjamin,  Timothy,  Joanna  and 
Mehitable.  His  will  is  dated  in  1729,  and  proved  in  1744. 
His  son  Timothy  married  Elizabeth  Bourne,  and  had  sons 
Benjamin  and  Shearjashub,  H.  C,  1764.     Benjamin,  son  of 

Benjamin,    married   Bodfish,    and    had    Benjamin, 

Timothy,  Sally,  Martha,  Temperance,  Elizabeth  and  Han- 
nah.    Shearjashub  married  Doaiie,  and  had  John, 

Shearjashub,  Elisha,  Abigail,  Nancy  and  Elizabeth. 

Eleazer,  son  of  Job,   married Hatch,  and  had 

Isaac,  Job   and    Mercy.     Job,  son  of  Eleazer,  married 

Swift,  and  had  Thomas,  Thankful,  Maria,  Deborah  and 
Lydia. 

Thomas,  son  of  Job,  married Bourne,  and  had 

Alvan,  Job,  John,  Mary,  Deborah,  Lydia,  Hannah  and 
Abigail . 

.fohn,  son  of  Job,  married  and  had  a  daughter  Amia, 
who  married  a  Sturtevant. 

Hezekiah,  youngest  son  of  Job,  married  Eliza  Trow- 
bridge, and  had  a  son  Ebenezer,  who  married  Annah 
Bumpal,  1746,  and  had  Ebenezer,  .John,  Benjamin,  Mehita- 
ble and  Mary.  Ebenezer,  Jr.,  married  three  wives,  and  had 
four  sons,  John,  Josiah,  Ebenezer  and  Leonard  C.  Benja- 
min, son  of  Ebenezer,  Senior,  married  Hannah  Perry,  and 
had  Alexander,  Ebenezer,  Elisha,  Sylvanus,  Abigail  and 
Bathsheba. 

The  Sylvanus  last  named,  is  the  late  Sylvanus  Bourne, 
Esq.,  of  Wareham,  widely  known  as  the  late  Superintendent 
of  the  Cape  Cod  Eailroad.* 

Elisha  Bourne,  son  of  Richard,  born  in  Sandwich  in 
1641,  resided  at  Manomet,  near  the  present  location  of  the 
Monument  Depot,  on  the  Cape  Cod  Railroad.  He  was  con- 
stable of  Sandwich  in  1683,  and  a  deputy  trom  that  town  to 
the  last  General  Court  held  at  Plymouth  in  1691.     His  will 


*  I  have  a  genealogy  of  the  Bournes  prepared  by  Sylvanus  Bourne ; 
but  it  gives  no  dates,  and  does  not  give  the  Christian  name  of  the  wife. 
It  is  of  little  service.  The  portions  of  this  genealogy  where  dates  and 
the  Christian  names  of  the  wives  are  omitted,  is  copied  from  that  gen- 
ealogy, and  I  cannot  vouch  for  its  accuracy. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        113 

is  dated  Jane  9,  1698,  proved  March  3,  1706-7.  He  names 
his  wife  Patience,  his  sons  John  and  Elisha  (the  latter  it  ap- 
pears was  not  in  good  health),  and  his  five  daughters,  Abi- 
gail, Hannah,  Elizabeth,  Mary  and  Bathsheba.  The  estate 
was  finally  settled  by  agreement,  dated  April  8,  1718,  at 
which  time  Mrs.  Bourne  and  her  son  Elisha  were  dead.  The 
agreement  is  signed  by  Nathan,  "only  son,"  and  all  the 
daughters  and  their  husbands. 

Elisha  Bourne  married  26th  Oct.  1675,  Patience, 
daughter  of  James  Skiff,  Esq. ,  of  Sandwich.  She  was  born 
25th  March,  1652,  and  died  in  1718,  aged  66.  He  died  in 
1706. 

Children  born  in  Sandwich. 

I.  Nathan,  born  Aug.  31,  1676,  married  Mary  Basset. 

II.  Elizabeth,  born  June  26,  1679,  married  John  Pope. 

III.  Mary,  born  Feb.  4,  1681-2,  married  John  Percival. 

IV.  Abigail,  born  July  22,  1684,  married  William  Basset, 
Jr. 

V.  Bathsheba,  born  Dec.  13,  1686,  married  Micah  Black 
well. 

VI.  Hannah,  born  May  4,  1689,  married  Seth  Pope. 

VII.  Elisha,  born  July  27,  1692  ;  died  young. 

Nathan,  only  surviving  son  of  Elisha,  was  a  shipwright. 
He  died  in  1789,  in  Hanover.  His  estate  in  that  town  was 
appraised  at   £727.17.2,  and  in    Sandwich  at  £898.18.10; 

a  large  estate  in  those  times.     He  married Basset, 

had  Jonathan,  John,  Nathan,  Elisha,  Thomas,  Maria,  Eliza- 
beth and  Mary.  Jonathan  married  Dec.  22,  1748,  Susannah 
Mendal,  and  had  John,  Elisha,  Nathan,  Maria  and  Abigail. 

John,  son  of  Nathan,  married Dillingham,  and  had 

Edward,  Mary,  Abigail  and  Hannah.     Nathan,  Jr.,  married 

,  and  had  Samuel  and  Remembrance.  Elisha, 

son  of  Nathan,  Senior,  married ,   and   had 

Stephen  and  Eunice.  Thomas,  son  of  Nathan,  Senior,  mar- 
ried    Randall,  and  had   Nathan,  Lemuel,  William, 

Anselm,  Samuel,  Asa,  Bethuel,  Thomas,  Lucy,  Elizabeth 
and  Mary.     Of  the  sixth  generation  of  this  branch  of  the 

family,  Elisha,  son  of  Jonathan,  married  Nye,  and 

had  Jonathan,   Charles,    Hannah,   Mehitable,    Abigail   and 

Joanna.     Stephen,  son  of  Elisha,  married Pope,  and 

had  Elisha  and  Richard. 


114         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Shearjashub  Bourne,  Esq.,  son  of  Eiohard,  resided  on 
the  Marshpee  Plantation  until  his  death,  living  in  reputation 
and  presiding  over  the  Indians,  with  whom  he  carried  on  a 
lucrative  trade.  I  cannot  find,  says  Mr.  Hawley,  that  he 
made  any  trespasses  on  their  lands,  or  was  instrumental  in 
bringing  about  an  alienation  of  any  part  thereof.  He  was 
much  employed  in  public  business,  was  often  a  representa- 
tive to  the  General  Court  at  Plymouth  and  in  Boston.  He 
married  in  1673,  Bathsheba,  daughter  of  James  Skiff,  Esq., 
of  Sandwich.  .  She  was  born  20th  April,  1648,  and  was  not 
living  at  the  decease  of  her  husband.  He  died  March  7, 
1718-19,  aged  75.  In  his  will,  dated  on  the  day  next  pre- 
ceding his  death,  he  names  all  his  children,  except  Sarah, 
who  probably  died  young.  To  his  eldest  son  Melatiah,  he 
gave  all  his  lands  in  the  town  of  Falmouth  ;  to  his  son  Ezra 
all  his  lands  in  Marshpee ;  to  bis  grandson  Shearjashub, 
£100  ;  to  his  grandson  Joseph,  £100  ;  to  his  daughter  Mary, 
£200 ;  to  his  daughter  Eemember,  £200 ;  to  his  daughter 
Patience,  £200 ;  and  to  the  Church  in  Sandwich  £8.  His 
estate  was  appraised  at  £943.16. 

He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  well-being  of  the  Indians 
and  was  their  constant  friend,  and  adopted  measures  to 
secure  to  them  and  their  heirs  forever  their  lands. 

The  children  of  Shearjashub  Bourne,  born  in  Sandwich, 
were : 

I.  Melatiah,  born   12th  Jan'y,   1673-4,  married   Feb.  23, 
1695-6,  Desire  Chipman. 

II.  Ezra,  born  6th  Aug.  1676,  married  Martha  Prince. 

III.  Mary,  born  21st  Oct.  1678,  married Allen. 

IV.  Sarah,  born  6th  Feb.  1680-1. 

V.  Eemember,  born  6th  Feb.  1683-4,  married May- 
hew. 

VI.  Patience,  born  20th  April,  1686,  married Alien. 

Ezra,  the  youngest  son  of  Shearjashub,  inherited  the 

Marshpee  estate  on  which  he  lived,  and  presided  over  the 
Indians,  over  whom  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  maintained 
a  great  ascendency.  He  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
and  influential  men  of  his  time.  He  was  Chief  Ju'stice  of 
the  Court  of  Sessions,  and  Court  of  Common.  Pleas.  He 
died  Sept.  1 764,  in  the  88th  year  of  his  age.  The  late  Eev. 
Gideon  Hawley  of  Marshpee,  says  of  him,  -'In  him  I  lost  a 
good  friend." 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        115 

Hon.  Ezra  Bourne  married  Martha,  daughter  ot  Samuel 
Prince,  and  had 

I.  Joseph,  who  was  liberally  educated,  and  ordained  as 
the  pastor  of  the  Marshpee  Church  in  1729.  He  re- 
signed the  mission  in  1742.  He  married  July  25, 
1743,  Hannah  Fuller  of  Barnstable,  and  died  in  1767, 
leaving  no  issue. 

II.  Samuel,  son   of  Ezra,  married L'Hommedieu, 

and  had  Benjamin,  Samuel,  Nathaniel,  Nathan,  Tim- 
othy, Sarah  and  Elizabeth,  all  of  whom  married. 

HI.    Ezra,  son  of  Ezra. 

IV.  Searjashub,  married Bosworth,  and  had  Shear- 

jashub,  Benjamin  and  Martha,  all  of  whom  married — 
the  eldest  having  a  family  of  thirteen.  Benjamin  was 
eludge  of  the  District  Court  of  Rhode  Island. 

V.  Martha,  daughter  of  Ezra,  married  a  Mr.  L'Homme- 
dieu. 

VI.  Mary,  daughter  of  Ezra,  married  1733,  John  Angler, 
first  minister  of  East  Bridgewater. 

VII.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Ezra,  married  Timothy  Bourne. 
'l"he  descendants  of  Ezra  Bourne,  Esq.,  as  they  are  not 

of  Barnstable,  I  shall  not  trace  farther.  In  1794,  three  of 
his  grandsons  were  members  of  Congress  ;  one  from  Massa- 
chusetts, one  from  Ehode  Island  and  another  from  New- 
York. 

Hon.  Melatiah  Bourne,*  oldest  son  of  Shearjashub 
Bourne,  Esq.,  inherited  his  father's  lands  in  Falmouth,  but 
he  settled  in  Sandwich.  He  was  a  distinguished  man,  held 
many  responsible  offices,  and  during  the  last  years  of  his 
life  was  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  County  of  Barnstable. 
He  married  Feb.  23,  lf)92-3.  Desire,  youngest  daughter  of 
Elder  John  Chipman.  She  died  March  28,  1705,  and  he 
married  second,  Abigail,  widow  of  Thomas  Smith.  In  his 
will,  dated  24th  Sept.  1742,  proved  Feb.  15th  following, 
he  gives  to  the  Sandwich  Church  £10,  old  tenor,  or  50  shil- 
lings lawful  money.  He  names  his  wife  Abigail,  her  sons 
Samuel  and  John  Smith,  her  daughter  Rebecca,  Mary  and 
Isaac,  children  of  her  son  Shubael,  deceased,  and  her 
grandson.  Doctor  Thomas   Smith,  to  all   of  whom  he  gave 


*  His  house  is  yet  remaining  in  Sandwich ;  it  was  most  substantially 
built.  The  cliipboards  on  the  walls  were  shaved  from  cedar  about  an 
inch  ill  thickness,  and  nailed  with  wrought  nails.  They  are  now  tight 
and  as  good  as  new. 


116  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

legacies.  He  gave  his  cane  to  his  eldest  grandson,  Melatiah, 
and  his  clock  to  his  son  Silas.  Names  his  son  S3^1vanus ; 
gave  to  his  son  John  and  grandson  Joseph,  his  lands  in 
Falmouth.  He  gave  legacies  to  his  daughter  Bathsheba 
Euggles  and  to  each  of  the  children  she  had  by  her  late 
husband,  William  Newcomb.  He  orders  his  negro  man  Nei'o 
to  be  manumitted.  Children  of  Hon.  Melatiah  Bourne  : 
I.         Sylvanns,  Sept.    10,  1694,  married  Mercy  Gorham, 

March  20,  1718. 
n.        Richard,  Aug.  13,  1695  ;  died  in  Falmouth,  1738. 
ni.      Samuel,  Feb'.  7,  1697  ;  died  young. 

IV.  Sarah,  Feb.  7,  1697  ;  died  young. 

V.  John,    March    10,    1698,    married  March  16,  1772, 
Maty  Hinckley. 

VI.  Shearjashub,  Dec.  21,  1699,  married  four  wives. 

VII.  Silas,  Dec.  10,  1701,  married Allen. 

VIII.  Bathsheba,  Nov.    11,   1703,   married  William  New- 
comb;  second,  Timothy  Ruggles,  1736. 

Hon.  Sylvanus  Bourne,  son  of  Melatiah,  of  Sandwich, 
born  Sept.  10,  1694,  married  in  1717,  Mercy,  daughter  of 
Col.  John  Gorham  of  Barnstable.  In  1720,  he  was  an  in- 
habitant of  Falmouth,  but  soon  after  removed  to  Barnstable, 
where  he  resided  till  his  death.  He  bought  the  estate  which 
was  Mr.  James  Whippo's,  who  removed  to  Boston  in  1708. 
Mr.  Thomas  Sturgis,  who  died  that  year,  bought  this  estate 
for  his  son  Edward  ;  but  it  passed  not  many  years  after  into 
the  possession  of  the  Bourne  family,  in  which  it  continued 
about  a  century. 

He  inherited  a  good  estate  from  his  father,  and  his  Avife 
belonged  to  one  of  the  most  wealthy  families  in  Barnstable. 
In  early  life  he  was  a  merchant,  and  engaged  in  commer- 
cial business,  in  which  he  was  successful,  and  became 
wealthy.  He  was  a  Colonel  of  the  militia,  many  years  one 
of  the  Governor's  Council,  Register  of  Probate,  and  after 
the  death  of  his  father  in  1742,  was  appointed  Judge  of 
Probate. 

He  died  in  1764.  In  his  will,  dated  May  20,  1763,  he 
names  hig  sons  Melatiah,  to  whom  he  gives  £66.13  :  Wil- 
liam, £133.6.8;  and  Richard,  £133.6.8.  To  each  of  his 
five  daughters,  namely,  Desire  Clap,  Mary  Stone,  Hannah 
Hinckley,  Mercy  Jordan  and  Eunice  Gallison,  £66.13.4 
each.     He  also  gives  legacies  to  his  grand-children  Reuben, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    15AKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         117 

Joseph  and  Abigail  Winslow,  children  of  his  deceased 
daughter  Abigail.  He  appoints  his  wife  Mercy  sole  execu- 
trix, and  gives  her  the  residue  of  his  large  estate. 

The  will  of  Mrs.  Mercy  Bourne,  widow  of  Hon.  Sylva- 
nus,  is  dated  July  10,  1781,  and  was  proved  May  28,  1782. 
She  gives  to  her  son  Richard,  all  her  real  estate — lands, 
buildings,  woodlands  and  meadows,  a  silver  hilted  sword 
that  was  his  father's,  a  large  silver  tankard  that  was  his 
grandfather's,  her  best  great  Bible,  two  pair  of  oxen,  one 
cow,  half  her  sheep,  all  her  husbandry  tools,  &c. 

To  her  three  daughters  Desire  Clap,  Mary  Stone  and 
Hannah  Hinckley,  she  gave  all  her  plate  (except  tankai-d  to 
Richard,  and  silver  porringer  to  Mei'cy),  all  her  wearing 
apparel  and  household  furniture,  excepting  what  she  had 
given  Richard,  and  £30  each. 

To  her  granddaughter  Abigail  Gallison,  her  mother's 
work,  called  a  chimney-piece.  Also,  two  mourning  rings, 
her  grandfather  Bourne's  and  her  mother's. 

She  gave  to  her  daughter  Mercy  Jordan,  a  work  called 
the  Coat  of  Arms,  one  silver  porringer  and  £(5,  over  and 
above  what  she  had  already  had  of  her. 

She  also  gave  the  following  legacies  : 

To  the  children  of  her  son  Melatiah,  deceased,  £30. 

To  the  children  of  her  daughter  Abigail,  deceased,  £20. 

To  the  children  of  her  daughter  Eunice,  deceased,  £20. 

To  the  children  of  her  son  William,  £20. 

To  son-in-law  John  Gallison,  Esq.,  £10. 

To  daughter-in-law  Hannah  JBourne,  £3. 

She  gave  her  negro  boy  Cato  to  her  son  Richard,  on 
the  following  conditions,  that  is,,  as  soon  as  the  said  Cato 
shall  arrive  to  the  age  of  35  years,  her  said  son  Richard  shall 
manumit  him.  Her  negro  girl  Chloe  she  gave  "to  such 
daughter  as  Chloe  should  prefer  to  live  with,  the  daughter 
receiving  her  to  pay  such  sum  as  said  girl  shall  be  apprized 
at." 

She  appointed  her  son  Richard  sole  executor  and  resi- 
duary legatee,  and  ordered  him  to  pay  all  the  legacies  in 
silver  dollars  at  six  shillings  each. 

The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Bourne,  painted  by  Copley  in 
1766,  has  been  preserved,  and  some  of  the  worsted  work 
named  in  her  will.  The  old  family  portraits  were  stowed 
away  in  the  garret  of  the  late  Sylvanus  Bourne,  and  finally 


118  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

removed  to  his  barn,  where  they  were  destroyed  by  fire. 
One  of  them  was  saved ;  and  after  having  been  used  as  a 
target,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Major  S.  B.  Pliinnoy, 
who  has  had  it  restored.  Pie  also  has  a  view  of  Boston 
Common  talien  more  than  a  century  ago,  wrought  in  worsted, 
which  formerly  belonged  to  his  ancestor,  Colonel  Sylvaniis 
Bourne.  N.  S.  Simpkins,  Esq.,  who  is  also  a  descendant, 
has  a  specimen  of  worsted  work  that  belonged  to  tlie  Bourne 
family. 

The  facts  which  have  been  stated  show  that  Colonel 
Sylvanus  Bourne  was  a  man  of  wealth  ;  and  that  he  lived  in 
the  st^de  of  an  English  country  gentleman.  Facts  are  per- 
haps not  wanting  to  show  that  he  had  little  respect  for  the 
simplicity  of  his  puritan  ancestry.  Some  of  the  family  joined 
the  Episcopal  Cliurch,  and  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Bourne  in  her 
portrait  is  represented  as  holding  in  her  hand  a  copy  of  the 
English  prayer  book,  shows  that  she  had  a  predilection  for 
the  Episcopacy. 

Mrs.  Bourne  joined  the  Barnstable  Church  Sept.  20, 
1724,  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1729,  was  admitted  to  the 
Church  in  the  East  Parish,  being  dismissed  with  many  others 
at  that  time  from  the  West  Parish.  All  her  children  were 
baptized  at  the  Barnstable  Church.  She  died  according  to 
the  inscription  on  her  grave  stones,  April  11,  1782,  in  the 
87th  year  of  her  age. 

The  children  of  Colonel  Sylvanus  Bourne  and  his  wife 
Mercy  Gorham,  were  all  born  in  Barnstable,  except  Mary, 
who  was  born  in  Falmouth. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Desire,  born  Jan'y  19,  1718  ;  bap'd  Oct.  4,  1724,  mar- 
ried Nathaniel  Clap,  Esq.,  of  Scituatc,  Dec.  22,  1737. 
He  was  a  son  of  Deacon  Stephen,  and  a  brother  of 
Thomas,  President  of  Yale  College — one  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  learninir  of  his  time. 

II.  Mary,  born  April  22,  1720,  bap'd  Oct.  4,  1724,  married 
1742,  Nathaniel  Stone,  Jr.,  of  Harwich. 

III.  Melatiah,  born  Nov.  14,  1722,  l)ap'd  Oct.  4,  1724,  mar- 
ried Mary  Bayard,  niece  of  Gov.  Bowdoin.  His  son, 
Capt.  Sylvanus,  was  Consul  many  years  at  Amsterdam. 
Portraits  of  his  children  taken  at  Amsterdam,  are  in  the 
possession  of  Major  S.  B.  Phinney.  His  son  Meiatiah, 
married    Olive    Gorham,  and    had  Meiatiah,  Sylvanus 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        119 

and  Olive — the  latter  the  mother  of  Major  S.  B.  Phin- 
ney  of  Barnstable,  and  George  Phinney,  Esq.,  of  North 
Bridgewater.  The  other  children  of  Melatiah  were 
Sarah  and  Mary. 

Melatiah  Bourne,  Esq.,  died  Sept.  1778,  alter  a 
long  and  painful  illness,  aged  56.  His  monument  in  the 
grave-yard,  near  the  Church,  in  the  East  Parish  in 
Barnstable,  says  : 

"He  was  a  gentleman  who,  in  public  employ,  con- 
ducted with  great  reputation  to  himself,  and  honor  to 
his  country.  And  in  the  more  private  walks  of  sociable 
life  exhibited  those  virtues  which  have  raised  in  the 
bosoms  of  those  who  knew  him,  a  monument  that  shall 
exist  when  this  stone  shall  be  mouldered  to  its  native 
dust.  In  him  the  Christian  graces  shone  with  peculiar 
lustre,  and  the  plaudit  of  an  approving  conscience  was 
the  summit  of  his  ambition." 

"  Surely  when  men  like  these  depart, 

The  cause  of  virtue  deeply  feels  the  wound." 

IV.  William,  born  Feb.  27,  1723-4,  bap'd  Oct.  4,  1724. 
Tradition  saith,  and  its  accuracy  is  vouched  for  by  Col. 
Swett,  that  when  a  child  he  was  prostrated  by  an 
apjDalling  disease,  pronounced  by  the  medical  faculty 
incurable.  The  Indians,  who  remembered  all  the 
meml)ers  of  the  Bourne  family  with  affection,  did  not 
despair,  and  came  with  the  medicine  men  of  their  tribe 
to  try  the  effect  of  their  simple  remedies  and  incanta- 
tions. The  tender  mother  did  not  hesitate  to  submit 
her  beloved  son  to  savage  rites  and  Indian  remedies ; 
and  from  that  hour,  says  Col.  Swett,  the  child  was 
made  whole. 

He  served  in  Gorham's  Kangers  at  the  taking  of 
Louisburg  in  1757.  He  settled  in  Marblehead,  and 
was  a  wealthy  merchant.  He  was  a  Justice  of  one  of 
the  Courts.  He  exerted  his  influence  in  procuring  a 
charter  and  raising  funds  to  build  the  bridge  at  New- 
bury, and  for  his  services  he  had  the  honor  to  be  the 
first  to  pass  over  it.  He  was  a  Colonel  of  the 
militia,  and  died  in  1770. 

He  married  for  his  first  wife  a  daughter  of  Lieut. 
Gov.  Hazard,  and  for  his  second  a  dauo;hter  of  Judge 
Tasker,  and  widow  of  James  Fessenden  of  Marblehead. 


120  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

He  had  three  daughters  :  Clarissa,  Charlotte  and  Fanny. 
One  married  Col.  Orne  of  Marblehead,  another  Dr. 
Swett  of  Newburyport,  and  the  third  Judge  Peabody 
of  Exeter,  N.  H.,  the  father  of  the  authors  of  that 
name. 

[From  the  Boston  Weekly  News  Letter  of  30th  August,  1770.] 

"On  Wednesday  were  interred  the  Eemains  of  the 
Hon.  William  Bourn,  Esq.,  Son  of  the  Hon.  Sylvanus 
Bourn,  Esq.  ;  late  of  Barnstable  : — A  Gentleman  blessed 
with  good  natural  Abilities,  which  were  improved  by  a 
liberal  Education  and  an  extensive  acquaintance  with 
the  world. 

In  early  Life  he  was  engaged  in  the  military  Service, 
and  has  since  been  constantly  honored  with  public  Em- 
ployments, which  he  filled  with  dignity,  and  discharged 
with  uprightness. 

In  the  vale  of  private  life,  where  merit  is  impartially 
examined,  his  worth  was  conspicuous  :  His  vivacity, 
frankness,  and  delicacy  of  sentiment,  endeared  him  to 
every  acquaintance,  and  to  his  honor,  his  free,  social 
hours  will  long  be  remembered  by  ihem  with  delight. 

The  goodness  of  his  heart  and  the  integrity  of  his 
life  corresponded  to  the  clearness  of  his  head ;  so  that 
he  beheld  with  philosophic  firmness  and  Christian  re- 
signation his  approaching  dissolution  ;  and,  a  few  days 
before  his  death,  discovered  an  uncommon  vigor  and 
serenit}'  of  mind  in  the  orderly  disposition  of  his  af- 
fairs. 

Quis  desiderio  sit  pudor  aut  modus  Tam  cari  capitis  ? 
>  &c.,  to  Quando  ullum  inveniet  parem." 

V.  Hannah,  born  Dec.  8,  1725,  bap'd  Jan'y  9,  172(5, 
married  Isaac  Hinckley,  Jr.,  Dec.  18,  1748,  of  Barrl- 
stable.     She  had  eight  children. 

VI.  Mercy,  born  Monday,  Aug.  22,  1727,  says  the  record, 
and  bap'd  Aug.  27,  following.  She  m-arried  Samuel 
Jordan,  Esq.,  of  Biddeford,  Maine,  April  10,  1751. 

VII.  Abigail,  born  Saturday,  June  21,  1729,  bap'd  next 
day  according  to  Puritan  custom.  She  married  March 
14,  1754,  Kenelm  Winslow,  Jr.,  ot  Marshfield.  She 
died  before  her  father,  leaving  three  children  as  above 
stated. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         121 

VIII.  Sylvanus,  horn  (says  the  town  record,  and  his  grave- 
stones), Nov.  21,  1731,  and  bap'd,  according  to  the 
church  records,  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month.  He 
married  Feb.  3,  1757,  Hannah  Sturgis.  He  had  no 
children.  Before  leaving  for  Cape  Breton  he  made 
his  will,  dated  May  24,  1758  ;  but  it  was  not  proved 
till  July  16,  1761.  He  styles  himself  a  merchant,  and 
says  he  is  bound  on  a  dangerous  enterprise.  He  gave 
his  whole  estate  to  his  wife.  He  died  suddenly  at 
Martha's  Vineyard,  May  22,  1761.  He  was  then  a 
captain  in  the  provincial  army,  and  was  recruiting  men 
for  the  service,  in  which  he  had  been  employed  several 
years.  He  was  29  years  of  age.  The  inventory  of 
his  estate  amounted  to  £122.9,  including  a  small  stock 
of  merchandize.  His  widow  died  June  13,  1798, 
aged  62. 

IX.  Eunice,  born  Feb.  16,  1732-3,  bap'd  on  the  25th  of  the 
same  month;  married  June  19,  1754,  Capt.  John  Gal- 
lison  of  Marblehead.  Her  grandson,  John,  was  a  dis- 
tinguised  Counsellor  at  Law. 

X.  Eichard,  born  Nov.  1,  1739,  bap'd  18th  of  same  month. 
He  was  a  physician,  and  though  he  usually  laid  his  sad- 
dle bags  and  spurs  on  his  table  every  night,  so  that  he 
could  promptly  respond  to  a  call,  he  rarely  had  a  patient. 
He  was  a  very  different  raiin  from  his  brothers.  He  in- 
herited none  of  the  energy  of  character  and  good  busi- 
ness habits  of  his  ancestors.  He  was  a  man  of  feeble  in- 
tellectual power, — simple-minded  and  incapable  of  mak- 
ing much  exertion.  He  was  a  well  educated  man,  and  it 
has  been  remarked  of  him  by  persons  well  qualified  to 
judge,  that  he  had  a  good  knowledge  of  the  theory  and 
practice  of  medicine ;  but  being  wanting  in  judgment, 
his  learning  was  of  no  practical  advantage  to  him.  He 
was  very  courteous  and  gentlemanly  in  his  habits,  and 
one  of  the  most  accommodatina:  and  obliging  of  men. 
He  was  the  first  Postmaster  in  Barnstable,  an  office  which 
he  held  many  years,  and  the  Barnstable  Social  Library 
was  kept  at  his  house.  For  many  years  he  was  i.he  only 
Postmaster,  and  his  house  was  a  place  of  frequent  resort. 
At  first,  there  was  only  a  weekly  mail ;  afterwards  a 
semi-weekly,  and  in  1812  a  tri-weekly — only  two  how- 

.    ever  were  paid  for  by  the  Post  Office  Department ;  the 


122  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

third  was  paid  by  private  siihscriptions.  The  mail  left 
Boston  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  was  due 
in  Barnstable  at  eight  in  the  evening.  During  the  war 
the  people  were  anxious  to  obtain  the  news,  and  the  men 
of  the  neighborhood,  and  messengers  from  distant  parts 
of  the  town,  assembled  at  the  post-office  on  the  evening 
of  the  days  when  a  mail  was  due.  It  was  also  a  favorite 
resort  for  boys  who  were  very  troublesome  to  the  doctor. 
On  winter  evenings  when  the  mail  was  delayed  by  the  bad 
condition  ot  the  roads,  or  a  storm,  a  large  company  as- 
sembled in  the  doctor's  parlor.  The  men  were  usually 
seated  in  a  semi-circle  around  the  fire,  and  the  boys  were 
seated  on  the  floor  with  their  feet  pushed  between  the 
rundles  of  the  chairs  to  obtain  some  warmth  from  the  fire. 
The  doctor  had  a  few  stereotype  stories  which  he  re- 
peated every  evening,  the  scenes  whereof  were  laid  in 
Maine,  where  he  resided  some  time  when  a  young  man. 

His  wife  was  a  very  intelligent  woman,  and  their  only 
child,  Abigail,  was  a  kind-hearted  and  accomplished 
lady,  extremely  courteous  and  obliging  to  all  who  called 
at  the  office,  or  to  obtain  books  from  the  Social  Library, 
of  which  she  took  the  charge.  After  the  death  of  her 
parents  she  married  her  relative,  Nathan  Stone,  Esq.,  of 
Dennis. 

Doctor  Bourne  was  temperate  in  his  habits ;  that  is 
he  never  was  intoxicated  at  his  own  expense.  During 
his  time,  there  were  few  who  could  say  as  much  in  their 
own  vindication.  It  was  fashionable  at  that  time  for  the 
men  to  assemble  fi'equently  at  the  taverns,  where  they 
often  remained  till  late,  drinking,  carousing,  and  some- 
times to  gamble.  The  doctor  was  sometimes  invited  to 
these  parties.  He  sung  the  same  song  "Old  King  Cole," 
on  all  festive  occasions.  After  two  or  three  drams,  he 
would  sinffhis  song,  which  would  cause  infinite  diversion 
to  the  company.  Liquor  deprived  the  doctor  of  the  little 
wit  he  ordinarily  had,  and  his  grotesque  acts  and  uncouth 
expressions  rendered  him  a  boon  companion.  The  story 
of  one  of  these  adventures  was  often  told  by  the  late 
Abner  Davis,  Esq.,  who  probably  added  some  embellish- 
ments of  his  own,  for  there  were  few  men  who  could  tell 
a  story  better  than- he. 

About  the  year  1810,  Doctor  Bourne  was  invited  to 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        123 

attend  a  Christmas  party  at  Hyannis.  He  rode  his  gray 
mare,  which  did  him  excellent  service  for  twenty  years, 
and  arrived  at  the  place  appointed  soon  after  sunset. 
There  was  an  abundance  of  liquor  oh  the  table,  and  the 
doctor  was  frequently  pressed  to  partake  thereof.  The 
company  had  a  jolly  time,  the  doctor  repeatedly  sung 
his  favorite  song,  and  told  the  story  of  his  adventures  in 
Maine.  It  was  twelve  o'clock  when  the  party  separated, 
and  the  doctor  had  to  be  helped  on  to  his  horse.  It  was 
a  clear,  moonlight  evening,  the  ground  was  covered  with 
snow  and  a  north-west  wind  rendered  the  air  cold  and 
piercing.  He  had  to  pass  four  miles  through  woods, 
and  along  a  narrow  road  on  which  no  inhabitants  resided. 
The  horse  knew  the  way  better  than  the  master,  and  if 
the  animal  could  have  had  its  own  way  the  rider  would 
have  escaped  the  perils  he  soon  after  encountered.  Rid- 
ing about  a  mile  he  left  the  direct  road  and  turned  into 
the  way  that  leads  to  Half-Way  Pond.  He  had  not 
travelled  far  before  he  caught  sight  of  a  rotten  stump 
which  reflected  a  phosphorescent  light.  The  doctor 
imagined  it  was  a  fire,  and  as  his  feet  were  very  cold,  he 
dismounted,  pulled  ofi"  his  boots  and  placed  his  feet  on 
the  stump.  When  sufficiently  warm,  he  remounted ; 
but  unfortunately  omitted  to  put  on  his  boots.  He  wan- 
dered about  the  woods  till  morning,  when  he  found  his 
way  out.  On  arriving  at  the  main  i-oad,  instead  of  turn- 
ing westerly  towards  his  own  house,  he  turned  in  an 
opposite  direction,  and  urged  his  beast  into  a  gallop.  He 
had  not  rode  far,  when  he  met  Abner  Davis,  Esq.,  and 
several  gentlemen  of  his  acquaintance.  He  suddenly 
reined  up  his  horse,  and  accosted  them  thus  :  "Gentle- 
men," said  he,  "can  you  tell  me  whether  I  am  in  this 
town  or  the  next?"  Mr.  Davis  replied,  "You  are  in 
this  town  now,  but  if  you  drive  on  you  will  soon  be  in 
the  next."  The  company  perceiving  that  he  had  no 
boots,  and  that  he  was  wild  and  excited,  invited  him  to 
a  house  where  he  was  furnished  with  a  warm  breakfast 
and  a  pair  of  boots.  After  resting  a  few  hours  he  rode 
home  ;  but  it  was  several  days  before  he  entirely  recov- 
ered from  the  excitement  and  fatigue  of  his  Christmas 
frolic. 

Often  when  waiting  for  the  mails  in  the  doctor's  parlor 


124  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

there  would  be  a  knock  at  the  door  of  the  office.  The 
doctor  would  open  the  door,  and  with  his  usual  suavity 
of  manner,  would  say,  '-Good  evening,  sir."  The  reply 
would  sometimes  be,  "Doctor,  I  just  cklled  to  inquire 
whether  or  not  you  have  found  your  boots  ?  "  At  other 
times  the  inquiry  would  be,  "Am  I  in  this  town  or  the 
next?"  These  inquiries  irritated  the  doctor,  and  he 
would  grasp  his  whip,  which  he  kept  hanging  by  the 
door,  and  make  a  dash  at  the  boys,  who  always  took  the 
precaution  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  lash. 


AN    EKROR    CORRECTED. 

"A  few  years  before  his  death,  Matthew  Cobb,  Esq., 
succeeded  him  in  the  office  of  Postmaster.  This  was  a  great 
grief  to  him,  and  was  regretted  by  many.  However  simple 
or  foolish  the  doctor  may  have  been,  he  was  a  very  accom- 
modating officer,  and  took  much  pains  to  ascertain  the^resi- 
dences  of  parties,  and  forward  them  their  letters  or  papers. 
On  the  settlement  of  his  accounts,  he  was  found  to  be  a 
defaulter  for  nearly  a  thousand  dollars,  which  was  levied  on 
his  estate,  and  rendered  him  poor  at  the  close  of  his  life. 
His  accounts  were  not  carefully  kept,  and  several  who  ex- 
amined them  were  of  the  opinion  that  he  was  not  a  defaulter  ; 
that  he  had  neglected  to  take  vouchers  for  several  sums 
of  money  he  paid  over,  and  he  was  therefore  unable  to 
prove  that  he  had  faithfully  accounted  for  the  receipts  of  his 
office." 

When  writing  the  above  paragraph,  I  had  the  impres- 
sion in  my  mind  that  subsequently  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  errors  were  committed  at  the  Post  Office  Department, 
and  not  by  the  doctor  ;  but  those  of  whom  I  inquired  had  a 
different  impression.  No  one  of  whom  I  inquired  seemed  to 
know  certainly.  I  am  now  happy  in  being  able  to  state  that 
Doctor  Bourne  was  not  a  defaulter.  Asa  Young,  Esq.,  who 
was  his  agent,  informs  me  that  Doctor  Bourne's  property  had 
been  set  off  by  execution,  sold,  and  the  proceeds  paid  over 
to  the  Department,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  the  error 
occurred  at  the  Post  Office  Department.  The  money  was  re- 
funded, and  the  draft  for  the  same  was  received  by  Miss 
Abigail  Bourne,  the  sole  heir,  on  the  very  day  she  was  mar- 
ried to  Nathan  Stone,  Esq. — a  most  happy  coincidence. 

According  to  the  doctor's  accounts,  kept  by   his  daugh- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    EAklLIES.         125 

ter  Abigail,  he  owed  the  Department  thirty  dollars  when  his 
tiiiccessor  was  appointed.  This  sum  was  laid  aside  to  be 
paid  over  when  called  for.  Subsequent  investigation  proved 
that  Doctor  Bourne's  accounts  were  right.  His  property 
was  wrongfully  taken  from  him,  and  he  did  not  live  till  it 
was  rectitied. 

Justice  to  Doctor  Richard  Bourne  as  an  honest  and 
honorable  man,  requires  this  correction  to  be  made,  and 
those  who  preserve  tiles  of  my  papers  are  requested  to  note 
this  fact  in  the  margin  of  No.  28,  that  the  money  was  subse- 
quently refunded  by  the  Post  Office  Department. 

He  died  in  Barnstable  April  25,  1826,  aged  86  years. 
His  wife  died  in  Barnstable  March  5,  1826,  aged  85  years. 

I.  Capt.  Richard  Bourne,  a  son  of  Melatiah,  born  Aug. 
13,  1695,  was  an  officer  in  the  army,  and  distinguished 
himself  at  Norridgwalk.  He  settled  in  Falmouth,  whei'e 
he  died  in  1738,  leaving  no  issue. 

II.  John  Bourne,  son  of  Melatiah,  born  March  10,  1698, 
married  March  16,  1722,  Mercy,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Hinckley  of  Barnstable.  He  removed  to  Falmouth  and 
had  Joseph,  John,  David,  Thomas,  Sarah,  Mary,  Eliza- 
beth and  Mary.  All  the  sons,  excepting  Thomas,  mar- 
ried and  had  families.  Mr.  John  Bourne,  the  father  of 
this  family,  died  early  in  life,  leaving  a  good  estate. 

III.  Shearjashub,  son  of  Melatiah,  born  Dec.  21,  1699.  He 
received  his  degrees  at  Harvard  College  in  1720,  and 
was  ordained  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Scituate, 
Dec.  3,  1724.  He  married  1725,  Abigail,  daughter  of 
Rev.  Roland  Cotten  of  Sandwich,  and  had  Elizabeth, 
1726  ;  Abigail,  1727  ;  Desire,  1728  ;  Bathsheba,  1730  ; 
Shearjashub  in  1732,  who  died  young.  His  first  wife 
died  in  1732,  and  he  married  in  1738,  Sarah  Brooks  of 
Medford,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  Shearjashub,  born 
in  1739.  His  second  wife  died  in  1742,  and  he  married 
in  1750,  Deborah  Barker,  by  whom  he  had  one  son, 
Roland,  born  the  same  year.  His  third  wife  died  in 
1750,  and  he  married  in  1757,  Joanna  Stevens  of  Rox- 
bury. 

He  was  a  man  of  feeble  constitution,  and  depressed 
and  melancholy  spirits.  In  1755,  his  health  was 
impaired  by  a  paralytic  affection.  He  tendered  his 
resignation  of  the  pastoral   office,  and  Aug.   6,  1761, 


126  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

was  dismissed ;  his  society  generously  presenting  him 
with  £100,  and  the  use  of  the  parsonage  for  a  year  and 
a  half.  From  Scituate  he  removed  to  Roxbury,  the 
native  place  of  his  wife,  where  he  died  Aug  14,  1768, 
in  the  69th  year  of  his  age. — [See  Deane's  Scituate, 
pages  186  and  187.] 


BURSLEY. 


,  JOHN   BURSLEY. 

Mr.  John  Bursley,  the  ancestor  of  the  families  of  this 
name,  came  over  very  early,  probably  before  Gov.  Endicot. 
From  what  part  of  England  he  came,  1  have  not  ascertained. 
There  is  a  parish  in  England  called  "Burslem,"  and  as  sur- 
names often  originated  in  the  names  of  places  or  trades,  it  is 
probable  that  some  of  his  ancestors  resided  in  that  parish.* 
The  name  is  variously  written  on  the  old  records, — Burs- 
lem, Burslin,  Burslyn,  Burseley,  Bursly.  When  first 
named,  he  is  styled  Mr. — a  title  of  respect  in  early  times. 
He  appears  to  have  been  an  active  business  man,  engaged 
in  the  fisheries,  and  in  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  a  planter. 

He  may  have  been  a  member  of  the  Dorchester  Com- 
pany, that  settled  at  Cape  Ann  in  1624.  In  1629,  he  was 
at  Wessaguscus,  now  Weymouth,  where  he  was  an  associate 
of  Mr.  William  Jeff^rey.  The  following  assessment  levied  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  arrest  and  sending  of  Merton  to 
England  in  1628,  proves  that  he  was  a  resident  in  the  coun- 
try prior  to  1629.  This  is  the  oldest  tax  bill  on  record,  and 
shows  the  comparative  wealth  or  ability  of  the  difi'erent 
settlements  in  1629  : 


*  Sur-names  were  often  suggested  by  the  appearance,  character  or 
history  of  the  individual.  Burse  is  a  purse ;  hence  the  name  of  Bursely 
may  have  originated  thus — "Jolin  the  Burser,"  or  treasurer,  and  in 
course  of  time  contracted  to  "John  Bursley."  The  importance  of  sign- 
ing all  legal  and  other  instruments  with  the  Christian  name 
written  at  full  length  is  not  well  understood.  The  "Christian"  name  is 
the  "signatui-e."  It  is  not,  however,  so  important  now  as  formerly,  that 
It  should  be  written  at  full  length.  Legally,  the  man  who  writes  only 
the  initial  letter  of  his  Christian  name,  only  "makes  his  mark;"  he  does 
not  "sign"  the  document. 


128  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Plymouth,          .                   -         -                             -  £2.10 

Naumkeak,  (Salem,)     -        -         -        -         -         -  1.10. 

Piscataquack,  (Portsmouth,)       -                   -         -  2.10 
Mr.  Jeffrey  and  Mr.  Burslem,  Wessaguscus,  (Wey- 
mouth,)            2.00 

Nantascot,  (Hull,)    - 1.10 

Mrs.  Thompson,  (Squantum  Neck,)        -         -         -  15 

Mr.  Blackstone,  (Boston,)                   -                   -  12 

Edward  Hilton,  (Dover,)     -           -         -         -         -  1.00 

£12.7 

Mr.  Savage  says  that  Mr.  Bursley  was  an  early  settler 
at  Weymouth ;  reckoned  some  three  or  four  years  among 
"old  planters."  That  he  was  early  of  Weymouth,  is  evident 
from  the  record  of  the  proceedings  May  14,  1634,  in  relation 
to  his  servant  Thomas  Lane.  Lane  "having  fallen  lame  and 
impotent,  became  chargeable  to  the  town  of  Dorchester,  his 
then  place  of  residence.  The  General  Court  investigated 
the  questions  at  issue,  and  ordered  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Wessaguscus  should  pay  all  the  charges  of  his  support." 
From  this  it  appears  that  Lane  had  previously  to  1634,  re- 
sided a  sufGcient  length  of  time  at  Wessaguscus,  as  the  ser- 
vant of  Mr.  John  Bursley,  to  make  the  inhabitants  of  that 
place  legally  chargeable  for  his  support. 

Mr.  Palfrey,  in  his  history  of  New  England,  says  the 
cottages  of  Mr.  Jeffrey  and  Mr.  Burslem  probably  stood  at 
Winnisimmet,  now  Chelsea.  The  foregoing  abstracts  from 
the  records  show  that  he  was  mistaken  in  his  supposition. 
It  also  appears  that  John  Bursley  was  one  of  the  assessors 
of  Dorchester,  June  2,  1634. 

From  1630  to  1635,  Wessaguscus  appears  to  have  been 
included  within  the  corporate  limits  of  Dorchester.  Oct. 
19,  1630,  Mr.  Bursley  and  Mr.  Jeffrey  requested  to  be  ad- 
mitted freemen  of  Massachusetts,  and  were  sworn  in  the 
18th  of  May  following.  They  were  then  called  Dorchester 
men,  though  residents  at  Wessaguscus,  which  was  incor- 
porated in  1635,  and  named  Weymouth. 

Mr.  Bursley  was  deputy  from  Weymouth  to  the  JMassa- 
chusetts  Greueral  Court,  May,  1636,  and  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Committee  to  take  the  valuation  of  the  estates 
in  the  Colony.  He  and  two  others  were  elected  to  the 
September  term  of  the    Court;    but   it   was   decided    that 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        129 

Weymouth,  being  a  small  town,  was  not  entitled  to  send 
three  deputies,  and  he  and  John  Upham  were  dismissed. 
In  Nov.  1637,  he  was  appointed  hy  the  Court  a  member  of 
a  committee  to  measure  and  run  out  a  three  mile  boundary 
line.  In  May,  1639,  he  removed  to  Barnstable,  in  company 
with  Mr.  Thomas  Dimmock  of  Scituate,  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Hull  of  Weymouth,  to  whom  the  lands  in  Barnstable  had 
been  granted  by  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court.  In  1643  and 
1645  he  was  at  Exeter;  in  1647  at  Hampton  and  Kittery ;  • 
Sept.  9,  1650,  at  Neweechwannook ;  and  at  Kittery  fronp 
1650  to  Nov.  1652.  Excepting  at  Kittery,  he  did  not  reside 
long  at  either  of  these  places, — he  visited  them  and  the  Isles 
of  Shoals,  when  his  father-in-law  was  settled  in  the  ministry, 
and  other  places  on  the  coast,  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  his 
family  residing  at  Barnstable.  In  1645,  he  is  called  of 
Exeter,  yet  he  was  that  year  chosen  constable  of  Barnsta- 
ble, sworn  at  the  June  Court,  and  served  in  that  office.  In 
1(547,  he  is  called  of  Kittery,  yet  he  was  that  year  one  of 
the  grand  jurors  from  the  town  of  Barnstable.  These  facts 
show  that  his  residence  in  the  eastern  country  was  not  per- 
manent. 

In  1652,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  appointed 
a  commission  to  assume  jurisdiction  over  the  township  of 
Kittery,  and  require  the  inhabitants  to  submit  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  that  Colony.  A  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  was 
called  on  the  15th  of  Nov.,  and  while  the  matter  was  under 
consideration,  "complaints  were  made  against  one  Jno. 
Bursly*  for  uttering  threatening  words  against  the  Commis- 
sioners, and  such  as  should  submit  to  the  government  of 
Massachusetts."  "The  said  Bursly  uppon  his  examination 
at  length  in  open  Court,  did  confess  the  words,  and  uppon 


*  "One  Jno.  Bursly."  Mr.  Bursley  was  well-known  to  the  Commis- 
sioners, for  some  of  them  had  been  his  associates  in  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts.  The  right  of  that  Colony  to  assume  the  jurisdiction 
claimed,  to  say  the  least  of  the  matter,  was  doubtful.  The  Bursleys  of 
the  present  day  are  firm  and  unwavering  in  the  support  of  their  opinioi^ 
and  never  yield  a  point  that  is  just  and  for  their  interest  to  maintain. — 
Their  ancestor  it  is  to  be  presumed  was  as  Arm  and  unyielding  as  any  of 
his  descendants,  and  would  not  be  overawed  by  the  Commissioners. — 
They  say  in  their  return — "Bursly  submitted."  He  resisted  their  au- 
thority and  refused  to  sign  the  articles  of  submission  which  were  signed 
by  forty-one  of  the  inhabitants.  Their  own  record  shows  that  he  fear- 
lessly exercised  his  right  as  a  freeman,  and  the  Commissioners  vented 
their  spleen  by  contemptuously  calling  him  "one  Jno.  Bursly." 


130  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

his  submission  was  discharged."  After  much  debate  forty- 
one  of  the  inhabitants  submitted ;  but  Mr.  Bursly  was  not 
of  the  number.  He  returned  to  Barnstable,  and  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  afterwards  visited  the  eastern  country. 

Mr.  John  Bursley  married  Nov.  28,  1639,  Joanna, 
daughter  of  Eev.  Joseph  Hull  of  Barnstable.  The  marriage 
was  solemnized  in  Sandwich,  no  one  in  Barnstable  being 
then  authorized  to  officiate.  He  resided  in  the  house  of  his 
father-in-law,  which  stood  near  where  Capt.  Thomas  Harris' 
now  stands,  till  about  the  year  1650,  when  he  removed  to 
the  Bursley  farm  at.  West  Barnstable.  His  first  house  was 
built  on  the  north  side  of  the  County  Koad  across  the  little 
run  of  water,  and  about  one  hundred  yards  north  easterly 
from  the  barn  of  the  present  Mr.  Charles  H.  Bursley.  The 
remains  of  the  old  chimney  and  the  ancient  hearthstone  were 
removed  not  many  years  ago.  An  incident  in  his  personal 
history  which  occurred  during  his  residence  at  the  old  house 
has  been  preserved  by  tradition.  The  low  land  in  front  or 
south  of  the  house  was  then  a  quag-mire.  One  day  when 
he  was  confined  to  the  house  with  a  broken  leg,  and  when 
all  the  male  members  of  the  family  were  absent,  a  calf  sunk 
in  the  quag-mire,  and  would  have  been  lost  without  assist- 
ance. The  women  were  alarmed,  being  unable  to  extricate 
the  calf.  Mr.  Bursley  directed  them  to  fasten  a  rope  around 
it,  and  pass  the  end  into  the  house.  They  did  so,  and  with 
his  aid,  the  calf  was  drawn  out  and  saved. 

The  ancient  Bursley  mansion  was  taken  down  in  1827. 
The  John  Bursley,  then  living,  born  in  1741,  said  it  was 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years  old,  according  to  the  best  in- 
formation he  could  obtain.  This  would  give  the  year  1697, 
as  the  date  at  which  it  was  built.  He  had  no  record  of  the 
time ;  he  knew  its  age  only  from  tradition,  and  was  mis- 
taken. A  house  was  standing  on  the  same  spot  in  1686, 
when  the  County  Road  was  laid  out,  and  was  then  occupied 
by  the  Wid.  Joanna  Davis,  who  had  previously  been  the 
wife  of  the  first  John  Bursley.  The  description  given  of 
the  house  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  second  John  Burs- 
ley in  1726,  corresponds  very  nearly  with  its  appearance  in 
1827,  showing  that  few  alterations  had  been  made.  The 
style  was  that  of  the  wealthy  among  the  first  settlers.  The 
Bacon  house,  which  has  been  described,  was  built  in  1642. 
The  style  of  the  Bursley  house  was  the  same,  only  it  was 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        131 

originally  a  larger  and  better  building.  As  late  as  1690, 
dwelling  bouses  were  built  in  a  very  similar  style,  and  tbere 
was  a  general  resemblance.  Both  had  heavy  cornices,  the 
front  roof  was  shorter  and  sharper  than  the  rear.  The  more 
ancient  houses  were  lower  in  thg  walls,  especially  the  cham- 
bers, and  the  sleepers  of  the  lower  floors  were  laid  on  the 
ground,  leaving  the  large  sills  used  in  those  days,  projecting 
into  the  rooms. 

The  style  of  the  old  Bursley  house  indicated  its  early 
origin,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  to  doubt  that 
it  was  built  by  the  first  John  Bursley,  before  the  year  1660. 
If  it  was  a  matter  of  any  importance,  it  could  be  shown  by 
other  facts  that  the  house  was  built  before  1660.  I  have 
pursued  the  inquiry  thus  far  mainly  to  show  how  uncertain 
and  unreliable  is  tradition,  especially  in  regard  to  time. 

The  Bursley  farm  at  West  l^arnstable  is  thus  described 
on  the  town  records  : 

Forty-five  acres  of  upland,  more  or  less,  bounded  partly 
by  two  rivers  that  run  into  Boat  Cove,  and  partly  by  the 
Commons,  as  it  is  marked  out. 

Feb.  1655.  Eighty  acres  of  upland,  more  or  less, 
bounded  easterly  by  Boat  Cove,  westerly  by  a  runlet,  ad- 
joining Goodman  Fitz  Eandle's,  southerly  partly  by  Mr. 
Linnell's  and  partly  by  ye  Commons,  northerly  to  the 
marsh. 

Fifteen  acres  of  marsh,  more  or  less,  bounded  eastei'ly 
by  Boat  Cove,  westerly  by  Goodman  Fitz  Handle's,  north- 
erly to  a  creek,  southerly  to  his  upland. 

The  eighty  acres  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  is 
bounded  on  three  sides  by  water ;  a  very  desirable  location 
because  the  water  courses  saved  much  labor  and  expense  in 
building  fences.  The  soil  is  generally  a  strong  loam,  free 
of  rocks,  and  good  grass  land.  From  the  first  it  has  been 
carefully  cultivated,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  fertile  and 
productive  farms  in  Barnstable.  Forty  acres  of  the  upland 
on  the  north  side  of  the  road  are  now  owned  by  a  lineal  de- 
scendant, Mr.  Charles  H.  Bursley,  and  thirty  by  Frederick 
Parker,  Esq. 

The  first  John  Bursley  died  in  1660.  The  inventory  of 
his  estate,  taken  Aug.  21,  of  that  year  by  John  Smith  and 
John  Chipman,  amounted  to  only  £115.5.  I  do  not  know 
whether  this  sum  covered  both  the  real  and  personal  estate. 


132  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

but  presume  it  did.  I  copy  from  the  Genealogical  Register, 
in  which  only  the  gross  is  given.  The  same  estate  was  ap- 
praised at  £137.13.10  in  1726.  1  have  called  Mr.  Bursley 
wealthy.  Wealth  is  a  comparative  term,  and  when  a  man 
is  called  rich,  a  great  variety  of  circumstances  are  taken  into 
account.  \\  hat  was  the  cash  value  of  Mr.  Bursley's  farm 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  has  little  to  do  with  the  question. 
Eight  years  after,  the  Blush  farm,  now  Bodfish's,  the  next 
west,  excepting  one,  sold  for  £5.10.  This  Avas  worth  about 
one-third  of  the  Bursley  farm,  exclusive  of  buildings.  A 
common  one-story  house  at  that  time  cost  only  about  £5. 
That  was  the  price  paid  William  Chase  for  building  the  first 
liallett  house  in  Yarmouth.  Very  little  glass,  lime,  iron 
or  brick,  was  used  in  those  days,  and  the  expense  of  lumber 
was  the  cost  of  cutting  and  sawing  it.  They  were  very 
rudely  constructed,  and  as  late  as  1700,  it  was  not  common 
for  the  walls  of  a  house  to  be  plastered.  The  joints  between 
the  boards  were  filled  with  clay  or  mortar.  The  meeting 
house  built  in  1725,  in  the  East  Parish,  was  constructed  in 
that  manner.  A  house  like  the  ancient  Bursley  mansion 
would  not,  when  that  was  built,  have  cost  more  than  £50 
sterling.  Very  little  money  was  in  circulation  in  those 
times,  and  as  a  consequence  prices  ruled  very  low.  It  is 
said  on  good  authority,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
truth,  that  in  the  year  1675,  five  hundred  pounds  in  money 
could  not  be  raised  in  Plymouth  Colony;  and,  for  a  good 
reason,  there  was  not  so  much  money  in  the  Colony. 

In  1669,  the  Otis  farm,  about  half  a  mile  east  of  the 
Bursley,  was  bought  for  £150.  The  latter  was  then  much 
more  valuable.  It  was  easier  land  to  till,  and  was  in  a 
better  state  of  cultivaticm.  The  Bourman  farm,  not  so  val- 
uable as  the  Bursley  farm,  sold  in  1662  for  £78.  There  is 
apparently  a  wide  difl"erence  in  these  prices  of  property  of 
the  same  description,  in  the  same  neighborhood  at  about  the 
same  time.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  value  of 
.landed  estate  depended  then  very  much  on  the  value  of  the 
improvements  thereon,  and  on  the  kind  of  pay  for  which  the 
property  was  sold.  The  usual  consideration  being  provis- 
ions at  "prices  current  with  the  merchants."  Very  few 
contracts  were  made  payable  in  silver  money. 

The  names  of  the    children  of  the  first  John  Bursley 
are  not  entered  on  the  town  or  probate  records.     At  the 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        133 

time  of  his  marriage,  Nov.  28,  1639,  he  waw  probably  forty 
years  of  age,  and  the  bride.  Miss  Joanna  Hull,  a  blushing 
maid  not  out  of  her  teens.  Their  children,  as  entered  on 
the  church  records,  are  as  follows  : 

I.  A  child — name  not  recorded — died  suddenly  in  the 
night,  and  was  buried  Jan'y  25,  1640-1,  at  the  lower 
side  of  the  Calves  Pasture. 

II.  Mary,  bap'd  July  29,  1643,  married  April  25,  1663, 
John  Crocker.  She  was  his  second  wife,  and  was  the 
mother  often  children. 

III.  John,  bap'd  Sept.  22,  1644,  buried  Sept.  27,  1644. 

IV.  Joanna,  bap'd  March  1,  1645-6,  married  Dea.  Shubael 
Dimmock,  April,  1662  ;  had  a  family  of  nine  children 
born  in  Barnstable.  She  died  in  Mansiield,  Conn., 
May  8,  1727,  aged  83  years. 

V.  Elizabeth,  bap'd  March  25,  1649,  married,  first, 
Nathaniel  Goodspeed,  Nov.  1666,  by  whom  she  had  a 
daughter  Mary,  who  married  Ensign  John  Hinckley. 
She  married,  second.  Increase  Clap,  Oct.  1675,  and 
by  him  had  four  children  born  in  Barnstable. 

VI.  John,  bap'd  April  11,  1652,  married,  first,  Elizabeth 
Howland,  Dec.  1673,  and  second,  Elizabeth . 

VII.  Temperance,  who  married  Joseph  Crocker,  Dec.  1677, 
and  had  seven  children  born  in  Barnstable,  and  was 
living  in  1741. 

Mr.  John  Bursley  died  in  1660,  and  his  widow  married 
Dolar  Davis,  who  died  in  1673.  The  widow  Joanna  Davis 
was  living  in  1686.  The  date  of  her  death  I  am  unable  to 
ascertain . 

John  Bursley,  2d,  only  son  of  John,  was  eight  years  of 
age  when  his  father  died.  He  inherited  the  mansion  house 
taken  down  in  1827,  and  two-sixths  of  his  father's  estate. 
The  right  of  his  sisters  it  appears  that  he  bought,  for  at  his 
death  in  1726,  he  owned  all  the  lands  that  were  his  father's. 
He  married  twice ;  first,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Lieutenant 
John  Howland,  Dec.  1673,  who  was  the  mother  of  his  ten 
children.  His  second  wife  was  also  named  Elizabeth ;  but 
her  maiden  name  does  not  appear  on  recoi'd. 

He  was  a  farmer,  industrious  and  enterprising,  and  died 
leaving  a  large  estate.  The  old  mansion  house  he  bequeathed 
to  his  son  Joseph. 


134         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Children  of  John  Bursley,  2d,  born  in  Barnstable  : 

I.  Elizabeth,  born  Oct.  1674;  died  Oct.  1675. 

II.  Mercy,  born  Oct.  1675  ;  died  April  1676. 

III.  John,  born  March,  1677-8.  He  married  Mary  Crocker, 
daughter  of  John,  and  was  living  in  the  year  1741, 
Feb.  11,  1702,  and  had  three  children.  Two  died  in 
infancy,  and  the  other.  Experience,  married  Benjamin 
Lothrop.  He  inherited  the  southwesterly  part  of  the 
old  farm  on  which  he  resided.  He  was  captain  of  a 
vessel  employed  in  the  whale  fishery,  and  died  in 
Barnstable,  1748. 

IV.  Mary,  born,  23d  May,  1679,  married  Joseph  Smith, 
after  the  year  1722. 

V.  Jabez,  born  21st  Aug.  1681.  His  father  in  his  will 
gave  him  the  northwest  quarter  of  his  farm,  since 
known  as  Doctor  Whitman's  farm,  and  now  owned  by 

Frederick  Parker,  Esq.     He  married  Hannah , 

1705,  and  had  Benjamin,  21st  July,  1706,  married 
Joanna  Cannons,  July  7,  1735  ;  second,  Mary  Good- 
speed,  Feb.  2,  1744,  and  had  Jabez,  26th  July,  1745; 
Martha,  25th  Aug.  1740;  Elizabeth,  23d  Dec.  1744; 
Sarah,  3d  Feb.  1748  ;  Benjamin,  27th  March,  1752, 
and  Lemuel,  17th  June,  1755  ;  John,  born  1st  Sept. 
1708,  married  Eliz.  Saunders,  1743 ;  Elizabeth,  born 
1st  Feb.  1710-11;  Abigail,  25th  Feb.  1714,  married 
Benoni  Crocker,  Feb.  19,  1736;  Hannah,  Nov.  1715, 
married  Solomon  Bodfish,  Dec.  17,  1741 ;  Joanna  born 
June,  1719,  married  Charles  Connett,  1733;  Mary, 
Aug.  1723,  and  Barnabas,  16th  Jan'y  1725,  married 
Thankful  Smith,  May  16,  1754,  and  had  Hannah,  Fel). 
3,  1756 ;  Thankful,  March  29,  1759,  and  Barnabas, 
April  24,  1761.  Jabez  Bursley  died  in  1732,  and 
names  in  his  will  all  his  eight  children.  Estate, 
£1.281.12.6. 

VI.  Joanna,  born  29th  Nov.  1684,  married  March,  1708-9, 
Nathan  Crocker  of  Barnstable. 

VII.  Joseph,  born  29th  Jan'y  1686-7,  married  Sarah 
Crocker,  Nov.  7,  1712,  and  had  Joseph,  who  married 
Dec.  20,  1739,  Bethia  Fuller,  and  had  John,  Nov.  1, 
1741,  grandfather  of  the  present  Mr.  Charles  H. 
Bursley;  Bethia,  born  March  2,  1743:  Lemuel, 
March  2,    1745,   father  of   the    present    Mr.   Joseph 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    EAMILIES.         135 

Bursley  of  Barnstable ;  Sarah,  born  Oct.  24,  1748  ; 
Abigail,  Oct.  23,  1750,  and  Joseph,  27th  March, 
1757. 

Joseph  Bursley,  Sen'r.,  also  had  Lemuel,  §th  Sept. 
1718,  and  Mercy,  10th  July,  1721,  married  May  22, 
1757,  John  Goodspeed. 

VIII.  Abigail,  born    27th  Aug.  1690,  married  Nath'l  Bod- 
fish,  March  10,  1713. 

IX.  Elizabeth,  born    5th    Aug.  1692,  married  Nov.    28, 
1723,  Jon.  Crocker. 

X.  Temperance,  born  3d  Jan'y  1695.     She  was  of  feeble 
health,  and  died  unmarried  Sept.  20,  1734. 

John  Bursley,  2d,  bequeathed  to  his  son  Joseph  the 
ancient  house  then  appraised,  with  the  house  lot,  at  £240, 
and  all  the  easterly  half  of  the  estate.  John  Bursley,  2d, 
owned  at  his  death  in  1726,  the  same  real  estate  that;his 
father  did  in  1660,  with  the  addition  of  shares  in  the  com- 
mons, to  which  his  father  was  also  entitled.  The  estate  was 
appraised  at  £115.5  in  1660,  and  in  1727,  £3.l37.13'.lO. 
Presuming  that  each  had  the  same  proportional  amount  of 
personal  estate,  these  appraisals  shovv  a  rapid  appreciation 
of  value  during  the  68  years.  After  allowing  for  the  depre- 
ciation of  the  currency,  £115.5  in  1660,  if  the  appraisal  was 
in  sterling  money,  would  be  about  520  ounces  of  silver,  and 
if  in  lawful  money  384  ounces.  In  1727,  an  ounce  of  silver 
was  worth  17  shillings,  and  £3.137.13.10,  was  equal  to 
3.486  ounces  of  silver. 


BERRY. 


RICHARD    BERRY. 

In  the  list  of  those  who  were  able  to  bear  arms  in 
Barnstable,  in  1643,  is  the  name  of  Eichard  Berry.  It  is 
not  slanderous  to  say  the  son  is  a  better  man  than  the  father, 
or  that  the  daughter  is  a  better  woman  than  the  mother. 
This  remark  applies  to  Eichard  Berry  and  his  wife  Alice. 
They  did  not  sustain  good  characters,  but  their  children 
followed  not  in  their  footsteps.  He  did  not  reside  long  in 
Barnstable.  He  probably  removed  to  Boston  in  1647,  and 
thence  to  Yarmouth  where  his  large  family  of  children  were 
born. 

Oct.  29,  1649,  Berry  accused  Teague  Jones  of  Yar- 
mouth, of  the  crime  of  sodomy,  and  Jones  was  put  under 
heavy  bonds  for  his  appearance  at  the  March  term  of  the 
Court  to  answer.  At  that  Court  Berry  confessed  that  he 
had  borne  false  witness  against  Jones,  and  for  his  perjury 
was  whipped  at  the  post  in  Plymouth. 

His  wife  Alice  was  a  thievish  woman,  and  husband  and 
wife  were  well  matched.  May  3,  1653,  she  was  presented 
for  stealing  a  neckcloth  from  the  wife  of  William  Pierce  of 
Yarmouth ;  at  the  June  Court  for  stealing  bacon  and  eggs 
from  Mr.  Samuel  Arnold;  at  the  March  Court,  1654-5,  for 
stealing  from  the  house  of  Benjamin  Hammond  a  woman's 
shift  and  a  piece  of  pork,  and  at  the  following  Court  in 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         137 

June  for  thievishly  milking  the  cow  of  Thomas  Phelps*  of 
Yarmouth.  For  the  latter  olfence  she  was  fined  ten  shillings, 
"or,  refusing  to  pay,  then  to  sit  in  the  stocks  at  Yarmouth 
an  hour  the  next  training  day."  This  is  a  sufficient  specimen 
of  her  character,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  trace  it  farther. 

It  would,  however,  be  unjust  to  the  wife  to  say  nothing 
more  respecting  the  husband.  Richard,  notwithstanding  his 
humiliating  confession  that  he  had  sworn  falsely,  and  his 
visit  to  the  whipping-post,  continued  to  live  on  excellent 
terms  with  his  friend  Teague  at  Doctor's  Weir,  near  the 
mouth  of  Bass  Eiver.  The  Court,  however,  thought  differ- 
entl3\  and  caused  them  "to  part  their  uncivil  living  togeth- 
er." In  March,  1663,  he  was  fined  forty  shillings  for  playing 
cards ;  but  at  the  March  Court  following,  the  fine  was  re- 
mitted. In  1668,  Zachary  Rider,  the  first  born  of  the 
English  in  Yarmouth,  complained  that  Berry  had  stolen  his 
axe,  and  the  matter  was  referred  "to  Mr.  Hinckley  and  Mr. 
Bacon  to  end  it  at  home."  Richard,  notwithstanding  his 
vicious  propensities,  went  to  meeting  on  the  Sabbath  days 
carrying  with  him  his  pipe  and  tinder-horn.  One  Sabbath, 
during  "the  time  of  exercise,"  he  and  others,  instead  of 
listening  to  tfee  exhortations  of  the  preacher,  seated  them- 
selves "at  the  end  of  Yarmouth  Meeting  House,"  and 
indulged  in  smoking  tobacco.  For  this  ofi"ence  he  and  his 
companions  were  each  mulcted  in  a  fine  of  five  shillings,  at 
the  March  Court  in  1669. 

Richard  Berry  died  Sept.  7,  1681,  having  at  the  time 
of  his  death  a  house  therein ,  though  he  had  in  early  times 
been  forbidden  to  erect  a  cottage  in  Yarmouth.  In  his  old 
age  he  lived  a  better  life,  was  admitted  a  townsman  of  Yar- 
mouth, and  his  wife  became  respectable.  They  were  very 
poor,  and  having  a  large  family,  it  was  very  difficult  for  them 
to  provide  the  necessaries  of  life.  They  thought  it  less 
criminal  to  steal  than  to  starve.     Necessity  may  palliate  dis- 


*This  name  should  perhaps  be  Thomas  Philips,  who  was  an  early 
settler  in  Yarmouth.  He  is  not  named  by  Mr.  Savage,  and  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  much  respecting  him.  His  wife's  name  was  Agnesse  or 
Annis.  In  1665,  he  was  find  ten  shillings  for  lying.  A  woman  supposed 
to  be  his  daughter,  was  found  dead  in  the  wreck  of  a  boat  at  Duxburj', 
Dec.  6,  1673.  He  died  in  1674,  leaving  an  estate  appraised  at  £61.0.3.  a 
widow  and  eight  children  then  surviving.  In  1678,  Hugh  Stewart,  the 
administrator,  had  liberty  to  sell  the  house  and  land  belonging  to  the 
estate  of  Thomas  Philips,  deceased,  and  it  wovild  appear  from  the  mode 
of  expression  employed,  that  the  family  had  then  removed. 


138        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

honest  acts,  but  it  cannot  justify.  Anotlier  consideration 
may  be  named ;  as  soon  as  their  children  were  able  to  con- 
tribute something  by  their  labors  for  the  support  of  the 
family,  no  more  is  heard  of  the  thievish  prope-isities  of  hus- 
band or  wife. 

He  had  eleven  children  born  in  Yarmouth,  but  the 
record  is  imperfect,  most  of  the  names  being  torn  off  and 
lost.  The  dates  remain.  John,  born  29th  March,  1652': 
one,  11th  July,  1654 ;  Elizabeth,  5th  March,  1656 ;  one, 
12th  May,  1659;  one,  23d  Aug.  1662;  one,  IBth  Oct. 
1663  ;  one,  5th  Oct.  1668  ;  one,  1st  June,  1670  ;  one,  31st 
Oct.  1673,  one,  12th  Dec.  1677,  and  one  other.  It  is  prob- 
able that  five  of  the  above  died  before  July,  1676.  I  judge 
so  from  a  mutilated  record  under  the  entry  of  the  births. 
He  certainly  had  sons  John,  Richard,  Samuel,  Nathaniel, 
who  died  Feb.  7,  1793-4,  and  Joseph,  who  died  in  1686, 
and  a  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  married  Josiah  Jones,  28th 
Nov.  1677. 

John  Berry  was  a  resident  of  Yarmouth ;  he  was  a 
soldier  in  King  Philip's  war,  and  died  in  1745,  aged  93. 
In  his  will  he  names  his  children  Judah,  Ebenezer, 
Elizabeth,    who    married    Samuel   Baker,    July    30,    1702 ; 

Experience,   who   married  Bangs,   and   Mary,    who 

married  Isaac  Chase,  July  23,  1706. 

Samuel  Berry,  son  of  Kichard,  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  John  Bell,  and  had  six  children  born  in  Yar- 
mouth, viz :  A  daughter,  born  Jan'y  19,  1682;  Elizabeth, 
Dec.  21,  1684;  Patience,  June  22,  1687;  John,  July  9, 
1689;  Samuel,  Nov.  1691,  and  Desire,  June  29,  1694. 
The  father  died  Feb.  21,  1703-4. 


Note. — A  friend  for  whose  opiuioii  I  iiave  a  high  respect,  reproves  me 
for  speaking  so  plainlj^  of  the  faults  of  those  whose  biography  I  write. 
In  the  common  intercourse  of  life,  [  admit  that  it  is  a  good  rule  to  saj- 
nothing,  when  you  cannot  speak  well  of  a  man.  Such  a  rule  does  not 
apply  to  the  writer  of  history.  Shall  all  that  is  said  in  the  Bible  respect- 
ing Judas  Iscariot  and  other  vile  persons  be  stricken  out?  Shall  the 
name  of  Nero  and  of  Benedict  Arnold  cease  to  appear  in  history?  Shall 
the  name  of  Judge  JeftVies  be  hereafter  chronicled  among  the  saints? — 
What  if  a  man's  blood  "has  crept  through  scoundrels  ever  since  the 
flood,"  is  he  to  blame?  Is  it  not  meritorious  in  him  to  have  controlled  a 
constitutional  predisposition  to  do  wrong?  I  know  prudes  will  condemn, 
and  the  very  discreet  object,  yet  their  objecting  or  condemning  does  not 
relieve  the  writer  of  history  from  telling  the  whole  truth. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         139 

From  these  two  sons  of  Richard,  John  and  Samuel, 
)joth  of  whom  sustained  good  characters  and  were  useful 
citizens,  the  numerous  families  of  the  name  of  Berry  on  the 
Cape  appear  to  descend.  As  it  is  not  a  Barnstable  name  I 
shall  not  trace  the  family  farther.  Among  the  descendants 
of  Richard,  are  many  active  and  successful  business  men, 
and  shipmasters,  and  they  probably  would  not  have  suc- 
ceeded any  better  in  the  world  if  their  ancestor  had  been 
one  of  the  most  pious  and  distinguished  among  the  Pilgrim 
fathers. 


BOURNE. 


HENRY    BOURNE. 

Jan'y  25th,  1634-5,  Henry  Bourne  joined  the  chnrch  of 
Mr.  Lothrop  at  Scituate.  The  suppositions  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Deane,  respecting  his  family  and  relatives,  appear  to  he 
mistakes.  He  says,  Eichard  of  Sandwich,  was  his  hrother ; 
l)ut  1  find  no  evidence  that  he  was  a  relative  of  the  pastor  of 
the  church  at  Marshpee.  He  supposes  John  of  Marshfield, 
to  be  his  son.  John  was  a  son  of  Thomas,  and  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  was  connected  with  Henry. 

He  settled  at  first  in  Scituate.  His  wife  Sarah  was 
dismissed  from  the  church  in  Hingham  to  that  of  Scituate, 
Nov.  11,  1638,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  married  al)out 
that  time.  He  bought  in  1637  or  8,  the  dwelling-house  of 
Richard  Foxwell,  the  eleventh  built  in  that  town. 

He  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  Plymouth  Colony,  Jan'y 
2,  1637-8  ;  on  the  grand  jury  in  1638,  '41,  '42,  '46,  '56,  "58 
and  '61 ;  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court  from  Barnstable  in 
1643  and  '44,  and  surveyor  of  highways  in  1655.  At  the 
March  Court,  1641,  he  was  a  witness  against  John  Bryant 
and  Daniel  Pryor  of  Barnstable,  on  a  complaint  for  "drink- 
ing tobacco  on  the  highway." 

He  removed  with  Mr.  Lothrop's  Church  to  Barnstable 
in  1639.  His  house  lot  was  the  second  west  from  Coggin's 
Pond,  now  called  Great  Pond.*     His  house  stood  on  the 


*  Coggin's  IJond  was  afterwards  called  Hinckley's  Pond,  now  Great 
Pond — a  very  indefinite  name.  Cooper's  or  Nine  Mile  Pond  is  also 
called  Great  Pond.  T  would  suggest  tiiat  the  old  name  be  revived.  No 
objection  can  be  urged  against  it ;  it  is  definite,  and  is  the  name  by  wliich 
it  was  known  by  our  ancestors. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         141 

north  side  of  the  road.  The  ancient  house  linown  as 
"Brick  John  Hinckley's,"  taken  down  a  few  years  since, 
stood  near  the  location  of  Bourne's  house. 

Henry  Bourne  was  a  large  land  holder.  In  1654,  he 
owned  eight  acres  on  the  north  of  Coggin's  Pond,  bounded 
westerly  by  the  marsh,  northerly  by  the  Calves  Pasture  and 
easterly  by  the  land  of  Thomas  Hinckley ;  and  five  acres  of 
salt  meadow  adjoining  the  same.  His  house  lot  on  which 
he  built  his  hoxise  contained  eight  acres  of  upland,  with 
three  acres  of  marsh  adjoining ;  bounded  on  the  east  by  the 
land  of  the  heirs  of  Henry  Coggin,  southerly  by  the  com- 
mons, west  by  the  land  of  James  Hamblin,  and  north  by 
the  Main  Creek  or  Harbor.  The  house  lot  extended  across 
the  highway.  The  three  acres  was  called  "Bourne's  Hill," 
and  as  it  was  bounded  westerly  by  his  house  lot,  must  have 
been  the  hill  west  of  the  house  of  the  late  Robinson  Hinck- 
ley. He  also  owned  two  acres  in  the  Calves  pasture 
adjoining  his  lot  at  Coggin's  Pond,  bounded  northeasterly 
by  the  highway,  called  Calves  Pasture  Lane ;  three  acres  on 
the  south  side  of  the  road,  near  the  present  railroad  crossing  ; 
ten  acres  of  upland  in  the  woods  on  the  west  of  Pine  Hill, 
and  six  acres  of  marsh  at  Scorton. 

In  May,  1659,  his  great  lot  was  assigned  to  him,  and  is 
thus  described  on  the  records  :  "Forty  acres  of  upland  more 
or  less,  bounded  northerly  by  ye  lands  of  Henry  Coggin's 
heirs ;  southerly  by  Dolar  Davis,  butting  easterly  by  ye 
Indian  Pond,  westerly  by  ye  commons,  with  an  acre  of 
marsh  more  or  less  adjoyning  to  it." 

"One  acre  of  upland  at  Scorton,  bounded  southerly  by 
his  own  marsh,  westerly  by  John  Chipman,  easterly  by 
John  Coggin's  upland." 

I  do  not  find  the  record  of  the  death  of  Henry  Bourne, 
or  his  will.  He  was  living  in  1661,  but  at  the  time  of  the 
settlement  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Eussell  in  Sept.  1683,  he  had 
deceased.  An  entry  on  the  Church  records,  Jan'y  28, 
1684-5,  refers  to  him  as  "late  deceased."  I  am,  however, 
inclined  to  the  opinion  that  he  had  then  been  dead  several 
years.  His  widow  Sarah  was  living  in  Sept.  1683  ;  but 
died  soon  after  that  date. 

Henry  Bourne  had  a  still-born  daughter  born  7th  May, 
1641,  and  a  daughter  Dorcas,  bap'd  26th  Aug.  1649,  but 
the  latter  does  not  appear  to  have  survived  long. 


142   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OP  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

It  seems  by  an  entry  in  the  Church  records,  that  he 
made  a  will,  and  gave  a  legacy  to  the  Barnstable  Church. 
£6.13.  was  paid  to  Mrs.  Bourne  before  her  death,  and 
the  balance,  which  was  to  be  paid  by  Thos.  Huckins,  Jr., 
and  John  Phinney,  was  remitted  to  Thomas  Huckins, 
excepting  £5,  which  was  paid  to  the  deacons  of  the  church. 


BENJAMIN, 


JOSEPH   BENJAMIN. 

Joseph  Benjamin,  son  of  John,  of  Watertown,  married 
10th  June,  1661,  Jemimah,  daughter  of  Thomas  Lumbert 
of  Barnstable.  He  settled  in  Yarmouth  before  1670,  on  a 
farm  near  the  meadows,  on  the  north  of  the  Miller  farm. — 
He  owned  an  estate  in  Cambridge,  which  he  sold  30th  Oct. 
1686.  In  1680,  he  exchanged  his  farm  in  Yarmouth  for 
that  of  Joseph  Gorham  in  Barnstable,  now  owned  by  Naihan 
Edson.  He  removed  to  New  London,  Conn.,  where  he  died 
in  1704,  leaving  a  widow,  Sarah,  and  seven  children.  The 
births  of  his  children  were  recorded  in  Yarmouth,  but  the 
record  is  torn  and  imperfect.  He  had  Abigail ;  Joseph, 
1666;  Hannah,  Feb.  1668,  not  living  in  1704;  Mary,  born 
April,  1670,  married  John  Clark,  16th  Nov.  1697,  who  was 
a  schoolmaster;  Mercy,  born  March  12th,  1674;  Elizabeth, 
born  Jan'y  14th,  1679-80,  not  living  in  1704;  John,  born 
1682,  and  Jemimah,  Sarah  and  Kezia  named  in  the  settle- 
ment of  his  estate. 

"The  admirable,  accurate  and  precise,"  record  of  the 
sattlement  of  his  estate,  dated  in  1704,  says  his  son  Joseph 
was  aged  30 ;  John,  22 ;  and  Abigail,  Jemima,  Sarah, 
Kezia,  Mary  and  Mercy  were  all  aged  tv)enty  years.  Six  at 
one  birth  if  the  New  London  record  is  deserving  of  credit. 


BUTLER. 


ISRAEL    BUTLER. 

Eespecting  the  ancestors  of  Israel  Butler,  I  have  no 
information.  He  married  July  1,  1725,  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Blossom  ;  she  died  Jan'y  7,  1734-5,  aged  29,  and 
he  married  for  his  second  wife,  Oct.  29,  1735,  Mary,  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  Parker,  Bsq.  She  died  in  1745,  aged  35. — 
Children  of  Israel  Butler  born  in  Barnstable. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Nathaniel,  born  April  11,  1726,  9  o'clock,  P.  M. 

II.  Benjamin,  Dec.  18,  1727,  sunset. 

III.  Elizabeth,  June  6,  1720,  12  at  noon. 

IV.  Sarah,  Oct.  31,  1732,  P.  M. 

V.  James,  Dec.  15,  1736,  6  at  night. 

VI.  Hannah,  May  11,  1738. 

VII.  Mary,  Sept.  26,  1739. 

VIII.  Daniel,  Feb.  23,  1740-1. 

This  was  a  Sandwich  and  Falmouth  name.  There  was 
a  family  of  the  name  in  Harwich.  It  is  said  that  General 
Butler  is  a  descendant  of  the  Cape  family. 


BATES. 


JOHN     BATES. 

There  was  a  John  Bates  in  Barnstable  in  1666  ;  perhaps 
only  a  temporary  resident.  He  had  a  fight  with  William 
Borden,  the  latter  being  drunk  at  the  time,  came  off  second 
best.  Bates  was  condemned  to  pay  Borden  twenty  shillings 
for  abuse,  and  three  shillings  and  four  pence  to  the  Court 
for  breach  of  the  peace.  Borden  was  fined  five  shillings  for 
being  drunk,  and  three  shillings  and  four  pence  for  the 
breach  of  the  peace. 

The  present  family  in  Barnstable  are  descendants  of 
another  John  Bates,  who,  by  his  wife  Abigail,  had  eight 
children  born  in  Barnstable,  viz.  :  Susannah,  born  July  15, 
1739 ;  Samuel,  March  7,  1741-2 — died  twenty-one  days 
after;  John,  Jan'y  10,  1742-3;  Job,  Feb.  3,  1745-6; 
Mehitable,  Feb.  19,  1748-9  ;  Thomas,  March  17,  1750-1 ; 
Samuel,  Sept.  27,  1754,  and  Seth,  March  7;  1758-9. 


BRYANT. 


JOHN    BEYANT. 

John  Bryant,  house  carpenter,  was  of  Barnstable  in 
1640.  He  married  in  1648,  Mary,  daughter  of  George 
Lewis,  for  his  first  wife.  He  returned  to  Scituate  and  was 
an  active  and  useful  man,  much  employed  in  the  division  of 
lands,  and  other  public  business.  In  1657,  he  married  his 
second  wife,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Eev.  William  Witherell, 
and  in  1664,  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Hiland.  By  his 
first  wife  he  had  seven,  and  by  his  third,  ten  children. 


CARSELY. 


Two  of  this  name  were  of  the  first  settlers.  William, 
admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  Nov.  2, 
1637,  and  of  new  Plymouth,  Dec.  3,  1639.  He  came  from 
Scituate  to  Barnstable.  He  was  the  first  constable,  having 
been  appointed  June  4,  1639,  O.  S.,  the  day  the  town  was 
incorporated.  He  married  Nov.  28,  1639,  at  Sandwich,  a 
sister  of  the  Rev.  Marmaduke  Matthews  of  Yarmouth.  It 
does  not  appear  by  the  record  that  he  had  any  family.  A 
still-born  child  of  his  was  buried  May  7,  1641. 

His  house  lot,  containing  six  acres  of  upland  more  or 
less,  was  bounded  easterly  by  Mr.  Linnell's,  westerly  by 
Tristram  Hull's,  southerly  by  the  highway,  and  northerly  by 
the  marsh.  He  had  one  acre  of  meadow  at  the  north  end, 
butting  northeasterly  on  the  harbor.  He  sold  a  part  of  his 
house  lot  to  Hon.  Barnabas  Lothrop  about  the  year  1658. 

William  Casely  was  a  man  who  had  received  a  good 
education, — had  some  knowledge  of  Latin,  had  perhaps 
studied  law,  and  was  employed  by  the  first  settlers  to  draw 
legal  instruments.  He  was  a  member  of  Mr.  Lothrop's 
Church,  but  the  date  of  his  admission  does  not  appear. 
Thus  far  he  has  a  clean  record.  He  was  a  vain,  self-con- 
ceited, vulgar  fellow.  Common  decency  forbids  stating 
particulars.  He  was  excommunicated  from  the  Church, 
Sept.  5,  1641,  and  among  other  reasons  which  I  omit,  he  is 
charged  with  being  "much  given  to  Idleness,  and  too  much 
to  jearing" — "observed  alsoe  by  some  to  bee  somewhat 
proud."  The  sentence  of  excommunication  was  pronounced 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Mayo.  The  record  adds  :  "William  Carsely 
took  it  patiently.'' 


148        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

John  Carsely  was  also  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  it  has 
been  supposed  that  he  was  a  brother  of  William.  I  find  no 
evidence  that  such  was  the  fact.  He  came  from  Scituate. 
He  was  unlearned,  not  a  church  member,  and  his  record  is 
not  creditable  to  him.  March  1,  1661-2,  he  and  his  wife 
Alice  were  presented  "for  fornication  in  unlawfully  com- 
panying  before  their  marriage."  John  was  condemned  to 
be  whipped,  and  Alice  to  set  in  the  stocks  while  the  punish- 
ment was  inflicted ;  all  of  which  was  duly  performed  June 
7,  1642.  He  was  fined  three  shillings  and  four  pence, 
March  6,  1665-6,  for  a  breach  of  the  public  peace. 

His  house  lot  contained  four  acres.  The  southwest 
corner  of  his  lot  was  near  "the  prison,"  there  being  a  nar- 
row strip  of  common  land  between  it  and  the  road  now 
known  as  Jail  Lane.  The  northwest  corner  of  Carsely's  lot 
was  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Mr.  John  Lothrop's  orchard 
in  1703.  On  the  north  it  was  bounded  partly  by  the  hill 
"against  the  highway,"  and  partly  by  the  swamp,  the  north- 
east corner  stake  standing  south  of  James  Paine's  shop.  On 
the  east  it  was  bounded  partly  by  Mr.  Linnell's  land  litid 
partly  by  Richard  Child's  land,  the  eastern  boundary  being 
in  1708  in  the  range  of  Wid.  Abigail  Sturgis'  barn.  On  the 
south  it  was  bounded  by  common  land,  afterwards 
granted  partly  to  Mr.  Linnell,  and  three-fourths  of  an  acre 
near  the  Jail  to  John  Otis.  In  1661,  four  acres  in  addition 
were  granted  to  him,  bounded  north  by  Mr.  Linnell,  east 
by   Joseph    Lothrop,*   south   and  west    by  the    commons. 


*  It  it  erroneously  stated  in  the  account  of  the  lots  purchased  by  Mr. 
Thomas  AUyn,  that  Capt.  Samuel  Hayo  bought  the  lot  between  Bev.  Mr. 
Mayo's  and  Tristram  Hull's  lot,  of  .John  Casely.  When  I  wrote  that  article, 
I  had  not  read  the  proprietor's  records.  The  descriptions  are  very  indefi- 
nite, but  a  comparison  of  the  records  of  lots  in  the  vicinity  of  John 
Casely's  house  lot  has  been  made,  and  the  description  above  given  I 
think  is  reliable.  This  tract  of  land  containing  eight  acres  was  above 
the  "poly  pod  swamp,"  and  extended  forty  rods  east  and  west  and 
thirty-two  rods  north  and  south,  and  was  bounded  west  by  John  Casely, 
and  east  by  James  Naybor's  land.  The  latter  was  bounded  east  by  tlie 
highway, — probably  the  road  into  the  woods  east  of  the  old  Sturgis  tav- 
ern. It  would  seem  from  this  investigation  that  the  ancient  road  fol- 
lowed the  present  road  from  the  Jail  to  Capt.  Wilson's  house,  then  turn- 
ing to  the  south  to  the  head  of  Capt.  Joseph  Lothrop's  land,  then  followed 
the  south  edge  of  the  swamp  and  joined  the  present  road,  near  the  house 
of  the  late  Capt.  .Joshua  Loriiig.  This  view  of  the  matter  makes  the  rec- 
ord of  the  laying  out  of  the  road  in  1686  intelligible.  On  reaching  Capt. 
Lothrop's  land,  instead  of  turning  to  the  southeast  they  turned  to  the 
north,  through  his  land  over  a  private  causeway  across  the  swamp  which 
was  narrow  at  that  place. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         149 

Twenty  acres  were  also  granted  to  him  on  the  west  of  the 
land  of  James  Chighorn,  whioh  he  sold  20th  April,  1675,  to 
Joshua  Lumbert  for  £7. 

He  married  twice  ;  first,  in  1642,  to  Alice  — ' ,  and 

second,  Sarah .     He   died  in   1693,  and  his   widow 

married  Samuel  Norman.  There  is  no  record  of  his  family. 
In  the  settlement  of  his  estate  on  the  probate  records,  his 
children  John,  Benjamin,  Sarah,  who  married  Elisha  Smith, 
April  20,  1719,  are  named;  John,  Jr.,  removed  to  Yar- 
mouth where  he  died  Jan'y  13,  1705-6. 

Benjamin  Casely  married  March  4,  1713-14,  Mary 
Godfrey  of  Yarmouth. 

John  Casely  married  May  17,  1739,  Dorcas  Hamblin, 
and  had  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  : 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  John,  born  Feb.  14,  1740. 

H.  Ebenezer,  born  Aug.  12,  1744. 

HI.  Mary,  born  May  23,  1749. 

IV.  Seth,  born  Feb.  21,  1751. 

V.  Isaac,  born  July  10,  1753. 

VI.  Dorcas,  born  July  8,  1755. 

VII.  Eunice,  born  Sept.  19,  1759. 

Benjamin  Casely,  Jr.,  married  Nov.  29,  1739,  Huldah 
Hinckley,  and  had  children,  namely  : 

I.  Ambrose,  June  19,  1741. 

II.  Benjamin,  March  9,  1743. 

III.  Thomas,  Feb.  14,  1745  ;  lost  with  Capt.  Magee,  Dec. 
27,  1778. 

IV.  Lemuel,  Nov.  17,  1747. 

V.  Samuel,  Dec.  3,  1749. 

VI.  Haanah,  Dec.  2,  1750. 

VII.  Mehitabel,  Jan'y  8,  1758. 

VIII.  David,  March  15. 

Lemuel,  son  of  Benjamin,  Jr.,  had  a  family,  the  last  of 
the  name  in  Barnstable. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  of  the  forty-five  first 
comers  to  Barnstable,  who  were  heads  of  families,  proprie- 
tors, and  regularly  admitted  townsmen,  prior  to  January  5, 
1643-4,  there  were  only  four  who  did  not  sustain  good  moral 
characters,  and  whose  lives  were  not  in  accordance  with  the 
religion  which  they  professed.  These  four  were  John  Crocker, 


150        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

William  and  John  Casely,  and  Thomas  Shaw,  neither  of 
whom  have  any  male  descendants  in  the  town  or  county  of 
Barnstable.  John  Crocker's  crime  was  committed  before  he 
came  to  Barnstable,  and  strictly  cannot  be  charged  as  the 
act  of  a  Barnstable  man.  The  charges  against  William 
Casely  were  not  criminal,  and  did  not  subject  him  to  any 
legal  punishment.  Though  educated,  he  was  a  vulgar  man, 
and  though  a  professor  of  religion,  he  did  not  live  a  Chris- 
tian life.  He  was  weak-minded,  vain,  frivolous,  and  com- 
mitted acts  that  gentlemen  are  ashamed  to  have  laid  to  their 
charge.  The  sentence  of  ex-communication  pronounced 
against  him  was  a  righteous  one ;  and  though  he  continued 
to  reside  in  Barnstable,  he  sunk  into  merited  ignominy. — 
The  crime  for  which  John  Casely  was  punished  is  not  stated, 
and  as  the  laws  are  now  administered  he  would  not  be  held 
liable  in  the  manner  he  was  two  centuries  ago. 

The  complaint  against  Thomas  Shaw  was  that  he  went 
into  the  house  of  his  neighbor,  John  Crocker,  on  the  Sab- 
bath, and  helped  himself  to  something  to  eat.  It  was  not  a 
justifiable  act,  neither  was  it  very  criminal.  (See  Matthew, 
Chap,  xii :  1  to  6.) 

In  these  three  short  paragraphs  I  have  given  an  abstract 
of  the  criminal  calender  of  a  generation  of  men,  the  first  set- 
tlers, the  ancestors  of  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  present 
inhabitants  of  Barnstable.  If  a  parallel  can  be  found  in  the 
annals  of  any  of  our  towns,  I  am  not  aware  of  it. 


CHAPMAN. 


ISAAC    CHAPMAN. 

Ralph  Chapman  came  in  the  Elizabeth  from  London  in 
1635.  His  age  is  stated  in  the  Custom  House  return  to  be 
20.  He  was  a  ship  carpenter  of  Southwalk,  in  Surry,  near 
London.  He  settled  first  in  Duxbury,  and  there  married 
23d  Nov.  1642,  Lydia  Wells,  a  daughter  of  Isaac,  after- 
wards of  Barnstable.*  His  children  were  Mary,  born  31st 
Oct.  1643 ;  Sarah,  15th  May,  1645  :  Isaac,  Aug.  4,  1647  ; 
Lydia,  born  and  died  26th  Nov.  1649  ;  Ealph,  20th  June, 
1653,  died  next  month,  and  Ralph  again.  His  daughter 
Mary  married  14th  May,  1666,  William  Troop  of  Barnsta- 
ble, and  Sarah  married  William  Norcut  of  Yarmouth,  after- 
wards of  Eastham.  His  son  Ralph  of  Marshfield,  had  a  son 
John  reputed  to  be  104  years  of  age  at  his  death.  The 
elder  Ralph  died  at  Marshfield  in  1671,  aged  56. 

Isaac  Chapman,  son  of  Ralph,  settled  in  Barnstable. 
He  married  Sept.  2,  1678,  Rebecca,  daughter  of  James 
Leonard.  His  house  and  shop  stood  on  the  south  side  of 
the  County  road  on  the  lot  formerly  owned  by  Isaac  Wells, 
a  short  distance  west  of  the  Court  House.  Children  born  in 
Barnstable. 

(Jhildren  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Lydia,  15th  Dec.  1679. 

II.  John,  12th  May,  1638. 

III.  Hannah,  26th  Dec.  1682,  died  July  6,  1689. 


*  Mr.  Savage  says  Lydia  Wills  or  Willis.  I  read  the  record  Wells; 
but  cannot  at  this  moment  give  the  authority  for  saying  she  was  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Wells  of  Barnstable.  Isaac  Chapman  and  John  Miller 
of  Yarmouth,  were  heirs  to  the  estate  of  Margaret,  widow  of  Isaac 
Wells.  It  may  be  that  Ralph  Chapman's  wife  was  not  a  daughter,  but 
it  is  jji-obable. 


152        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

IV.  James,  5th  August,   1685,  married   Aug.   14,  1723, 
Mehitabel  Sharp. 

V.  Abigail,  11th  July,  1687. 

VI.  Hannah,  10th  April,  1690. 

VII.  Isaac,  29th  Dec.  1692. 

VIII.  Ealph,  19th  Jan'y,  1695. 

IX.  Eebecca,  1st  June,  1697. 

Isaac  Chapman  removed  to  Yarmouth,  now  Dennis, 
with  his  family  where  he  has  descendants.  His  son  Isaac, 
by  his  wife  Elizabeth,  had  Isaac,  7th  April,  1711 ;  Mary, 
6th  June,  1713 ;  Rebecca,  14th  Nov.  1725,  died  Dec.  30, 
1726  ;  Samuel,  14th  Nov.  1727  ;  Eebecca,  25th  June,  1730  ; 
Ruth,  13th  April,  1733  ;  Micah,  18th  July,  1735. 

Ralph  Chapman,  son  of  Isaac,  by  his   wife  Elizabeth, 

had  John,  born  22d  ,  1728-9 ;  Betty,  15th   Oct.  1736, 

and  David,  15th  Nov.  1739. 


NOTB.^ — ^As  this"  is  not  a  Barnstable  family,  I  have  not  carefully  ex- 
amined the  Yarmouth  or  the  Probate  Records.  Persons  interested  can 
find  materials  for  a  full  geneaology  of  the  family. 


CHiPMAN. 


ELDER   JOHN   CHIPMAN. 

Elder  John  Cliipman  is  probably  the  ancestor  of  all  of  the 
name  of  Chip  man  in  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces.  The 
following  statement,  drawn  up  by  himself,  is  printed  from  an  an- 
cient copy  of  the  original  in  the  possession  of  the  family  of  the 
late  Mr.  Samuel  Chipman  of  Sandwich.  An  incorrect  copy  was 
published  in  the  Genealogical  Register  of  1860.  The  following 
has  been  carefully  collated  with  the  manuscript,  and  is  a  true  tran- 
script thereof,  excepting  four  words,  which  are  repetitions  and 
erased  in  the  manuscript.     Interlineations  are  prirlted  in  italics. 

A  Brief  Declaration  in  Behalf  of  Jno.  CMpinan  of  Barnstable. 

A  Brief  Declaration  with  humble  Request  (to  whom  these 
Presents  shall  come)  for  further  Inquiry  &  Advice  in  ye  behalf  of 
John  Chipman,  now  of  Barnstable  in  the  Government  of  New  Pli- 
mouth  in  New  England  In  America,  being  ye  only  Son  &  Heir  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Chipman  Late  Deceased  at  Brinspittell  1  about  five 
miles  from  Dorchester  in  Dorsetshire  in  England  concerning  some 
certain  Tenement  or  Tenements  with  a  Mill  &  other  Edifice  there- 
unto belonging  Lying  &  'being  in  Whitchurch  of  Marhwood  vale 
near  Burfort  alias  Breadport,  in  Dorsetshire  aforsd  hertofore 
worth  40  or  50  Pounds  pr  Annum  which  were  ye  Lands  of  ye  sd 
Thomas  Chipman  being  entailed  to  him  &  his  Heirs  for  Ever  but 
hath  for  Sundry  years  Detained  from  ye  sd  John  Chipman  the 
right  &  only  Proper  Heir  thereunto.  By  reason  of  Some  kinde  of 
Sale  made  of  Inconsiderable  value  by  the  sd  Thomas  (In  the  time 
of  his  Single  Estate  not  then  minding  marriage)  unto  his  kinsman 
Mr.  Christopher  Derbe  Living  Sometime  in  Sturtle  near  Burfort 
aforsd  being  as  the  Said  John  hath  been  Informed,  but  for  40  lb 
And  to  be  maintained  Like  a  man  with  Diet  Apparel  &c  by  the 
sd  Christopher  as  Long  as  the  sd  Thomas  Should  Live  whereat  ye 
Lawyer  wc.  made  the  Evidences  being  troubled  at  his  Weakness 
in  taking  Such  an  Inconsiderable  Price  tendered  him  to  Lend  him 
money  or  to  give  to  him  ye  sd  Thomas  Seven  Hundred  Pounds  for 
ye  sd  Lands.  But  yet  the  matter  Issuing  as  Aforsd  The  Vote  of 
the  Country  who.  had  It nowledge  of  it  was  that  the  sd  Thomas  had 


154       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

much  wrong  in  it  Especially  After  it  pleased  God  to  change  his 
condition,  and  to  give  him  Children,  being  turned  off  by  the  sd 
Christopher  only  with  a  poor  Cottage  and  Garden  Spott  instead  of 
his  forsd  Maintainance  to  the  great  wrong  of  his  Children  Espec- 
ially of  his  Son  John  Aforsd  to  whom  ye  Sd  Lands  by  right  of  En- 
tailment did  belong  Insomuch  that  mr  William  Derbe  who  had  the 
sd  Lands  in  his  Possession  then  from  his  father  Christopher  Derbe 
told  the  sd  John  Chipman  (being  then  a  youth)  that  his  father 
Christopher  had  done  him  wrong,  but  if  ye  sd  Lands  prospered 
with  him  that  he  would  then  consider  the  sd  John  to  do  for  him  in 
way  of  recompence  for  the  Same  when  he  should  be  of  capacity  in 
years  to  make  use  thereof.  The  sd  John  fm-ther  declareth  that 
one  mr  Derbe  A  Lawyer  of  Dorchester  (he  supposes  ye  father  of 
that  mr  Derbe  now  Living  in  Dorchester)  being  a  friend  to  the 
mother  of  the  sd  John  told  her  being  Acquainted  with  ye  Business 
and  sorry  for'  the  Injury  to  her  Heir,  that  if  it  pleased  God  he 
Liv'd  to  be  of  Age  he  would  himself  upon  his  own  charge  make  a 
tryal  for  the  recovery  of  it,  and  in  case  he  recovere  it  Shee  Should 
give  him  10  lb  Else  he  would  have  nothing  for  his  trouble  and 
charge.  Furthermore  John  Derbe  late  deceased  of  Yarmouth  in 
New  Plimouth  -Government  Aforsd  hath  acknowledged  here  to 
the  sd  John  Chipman  that  his  father  Christopher  had  done  him 
much  wrong  in  the  forsd  Lands  but  ye  sd  John  Chipman  being  but 
in  a  poor  and  mean  outward  condition,  hath  hitherto  been  Afraid 
to  stir  in  it  as  thinking  he  should  never  get  it  from  ye  rich  and 
mighty,  but  being  now  Stirred  up  by  some  friends  as  Judging  it 
his  Duty  to  make  more  Effectual  Inquiry  after  it  for  his  own  com- 
fort his  wife  and  childrens  which  God  hath  been  pleased  to  bestow 
on  him  if  any  thing  may  be  done  therein,  &  in  what  way  it  may  be 
attained,  whether  without  his  coming  over  which  is  mostly  Desired 
if  it  may  bee.  Because  of  exposing  his  wife  &  children  to  Some 
Straits  in  his  Absence  from  them,  he  hath  therefore,  Desired  these 
as  aforsd  Desiring  also  Some  Search  may  be  made  for  farther 
Light  in  ye  case  into  the  Records  the  conveyance  of  the  Said 
Lands  being  made  as  he  Judgeth  about  threescore  years  Since  as 
Also  that  Enquiry  be  made  of  his  Sisters  which  he  supposeth 
lived  about  those  parts  &  of  whom  else  it  may  be  thought  meet, 
and  Advice  sent  over  as  Aforsd,  not  Else  at  present  But  hoping 
that  there  be  Some  Left  yet  in  England  alike  Spirited  with  him  in 
29  Job  whom  the  Ear  that  heareth  of  may  bless  God  for  Deliver- 
ing ye  poor  that  crieth  and  him  that  hath  no  helper  Bein  Eyes  to 
the  blind  feet  to  the  Lame  A  father  to  the  Poor  Searching  out  ye 
causfe  which  he  knoweth  not,  &c.  Barnstable  as  Aforsd  this  8th 
of  Feb.  (57.)  John  Chipman  Desires  his  Love  be  presented  to 
his  Sisters  Hannor  and  Tamson  and  to  hear  particularly  from  them 
if  Living  and  doth  further  request  that  Enquiry  be  made  of  mr 
Oliver  Lawrence  of  Arpittle  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  his 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        155 

fathers.  He  desires  also  Enquiry  be  made  of  his  Sisters  what 
those  parchment  writeings  concerned  in  the  custody  of  his  mother 
when  he  was  there. 

The  sd  John  Chipman  Supposeth  his  age  to  be  About  thirty 
seven  years  ;  it  being  next  may  Twenty  &  one  year  Since  he  come 
out  of  England. 

On  the  2d  of  March,  1641-2,  Ann  Hinde,  the  wife  of  William 
Hoskins,  deposed  before  Gov.  Edward  Winslow,  relative  to  a 
matter  in  controversy  between  John  Derbey  and  John  Chipman. 
She  stated  that  she  was  then  about  25  years  of  age,  that  she  lived 
with  Mr.  Christopher  Derbey  at  the  time  when  John  Chipman 
came  to  New  England  to  serve  Mr.  Richard  Derbey  a  son  of 
Christopher,  and  a  brother  of  John,  that  she  afterwards  came  over 
to  serve  the  said  Richard,  and  that  when  she  left,  old  Mr.  Derbey 
requested  her  "to  commend  him  to  his  cozen  (nephew)  Chipman, 
and  tell  him  if  he  were  a  good  boy,  he  would  send  him  over  the 
money  that  was  due  to  him,  when  he  saw  good."  She  also  testi- 
fied that  she  had  heard  John  Derbey  affirm  that  the  money  had 
been  paid  to  John  Chipman's  mother,  who  died  about  three  months 
before  her  old  master  sent  this  message  by  her  to  his  nephew 
Chipman.  The  object  of  this  deposition  was  to  establish  the  fad 
that  John  Derbey  did  not  pay  the  money  to  Chipmans's  mother, 
because  she  died  three  months  before  Mr.  Christopher  Derbey 
made  the  promise  to  send  it. 

John  Chipman,  only  son  of  Mr.  Thomas  Chipman,  was  born 
in  or  near  Dorchester  in  Dorcetshire,  England,  about  the  year 


1.  Bi-inspittell  or  Brinspudel,  Dorsetshire,  is  between  Affpudel  and 
the  river  Piddle.  Dorsetshire,  from  the  mildness  of  the  air  and  the 
beauties  of  its  situation  has  been  termed  the  garden  of  England. 

2.  Whitchurch,  west  of  Bridport,  a  seaport  town,  is  one  of  the  largest 
parishes  in  the  county.  It  has  a  large  and  ancient  church  in  which  are 
some  antique  ornaments. 

3.  Marshwood,  with  its  vale  and  park,  four  miles  ST.  W.  of  Whit- 
church, was  formerly  a  barony  of  great  honor. 

4.  Burtport,  or  rather  Hritport,  called  also  Bridport  and  Britport, 
Dorsetshire.  A  seaport  borough  and  market  town  in  the  hundred  of 
Sturminster. 

0.    Sturhill,  Bridport  Division,  Godbertorne  Hundred,  Dorcetshire. 

6.    Athpuddel  in  Dorcetshire. 

All  the  places  named  are-inDorcet  County  or  shire  England,  as  stated 
in  an  article  in  the  Genealogical  Register  commnnteated  by  Rev.  Richard 
M.  Chipman.  In  the  same  article  Mr.  Chipman  presumes  that  "Hannor" 
and  "Tamson,"  the  sisters  of  Elder  John,  are  the  names  of  their  hus- 
bands. He  reads  the  name  of  Tamson,  Jamson ;  and  supposes  Thomp- 
son was  intended.  This  reading  probably  led  to  the  error.  Hannah 
and  Tamson  or  Thomasine,  are  common  names,  and  there  seems  to  be  no 
good  reason  to  doubt  that  they  were  the  Christian  names  of  his  sisters. 
The  Declaration  is  dated  Feb.  8,  1657,  O.  S.,  which  is  Feb.  18, 1658,  N.  S. ' 
Deduct  21  years,  and  it  gives  May,  1637,  as  the  date  of  his  leaving 
England.    The  date  of  his  birth  by  the  same  rule  is  1621. 


'156        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAJIILIES. 

1621.  He  had  two  sisters  Hannah  and  Tamson,  -who  married  and 
remained  in  England.  His  father  died  early,  and  he  i-esided  with 
his  uncle,  Mr.  Christopher  Derbey.  In  May,  1637,  Mr.  Richard 
Derbey,  a  sou  of  Christopher,  came  to  New  England,  bringing 
with  him  his  cousin  John,  theu  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  others, 
in  tlie  capacity  of  servants.  It  was  then  customary  to  send  over 
orphan  youths  of  good  habits,  to  be  bound  for  a  term  of  years,  to 
the  planters  and  other  early  settlers.  Mr.  Richard  Derbey  settled 
at  Plymouth,  where  he  remained  several  years  ;  but  no  mention  is 
made  of  his  cousin  John  till  the  spring  of  1642,  when  he  had 
arrived  at  legal  age,  and  when  he  brought  an  action  against  his 
cousin,  Mr.  John'  Derbey,  for  a  sum  of  money  sent  to  him  by  his 
uncle  Christopher,  and  not  paid  over  by  said  John  Derbey. 
It  is  probable  that  during  the  four  years  that  had  intervened,  he 
had  served  an  apprenticeship  with  a  carpenter.  This  is  not  cer- 
tain ;  but  it  appears  by  his  will  that  he  was  a  carpenter,  though  in 
deeds  he  is  styled  a  yeoman. 

In  Aug.  1643,  he  was  absent  from  the  colony,  or  was  sick 
and  unable  to  bear  arms  ;  but  it  appears  that  he  was  afterwards  a 
resident  of  Plymouth.  In  1646,  he  married  Hope,  second  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  John  Howland.  In  1G49,  he  was  of  Barnstable,  and 
that  year  bought  the  homestead  of  Edward  Fitzrandolphe,  the 
original  deed  whereof  is  in  my  possession.  The  land  has  since 
been  sub-divided  many  times,  and  is  now  owned  by  several  indi- 
viduals. It  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  County  road,  east 
by  the  Hyannis  road,  extending  across  the  present  line  of  the  rail- 
road, and  was  bounded  south  l)y  the  commons,  and  on  the  west 
by  the  homestead  of  George  Lewis,  Senr.,  and  contained  eight 
acres.  The  deed  also  conveyed  a  garden  spot  and  orchard  on  the 
north  side  of  the  County  road,  now  owned  by  Capt.  Heman  Foster. 
The  ancient  house  on  this  estate  stood  between  the  present  dwel- 
lings of  the  heirs  of  Anna  Childs,  deceased,  and  the  house  formerly 
owned  by  Isaiah  L.  Greene,  Esq.  How  long  he  resided  on  this 
estate  is  not  known.  In  1659,  it  was  owned  and  occupied  by  John 
Davis,  Senr.  Probably  about  this  time  he  removed  to  Great 
Marshes.  No  lands  are  recorded  as  belonging  to  him  in  1654,* 
when  all  were  requked  to  have  their  possessions  entered  and  de- 
scribed on  the  town  books.  He  may  have  resided  about  that  time 
in  another  town,  though  he  was  of  Barnstable  in  165!).  He  bought 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Lieut.  John  Howland,  one  half  of  his  farm 


*  Perhaps  he  did  own  lands;  but  neglected  to  have  them  recorded. 
That  he  was  not  careful  hi  regard  to  his  title  docds  there  is  evidence. 
His  deed  from  Fitzrandolphe  was  not  executed  till  1669.  twenty  vfurs 
after  the  purchase,  and  the  consideiatioii  in  his  deed  from  Howl'aiid  in- 
'dicates  that  the  purchase  was  made  many  years  before  the  date  of  tlie 
deed.  Farms  no  better  in  the  same  vicinity  were  sold  about  that  time 
for  four  times  £16. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         157 

which  is  now  owned  by  his  descendants.  The  deed  is  dated  Dec. 
10,  1672,  and  for  the  consideration  of  £16  Mr.  Howland  conveys 
to  him  one-half  of  his  lands  in  Barnstable,  containing  forty-five 
acres  of  upland.  The  deed  is  in  the  hand  writing  of  Gov.  Thom- 
as Hinckley,  is  on  parchment,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
family  of  Mr.  Samuel  Chipman  of  Sandwich.  The  lands  sold 
were  bounded,  easterly,  partly  by  the  land  of  John  Otis  and  partly 
by  the  land  of  William  Crocker,  northerly  by  the  marsh,  westerly 
by  the  other  half  of  the  lands  not  sold.  The  boundaries  are  par- 
ticularly described,  and  the  range  between  Howland  and  Chipman 
ran  over  a  well  or  spring,  giving  each  a  privilege  thereto.  Mr. 
Howland  names  his  northern  orchard,  showing  that  at  that  early 
date  he  had  set  out  two.  Elder  Chipman  owned  lands  at  West 
Barnstable  before  1672,  for  in  the  same  deed  he  makes  an  ex- 
change of  meadow  with  his  brother-in-law.  After  his  second  mar- 
riage in  1684  he  removed  to  Sandwich.  He  was  admitted  an 
inhabitant  of  that  town  in  1679,  but  appears  to  have  been  in  Barn- 
stable in  1682.  His  removal  was  deeply  regretted  by  the  people, 
and  many  efforts  were  unsuccessfully  made  to  induce  him  to  return 
to  Barnstable.  The  church,  though  dissatisfied  at  his  removal 
without  their  consent,  agreed  to  pay  him  five  or  six  pounds  annu- 
ally, if  he  would  resume  his  office  of  Elder,  and  the  town  voted 
to  make  him  a  liberal  grant  of  meadow  lands  if  he  would  return. 
These  votes  show  that  his  services  were  appreciated  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  with  which  he  had  held  communion  nearly 
forty  years,  and  that  he  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  man  and  a 
christian  by  his  fellow  townsmen  and  neighbors. 

His  connection  with  the  Barnstable  church  was  most  happy. 
His  wife  Hope  joined  the  chm'ch  Aug.  7,  1650,  and  he  joined 
Jan'y  30,  1652-3.  "Henry  Cobb  and  John  Chipman  were  chosen 
and  ordained  to  be  ruling  Elders  of  this  same  church,  and- they 
were  solemnly  invested  with  office  upon  ye  14th  day  of  April  Anno 
Dom  :  1670."  [Church  Records. 

It  is  probable  that  he  was  a  deacon  of  the  chm-ch  before  he 
was  elected  Elder.  He  survived  Mr.  Cobb  many  years,  and  was 
the  last  Ruling  Elder  of  the  chm-ch.  Subsequently,  attempts  were 
made  to  revive  the  office.  The  question  was  frequently  discussed 
at  church  meetings  ;  but  a  majority  opposed  another  election. 

His  talents  and  services  in  civil  life  were  duly  appreciated. 
In  June,  1659,  he  and  Isaac  Robinson  and  John  Smith  of  Barn- 
stable, and  John  Cook  of  Plymouth,  were  appointed  by  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony  Court  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Quakers  "to  en- 
deavour to  reduce  them  from  the  errors  of  their  wayes." — The  re- 
sult was  that  Robinson,  whose  name  appears  most  prominent  in 
these  proceedings,  recommended  the  repeal  of  the  severe  laws  that 
had  been  enacted  against  that  sect.  Smith  and  Chipman  did  not 
incur  the  censure  of  the  Court,  thousfh  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 


158        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

that  they  sympathized  with  Robinson  in  his  views  respecting  the 
impolicy  of  those  laws. 

In  1649  he  was  a  freeman,  and  in  1652  he  was  a  grand-juror, 
and  appointed  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  Colony,  a  committee  for 
the  Town  of  Barnstable  to  receive  'the  proportion  of  oil  taken 
which  belonged  to  the  Colony  ;  in  1663, '4,  '5,  '8  and  '9  he  was 
representative  from  Barnstable  to  the  Colony  Court;  in  1665,  '6, 
'7,  and  '8  he  was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Barnstable,  who  at  that 
time  exercised,  in  addition  to  other  duties,  the  functions  since  per- 
taining to  justices  of  the  peace;  and  in  1667  he  was  one  of  the 
council  of  war.  For  his  public  services  the  court  in  1669  granted 
him  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  between  Taunton  and  Titicut, 
which  was  afterwards  confirmed  to  him. 

His  will  is  dated  at  Sandwich,  Nov.  12, 1702,  and  was  proved 
May  17,  1708.  In  it  he  says  :  "I  will  and  bequeath  to  Ruth,  my 
dear  and  loving  wife,  all  whatsoever  is  left  of  her  estate,  which  I 
had  with  her  when  I  married  her.  I  also  give  her  one  half  part  of 
my  whole  personal  estate  which  shall  be  found  in  Sandwich  at  my  de- 
cease. Besides  and  moreover,  all  the  carts  plows  and  husbandry 
implements,  as  also  all  the  corn  meat,  flax  wool,  yarn  and  cloth 
that  is  in  the  house  at  my  decease,  and  I  do  give  her  twenty 
pounds  in  money  which  is  due  to  her  by  ye  compact  made  between 
us  at  our  inter-marriage  ;  she  according  to  sd  compact,  upon  pay- 
ment of  this  twenty  pounds  to  qnitt  claim  to  all  right  and  title  and 
interest  in  my  housing  and  lands  att  Barnstable,  and  this  twenty 
pounds  shall  be  paid  her  out  of  that  money  of  mine  in  ye  baud  of 
my  friend  Mr.  Jonathan  Russell  of  Barnstable." 

He  bequeathes  to  his  sons  Samuel  and  John  his  whole  real 
estate  in  Barnstable,  Samuel  two  parts  and  John  one  part,  unless 
my  son  Samuel  pay  his  brother  John  £70  in  lieu  of  his  third  part. 
He  gives  his  son  Samuel  his  carpenters  tools,  then  in  his  posses- 
sion. To  his  two  grand  children  Mary  Gale  and  Jabez  Dimmock 
£5  apiece.  He  names  his  daughters,  Elizabeth,  Hope,  Lydia, 
Hannah,  Ruth,  Bethia,  Mercy  and  Desu-e.  He  appoints  his  sons 
Samuel  and  John  executors,  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Russell  and  Mr. 
Rowland  Cotton  overseers.  Witnesses,  Rowland  Cotton,  Samuel 
Prince  and  Nathan  Bassett.  In  the  inventory  of  his  estate,  taken 
by  Wm.  Bassett  and  Shubael  Smith,  it  stated  that  he  died  7  April, 
1708.  His  real  estate  is  not  apprised. — Among  the  articles  ap- 
prised is  plate  at  8  sh  per  ounce,  £8.2.  ;  Cash,  at  8  sh  per  ounce, 
£51.5.3.  ;  Bills  of  Credit,  £6.6.  ;  Cash  in  Mr.  Jonathan  Russell's 
hands  £20.     18  books,  small  and  great,  £1. 

The  will  of  his  widow  Ruth  is  dated  Dec.  7,  1710,  proved 
Oct.  8,  1713.  As  she  had  no  children  living,  she  gave  her  estate 
to  her  relatives  and  friends.  Of  the  Chipman  family  she  names 
only  Bathsheba,  a  daughter  of  Mr.   JNIelatiali  Bourne,  and  .Tabez 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        159 

Dimmock,  both  grand  children  of  Elder  Chipman.     Family  of  El- 
der John  Chipman : 

The  births  of  twelve  children  of  Elder  Chipman  are  recorded  ; 
one  at  Plymouth  and  eleven  in  Barnstable,  Elizabeth  is  the  only 
child  named,  older  than  Hope.  In  his  will  dated  at  Sandwich, 
Nov.  12,  1702,  and  proved  May  17,  1708,  he  names  sons  Samuel 
and  John,  and  daughters  Elizabeth,  Hope,  Lydia,  Hannah,  Ruth, 
Mercy,  Bethia  and  Desire. 

To  his  daughters,  he  gave  half  his  moveable  estate  in 
Sandwich  and  Barnstable,  excepting  the  articles  given  to  Samuel, 
and  he  adds  the  following  proviso  :  "And  in  case  any  of  my  said 
daughters  be  dead  before  their  receiving  this  my  bequest,  my  will 
is  that  their  part  be  given  and  distributed  equally  to  their  surviv- 
ing children."  Two  of  the  daughters,  Hannah  and  Ruth,  were 
then  dead,  and  it  is  probable  that  Bethia  had  also  deceased. 

His  first  wife  was  Hope,  second  daughter  of  John  Howland 
and  EKzabeth  Tiley.  Until  the  discovery  of  Bradford's  History 
in  1855,  in  the  Library  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  it  had  been  sup- 
posed that  his  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Gov.  Carver. — She  died  in 
Barnstable  and  was  buried  in  the  ancient  burying  ground  on  Lo- 
throp's  Hill.  Her  monument  is  in  good  preservation,  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  : 

Here  lyeth 

Inteered  ye  Body  of 

Mrs.    Hope    Chipman 

WIFE    OF    Elder    John    Chipman 

AGED        54         YEARS 

WHO  CHANGED  THIS  LIFE 

FOR   A   BETTER 

YE  8th  of  January 
16  83. 
He  married  for  his  second  wife  the  Wid.  Ruth  Bourne.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Sargeant,  born  in  Charlestown  25 
Oct.  1642,  married  first,  Jonathan,  son  of  Josiah  Win  slow  of 
Marshfield,  second,  Mr.  Richard  Bourne  of  Sandwich.  She  died 
in  Sandwich  in  1713,  aged  71,  leaving  no  issue.  Elder  John  Chip- 
man  died  in  Sandwich  7  April,  1708,  aged  87  years.  Children  of 
Elder  John  Chipman : 

I.  Elizabeth,  born  24  June,  1 647  at  Plymouth,  baptized  in  Barn- 
stable, Aug.  18,  1650.  Mrs.  Hope  Chipman  was  admitted 
to  the  church  on  the  7th  of  Aug.  1650,  and  Elder  John 
Chipman  Jan'y  30,  1652-3.  Hope  was  baptized,  according 
to  Puritan  usage,  on  the  Sabbath  next  succeeding  her  birth, 
namely  on  the  5th  of  Sept.  1652,  having  been  born  on  the 
31st  of  the  preceeding  August. — Elizabeth  was  the  second 


160        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

wife  of  Hosea  Joyce  of  Yarmouth.  He  married  first  Mar- 
tha, and  had  John  and  Dorcas.  His  wife  Martha  died 
April  3,  1670,  and  he  married  Elizabeth  Chipman  before 
1676,  and  had  Samuel,  June  1,  1676  ;  Thomas,  June  3, 
1678,  and  Mary,  Sept.  19,  1680.  The  above  is  all  that  can 
now  be  obtained  from  the  Yarmouth  record,  which  is  muti- 
lated and  a  part  of  the  leaf  gone.  By  his  will  it  is  ascer- 
tained that  he  had  ten  children,  two  by  his  first  wife  Mar- 
tha, and  eight  by  his  second  wife  Elizabeth  Chipman.  1, 
John,  married  first,  Margaret,  daughter  of  John  Miller, 
Feb.  5,  1701-2,  and  second,  Esther,  daughter  of  Jonathan 
White,  Nov.  7,  1707.  He  died  in  1714,  leaving  two  daugh- 
ters. Desire  and  Fear.  His  widow  married  John  Drake  of 
Yarmouth,  and  removed  to  East  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  about  the 
year  1726  ;  2,  Dorcas,  married  Aug.  8, 1695,  Prince  Howes 
of  Yarmouth  ;  3,  Samuel,  died  unmarried  in  1741,  aged  65  ; 
4,  Thomas,  married  March  19,  1719,  Mary,  daughter  of 
Jeremiah  Bacon- of  Barnstable.  He  had  one  son  Jeremiah 
a  cripple,  died  unmarried  in  1755,  and  five  daughters  noted 
for  their  beauty.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth,  became 
melancholy,  and  from  fear  of  starvation  committed  suicide 
20  April,  1743  ;  5,  Mary,  married  James  Gorham  Sept.  29, 
1707,  and  had  five  children.  The  other  children  of  Hosea 
Joyce  were  Hosea,  whom  his  father  cut  off  in  his  will  by 
giving  him  his  "small  gun"  ;  Lydia  who  married  Nov.  20, 

1706,  Ebenezer  Howes  ;  Martha,  who  married Godfrey  ; 

Mehitable;  and  Dorothy  who  married  Dec.  12,  1717,  John 
Oats,  an  Englishman.  His  descendants  write  their  name 
Otis,  and  reside  principally  in  Maine.  Hosea  Joyce  died  in 
Feb.  1712,  and  his  widow  Elizabeth  sm-vived  him.  He  had 
a  large  landed  estate,  and  in  his  will  calls  his  wife  "well 
beloved,"  though  he  appears  to  have  loved  his  money 
better,  for  he  gave  her  but  a  small  portion  of  his  estate. 
"The  stille-borne  maide  childe  of  John  Chipman  buryed 
Sept.  9,  1650."— [Church  Records. 
II.  Hope,  born  August  31,  1652,  in  Barnstable,  married  Aug. 
10,  1670,  John,  son  of  Mr.  Thomas  Huckins  of  Barnstable, 
and  had  Elizabeth,  1  Oct.  1671  ;  Mary,  3  April,  1673  ;  Ex- 
perience, 4  June,  1675,  and  Hope,  10  May,  1677.  John 
Huckins  'died  10  Nov.  1678,  aged  28,  and  she  married 
March  1,  1682.-3,  Jonathon,  son  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb  of 
Barnstable,  born  10  April,  1660.  He  was  twenty-two  and 
his  wife  thirty  at  the  time  of  their  marriage.  By  him  she 
had  five  children  born  in  Barnstable.  June  3,  1703,  she 
was  dismissed  from  the  Church  in  Barnstable,  to  the  Church 
in  Middleboro'.  From  that  town  the  family  removed  to 
Portland,  Maine.   (See  Cobb.) 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         161 

III.  Lydia,  born  Dec.  25,  1654.  She  was  the  third  wife  of 
John,  son  of  Mr.  "William  Sargeant  of  Barnstable,  removed 
to  Maiden,  where  she  died  March  2,  1730,  aged  76,  leaving 
no  issue. 

IV.  John,  born  2d  March,  1656-7,  died  29th  May,  1657. 

V.  Hannah,  born  14th  Jan'y,  1658-9,  married  Thomas  Huckins, 
May  1,  1680.  She  died  in  Barnstable,  4th  Nov.  1696,  aged 
37,  leaving  eight  children.     (See  Huckins.) 

VI.  Samuel,  born  15th  April,  1661. — He  had  ten  children.  Many 
of  his  sons  were  distinguished  men.  (See  an  account  of  his 
family  below.) 

VII.  Ruth,  born  31st  Dec.  1663-,  married  7th  April,  1682,  Eleazer 
Crocker  of  Barnstable.  She  died  8th  April,  1698,  aged  34, 
leaving  ten  children.     (See  Crocker.) 

VIII.  Bethia,  born  1st  July,  1666,  married,  as  I  have  noted,  Shu- 
bael  Dimmock.  The  Jabez  Dimmock  and  Mary  G-ale  named 
in  the  will  of  Elder  Chipman  were  probably  children  of 
Bethia.  She  died  early.  Shubael  Dimmock  married  4th 
May,  1699,  Tabitha  Lothropf  or  his  second  wife. 

IX.  Mercy,  born  6th  Feb.,  1668,  married  Dea.  Nathaniel  Skiff, 
removed  to  Chilmark  where  she  died. 

X.  John,  born  3d  March,  1670-1.     (See  account  of  him  below.) 

XI.  Desire,  born  26th  Feb.,  1673-4,  married  Hon.  Melatiah 
Bourne  of  Sandwich,  Feb.  23,  1696-6.  She  died  March  28, 
1705,  aged  31.  (See  Bourne,  where  her  name  in  one  place 
is  erroneously  printed  Bethia,  and  in  the  same  paragraph 
"Rev."  before  the  name  of  Thomas  Smith  should  be 
erased.) 

Dea.  Samuel  Chipman,  son  of  Elder  John  Chipman,  born  in 
Barnstable,  15th  April,  1661,  inherited  the  homestead  of  his 
father.  He  was  a  carpenter  ;  but  farming  was  his  principal  busi- 
ness. He  kept  a  public  house,  and  was  a  retailer  of  spirituous 
liquors,  a  business  not  then  held  to  be  incompatible  with  the  office 
of  Deacon  of  the  chui'ch.  He  was  a  man  of  good  business  habits, 
often  employed  as  a  town  officer,  and  there  were  few  in  town  who 
stood  higher  than  he  in  public  estimation.  He  was  ordained  a 
deacon  of  the  church  in  Barnstable,  Sept.  1,  1706.*  He  married 
Dec.  27,  1686,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb.  He  died 
in  1723,  aged  63,  and  his  widow  Sarah  Jan'y  8,  1742-3,  aged  79 
years. 

Children  of  Dea.  Samuel  Chipman  born  in  Barnstable. 
I.        Thomas,  born,  17th  Nov.,  1687.     He  removed  to  Groton, 


*After  this  date  the  custom  of  ordaining  deacons  appears  to  have  been  discontinued. 
The  subject  was  discussed  at  several  meetings  of  the  Church,  but  a  majority  was  not  in  fa- 
vor of  reviving  the  custom.  The  deacons  of  the  East  Church,  organized  in  1725,  were  not 
ordained.  Aug.  6, 1732,  a  church  meeting  was  held  to  consider  the  propriety  of  reviving 
the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  and  ordaining  deacons.  Aug.  21,  1734,  another  meeting  was 
held,  which  was  not  harmonious. 


162        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Conn.,  where  he  remained  several  years,  and  from  that  town 
removed  to  Salisbury,  Conn.,  where  he  held  high  rank  in  the 
town  and  county.  He  was  appointed  a  judge  in  1751 ;  but 
*  died  before  he  held  a  court.  His  son,  Samuel,  who  removed 
to  Tinmouth,  Vt.,  was  the  father  of  Chief  Justice  Nathaniel 
Chipman,  L.  L.  D.,  and  of  the  late  Hon.  Daniel  Chipman  of 
Vermont.     (See  Hinman,  page  576.) 

II.  Samuel,  born  Aug.  6,  1689.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the  Barn- 
stable Church,  and  kept  the  "Chipman  tavern,"  noted  in 
former  times.  He  married  Dec.  8,  1715,  Abiah,  (bap'd 
Abigail)  daughter  of  John  Hinckley,  Jr.,  (sou  of  G-ov. 
Thomas.)  She  died  July  15,  1736,  and  he  maj-ried  second, 
Mrs.  Mary  Green  of  Boston,  1739.  His  children  were,  1,  a 
son  born  Aug.  1717,  died  25th  Aug.  following  ;  2,  Hannah, 
born  1st  July,  1719  ;  3,  Samuel,  born  21st  November,  1721, 
removed  to  Groton,  Conn.,  and  had  descendants  in  that 
vicinity;  4,  Dea.  Timothy,  born  30th  April,  1723,  married 
Elizabeth  Bassett  of  Sandwich,  Jan'y  23,  1762.  He  was  a 
deacon  of  the  church  in  West  Barnstable,  and  died  Aug.  24, 

1770.  His  children  were  Abigail,  Dec.  9.  1752,  died  young  ; 
Samuel,  May  8,  1754  ;  Mary,  Nov.  1,  1755  ;  Abigail,  again 
Jan'y  31,  1758,  died  young;  William,  Feb.  4,  1760;  John, 
June  24,  1762  ;  Timothy,  May  6,  1764  ;  and  Elizabeth,  Jan'y 
27,  1767,  who  died  young.  Ebenezer,  5th  child  of  Dea. 
Samuel,  born  9th  of  Sept.,  1726,  removed  to  Middletown, 
Conn.,  where  he  has  descendants.  John,  sixth  child  of 
Dea.  Samuel,  born  June  30,  1728,  removed  to  Stratford, 
Conn.,  and  thence  to  Middletown.  Hinman  says  he  has 
descendants  residing  at  New  Haven,  Waterbury,  &c.  ;  7, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Dea.  Samuel,  born  2d  May,  1731,  mar- 
ried March  11,  1750,  Samuel  Jenkins  of  Barnstable,  and 
removed  to  Gorham,  Maine.  Mr.  Charles  H.  Bursley  has 
two  interesting  letters  from  her,  and  one  from  her  husband 
after  their  removal.  Her  children  born  in  Barnstable  were, 
Josiah,  Sept.  30,  1750;  Deborah,  Feb.  2,  1752;  Abiah, 
Jan'y,  27,  1754;  Samuel,  Nov.  23,  1755  ;  Mary,  Jan'y  16, 
1758,  and  Joseph,  June  6,  1760.  The  three  sons  were  sol- 
diers in  the  Revolutionary  army.  Joseph  died  April  20, 
1783,  near  West  Point,  of  consumption.  He  had  been  in 
the  army  two  years.  The  other  members  of  the  family  mar- 
ried and  had  families.  Mr.  Jenkins  writing  respecting  his 
grand  children,  says  "It  seems  to  me  they  are  the  prettiest 
children  that  I  see  anywhere."  Nathaniel,  eighth  child  of 
Dea.  Samuel  was  born  31st  January,  1732-3  ;  Joseph,  ninth 
child,  born  26th  May,  1740,  died  July  4,  1740. 

III.  John,  born  16th  Feb.,  1691,  graduated  at  Harvard  College, 

1771,  and  ordained  over  the  second  church  at  Beverly,  Dec. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         163 

28,  1715.  He  married  Feb.  12,  1718,  Rebecca,  daughter  of 
Dr.  Robert  Hale.  He  died  March  23,  1775.  His  son  John, 
born  Oct.  23,  1722,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1738.  He 
was  a  lawyer  and  resided  at  Marblehead.  His  son  Ward,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1770,  was  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  New  Brunswick,  and  died  president  of 
that  province.  He  left  an  only  child,  the  late  Chief  Justice 
Ward  Chipman,  L.  L.  D. 

IV.  Abigail,  born  15th  Sept.,  1692,  she  was  baptised  Oct.  30, 
1692,  by  the  name  of  Mercy.  Probably  her  name  was 
changed  to  Abigail  after  her  baptism.  She  married  March 
14,  1713,  Nath'l  Jackson. 

V.  Joseph,  born  10th  January,  1694,  according  to  the  town 
record.  He  was  baptized  March  4,  1692-3,  so  that  both 
records  cannot  be  accurate. 

VI.  Jacob,  born  30th  Aug.,  1695,  married  25th  Oct.,  1721,  Abi- 
gail Fuller,  she  died  Oct.  5,  1724,  and  he  married  for  his 
second  wife  in  1725,  Bethia  Thomas.  He  had  children, 
Sarah,  born  Nov.  23,  1722,  and  Elizabeth,  June  16,  1724, 
afterwards  changed  to  Abigail.  The  latter  married  July  8, 
1742,  Stephen  Cobb. 

VII.  Seth,  born  24th  Feb.  1697.     In  1723  he  was  of  Plymouth  , 
and  called  a  cooper.     He  was  afterwards  of  Kingston,  and 
is  the  ancestor  of  most  of  the  name  in  Maine. 

VIII.  Hannah,  born  24th  Sept.,  1699,  married  Dec.  25,  1713, 
Barnabas  Lothrop,  Jr.,  his  second  wife,  she  died,  June  11, 
1763. 

IX.  Sarah,  born  1st  November,  1701.  She  died  July  1,  1715, 
aged  14  years  and  8  months,  and  is  buried  near  her  grand- 
mother in  the  ancient  burying  ground. 

X.  Barnabas,  born  24th  March,  1702.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the 
West  Church,  and  was  an  influential  citizen.  He  has  de- 
scendants in  Vermont,  Michigan  and  Iowa.  He  married 
20th  Feb.,  1727-8,  Elizabeth  Hamblen  and  had  1,  Barnabas, 
28th  Dec,  1748,  who  married  MaryBlackwell  of  Sandwich, 
in  1721,  and  had  Martha,  Sept.  4,  1752  ;  Elizabeth,  Feb.  8, 
1755  ;  Joseph,  May  14,  1758,  deacon  of  the  East  Church ; 
Hannah,  June  6,  1760;  and  Barnabas,  Nov.  20,  1763;  2, 
Joseph,  born  22d  Dec.  1731 ;  3,  Elizabeth,  12th  May,  1734, 
she  married  Nov.  23,  1758,  Nath'l  Hinckley,  2d.  ;  4,  Thom- 
as, born  5th  March,  1735-6,  married  Bethia  Fuller  of  Col- 
chester in  1760,  and  had  Timothy  Fuller,  Feb.  1,  1761  ; 
Isaac,  Sept.  12,  1762,  and  Rebecca,  Jan'y  26,  1764 ; 
Hannah,  20th  Feb.  1737-8. 

John  Chipman,  son  of  Elder  John,  born  in  Barnstable,  March 
3,  1670,  was  a  cordwainer,  or  shoemaker.  He  removed  early  to 
Sandwich,  and  from  thence  to  Chilmark,  Martha's  Vineyard,  and 


164        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

afterwards  to  Newport,  R.  I.  During  his  residence  at  Martha's 
Vineyard  he  was  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Court,  and  after  his 
removal  to  Newport,  he  was  an  assistant  to  the  governor.  Ee- 
specting  him  I  have  little  information  ;  but  it  is  just  to  infer  that 
if  a  poor  mechanic  rises  to  places  of  honor  and  trust,  he  must  be 
a  man  of  some  talent  and  of  sound  judgement.  He  was  thrice 
married.  First,  in  1691,  to  Mary  Skeffe,  a  daughter  of  Capt. 
Stephen.  She  died  in  1711,  aged  40.  Second,  in  1716,  to  Widow 
Elizabeth   Russell,    her   third   marriage.      She   was   a    daughter 

of  Capt.  Thomas  Handley,,  and  married  first, Pope.      Third 

in  1725,  to  (Hannah  ?)  Hookey  of  R.  I.  His  thirteen  childi'en 
were  probably  all  born  in  Sandwich. 

I.  John,  died  young. 

II.  James,  born  18th Dec,  1694. 

III.  John,  born  18th  Sept.  1697,  married  Hannah  Fessenden  of 
Cambridge,  Sept.  26,  1726. 

IV.  Mary,  born  Dec.  11,  1699. 

V.  Bethia,  twin  sister  of  Mary,  married  Samuel  Smith,  Oct. 
6,  1717. 

VI.  Perez,  28th  Sept.,  1702,  is  the  ancestor  of  the  Delaware, 
Carolina  and  Mississippi  families  of  the  name. 

VII.  Deborah,  6th  Dec,  1704. 

VIII.  Stephen,  9th  June,  1708. 

IX.  Lydia,  twin  sister  of  Stephen. 

X.  Ebenezer,    13th   Nov.,    1709.      He   married   Mary  ■  , 

resided  at  Falmouth  where  his  son  John  was  born  April  10, 
1733,  afterwards  of  Barnstable,  where  he  had  Ebenezer. 

XI.  Handley,  31st  Aug.,  1717.  He  removed  with  his  father  to 
Chilmark,  thence  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  in  1761  to 
Cornwallis,  N.  S.  He  was  a  distinguished  man,  and  his 
descendants  are  numerous  and  respectable. 

XII.  Rebecca,  10th  Nov.  1719. 

XIII.  Benjamin. 

Few  families  are  more  widely  disseminate  than  this.  Elder 
Chipman  had  eleven  children  and  eighty-two  grand-children,  near- 
ly aU  of  whom  married  and  had  families.  The  Rev.  K.  M. 
Chipman  has  for  several  years  been  employed  in  compiling  a  gen- 
ealogy of  the  family,  extending  to  the  ninth  generation. — Want 
of  funds  has  prevented  him  from  publishing.  No  harm  will  result 
from  the  delay.  It  will  give  him  an  opportunity  to  correct  some 
important  mistakes  into  which  he  has  fallen,  and  from  which  no 
genealogist  can  claim  exemption. 

The  manuscript  of  the  "Declaration"  of  John  Chipman,  from 
which  we  copy  is  not,  as  has  been  supposed,  an  original  document 
in  the  handwriting  of  the  Elder.  It  is  in  the  hand  writing  of  John 
Otis,  Esq.,  an  elder  brother  of  Col.  James,  born  thirty  years  after 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.        165 

the  date  of  the  Declaration.  Notwithstanding  it  is  reliable,  for 
the  principal  facts  are  corroborated  by  the  deposition  of  Ann 
Hinde  and  by  records  in  Doreetshire,  England.  I  cannot  learn 
that  his  descendants  ever  obtained  anything  from  the  estate, 
which  was  illegally  conveyed  by  Thomas  Chipman  to  Christopher 
Derby. 

Mr.  Hinman  says  there  is  no  evidence  that  John  Chipman  re- 
ceived any  benefit  from  the  grants  made  to  him  by  the  Plymouth 
Colony.  The  presumption  is  that  he  did.  The  others  to  whom 
grants  were  made  at  the  same  time,  and  at  the  same  place,  re- 
ceived theirs,  and  no  legal  or  other  diflSculty  prevented  Mr.  Chip- 
man  from  obtaining  his  right. 

Chipman  is  an  ancient  name  and  occurs  as  early  ag  A.  D. 
1070,  on  the  Doomsday  Survey  Book.  Originally  the  name  was 
written  De  Chippenham,  or  by  the  armorial  bearings  Chippenham. 
There  are  three  places  in  England  of  this  name,  and  whether 
these  places  derived  their  names  from  the  family,  or  the  family 
from  the  places  is  a  matter  of  no  importance.  The  meaning  of 
of  the  name  is  Chapman's  town  or  home. 


COBB. 


ELDER   HEISTEY    COBB. 

Elder  Henry  Cobb  the  ancestor  of  the  Cobb  Family  of  Barn- 
stable, was  of  Plymouth  in  1632,  of  Scituate  in  1633,  and  of 
Barnstable  in  1639.  According  to  the  Eev.  Mr.  Lothrop's  re- 
cords, Goodman  Cobb's  dwelling  house  in  Scituate,  was  con- 
structed before  September  1634,  and  was  the  seventh  built  in  that 
town  by  the  English.  He  afterwards  sold  this  house  to  Henry 
Rowley,  and  built  on  his  lot  in  Kent  Street,  house  numbered 
thirty-two  on  Mr.  Lothrop's  list.  Mr.  Deane  in  his  history  of 
Scituate  says  he  was  one  of  the  "men  of  Kent,"  and  that  in  addi- 
tion to  his  house  lot,  he  owned  eighty  acres  on  North  River, 
which  was  afterwards  the  farm  of  Ephraim  Kempton,  and  then  of 
John  James. 

On  the  23d  of  November,  1634,  Gi-oodman  Cobb  and  other 
members  of  the  church  at  Plymouth  "were  dismissed  from  their 
membershipp  in  case  they  joyned  in  a  body  att  Scituate."  On  the 
8th  of  January  following,  Mr.  Lothrop  makes  the  following  entry 
in  his  records  :  '  'Wee  had  a  day  of  humiliation  and  then  att  night 
joyned  in  covenannt  togeather,  so  many  of  us  as  had  beene  in 
Covenannt  before ;  to  witt,  Mr.  Gilson  and  his  wife,  Goodman 
Anniball  and  his  wife,  Goodman  Rowley  and  his  wife,  Goodman 
■Cob  and  his  wife,  Goodman  Turner,  Edward  Foster,  myselfe, 
Goodman  Foxwell  and  Samuel  House."  The  two  last  named  may 
have  been  a  part  of  the  company  who  arrived  in  the  Griffin  with 
Mr.  Lothrop  ;  but  the  others  had  been  in  the  Colony  several  years. 
It  is  probable  that  many  of  them  had  been  members  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  in  London,  and  that  this  meeting  was  a  re- 
union under  their  old  Pastor  of  those  who  had  before  been  "in 
convenannt  togeather."  Goodman  Cobb  was  a  leading  and  influ- 
ential member,  and  for  forty-four  years  was  either  the  senior  dea- 
con, or  a  ruling  elder  of  the  church. 

When  it  was  proposed  that  the  church  remove  to  Sippican, 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.        167 

now  Eochester,  Dea.  Cobb  was  one  of  the  committee  to  whom  the 
Colony  Court  in  1638  granted  the  lands  for  a  township  ;  and 
when  it  was  afterwards  decided  to  remove  to  Mattakeese,  now 
Barnstable,  he  was  a  member  of  the  committee  having  charge  of 
the  selecting  of  a  suitable  location  for  the  settlement. 

Deacon  Cobb's  house  lot  in  Barnstable  containing  seven  acres, 
was  situate  at  a  little  distance  north  from  the  present  Unitarian 
Meeting  House,  between  the  lots  of  Thomas  Huckins  on  the 
north  and  Eoger  Goodspeed  on  the  south,  extending  from  George 
Lewis'  meadow  on  the  west  t^  the  "Old  Mill  Way"  on  the  east. 
This  tract  of  land  is  uneven  and  a  large  portion  was  originally  a 
swamp.  It  was  not  one  of  the  most  desirable  lots  in  the  settle- 
ment. 

His  other  lands  were  the  neck  of  land  and  the  meadows  ad- 
joining, where  Cobb  &  Smith's  wharf  and  stores  are  now  situate, 
bounded  southerly  by  Lewis  Hill  and  John  Davis'  marsh  and  on 
the  other  sides  by  the  surrounding  creeks. 

His  Great  Lot,  containing  three  score  acres,  was  situate  on 
the  south  side  of  the  County  road,  between  the  present  dwelling 
houses  of  Joseph  Cobb  and  James  Otis.  It  was  bounded  in  1654, 
easterly  by  the  lands  of  Henry  Taylor  and  Joshua  Lumbard, 
southerly  by  the  commons,  westerly  partly  by  the  commons  and 
partly  by  Goodman  Foxwell's  land,  and  northerly  by  the  highway 
and  Henry  Taylor's  land. 

Two  lots  of  six  acres  each  in  the  new  Common  Field. 

One  acre  of  Goodspeed's  lot,  (the  deep  bottom  on  the  north 
of  the  Meeting  House)  then  town's  commons  was  granted  to  him 
in  1665,  in  payment  for  land  damages  "by  ye  highway  running 
over  or  between  his  land  from  ye  gate  to  Thomas  Huckins." 
This  acre  was  situated  between  "The  Gate"  at  the  entrance  to  the 
old  miU  way  and  the  present  Pound.  He  was  also  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  common  lands  in  the  town  of  Barnstable,  and 
owned  lands  in  Suckinneset,  now  Falmouth. 

Deacon  Cobb's  house  lot  was  rough  and  uneven,  and  not 
desirable  land  for  cultivation.  His  great  lot  had  some  good  soil. 
It  was  a  good  grazing  farm,  and  as  the  raising  of  cattle  was  the 
principle  business  of  the  first  settlers,  his  lands  were  probably 
Selected  with  reference  to  that  object.  His  two  lots  in  the  new 
Common  Field  had  a  rich  soil,  and  was  occupied  as  planting 
lands. 

He  appears  to  have  built  two  houses  on  his  home  lot.  The 
first  was  probably  a  temporary  one  to  shelter  his  family  till  he  had 
time  and  means  to  build  a  better.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the 
three  deacons  of  the  church  lived  in  stone  or  fortification  houses. 
It  was  required  that  such  houses  should  be  built  in  every  planta- 
tion as  a  place  of  refuge  for  the  inhabitants,  should  the  Indians 
prove  treacherous  or  hostile.     It  seems  that  the  deacons  then  pro- 


168       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

vided  for  the  personal  safety,  as  well  as  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
people.  Deacon  Cobb  built  his  house  on  his  lot,  where  the  house 
formerly  occupied  by  Josiah  Lewis  stands — a  spot  well  selected 
for  defence  against  Indian  hostilities.  Dea.  Dimmock's  stood  a 
little  east  from  the  dwelling  house  of  Isaac  Davis,  and  'Dea. 
Crocker's  at  West  Barnstable.  The  two  latter  were  remaining 
within  the  memory  of  persons  now  living.  They  were  about 
twenty-iive  feet  square  on  the  ground ;  the  lower  story  was  of 
stone,  the  upper  of  wood. 

Elder  Cobb  died  in  1679,  having  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and 
was  buried  in  the  grave  yard  on  Lothrop's  Hill.  No  monument 
marks  the  spot  where  rest  his  mortal  remains — no  epitaph  records 
his  virtues.  Deane  says  "he  was  a  useful  and  valuable  man,"  and 
there  is  beauty  and  truth  in  the  words.  He  lived  to  be  useful  not 
to  amass  wealth  or  acquire  political  distinction. 

When  a  young  man,  he  separated  himself  from  the  Church  of 
England  and  joined  the  Puritans,  then  few  in  numbers,  without 
influence,  poor,  despised  and  persecuted  by  the  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical powers.  It  appears  that  he  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in 
London,  the  members  whereof  were  tolerant  in  their  views,  inde- 
pendent and  fearless  in  advocating  the  cause  of  religious  liberty 
and  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  bold  in  their  denunciations  of 
all  human  creeds.  He  did  not  escape  persecution,  but  he  for- 
tunately escaped  being  fconfined  for  two  long  years  with  Mr. 
Lothrop  and  twenty-four  members  of  his  church  in  the  foul  and 
loathsome  prisons  of  London. 

He  came  to  this  country  to  secure  religious  liberty  and  the 
freedom  of  conscience — utterly  detesting  all  human  creeds,  and 
firmly  believing  that  the  life  is  the  best  evidence  of  christian  faith. 
He  remained  in  Plymouth  a  few  years,  joined  in  church  fellowship 
with  the  followers  of  Robinson,  and  listened  to  the  teaching  of 
the  mild  and  venerable  Brewster. 

In  1633,  he  went  to  Scituate,  then  a  new  settlement,  and 
assisted  in  clearing  the  forests  and  building  up  a  town.  The  next 
year  his  pastor  Mr.  Lothrop  came  over  and  settled  in  that  town, 
and  soon  after,  many  of  his  ancient  friends  and  brethren  were  his 
townsmen.  After  the  organization  of  the  church,  they  invested 
him  with  the  office  of  senior  deacon,  a  mark  of  their  confidence 
in  his  ability  and  of  their  esteem  for  him  as  a  man  and  a  christian. 

In  Barnstable  he  was  active  and  useful  in  promoting  the 
temporal,  and  in  ministering  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  first 
settlers.  He  was  a  town  officer,  a  member  of  the  most  important 
town  committees,  and  in  1645,  1647,  1652,  1659,  1660  and  1661, 
a  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court.  On  the  14th  of  April,  1670,  he 
was  chosen  and  ordained  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Barnstable  church, 
an  office  which  he  held  till  his  death  in  1679. 

Elder  Cobb  was  not  a  man  of  brilliant  talents.     He  was  a 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         169 

useful  man,  and  an  exemplary  Christian.  With  perhaps  one 
exception  his  life  was  a  living  illustration  of  his  political  and 
religious  opinions.  When  in  1657,  mainly  through  the  influence 
of  men  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  a  spirit  of  intolerance  spread 
through  the  Plymouth  Colony,  and  laws  were  enacted  that  an 
enlightened  common  sense  condemns,  and  which  were  in  violation 
of  the  principles  of  religious  liberty  which  the  fathers  had  held 
sacred.  Elder  Cobb  was  one  of  the  deputies  to  the  G-eneral 
Court,  and  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  he  did  not  approve 
of  their  enactment.  In  so  doing  he  violated  principles  which  he 
had  long  cherished  and  held  sacred.  It  would  have  been  better 
for  his  reputation  had  he  like  his  friends  Smith,  Cudworth  and 
Robinson  and  nearly  all  of  the  "first  comers"  then  living,  pro- 
tested against  these  intolerant  measures,  and  like  them  retired  to 
private  life  with  clear  consciences  and  an  unspotted  reputation. 

Four  years  were  sufficient  to  sweep  away  every  vestige  of  the 
fanatical  and  intolerant  spirit  which  had  spread  ovef  the  Old 
Colony.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  How  could  men  who  had 
themselves  suffered  persecution,  imprisonment  and  stripes  for 
conscience  sake,  and  who  had  through  life  stoutly  maintained  that 
God  alone  was  the  judge  of  men's  consciences,  how  could  they, 
when  the  excitement  had  passed  away,  believe  it  right  to  perse- 
cute Baptists  and  Quakers  and  wrong  to  persecute  Puritans.  The 
absurdity  of  such  a  course  forced  itself  upon  the  minds  of  such 
men  as  Elder  Cobb,  and  soon  wrought  a  complete  change  in  pub- 
lic opinion. 

Three  of  the  name  of  Cobb  came  to  New  England,  and  if 
John  of  Plymouth  and  John  of  Taunton  are  not  the  same,  four. 
The  Cobbs  of  Georgia  are  a  different  family,  though  perhaps 
remotely  related.  Thomas  R.  R.  Cobb  a  brother  of  the  rebel 
general  Howell  Cobb  in  a  letter  dated  at  Athens,  Geo.,  April  7, 
1857,  says,  "I  have  but  little  information  as  to  my  remote  ances- 
try. The  tradition  as  I  have  received  it  from  my  father,  is  that 
seven  brothers  originally  emigrated  from  England.  Four  settled 
in  Vh'ginia,  three  went  to  Massachusetts.  Their  names  or  subse- 
quent history  I  never  learned.  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that 
his  grandfather  would  frequently  relate  that  the  brother  from 
whom  he  was  descended,  bought  his  wife  from  an  emigrant  ship 
for  700  lbs.  of  tobacco.  My  father,  grandfather  and  great- 
grandfather were  all  named  John." 

Traditions  are  usually  worthless.  Three  of  the  name  came 
to  Massachusetts,  as  stated  in  the  letter  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence 
that  they  were  brothers.  The  presumption  is  they  were  not. 
Mr.  Pratt  in  his  history  of  Eastham,  page  27,  gives  an  account  of 
the  origin  of  the  Cobb  families  founded  on  a  tratition  which  is 
wholly  unreliable.  He  says  four  of  the  name,  sons  of  Sylvanus, 
came  over,  namely,  Jonathan  from  Harwich,  England,  settled  in 


170        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Eastham  ;  Eleazer  iu  Hingham  ;  Sylvauus  north  of  Boston  ;  and 
Benjamin,  whose  sou  Isaac  was  Port  Admiral  of  Yarmouth,  Eng- 
land. Jonathan  was  a  descendant  of  Henrj'  and  born  in  Barn- 
stable. Eespecting  Benjamin,  the  document  quoted  by  Mr. 
Pratt,  says  he  settled  near  Rhode  Island,  which  is  very  doubtful. 
Descendants  of  Augustine  were  in  that  vicinity.  The  Eleazer  and 
Sylvanus  he  named  were  probably  both  descendants  of  Henry. 
No  Eleazer  settled  in  Hingham.  The  earliest  of  the  name  in  that 
town  was  Richard  who  is  called  of  Boston.  He  had  a  son 
Thomas  born  28th  March,  1693,  probably  the  one  of  that  name 
who  settled  in  Eastham,  and  married  Mary  Freeman,  before  1719. 
A  Thomas  Cobb,  Sen'r,  died  in  Hingham  Jau'y  -i,  1707-8. 

Edward  Cobb  was  of  Taunton  in  1657,  married  at  Plymouth, 
28th  Nov.  1660,  Mary  Haskius,  and  died  1675,  leaving  a  son 
Edward.     His  widow  married  Samuel  Philips. 

Augustine  Cobb  was  of  Taunton  in  1670,  and  had  Elizabeth, 
born  lOtisFeb.  1771  ;  Morgan,  29th  Dec.  1673  ;  Samuel,  9th  Nov. 
1675  ;  Bethia,  5th  April,  1678 ;  Mercy,  12th  Aug.  1680 ;  and 
Abigail,  1684.  Gen.  David  Cobb,  one  of  the  aids  of  Washington 
in  the  army  of  the  Revolution  is  a  descendant  from  Augustine. 

John  Cobb  of  Taunton  from  1653  to  1677,  Mr.  Boylies  says, 
came  from  Plymouth,  if  so,  he  was  a  son  of  Henry  of  Barnstable. 
A  John  Cobb  who  appears  to  have  been  a  resident  in  Taunton, 
administered  on  the  estate  of  his  brother'Gershom  who  was  killed 
at  Swanzey  by  the  Indians,  June  24,  1675.  Mr.  Savage  thinks 
there  were  two  John  Cobbs ;  but  1  prefer  the  authority  of.  Mr. 
Baylies.  There  is  only  one  entry  on  the  records,  that  favors  the 
supposition  that  there  were  two  John  Cobbs,  and  that  after  careful 
examination,  I  think  is  an  error  of  the  town  clerk  of  Taunton. 

Elder  Henrj'  Cobb  married  in  1631,  Patience,  daughter  of 
Dea.  James  Hurst,  of  Plymouth.  She  was  "bui-yed  May  4,  1648, 
the  first  that  was  buryed  in  our  new  burying  place  by  our  meeting 
house."  (Lothrop's  Church  Rec.)  He  was  married  to  his  second 
wife,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Samuel  Hinckley  by  Mr.  Prince,  Dec.  12, 
1649.     He  died  in  1679,  and  his  wife  Sarah  survived  him. 

In  his  will  dated  April  4,  1678,  proved  June  3,  1679,  and  in 
the  codicil  thereto  dated  Feb.  28,  1678,  he  gives  his  great  lot  of 
land  in  Barnstable  to  his  son  James,  the  latter  paying  Elder  Cobb's 
John  £5  for  his  interest  therein.  Names  his  sons  John,  James, 
Gershom  and  Eleazer,  to  whom  he  had  theretofore  given  half  his 
lands  at  Suckinesset, — gave  his  "new  dwelling  house"*  and  all 

*  "His  new  dwelling  house."  lam  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  Elder  Cobb  sold  liis 
stone  house  to  Nathaniel  Bacon,  in  his  life  time  and  that  the  house  to  which  he  refers  was 
on  his  "great  lot,"  and  that  it  was  afterwards  owned  by  son  Oames  and  grandson  Gershom. 
In  1823,  Mr.  Josiah  Childs  a  descendent  in  the  female  line  pointed  out  a  post  to  me  in  his 
fence,  and  said  fifty  years  ago  I  mortised  that  post  from  a  timber  taken  iVom  the  house  of  the 
first  G-ei-shom  Cobb,  and  said  that  fi-om  information  he  had  obtained  fi-om  his  ancestors,  the 
house  was  OTer  one  hundred  years  old  when  consequently  was  built  in  the  life  time  of  the 
Klder.  That  house  stood  on  his  "great  lot,"  near  tlie  ancient  pear  tree  now  standing. 
(See  account  of  3d  f  Icrshom  Hall.) 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         171 

the  rest  of  his  uplands  and  meadows  to  his  wife  Sarah.  In  his 
will  he  gave  his  dwelling  house  after  the  decease  of  his  wife  to 
his  son  .Samuel ;  but  in  the  codicil  to  his  son  Henry.  He  also, 
named  his  son  Jonathan,  and  daughters  Mary,  Hannah,  Patience 
and  .Sarah. 

CJiildren  born  in  Plymouth. 

I.  John,  born  7th  June,  1632.  Removed  from  Barnstable  to 
Plymouth  and  from  thence,  according  to  Mr.  Baylies,  to 
Taunton,  and  returned  again  to  Plymouth  about  the  year 
1678.  He  married  twice,  fii-st  28th  Aug.  1658,  Martha 
Nelson  of  P.  Second,  June  13,  1676,  Jane  Woodward  of 
Taunton.  His  children  were  John,  born  24th  June,  1662, 
in  P.,  died  young.  Samuel,  Israel  and  Elizabeth,  the 
dates  of  whose  births  are  not  given,  probably  born  in 
Taunton.  John,  born  in  Taunton  31st  March  1678,  ac- 
cording to  the  return,  probably  1677  ;  Elisha,  in  Plymouth, 
3d,  April,  1678,  and  James,  20th  July,  1682.  Elisha  of 
this  family  probably  settled  in  Wellfleet,  and  had  Col. 
Elisha  and  Thomas.  Col.  Elisha  had  five  sons,  and  has 
descendants  in  the  lower  towns  of  this  County.  A  Thomas 
Cobb  married  Mary  Freeman  of  Eastham,  before  1719,  and 
probably  was  not  the  Thomas  above  named. 

II.  James,  born  14th  Jan'y,  1634.  (See  account  of  him  and 
his  family  below.) 

Children  born  in  Scituate. 

III.  Mary,  24th  March,  1637.  She  married  15th  Oct.  1657, 
Jonathan  Dunham  then  of  Barnstable  and  his  second  wife. 
His  first  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Phillip  Delano,  whom 
he  married  29th  Nov.  1655.  He  removed  to  Middleboro', 
was  sometime  minister  to  the  Indians  at  the  islands  ;  but 
was  in  1694  ordained  at  Edgartown. 

IV.  Hannah,  5th  Oct.  1639,  married  9th  May,  1661,  Edward 
Lewis.  She  died  Jan'y  17,  1729-30,  aged  90  years,  3 
months,  12  daj'S. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

V.  Patience,  bap'd  13th  March  1641-2,  married  Robert  Parker 
Aug.  1667,  his  second  wife.  After  his  death  in  1684,  she 
probably  married  Dea.  William  Crocker. 

VI.  G-ershom,  born  10,  bap'd  12th  Jan'y,  1644-5.  He  removed 
to  Middleboro',  where  he  was  constable  in  1671  and  on  the 
grand  jury  in  1674.  He  was  buried-  at  Swanzey  24th 
June,  1675,  having,  with  eight  others,  been  killed  that 
day  by  the  forces  of  Philip.  His  brother  John  adminis- 
tered on  his  estate,  which  was  divided  in  equal  proportions 
to  the  children  of  Mr.  Henry  Cobb  of  Barnstable,  only 
John,  the  older  son,  to  have  a  double  portion. 


172        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

VII.  Eleazer,  born  30th  March,  1648.  He  was  admitted  a 
townsman  Dec.  1678,  when  he  was  24,  indicating  that  he 
was  then  unmarried.  He  was  of  Barnstable  in  1703,  and 
as  he  had  only  12  1-2  shares  in  the  common  lands,  the 
presumption  is  that  he  was  not  then  a  householder.  It  does 
not  appear  that  he  had  a  family.  His  death  is  not  re- 
corded, and  the  settlement  of  his  estate  is  not  entered  on 
the  probate  records.  It  may  be,  but  is  not  probable,  that 
he  was  the  Eleazer  whom  Mr.  Pratt  says  settled  in  Hing- 
ham. 

VIII.  Mehitabel,  born  1st  Sept.  1751,  died  8th  March,  1652. 

IX.  Samuel,  born  Oct.  12,  1654.     (See  account  below.) 

X.  Sarah,  born  15  Jan'y,  1658,  died  Jan'y  25,  1658. 

XI.  Jonathan,  born  10th  April,  1660.     (See  account  below.) 

XII.  Sarah,  born  10th  March,  1662-3,  married  27th  Dec.  1686, 
Dea.  Samuel  Chipmau  of  Barnstable.  She  had  ten  chil- 
dren. Her  sons  Thomas,  Samuel,  John,  Seth  and  Barna- 
bas, were  men  who  held  a  high  rank  in  society.  The  late 
Chief  Justice  Nathaniel  Chipman,  L.  L.  D.,  was  her  grand- 
son.    She  died  Jan'y  8,  1742-3,  aged  nearly  80. 

XIII.  Henry,  born  3d  Sept.  1665,  inherited  the  paternal  mansion. 
He  was  married  by  Justice  Thacher,  10th  April  1690  to 
Lois  Hallet.  Oct.  9,  1715,  he  was  dismissed  from  the 
Barnstable,  to  the  church  in  Stonington,  Conn.  His  chil- 
dren born  in  Barnstable  were,  Gideon,  11th  April,  1691  ; 
Eunice,  18th  Sept.  1693  ;  Lois,  2d  March,  1696 ;  and 
Nathan,  bap'd  June  1, 1700.  Margaret  the  wife  of  Gideon 
of  this  family  was  admitted  July  31,  1726,  to  the  church 
in  Hampton,  Conn.     He  afterwards  removed  from  H. 

XIV.  Mehetabel,  born  15th  Feb.  1667. 

XV.  Experience,  born  11th  Sept.   1671. 

Neitlier  of  these  two  daughters  being  mentioned  in  the  will  of 
their  father,  the  presumption  is  they  died  young. 

Sergeant  James  Cobb,  son  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb,  born  in 
Plymouth,  January  14,  1634,  resided  in  Barnstable.  He  married. 
26th  Dec.  1663,  Sarah,  daughter  of  George  Lewis,  Sen'r.  He 
died  in  1695,  aged  61.  He  left  no  will.  His  estate  was  settled 
Feb.  1,  1695-6,  and  all  his  eleven  children  are  named.  His 
widow  Sarah  married  23d  Nov.  1698,  Jonathan  Sparrow  of  East- 
ham.  She  died  Feb.  11,  1735,  in  the  9 2d  year  of  her  age,  and 
was  buried  in  the  grave-yard  near  the  East  Church,  Barnstable. 
■  Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Mary,  24th  Nov.  1664,  married  May  31,  1687,  Capt.  Caleb 
Williamson  of  Barnstable.  The  family  removed  to  Hart- 
ford after  1700,  where  she  died  in  1737,  aged  73. 

II.  Sarah,  26th  Jan'y  1666,  married  27th  Dec.  1686,  Benjamin 
Hinckley  of  Barnstable.     She  had  ten  ohildi-en,   the  five 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAilNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         173 

first  born  all  dying  young. 

III.  Patience,  12tli  Jan'y,  1668,  married  1694,  Jame^  Coleman, 
and  had  eight  children.  She  married  1,0th  Sept.  1715, 
Thomas  Lombard  of  Barnstable.  She  died  March  30, 
174:7,  aged  79  years.  Her  second  husband  w.a8  95  at  his 
death  May  30,  1761. 

IV.  Hannah,  28th  March  1671,  married  Joseph  Davis  March 
1695,  and  died  May  3,  1739,  aged  68.  She  left  a  family 
of  eight  children. 

V.  James,  8th  July,  1673.     (See  account  below.) 

VI.  G-ershom,  4th  August,  1675.     (See  account  below.) 

VII.  John,  20th  Dec.  1677,  Mr.  John  Cobb  as  he  is  called  on 
the  records,  married  25th  Dec.  1707,  Hannah  Lothrop. 
He  owned  the  house  now  the  residence  of  Mr.  David 
Bursley,  and  his  son  Ephraim  resided  there  within  the 
memory  of  persons  now  living.  His  children  were  Ephraim, 
born  5th  Dec.  1708.  He  married  Margaret  G-ardner  of 
Yarmouth,  Jan'y  7,  1729-30.  He  had  also  John  born  1st 
July,  1711,  died  March  1,  1713,  and  John  again  born  Oct. 

2,  1719,  who  died  May  25,   1736.      Mr.  John  Cobb  died 
Aug.  24,  1754,  aged  77  years,  aind  his  wife  Hannah  April 

3,  1747,  aged  66  years. 

VIII.  EUzabeth,  6th  Oct.  1680. 

IX.  Martha  6th  Feb.  1682. 

X.  Mercy,  9th  April,  1685. 

XI.  Thankful,  10th  June,  1687. 

The  fpm-  daughters  last  named  had  shares  in  the  estate  of 
their  father  at  the  settlement  made  in  1696.  Their  mother  married 
in  1698,  Jonathan  Sparrow,  Esq.,  of  Eastham,  and  these  daugh- 
ters probably  removed  to  that  town  with  her.  Mercy  was  May 
24,  1701,  a  witness  to  the  will  of  Mu-iam  Wing  of  Harwich.  At 
the  proof  of  the  will  Jan'y  8,  1702-3,  she  is  called  "now  Mercy 
Sparrow." 

Samuel  Cobb,  son  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb,  born  in  Barnstable 
12th  Oct.  1654,  was  a  farmer  and  resided  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
town,  and  built  a  house  on  the  six  acre  lot  that  was  his  father's  in 
the  new  commonfleld.  His  first  house  stood  on  the  south-east 
corner  of  the  land,  on  the  west  side  of  the  lane  leading  to  Indian 
lands.  He  soon  after  built  a  two  story  house,  a  little  farther  west 
on  the  same  spot  where  the  late  farmer  Joseph  Cobb's  house  stood. 
It  was  two  stories  and  constructed  in  the  style  common  in  those 
days.  It  was  taken  down  about  the  year  1805.  He  married  Dec. 
20,  1680  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  Taylor,  called  "tailor" 
to  distinguish  him  from  another  of  the  same  name.  He  died  Dec. 
27,  1727  aged  73,  and  his  wife  May  4,  1721  aged  66. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 
I.  Sarah,    20th   Aug.    1681.      She   married   Feb.    4,    1701-2 


174        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Benjamin  Bearse,  and  resided  at  Hyanuis  where  she  died 
Jan.  14,  1742,  and  is  buried  in  the  old.grave  yard  there. 

II.  Thomas,  born  1st  June  1683,  married  Rachel  Stone  of 
Sudbm-y,  Jan.  1,  1710,  and  had  eleven  children  born  in 
Barnstable,  namely :  1,  Abigail  29th  March  1711,  married 
Nathaniel  Sturgis  Feb.  20, 1734-5  ;  2,  Nathaniel,  15th  Oct. 
1713,  married  Susannah  Bacon  Dec.  14,  1738.  He  died 
Feb.  14,  1763,  aged  50.  His  cWldren  were  Thomas  Dec. 
1,  1739  ;  Oris  Nov.  9,  1741,  father  of  the  present  Lewis  ; 
Samuel  Nov.  30,  1744  ;  Susannah  Jan.  1,  1746-7  ;  Nathan- 
iel March  19,  1748-9,  died  Sept.  26,  1839  aged  90  ;  Sarah 
March  31,  1751.  3,  Elizabeth  14th  Feb.  1715,  married 
Jonathan  Lewis,  Jr.,  Oct.  13,  1737  ;  4,  Samuel  20th  March 
1717;  5,  Matthew  15th  April  1719,  married  Mary  Garret 
January  24,  1750-1,  and  had  Matthew,  a  merchant  at  Port- 
land and  a  man  of  wealth  and  considerable  distinction ; 
Daniel  engaged  in  trade  many  years  in  Barnstable,  and  the 
father  of  the  present  Matthew  Cobb,  Esq.,  and  others  ;  6, 
David  28th  Feb.  1721,  married  Thankful  Hinckley  Aug. 
12,  1745,  and  had  four  children,  died  May  23,  1757;  7, 
Henry  16th  April  1724,  married  Bethiah  Hinckley  Jan.  31, 
1753-4;  8,  Thomas  30th  April  1726,  died  Aug.  1726;  9, 
Ebenezer,  twin  brother  of  Thomas,  died  January  5,  1856, 
married  Mary  Smith,  had  5  daughters  ;  10,  Eunice,  bap't 
23d  Feb.  1728-9;  and  11,  Mary,  bap'd  Nov.  7,  1731. 
Thomas  Cobb  was  taxed  in  1737  for  £1000,  and  was  a  man 
of  wealth  for  the  times. 

III.  Elizabeth,  born  Nov.  1685,  married  25th  Nov.  1708  Eben- 
ezer Bearse.     She  died  15th  July  1711. 

IV.  Henry,  born  1687. 

V.  Samuel,  10th  Sept.  1691,  married  first  Sarah  Chase  of  Tis- 
bury,  Jan.  25,  1716,  and  in  1725  Hannah  Cole. 

VI.  Mehitable,  10th  Sept.  1691,  twin  sister  of  Samuel,  married 
30th  June  1715,  Nathan  Taylor. 

VII.  Experience,  8th  June  1692,  married  18th  Feb.  1713-4 
Jasher  Taylor  of  Yarmouth. 

VIII.  Jonathan,  25th  Dec.  1694,  married  Oct.  20,  1715,  Sarah 
Hopkins  of  Harwich.  The  records  of  his  family  are  incom- 
plete. He  had  Benjamin,  born  June  25,  1726,  married 
Bethia  Homer  of  Yarmouth,  and  was  afterwards  a  mer- 
chant of  Boston;  Samuel,  born  May  21,  1728;  Elkanah, 
born  Aug.  9,  1731  ;  Eleazer  born  Dec.  28,  1734,  married 
Kesiah,  daughter  of  Eleazer  Crosby  ;  and  Elizabeth  born 

April  30,  1738;  married Crosby.     Beside  the  above 

he  had  a  son  Jonathan,  who  married  Mary  Clark,  born 
about  1716,  who  was  the  father  of  Elijah, — Scotto,  1741, 
Isaac  1745,  John,  Seth,  Mary,  Sally,  Hannah,  Betsey  and 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         175 

Elkanah.  Scotto  above  named,  was  the  father  of  the  late 
Gen.  Elijah  Cobb,*  whose  son  Elijah,  a  merchant  of  Bos- 
ton, died  Aug.  1861. 

IX.  Eleazer,  born  14th  Jan.  1696,  married  Reliance  Paine  Oct. 
18,  1724.  He  occupied  the  house  built  by  his  father. 
He  died  Sept.  21,  1731  aged  35,  and  his  widow  married 
John  Coleman  Aug.  5,  1736.  She  continued  to  reside  on 
the  Cobb  farm  till  her  death,  June  11,  1742.  The  children 
of  Eleazer  Cobb  born  in  Barnstable  were,  Benjamin  Nov. 
20,  1725  ;  Joseph  28th  March,  1727,  died  11th  Oct.  1737 ; 
and  Reliance,  30th  Sept.  1728,  married  1747  Paul  Crowell, 
Jr.,  of  Chatham;  and  Patience,  bap't  15th  Aug.  1731, 
married  Nathaniel  Allen  of  Barnstable.  Benjamin,  the 
son  of  Eleazer,  married  May  29,  1749,  Anna  Davis,  and 
had  Reliance  May  9,  1750  ;  Eleazer,  Aug.  7,  1752  ;  Benja- 
min, Jan.  28,  1759,  married  Persis  Taylor  of  Barnstable, 
Nov.  13,  1783,  the  second  marriage  recorded  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Mellen.  He  had  one  son,  the  present  Enoch  T.  Cobb,  and 
a  daughter  Hannah  ;  Joseph,  February  19,  1763,  known  as 
farmer  Joseph,  married  June  19,  1785,  Elizabeth  Adams  ; 
and  Samuel  April  23,  1765,  the  latter  a  tanner  and  shoe 
maker. 

X.  Lydia,  born  Dec.  1699,  married  Ebenezer  Scudder,  1725, 
and  is  the  ancestor  of  nearly  if  not  all  of  the  name  in 
Barnstable. 

JonathanCobb,  son  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb, born  in  Barnstable 
10th  April  1660,  married  March  1,  1682-3,  Hope,  widow  of  John 
Huckings,  and  daughter  of  Elder  John  Chipman.  He  resided  in 
Barnstable  till  1703,  when  he  removed  to  Middleborough,  and 
from  thence  to  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  Me.  His  children  were, 
1,  Samuel,  born  23d  Feb.  1683-4;  Jonathan  26th  April,  1686; 
Ebenezer  10th  April  1688  ;  Joseph  24th  Aug.  1690  ;  Lydia  17th 
Jan.  1692-3  ;  Gershom  bap't  7th  July,  1695.  That  this  Jonathan 
was  not  the  one  who  removed  to  Harwich,  the  following  facts 
show.  His  son  Samuel  married  Abigail  and  had  at  Middleboro, 
Chipman  born  5th  March  1708-9,  and  probably  others ;  at  Port- 
land, Peter,  Feb.  1720,  and  at  Manchester,  James,  born  July  7, 
1723.  Jonathan,  son  of  Jonathan,  had  by  his  wife  Betty  at 
Portland  Lydia,  Aug.  9,  1720  ;  Ebenezer,  Feb.  19,  1722  ;  Mary, 
Nov.  8,  1723  ;  Deborah,  Aug.  14,  1725.  Ebenezer,  son  of  Jona- 
than, married  Mary.      He  died  at  Portland  Oct.  29,  1721,  aged 


*  I  have  a  genealogy  of  fhe  Cobb  family  based  on  the  recollections  of  Gen.  Cobb.  It 
seems  to  be  the  same  on  which  Mr.  Pratt  relied,  and  frhich  has  always  been  noticed.  Gen. 
Cobb's  information  respecting  his  great  grandfather  is  Ter^  imperfect,  and  of  the  preceed- 
ing  generations  mostly  if  not  entirely  suppositions.  It  is  certain  that  Gen.  Cobb  was  a 
descendent  of  Henry  of  Barnstable.  The  Truro  aud  "Wellfleet  families  probably  descend 
some  from  Elisha  of  Plymouth  and  some  from  James  Cobb  born  Sept.  13, 1698,  who  removed 
to  Tmro.  Elisha  Cobb,  bom  24th  Dec.  1702,  married  Mary,  Harding,  and  probably  removed 
to  Wellfleet,  and  Thomas,  son  of  Richard  of  Hingham  to  Eastham. 


176        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

33.  Chipman,  son  of  Samuel,  married  Elizabeth  and  had,  at 
Portland,  Nathan,  January  7,  1732  ;  and  Andrew,  March  27, 
1734. 

James  Cobb,  son  of  James  and  grandson  of  Elder  Henry 
Cobb,  born  8th  July,  1673,  resided  on  his  grandfather's  "great 
lot."  He  niarried  18th  Sept.  1695,  Elizabeth  Hallett.  She  died 
April  1, 1759,  aged  80.     Their  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  James,  born  13th  Sept.  1698,  he  married  Hannah  Rich  of 
Truro,  May  14,  1724,  and  had  1,  James,  June  16,  1725, 
died  Oct.  following  ;  2,  Elizabeth,  Saturday  Oct.  29,  1726  ; 
3,  Lois,  Friday  June  27,  1729  ;  4,  Isaac,  Tuesday  Dec.  21, 
1731;  5,  Ezekiel,  Saturday  Aug.  31,  1734;  6,  Hannah, 
Wednesday,  April  20,  1737  ;  7,  Dinah,  bap'd  June  1,  1740  ; 
8,  Deliverance,  bap'd  Sept.  19,  1742.  Hannah,  wife  of 
James  Cobb,  Jr.,  was  dismissed  from  the  church  in  Barn- 
stable to  the  church  in  Truro,  Jan'y  15,  1663-4,  and  pro- 
bably the  family  removed  to  that  town. 

II.  Sylvanus,  born  25th  Nov.  1700,  married  Mercy  Baker, 
Nov.  7,  1728.  He  died  Sept.  30,  1756,  aged  55.  His 
children  born  in  Barnstable  were,  1,  Mercy,  Oct.  13,  1729, 
married  James  Churchill,  Jan'y  10,  1751,  died  Sept.  25, 
1756;  2,  Ebenezer,  Aug.  13,  1731,  married  1754  Lydia 
Churchill  of  Middleboro',  and  had  .James  and  Ebenezer ; 
3,  Sylvanus,  Feb.  18,  1734-5,  died  May  10, 1737  ;  4,  Ben- 
nie,  Jan'y  23,  1736-7;  5,  Rebecca,  April  2,  1739,  died 
Aug.  17,  1756,  aged  17;  6,  Sylvanus,  July  21,  1741  ;  7, 
Thankful,  bap't  Sept.  25,  1743  ;  8,  Lydia,  bap'd  Jan'y  5, 
1745-6.  From  this  family  I  am  informed  that  Rev.  Syl- 
vanus Cobb  is  descended. 

III.  Elisha,  born  24th  Dec.  1702,  married  Mary  Harding,  of 
Trm-o,  Feb.  25,  1724-5. 

IV.  Jesse,  born  15th  April,  1704,  married  Thankful  Baker, 
Jan'y  1,  1733-4.  She  died  May  6,  1742,  and  he  died  Dec. 
1777,  aged  72.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were 
Joseph,  born  22d  Sept.  1734,  who  married  Desire  Lum- 
bard  and  had  Thankful  Nov.  14,  1757  ;  Remember-Mercy, 
Jan'y  13,  1760,  and  Joseph,  Aug.  18,  1762,  (the  father  of 
the  present  Mr.  James  Cobb).  The  daughters  Thankful 
and  Mercy  it  is  said  were  bewitched  when  young,  and 
marvelous  stories  are  related  of  them.  Jesse  Cobb  had 
also  Seth,  bap'd  Sept.  4,  1737,  removed  to  Sandwich ; 
Rowland,  bap'd  Oct.  15,  1738,  married  Thankful  Garret  of 
S.  ;  Nicholas,  bap'd  Feb.  10,  1739-40,  married  Ann  Perry 
had  Chloe  Blush  now  living,  aged  96,  and  others  ;  Nathan 
bap'd  Jan's  18,  1740-41.  Jesse  Cobb  was  an  illiterate 
man.  He  could  neither  read  or  write  ;  but  he  considered 
himself  a  great  poet  and  employed  an  amanuensis.     His 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    UAHNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        177 

two  nearest  aeighbors,  John  Lewis,"  many  years  town 
school  master,  and  Solomon  Otis,  Esq.,  were  graduates  of 
Harvard  College.  John  Bacon,  Esq.,  and  Capt.  Samuel 
Bacon,  "gentlemen,"  were  also  his  neighbors,  and  he  thus 
had  the  advantage  of  daily  intercourse  with  literary  men. 
Jesse's  poetry  has  not  been  preserved.  Some  verses  are 
however  repeated  by  his  descendants.  The  extravagance 
of  the  times,  the  fashions,  and  the  ladies,  whom  he  did  not 
»  treat  with  much  courtesy,  where  his  favorite  themes.  The 
dogerel  rhymes  in  the  note*  are  e:^tracts  from  his  poem 
addressed  to  James  Paine,  Esq.,  who  kept  a  school  several 
years  in  Barnstable,  and  who,  dm-ing  his  leisure  hours, 
coui'ted  the  muses. 

V.  Seth,  born  loth  April,  1707. 

VI.  J:benezer,  born  7th  March,  1709,  died  Sept.  1710. 

VII.  Jude  (or  Judah),  born  -iith  June,  1711. 

VIII.  Nathan,  born,  loth  June,  1713,  married  Bethia  Harding  of 
Eastham,  1736. 

IX.  Stephen,  born  27th  Jan'y  1716,  married  July  8,  1742, 
Abigail  Chipman,  and  had  Mary,  Judah,  James,  Abigail, 
Stephen,  Chipman  and  Jacob. 

X.  Elizabeth,  born  18th  April,  1718,  married  March  10, 
1736-7,  David  Hawes  of  Yarmouth. 

Gershom  Cobb,  son  of  James  and  grand  son  of  Elder  Henry 
Cobb,  born  Aug.  4,  1675,  married  Hannah  Davis,  24th  Feb., 
1702-3 

His  house  stood  near  the  centre  of  Elder  Cobb's  great  lot. 
Some  ancient  pear  trees  now  mark  the  spot.  Elder  Cobb  proba- 
bly built  a  house  there,  afterwards  owned  by  his  son  James.  His 
children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  John,  22d  May,  1704,  died  April  1706. 

II.  Sarah,  27th  Oct.  1705,  married  Nath'l  Bacon,  1726. 

III.  Gershom,  15th  Nov.  1707,  married  April  20,  1732,  Miss 
Sarah  Baxter  of  Yarmouth,  and  died  the  same  year  leaving 
a  son  Gershom,  who  married  Feb.  6,  1751-2,  Mehitebel, 
daughter  of  Job  Davis.     He  died  in    1758  leaving  three 


*  "Christ,  he  was  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
Aud  he  the  doors  of  Hearen  made. 
And  he  did  swear 

That  high  crowned  caps  and  plaited  hair 
Sliould  never  have  admittance  there." 
A  fashion  prevailed  among  the  ladies  in  Jesse's  time  of  weai-ing  the  hair  combed  aud 
plaited  over  a  cushion  resting  on  the  top  of  the  head-    This  was  surmounted  with  a  high 
crowned  cap. 

The  following  is  the  closing  stanza  and  is  particularly  addressed  to  Mr.  Paine  who  was 
the  champion  of  the  ladies  : 

"He  who  for  a  pls'treen  twice  told,  I 

Will  labor  for  a  week  in  school, 
Can  offer  nothing  veiy  great, 
So  here  is  alll  shall  relate." 
In  another  stanza  Jpsse   commends  fo  Mr.  Paine  the  perusal  of  the  third  chapter  of 
I^iiiah. 


178        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

sons,  bap'd  Nov.  25,  1759,  named  Edward,  (born  Nov.  6, 
1752)  G-ershom  and  Josiah.  Gershom  the  father  was  a 
very  honest,  upright  man,  a  weaver.  In  the  summer 
months  he  was  employed  in  the  fishing  business,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  year  in  weaving,  &c.  His  widow  in  1776 
married  Nathaniel  Lothrop,  his  second  wife,  and  she  had 
by  him  a  daughter  Susan,  who  married  Eleazer  Cobb,  Jr. 
She  died  in  1812  or  13,  aged  about  80.  Her  son  Edward 
was  a  carpenter,  married  Jan'y  29,  1778,  Hannah  Hallett  of 
Yarmouth,  removed  in  1782  to  Westborough,  where  he  died 
Oct.  27,  1819.  He  had  ten  children.  Gershom  was  a 
mariner  and  taken  a  prisoner  by  the  English  during  the 
Revolution.  He  returned  to  Barnstable  about  the  year 
1793,  and  it  is  said  that  he  returned  to  England  married 
and^had  two  children  there.  Josiah  went  to  Boston  to 
learn  a  shoemaker's  trade,  but  disliking  the  trade  left.  It 
is  supposed  that  he  was  lost  at  sea.* 

IV.  John,  born  17th  Nov.  1709.     Removed  to  Plymouth. 

V.  Hannah,  29th  Aug.   1711,  married  Jan'y  29,  1734,  David 
Childs  of  Barnstable. 

VI.  Thankful,  10th  July,  1714,  married  Oct.  14,    1746,  David 
Dimmock. 

VII.  Anne,  8th  Dec.  1716,  died  4th  Nov.  1720. 

VIII.  Josiah,  twin  brother  of  Anne. 

IX.  Edward,  2d  Nov.  1718. 

X.  Mary,  14th  June,  1721,  married  first,  Isaac  Gorham,  Sept. 
2,  1742,  and  second,  James  Churchill,  Feb.  3,  1756-7. 

Jesse  Cobb  was  a  loyalist  or  tory.  He  was  one  of  the  party 
who  assembled  on  the  evening  of  the  night  when  the  liberty  pole 
in  Barnstable  was  cut  down.  Jesse  was  called  on  by  the  company 
to  compose  a  notice  to  be  posted  up,  and  he  dictated  the  following, 
impromptu : 

Your  Liberty  pole, 
I  dare  be  bold, 
Appears  like  Dagon  bright. 
But  it  will  faU, 
And  make  a  scrawl. 
Before  the  morning  light. 
Jesse  was  seventy  years  of  age  when  he  dictated  the  above, 
and  it  indicates  that  he  was  ready,  and  possessed  more  wit  than 
we  have  given  him  credit  for.     The  Liberty  pole  stood  in  front  of 
the  public  house  of  Mrs.  Abiah  Crocker,  where  the  willow  tree 
now  stands.     It  stood  on  a  knowl  or  small  hill  there  which  has 

*The  account  of  the  family  of  Gershsom  Cobb  I  obtain  from  tbe  records,  a  manuscript 
of  one  of  the  descendants,  and  other  sources.  Respecting  the  third  Gershom  (son  of  Ger- 
shom and  Sarah)  I  rely  on  the  manuscript  which  seems  to  be  corroborated  by  the  Pi-obate 
records.  Gershom  Cobb,  Jr.'s  inventory  is  dated  Jan'y  23, 1733,  showing  that  he  died  soon 
after  his  maiTiage. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         179 

since  been  leveled.  The  pole  was  very  tall,  and  surmounted  with 
a  gilt  ball,  to  which-  allusion  is  made  by  Mr.  Cobb.  During  the 
night  the  pole  was  cut  down  and  fell  across  the  road.  Who  cut 
it  down  has  never  been  satisfactorily  ascertained.  I  persume  it 
would  have  been  difficult  for  Jesse  Cobb,  Samuel  Crocker  and 
Otis  Loring,  to  have  proved  that  they  were  not  present. 


CLAGHORN, 


.TAMES    CLAGI-IOEN. 

James  Claghorn  was  not  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  was  of 
Barnstable  in  1654,  and  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  in  1657.  He 
removed  to  Yarmouth  about  the  year  1662,  when  his  wife  com- 
mitted suicide  Oct.  1677,  by  hanging  herself  in  the  chamber  of 
her  house.  This  is  the  first  suicide  on  record  in  this  part  of  the 
Colony. 

James  Claghorn  married  6th  January,  1654,  Abigail,  sometimes 
written  Abia,  probably  a  daughter  of  Barnard  Lombard,  though  she 
may  have  been  a  sister.     His  children  bom  in  Barnstable  were  : 
I.      James,  29th  January  1654.     He  probably  died  early.     Mr. 

Savage  was  led  into  a  mistake  by  a  typographical  error  in  the 

Genealogical   Register   of    1856,   page   348,  where   Jane   is 

printed  James. 
n.    Mary,   born    26th  October,  1655,  married   March    28,  1682, 

Joseph  Davis,  had  four  children,  died  1706. 
HI.  Elizabeth,  April  1658. 

IV.  Sarah,  3d  January,  1659. 

V.  Robert,  27th  Oct.  1661. 

VI.  Shubael.     Birth  not  recorded. 

Robert  Claghorn,  son  of  James,  married  6th  November, 
1701,  Bethia,  widow  of  Nathaniel  Lothrop.  By  her  first  husband 
she  had  John  and  Hannah.  She  died,  say  the  church  records, 
'last  end  of  October,  1731,  aged  about  60.'  Robert  Claghorn's 
estate  was  settled  22d  Aug.  1715,  and  his  widow  Bethia,  sons 
Joseph,  Nathaniel  and  Samuel,  and  only  daughter  Abia  are 
named.  He  owned  7  1-2  acres  of  land  in  the  common  field,  a  lot 
in  the  neck  below  Joshua  Lumbard's,  and  lands  bought  of  the 
heirs  of  Joseph  Davis  at  South  Sea,  shares  in  the  common  lands, 
and  about  £300  in  money.  No  house  is  named  in  the  settlement. 
He  administered  on  the  estate  of  his  sister  Mary,  and  probably 
resided  at  her  house  at  the  time  of  his  death.  In  1702  he  owned 
a  part  of  the  Lumbert  farm,  and  had  a  house  at  the  east  end  of 
the  pond  and  for  that  reason  it  is  sometimes  called  in  the  records 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        181 

Claghorn's  instead  of  Lumtaert's  pond.  This  estate  he  sold  to  a 
Crocker,  and  it  afterwards  was  bought  by  the  Lothrops.  Respect- 
ing Robert  Claghorn  I  have  little  information.  He  appears  to 
have  been  a  very  worthy  man. 

Children  of  Robert  Clagliorv. 

I.  Abia,  born  Aug.  13,  1702.  She  did  not  marry,  was  admitted 
a  member  of  the  East  Church  Nov.  3,  1745,  and  died  Feb. 
4,  1763. 

II.  Joseph,  born  Aug.  25,'  1704. 

III.  Nathaniel,  born  Nov.  10,  1707. 

IV.  Samuel,  June  23,  1709.  In  the  division  of  his  father's  es- 
tate, the  lands  bought  of  the  heirs  of  Joseph  Davis  at 
Chequaquet  were  set  off  to  him.  He  married  September  11, 
1742,  Hannah,  probably  daughter  of  .Job  Hinckley,  and  had 
a  son  Nathaniel,  April  29,  1743. 

Shubael  Claghorn,  a  son  of  James,  married  Jane,  daughter 
of  .John  Lovell.  He  died  before  1729,  when  his  widow  married 
John  Bumpas  of  Rochester. 

# 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  James,  August  1689.  By  his  wife  Experience  he  had,  at 
Rochester,  Lemual  June  10,  1713,  and  Mary  April  12,  1715. 
He  afterwards,  in  1736,  married  Elizabeth  King  of  Kingston. 
His  wife  died  in  Barnstable,  Dec.  25,  1774,  aged  66. 

II.  Thankful,  30th  January,  1660-1,  died  January,  1696. 

III.  Thomas,  20th  March  1692-3.  A  Thomas  Claghorn  of  Ed- 
gartown  had  a  daughter  Hannah  baptized  at  the  West 
Church  July  17,  1756. 

IV.  Shubael,  26th  September,  1696. 

V.  Robert,  18th  July,  1699.  He  married  January  16,  1722-3 
Thankful  Coleman.  He  died  July  11,  1750,  aged  50,  and 
his  widow  April  1770,  aged  70.  He  had  :  1,  James,  Dec.  8, 
1723,  married  1747,  Temperance  Gorham,  removed  to  Salis- 
bury, returned  in  1770;  2,  Nehemiah,  Jan.  30,  1725-6; 
3,  Eunice,  May  4,  1728  ;  4,  Benjamin,  Dec.  17,  1733  ;  5, 
Jabez,  May  9,  1736,  married  Nov.  10,  1780,  Eunice  Davis, 
died  June  10,  1821,  aged  85. 

VI.  Benjamin,  14th  June,  1701. 

VII.  Reuben,  baptized  28th  April,  1706,  married  1733,  Eleanor 
Lovell  and  had  :  '  ,  Jane,  April  12,  1733  ;  2,  Nathaniel,  22d 
Aug.  1736  ;  3,  Seth,  Nov.  1,  1737  ;  4,  Joanna,  January  12, 
1742 ;  Lois,  Feb.  8,  1747.  His  autograph  signature  is 
affixed  to  a  paper  in  the  Probate  Office.     It  is  the  best  exe- 


182        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

cuted  signature  that  I  have  seen  in  that  office.* 

VIII.  Mary,  baptized  3d  Aug.,  1707,  mamed  1729,  Eben  Clark  of 
Rochester. 

IX.  Jane,  baptized  31st  July  1709,  married  Joshua  Lumbert,  Jr., 
1755. 

X.  Ebeneazer,  30th  July,  1712,  married  Oct.  30,  1734,  Sarah 
Lumbert.  She  died.  He  married  Sept.  7,  1763,  Elizabeth 
Hamblin— had  Joseph,  Oct.  9,  1743  ;  Sarah,  July  27,  1764  ; 
Jane,  Oct.  1,  1765,  married  Job  Childs,  Nov.  24,  1785. 


*Note. — Some  would  perhaps  give  precedence  to  the  signature  of  Hon.  Barnabas  Lo- 
throp  or  Col.  William  Bassett.  Specimens  of  the  chirogrophy  of  Mr.  liOthrop  are  preserved. 
The  form  of  his  letters  resemble  the  Old  English  black  letter  type.  He  was  not  a  rapid 
writer,  and  evidently  took  much  pains.  Col.  Bassett  was  a  rapid  penman,  wrote  a  fine  run- 
ning liand,  yet  distinct  and  easily  read.  Of  the  early  settlers,  Rev.  Joseph  Lord  of  Chat- 
ham was  the  best  penman.  He  wrote  a  splendid  hand.  I  have  a  volume  of  his  manuscript 
written  as  compactly  as  a  printed  page  yet  perfectly  distinct.  Joseph  Lothrop,  Esq.,  the 
first  Register  of  Probate,  wrote  .1  very  neat  hand.  Anthony  Thatcher  and  his  son.  Col. 
John,  were  excellent  Clerks.  In  the  Gorham  family  were  many  who  wrote  good  hands. 
There  is  a  remarkable  similarity  in  the  signatures  of  the  successive  John  Gorhams,  so 

treat  that  it  requires  a  practised  eye  to  distinguish  them.    William,  son  of  Col.  David  Gor- 
am,  wrote  a  splendid  hand  for  records. 


CHILD. 


RICHAKD    CHILD. 

The  earliest  notice  I  find  of  Eichard  Child  is  in  Mr.  Lothrop's 
Church  records.  It  is  there  recorded  that  "Richard  Childe  and 
Mary  Linnett  marryed  the  15th  day  of  October,  1649,  by  Mr. 
Collier  at  my  Brother  Linnett's  house." 

I  find  no  record  of  his  children  ;  but  it  appears  that  he  had  a 
family,  for  March  5,  1660,  he  was  ordered  by  the  Court  to  desist 
from  erecting  a  cottage  within  the  bounds  of  Yarmouth,  the  put- 
ting up  of  such  buildings  being  contrary  to  law. — He  afterwards 
gave  security  to  save  harmless  the  town  of  Yarmouth  from  all 
charges  on  account  of  the  children  he  then  had,  and  he  was  there- 
upon permitted  "to  enjoy  his  cottage."* 

It  thus  appears  that  Richard  Childs  had  a  family,  Samuel  and 
Richard  Childs  of  Barnstable  were  probably  his  children.  Sam- 
uel was  killed  at  Rehobeth  battle  March  25th,  1675. — There  was 
a  Richard  Child  in  Marshfleld  in  1665,  perhaps  the  same  who  had 
been  of  Barnstable  and  Yarmouth.  He  there  built  him  a  house 
and  married,  and  had  a  family.  Richard  Child  of  Watertown, 
born  in  1631,  was  another  man.  He  married  March  30,  1662, 
Mehitable  Dimmock,  a  daughter  of  Elder  Thomas  of  Barnstable. 
His  daughter  Abigail  married  Joseph  Lothrop  of  Barnstable,  and 
Hannah,  Joseph  Blush. 

I  find  no  positive  evidence  that  Dea.  Richard  Child,  from 
whom  all  the  Barnstable  families  of  the  name  descend  was  a  son 
of  the  Richard  who  married  Mary  Linnell ;  but  there  is  little  reason, 
to  doubt  that  such  was  the  fact. 

*In  the  account  of  Richard  Berry  I  stated  that  he  was  forbidden  to  erect  a  cottage  in 
Yarmouth.  That  was  a  mistake,  it  was  Eichard  Child  that  was  so  forbidden.  The  prac- 
tice which  prevailed  in  early  colonial  times,  of  warning  strangers  out  of  town  and  forbid- 
ding them  to  build  houses  or  settle  in  a  towTi  without  a  license  was  sanctioned  by  law.  The 
case  of  Richard  Child  is  not  a  solitary  one.  Men  of  good  standing  who  were  strangers 
were  often  warned  out  of  town.  The  law  may  seem  harsh  and  tyramcal ;  but  reasons  then 
existed  which  have  now  passed  away.  If  Richard  Child  had  been  allowed  to  build  in  Yar- 
mouth without  protest,  he  would  have  been  entitled  to  a  personal  right  in  the  common  lands 
and  a  tenement  right  amounting  in  Yarmouth  to  16  1-2  shares  out  of  the  3,118  into  which 
the  to\vn  was  divided ;  and  if  unfortunate,  the  town  would  be  liable  for  the  supplies  of  his 
family.  A  protest  not  only  saved  the  town  harmless  ;  but  prevented  the  person  moving 
in  fi*om  claiming  the  rights  of  a  proprietor. 


184        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

The  name  is  written  Childe,  Child,  Chiles  and  Childs  on  the 
records.  The  true  orthography  is  Child  ;  but  all  the  descendants 
of  Richard,  resident  in  Barnstable,  write  the  'name  with  a  final  s. 

Dea.  Richard  Child,  probably  a  son  of  the  first  Richard  of 
Barnstable,  resided  in  the  westerly  part  of  the  East  Parish,  on  the 
estate  owned  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Dexter,  deceased.  He  had  a 
shop,  which  indicates  that  he  was  a  mechanic.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  church  May  4,  1684,  and  ordained  a  deacon  Sept.  4,  1706. 
He  married  in  1678,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Crocker.  She 
died  January  15,  1696,  and  he  married,  second,  Hannah . 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Samuel,  born  6th  Nov.  1679. 

II.  Elizabeth,  born  23d  Jan.  1681-2,  died  five  weeks  after, 

III.  Thomas,  born  10th  January,  1682-3.  See  account  of  fami- 
ly below. 

IV.  Hannah,  22d  January,  1684.  The  Hannah  Child  who  mar- 
ried 30th  July,  1702,  Joseph  Blush  of  Barnstable,  was  as 
above   stated   a  daughter   of  Richard  Child  of  Watertown. 

V.  Timothy  born  22d  Sept.  1686. 

VI.  Dea.  Ebenezer,  born,  says  the  town  record,  "March,  latter 
end,  1691,  as  I  think."  He  died  January  17,  1756,  N.  S., 
in  the  66th  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  at  West  Barn- 
stable. He  married  in  1719  Hope,  and  had,  1,  Elizabeth, 
18th  July,  1720,  died  18th  Sept.  1720;  2,  Ebenezer,  10th 
April,  1723  ;  3,  Richard,  baptized  1st  Aug.  1725  ;  4,  Mary, 
baptized  3d  Sept.,  1727,  died  June  15,  1762  aged  35  ;  and 
Mercy,  baptized  4th  January,  1730.  The  .three  last  named 
are  not  on  the  town  records.  Ebenezer  Child,  Jr.,  son  of 
Dea.  Ebenezer,  married  January  15,  1745,  Hannah  Crocker. 
She  died  Feb.  23,  1755,  aged  37,  and  he  married  in  1756, 
Abigail  Freeman.  His  children  were,  1,  Ebenezer,  born 
Nov.  3,  1747,  baptized  at  the  West  Church,  Nov.  8,  1747  ; 
2,  Josiah,  Aug.  8,  1749  ;  3,  Hannah,  Sept.  10,  1751 ;  4, 
David,  March  2,  1754;  5,  by  his  second  wife,  Jonathan, 
May  13,  1757  ;  6,  Abigail,  Dec.  26,  1758  ;  7,  Hope,  Janu- 
ary 21,  1761 ;  and  Mary,  baptized  April  10,  1763. 

VII.  Elizabeth,  born  6th  June,  1692. 

VIII.  James,  born  6th  November,  1694.  See  account  of  his 
family  below. 

IX.  Mercy,  born  7th  May,  1697. 

X.  Joseph,  born  5th  March,  1699-10,  married  April  23,  1724, 
Deliverance  Hamblin.  He  was  admitted  to  the  West 
Church  Aug.  18,  1728,  removed  to  Falmouth  and  returned 
to  Barnstable  in  1747.  The  names  of  only  two  of  his  chil- 
dren were  on  the  town  records.  His  children  were,  1, 
Joseph,  born  17th  Aug.   1724;  married  Meribah  Dexter  of 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        185 

Rochester;  2,  Benjamin,  baptized  25th  Aug.  1728,  married 
Mehitable  Hamtalin,  1652,  and  had  Lewis,  Aug.  29,  1782  ; 
Hannah,  Sept.  6,  1754 ;  and  Mehitable,  Dec.  27,  1756. 
He  died  before  June  10,  1758,  when  his  three  children  were 
baptized  at  the  West  Church.  3,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Joseph,  was  baptized  24th  August  1729  ;  4,  Ruth,  baptized 
26th  Sept.  1731,  married  21st  May,  1747,  Reuben  Blush ;  5, 
James,  born  4th  March,  1742  ;  and  Abigail,  baptized  29th 
July  1750.  Deliverance  Childs  who  married  March  3,  1757, 
Daniel  Hamblin,  was  probably  a  daughter  of  Joseph  born  in 
Falmouth. 
Thomas  ChUds,  son  of  Richard,  born  10th  January,  1682, 
resided  in  the  East  Parish  where  he  died,  April  11,  1770,  aged 

88.     He   married  in    1710,  Mary .     Of    his   family   only 

David  appears  to  have  remained  in  Barnstable. 

Children  of  Thomas  Childs  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.        David,  born  July  20,  1711.     See  account  below. 

n.      Jonathan,  Nov.  27,  1713. 

HI.  Silas,  March  10,  1715.  Silas  removed  to  Rhode  Island, 
and  it  is  said  settled  in  Warren.  He  has  many  descend- 
ants. 

IV.  Hannah,  born  July  29,  1720,  married  Prince  Taylor  of 
Lebanon,  Conn.,  March  6,  1748. 

V.  Thomas,  Sept.  10,  1725. 

VI.  Benjamin,  Dec.  4,  1727,  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of 
Stephen  Davis  of  B.,  removed  to  Portland,  had  Thomas 
Sept.  25,  1752  ;  Isaac,  Feb.  10,  1755  ;  and  Rebecca,  March 
9,  1769.  He  and  his  three  children  died  early,  and  his 
widow  gave  her  estate  to  her  brothers  and  sisters  in  Barn- 
stable. 

VII.  Mary,  born  April  1,  1733. 

James  Childs,  son  of  Richard,  born  6th  Nov.  1694,  married 
Sept.  27,  1722,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Samuel  Crocker.  He  died 
Nov.  2,  1779,  aged  85. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Samuel,  July  15,  1723,  married  Feb.  20,  1752,  Mary 
daughter  of  Thos.  Hinckley,  and  had  1,  Samuel,  July  7, 
1753  ;  Elijah,  baptized  Oct.  21,  1764  ;  and  Ebenezer,  Jan. 
18,  1766 ;  Elijah  and  Ebenezer  of  this  family,  owned  the 
ancient  house  on  the  farm  which  was  Dea.  Cooper's  at  the 
settlement  of  the  town.  Ebenezer  did  not  marry  and  his 
half  of  the  house  was  sold  to  John  Dexter.  Elijah,  mar- 
ried Nov.  10,  1785,  Mary  Gorham,  and  was  the  father  of 
the  present  Dea.  Samuel  Childs  and  other  children.  He 
was  many  years  master  of  the  Barnstable  and  Boston 
packet  sloop  Romeo. 


186       GENKALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

II.  James,  born  April  22,  1725,  married  June  5,  1755,  Mary, 
daughter  of  David  Parker,  Esq.,  and  had  Elizabeth,  born 
May  6,  1756;  Daniel,  baptized  Aug.  10,  1760;  Mary, 
baptized  Feb.  15,  1761  ;  Sarah,  baptized  Dec.  30,  1764, 
and  James,  baptized  May  24,  1767. 

III.  Elizabeth,  born  Dec.  20,  1730,  married  May  19,  1748, 
Daniel  Crocker. 

IV.  Sarah,  born  April  9,  1736,  married  May  2,  1754,  Jonathan 
Crocker. 

V.  Thankful,  born  Aug.  4,  1741,  married  Joseph  Lawrence  of 
Sandwich,  March  27,  1760. 

VI.  Richard,  born  March  22,  1743-4.  He  inherited  the  estate 
which  was  his  father's  and  grandfather's.  He  did  not 
marry.  He  had  a  large  wen  on  one  of  his  ankles,  which  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  nearly  disabled  him  from  walking. 
He  gave  his  estate  to  John  Dexter,  on  the  condition  that 
he  should  support  him  for  life.  He  died  suddenly  in  1805, 
aged  about  61. 

David  Childs,  a  son  of  Thomas,  born  July  20,  1711,  married 
Jan.  29,  1734  by  John  Thacher,  Esq.,  to  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Gersham  Cobb.     His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  David,  Feb.  7,  1735-6,  married  April  4,  1758,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Job  Davis,  and  had  1,  Susannah,  July  30, 
1762,  married  Joseph  Cobb,  Sept.   30,  1784;  2,  Asenath, 

Sept.   22,    1765,    married   1st,    Josiah   Clark,    2d, 

Wild,  and  lived  in  Boston;  3,  Job,  Sept.  8,  1767,  married 
Jane  Claghorn,  24th  Nov.  1785;  4,  Hannah,  Nov.  17, 
1769,  married  4th  April,  1788,  Josiah  Gorham ;  5,  Anna, 
Nov.  1741,  died  unmarried,  had  Polly  AUyn  ;  6,  Josiah, 
Dec.  14,  1773,  married  and  then  removed  to  Westborough 
and  thence  to  Boston ;  7,  David,  July  8,  1775  ;  8,  Shubael 

Davis,  Dec.   16,  1777,  married ,  died   suddenly   in 

Chelsea;  9,  Benjamin,  Aug.  11,  1779,  died  a  young  man, 
in  Georgia;    and  10,  Edward,   March    9,   1783,   married 

thrice,  1,  Jane  Goodeno,  2,  Cynthia  Goodeno,  3,  , 

died  in  Boston. 

II.  Jonathan,  Dec.  25,  1737,  married  Thankful  Howland, 
March  19,  1787,  removed  to  Sandwich. 

III.  Anna,  Aug.  18,  1742,  died  unmarried. 

IV.  Asenath,  Feb.  28,  1738-40,  married Linnell. 

V.  Josiah,  Sept.  7,  1745,  married  1st,  Temperance,  daughter 
of  George  Lewis.  She  died  soon  after  marriage,  of  con- 
sumption, and  he  married  2d,  Abigail,  daughter  of  Nathan- 
iel Sturgis.  He  was  with  his  uncle,  Capt.  James  Churchill, 
in  the  French  War,  and  during  the  Revolution,  was  one  of 
the  Home  Guard,  detailed  for  the  defence  of  the  coast. 
He  was  entitled  to  a  pension,  but  did  not  obtain  it.     He 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        187 

was  employed  fifteen  winters  in  trading  voyages  to  the 
Carolinas'. 
VI.       Edward,  Sept.   13,  1749,  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Seth 
Lothrop.     He  was  employed  many  years  by  the  eccentric 
Dr.  Abner  Hersey,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  faithful  ser- 
vices, the  Dr.  in  one  of  his  early  wills,  gave  him  £100. 
The  Dr.  inquired  of  Edward  what  disposition  he  intended 
to   make   of   the   bequest.     "Fit   out  my   daughters   and 
marry  them  off,"  was  the  inconsiderate  reply.     The   Dr. 
could  not  tolerate  even  neatness  in  dress,  was  indignant  at 
the  reply,  altered  his  will,  and  Edward  lost  the  money. 
Josiah  and  Edward  bought  the  small  estate  of  John  Logge, 
(a  part  of  Elder  Cobb's  great  lot) ,  which  they  divided,  and  each 
had  a  house  thereon.     Both  were  coopers  and  small  farmers,  and 
displayed  more  taste  for  horticultural  and  florticultural  pursuits 
than  was  common  in  those  days.     Both,  in  early  life,  went  on 
feather  voyages,  a  term  which  few,  at  the  present  time,  will  under- 
stand.    About  a  century  ago,  vessels  were  fitted  out  for  the  coast 
of  Labrador  to  collect  feathers  and  eider  down.     At   a   certain 
season  of  the  year  some  species  of  wild  fowl  shed  a  part  of  their 
wing  feathers,  and  either  cannot  fly,  or  only  for  a  short  distance. 
On  some  of  the  barren  islands  on  that  coast,  thousands  of  those 
birds  congregated.     The  crews  of  the  vessels  would  drive  them 
together,  kill  them  with  a  short  club  or  a  broom  made  of  spruce 
branches,  and  strip  off  their  feathers.     Millions  of  wild  fowl  were 
thus  destroyed,  and  in  a  few  years,  their  haunts  were  broken  up 
by  this  wholesale  slaughter,  and  their  numbers  so  greatly  dimin- 
ished that  feather  voyages  became   unpi'ofitable    and   were   dis- 
continued. 

For  fourteen  years  subsequent  to  1800  these  brothers  were 
oftener  seen  together  than  seperate.  Every  week  day  at  11  and 
4  o'clock  they  visited  the  groceries  with  a  degree  of  punctuality  which 
all  noticed.  Housewives  that  had  no  time-pieces,  when  they  saw 
them,  would  say.  Uncle  Ned  and  Siah  (as  they  were  familiarly 
called)  have  passed,  and  it  is  time  to  set  the  table.  At  the  close 
of  his  life,  Edward  became  estranged  from  his  brother  and  would 
liave  no  intercourse  whatever  with  him.  This  was  a  great  afflic- 
tion to  Josiah,  and  no  efforts  or  concessions  he  could  make 
effected  a  reconciliation.  Edward  had  some  eccentricities.  Per- 
haps his  long  and  familiar  intercourse  with  Dr.  Hersey  had  in- 
fused that  trait  into  his  character.  His  feelings  were  strong,  and 
when  he  took  a  dislike  he  was  not  easily  reconciled.  Josiah  was 
a  different  man  in  this  respect.  He  harbored  no  prejudices 
against  any  one.  He  was  a  kind  hearted  man,  and  a  good  neigh- 
bor. When  young  he  took  an  interest  in  the  history  of  the  early 
settlements,  and  remembered  many  things  that  his  grandfather  had 
said  to  him.      He  stated  that   all  the  families  of  the  name  of 


188       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Childs,  in  Barnstable,  were  descendants  of  the  first  Richard, 
which  is  probably  the  fact.  He  survived  his  brother,  dying  at  an 
advanced  age. 


COGGIN. 


Four  of  this  uame  came  to  New  England.  John,  Sen'r,  of 
Boston,  said  to  have  been  the  first  who  opened  a  store  for  the  sale 
of  goods  in  that  city,  was  a  ship-owner,  and  a  man  of  wealth  ;  he 
died  in  1658;  John  Jr.,  of  Boston,  son  of  Humphrey,  and  a 
nephew  of  John,  Sen'r.,  died  in  1674;  Thomas  was  of  Taunton 
in  1643,  died  March  4,  1653  ;  Henry  Coggin  was  of  Boston  in 
1634,  afterwards  of  Scituate,  and  removed  with  the  first  settlers 
to  Barnstable  in  1639.  July  1  1634,  three  cases,  in  one  of  which 
Henry,  and  in  another,  John  Coggin  was  a  party,  were  referred  lo 
Gov.  Winthrop  and  three  others  for  adjustment  and  settlement. 
The  matters  in  dispute  are  not  fully  stated ;  but  appear  to  have 
been  connected  with  the  settlement  of  a  ship's  voyage,  in  which 
Hem-y  and  John  probably  had  an  interest. 

Dec.  4,  1638,  William  Andrews  was  convicted  of  making  an 
assault  on  Mr.  Henry  Coggin,  striking  him  several  blows  and 
conspiring  against  his  life.  Andrews,  as  a  part  of  his  punishment 
was  committed,  or  sold  into  slavery  ;  but  on  the  3d  of  September 
following,  he  was  released,  he  promising  to  pay  Mr.  Henry  Coggin 
eight  pounds. 

Feb.  13, 1639-40,  Mr.  Henry  Coggin  assigned  for  50  shillings 
sterling,  and  20  bushels  of  Indian  Corn,  paid  by  Manaseth 
Kempton,  of  Plymouth,  the  services  of  Ms  servant  James  Glass,* 
for  the  term  of  five  years,  from  June  14,  1640. 

Oct.  14,  1643,  he  was  one  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Court  to  cause  a  place  or  places  in  Barnstable  to  be  fortified  for 
the  defence  of  the  inhabitants  against  any  sudden  assault. 

June  5,  1644,  he  was  on  the  grand  jury,  and  at  the  same 
court  he  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley  took  the  oath  of  fidelity. 
They  had  previously  taken  the  same  oath  at  Scituate. 


*  .James  Glass  settled  in  Plymouth.  He  married  Slst  Oct.,  1645,  Mary,  daughter  of 
William  Pontus,  had  Hannah,  2d  June,  1647;  Wybra,  9th  Aug.  1649;  Hannah  again  24th 
Dec.  1651 ;  and  Mary  posthumous.  He  was  a  freeman  1648,  and  was  lost  in  a  storm,  Sept.  3, 
1652,  near  Plymouth  harbor.  Roger  Glass,  a  servant  of  John  Crocker,  was  probably  a 
brother  of  James. 


li)0        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

The  record  of  his  lands  in  Barnstable  was  not  made  till  3d 
Feb.  1661-2.  His  home  lot  containing  ten  and  one-half  acres, 
was  bounded  easterly  by  Coggins's,  now  called  Great  Pond, 
southerlj'  by  the  highway,  and  John  Finney's  land,  westerly  by 
Henry  Bourne's  land,  and  northerly  by  the  meadow.  His  house 
stood  near  the  spot  where  Sturgis  Gorham,  Esq.,  built  the  house 
now  owned  by  the  Smiths.  The  lot  originall}'  contained  eleven 
acres  and  a  half,  one  acre,  before  the  record  was  made,  had  been 
sold  to  John  Finney.  This  acre  was  near  the  present  railroad 
crossing,  and  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  highway,  and  on 
other  sides  by  the  land  of  Henry  Coggiu,  deceased. 

He  also  owned  four  acres  of  marsh  adjoining  his  home  lot ; 
four  on  Jewell's  island  ;  eight  of  marsh  and  one  acre  of  upland 
at  Scorton ;  fifty  acres  of  land  at  the  Indian  pond ;  and  two 
shares  in  the  Calve's  pasture. 

He  married,  perhaps  in  England,  Abigail  Bishop.  Her 
father,  probably,  never  came  to  New  England.  Circumstance 
favors  the  supposition  that  Henry  Coggin  was  a  sea  captain,  and 
that  his  death,  June  16,  1649,  in  England,  occurred,  not  while  he 
was  on  a  visit  to  that  country,  as  Mr.  Savage  supposes  but  while 
pursuing  the  regular  course  of  his  business  as  a  trader  between 
London  and  Boston.  This  is  probably  the  fact.  Nothing  is 
positively  known  on  the  subject.  The  case  which  he  had  with 
John  Tilly  shows  that  he  had  some  connection  with  ships,  and  the 
fact  that  he  was  entited  to  be  called  Mr.  in  Massachusetts,  shows 
•that  he  was  a  man  of  good  standing,  not  a  common  sailor.  His 
widow  married  John  Finney,  according  to  the  Church  Records, 
July  9,  1650,  and  according  to  the  Colony  Records,  10th  June, 
1650  ;  she  died  6th  May,  1653. 

Children  of  Mr.  Henry  Coggin. 

I.  Abigail,  born  probably  in  Scituate,  about  the  year  1637. 
She  married  21st  June,  1659,  John  French,  of  Billerica. 
He  was  a  son  of  William,  and  came  over  in  the  Defence 
with  his  parents  at  the  age  of  5  months.  She  died  soon 
after  ,her  marriage  leaving  no  issue. 

II.  Thomas,  baptized  at  the  Barnstable  Church  March  2,  1639- 
40,  died  26th  Feb.  1658-9  ;  but  according  to  the  Colony 
Records  he  was  buried  28th  Jan.  1658-9.  I 

III.  John,  baptized  Feb.  12,  1642-3.  In  1654  his  parents  were 
dead,  and  all  his  brothers  and  sisters  excepting  Abigail. 
His  father-in-law  had  taken  a  third  wife  who  had  no  sympa- 
thy for  these  children.  Mar.  1,  1658-9  Mr.  Isaac  Robinson 
and  Gyles  Rickard,  Sen'r.,  of  Plymouth,  complained  to  the 

1 1  usually  follow  the  dates  on  the  Church  EecoriJs.  These  are  noted  in  the  order  in 
which  they  occuiTed.  The  Town  Eecords  from  which  the  Colony  were  copied,  hare  been 
transcribed  sevci-al  times,  and  the  order  in  which  they  are  arranged  affords  no  clue  for 
detecting  errors. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        191 

Court  that  these  orphan  children  living  with  Finney,  suffered 
wrong  in  several  respects  and  their  case  was  referred  to 
Gov.  Prence  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley  to  examine.  On  the 
3d  of  May  following,  John  Coggin  having  made  choice  of 
Capt.  James  Cudwerth  and  Mr.  Isaac  Robinson,  the  Court 
appointed  them  his  guardians ;  but  ordered  that  he  should 
remain  with  his  father-in-law  tOl  the  June  Court,  and  mean- 
time to  be  Itept  at  school  all  the  time,  excepting  six  days. 
The.  Court  delayed  giving  any  definite  order,  to  give  Mr. 
Finney  time  to  make  up  the  accounts  of  the  estate,  and 
because  letters  were  expected  from  Mr.  Bishop,  the  grand- 
father, who  was  probably  in  England.  June  7,  1659,  all 
the  lands  of  Henry  Goggin,  deceased,  were  transferred  to 
the  guardians  of  John.  In  these  proceedings  Abigail  is  not 
named.  She  was  then  of  age  and  married  soon  after,  as 
above  stated.  ^ 

April  8,  1664,  John  Coggin  executed  a  discharge  of  his  lov- 
ing friends  and  guardians,  acknowledging  himself  to  be 
fully  satisfied  with  their  management  in  relation  to  himselfr 
and  his  estate.  On  the  8th  of  the  following  June,  the 
Court  declared  John  Coggin  to  be  "heir  apparent"  of  Henry 
Goggin,  deceased,*  and  authorized  him  to  make  sale  of 
the  lands  that  were  his  father's.  The  houselot,  meadows 
adjoining,  and  on  Jewell's  island,  and  shares  in  the  Calve's 
Pasture,  he  sold  to  his  father-in-law,  the  meadow  at  Scor- 
ton  to  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller,  and  his  great  lot  at  Indian 
Pond  to  Wm.  Crocker.  He  married  22d  Dec.  1664,  Mary 
Long,  of  Charlestown,  and  had  children,  Henry  and  John. 

IV.  Mary,  baptized  April  20,  1645,  buried  May  3,  1645. 

V.  Henry,  baptized  Oct.   11,    1646.      I  find  no  record  of  his 
death  ;  he  was  not  living  in  1669. 

The  parties  named  in  connection  with  this  family,  were 
among  the  most  respectable  in  this,  and  in  the  Mass.  Col- 
ony.]: The  name  is  written  Coggin,  Coggan,  Cogan,  Cog- 
gen,  and  by  Mr.  Lothrop,  Cogain.  The  records  of  Mr. 
Lothrop's  Church  in  London  are  lost,  but  circumstances 
make  it  probable  that  Mr.  Coggin  was  a  member  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  admitted  to  fellowship  in  the  Scituate  and 
Barnstable  Church,  without  any  formed  proceedings  on 
record.  Circumstances  indicate  that  such  were  the  facts, 
not  only  in  regard  to  Mr.  Coggin  ;  but  to  other  members  of 
the  London  Church,  who  came  over  and  finally  settled 
in  Barnstable.  § 

JMary  Gaunt  was  a  kinsman  of  Henry  Coggin  and  probably  resided  in  his  family.  She 
married  Francis  Crooker. 

§1  have  heretofore  suggested  that  the  old  name  of  Coggin's  pond  be  restored.  The 
present  name  is  indefinite  and  without  meaning.  In  spelling  the  name  I  have  followed  the 
town  records.  Cogain  is  perhaps  better.  Let  the  station  on  the  Cape  Cod  Railroad  be 
called  Cogain's  Pond  station. 


COOPER. 


Dea.  John  Cooper  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Barnstable. 
He  came  to  Plymouth  about  the  year  1632,  and  there  married  on 
the  27th  Nov.  1634,  Priscilla,  widow  of  William  Wright  and 
daughtei;  of  Alexander  Carpenter,*  of  Leyden.  She  had  no  issue 
by  either  marriage  that  survived  her.  In  1683  she  removed  to 
Plymouth  where  she  died  Dec.  29,  1689,  aged  91.  The  following 
is  a  copy  of  her  letter  of  dismission  from  the  Barnstable  to  the 
J'lymouth  Church : 

"ffor  ye  Rev'd  Elders  of  ye  CCh.  of  Ct.,  at  Plymouth,  to 
bee  communicated  to  ye  CCh.  there,  Rev'd  and  beloved  Brethren, 

The  providence  of  God  having  rernoved  ye  Widow  Cooper 
A. member  of  ye  CCh  of  Ct.  at  Barnstable  fro.  us  to  dwell  w'th 
you ;  and  she  desiring  to  partake  with  you  of  ye  good  things  of 
God's  house,  and  to  be  under  yo'r  watch  and  care,  and  in  order 
y'r  unto  to  bee  dismissed  fro.  o'er  CCh  unto  you ;  y'r  fore  if 
you  judge  meet  to  receive  her,  wee  do  dismiss  her  fro.  us  unto 
yo'r  holy^  communion ;  as  one  yt  has  walked  orderly  while  w'th 
us,  and  do  commend  her  to  you  unto  ye  grace  of  God  in  all  you'r 
holy  Administrations. 

In  ye  name  and  w'th  consent  of 
ye  CCh  of  Ct.  at  Barnstable, 

Barnst :  pr  nos, 

8  r:   15,  1683,  Jonath:  Bussel,  Pastor. 

John  Chijiman,  Elder. f 

*  Alexander  Carpenter  was  one  of  Mr.  Bobininson's  church  at  Leyden.  Five  of  his 
daughters  are  named  : 

I.  Anna,  also  named  Agnes,  in  the  Dutch  records,  called  a  maid  oi  "Wrentham,  in  Eng- 
land, married  April  30, 1613,  Samuel  Fuller,  afterwards  the  physician  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony.    She  died  early. 

II.  Julian  or  Julia  Ann,  bom  1584,  married  23d  July,  1612,  at  Leyden,  George  Morton, 
2d,  Manasseth  Kempton,  of  Plymouth,  died  19th  Feb.  1664-5,  aged  81. 

III.  Alice,  bom  1590,  married  first  Constant  Southworth,  was  a  widow  whea  she  came  over, 
married  2d  Got.  William  Bradford,  14th  Aug.  1623,  and  died  March  26,  1670,  aged  80. 

IV.  Priscilla,  bom  1598,  married  as  above  stated. 

"V".     Mary,  according  to  Mr.  Savage,  born  in  1577  and  died  unmarried  at  Plymouth,  March 
-  19, 1668,  aged  90.    Mr.  Bussell  says  in  1638,  if  so  she  was  bom  in  1693,  a  letter  of  hers 
hjs  recently  been  published,  giving  information  respecting  the  family ;  but  I  cannot  at 
this  moment  find  it. 

t  This  letter  is  printed  to  correspond  as  nearly  with  the  original  as  the  types  usually 
found  in  a  printing  office  will  admit.  In  old  manuscripts,  th  is  made  like  the  modem  letter 
y.  Many  transcribers  of  old  manuscripts  use  y  instead  of  th.  This  practice  is  ^vrong, 
because  the  character  was  intended  for  th  not  for  v. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         l93 

Dea.  Cooper  was  admitted  a  freeman  Jan.  1,  1634-5  ;  re- 
moved to  Scituate  before  1638  ;  and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of 
the  lands  between  North  and  South  rivers,  made  that  year.  Sept. 
3„  1638,  Cooper's  island  containing  18  acres  was  granted  to  him, 
which  he  sold  in  1639,  to  William  Wills,  and  the  island  bears  the 
name  of  the  latter,  to  this  day.  He  was  constable  of  Barnstable 
in  1640,  and  a  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court  in  1642,  and  '43. 
March  24,  1640-1  he  was  "invested  into  the  office  of  a  Deacon 
Mr.  Lothrop,  Mr.  Mayo  and  Dea.  Cobb  laying  on  hands." 

His  home  lot  was  the  fourth  west  from  Coggin's  pond.  1, 
Henry  Coggins  containing  twelve  acres  ;  2,  Henry  Bourne's,  eight 
acres ;  3,  James  Hamblin's,  twenty  acres,  and  4,  Dea.  Cooper's, 
containing  twenty-four  acres.  The  latter  was  bounded  northerly 
by  the  marsh,  easterly  by  Mr.  Groom,  J  westerly  by  Isaac  Robin- 
son, and  southerly  "running  into  ye  woods."  Deacon  Cooper's 
house  was  on  this  lot,  and  stood  near  the  present  location  of  the 
ancient  house  now  owned  by  William  Hinckley  and  Elijah  Childs. 
A  part  of  that  house  is  ancient  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  is 
the  same  which  was  owned  by  Deacon  Cooper.  He  also  owned 
the  meadow  on  the  north  of  his  home-lot,  of  the  same  width  with 
the  upland  and  extending  north  to  the  great  creek ;  a  share  in  the 
Calve's  Pasture  containing  half  an  acre ;  a  little  neck  of  land 
pointing  southerly  into  the  Great  Pond,  with  eight  acres  of 
upland  against  it,  bounded  northerly  by  a  great  swamp  ;  and  a 
neck  of  land  between  the  Great  and  Shoal  ponds.  The  first 
named  neck  of  land  he  sold  May  9,  1656,  to  Roger  Goodspeed, 
and  the  other  to  John  Hall  14th  Feb.  1660-1. 

Dea.  Cooper  had  no  children.  His  sister  Lydia  married  25th 
Dec.  1635,  Nathaniel  Morton,  son  of  George,  and  Secretary  of 
the  Colony  from  1645,  till  he  died  June  29,  1685,  and  the  author 
of  that  well  known  work,  the  New  England's  Memorial.  Dea. 
Cooper  was  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Secretary,  and  his  wife, 
Priscilla,  was  his  aunt.  She  was  also  nearly  related  to  the  Brad- 
ford and  Fuller  families.  Mr.  Dean  says  that  Dea.  Cooper  in  his 
will,  gave  half  of  his  estate  to  the  Barnstable  Church  and. half  to 
his  sister  Lydia,  after  the  decease  of  his  wife.  He  was  not  a 
man  of  large  estate  and  it  is  not  probable  that  much  remained  at 
the  death  of  his  widow. 

A  small  pond  in  the  northerly  part  of  his  home-lot  is  still 
known  as  Cooper's  pond,  and  a  small  island  on  the  north  thereof 
is  called  by  his  name.     A  marsh  island  at  the  north  of  Rendevous 


X  Who  this  Mr.  Groom  was  I  am  unable  to  ascertain.  It  seems  that  in  1653,  when  the 
record  of  Dea.  Cooper's  land  was  made,  that  he  owned  a  part  of  the  land,  recorded  proba- 
bly the  next  year  1654,  as  the  property  of  James  Hamblin.  There  was  a  family  of  that 
name  in  Middlesex  County.  There  was  a  Sa'inuel,  61  Salisbury,  in  1850,  a  mariner,  dignified 
■iTlth  the  prefix  of  Mr.  who  went  home  to  London  before  16S8.  Was  he  that  Quaker  who 
published  iu  1676  "A  Glass  for  the  people  of  N.  B."  Perhaps  the  name  is  Green.  An 
Isaac  Green,  a  suiTcyor,  was  early  of  Barnstable  and  removed  to  Falmouth  at  the  settle- 
ment of  that  tomi  and  had  a  family  thcrp. 


194        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Creek  is  also  called  Cooper's  island ;  but  I  think  the  name  is  more 
modern  than  the  time  of  Dea.  Cooper.  Great  or  Nine  Mile  Pond 
is  also  called  Cooper's  Pond  on  the  record — a  good  name — and  if 
revived  would  help  preserve  the  memory  of  one  of  the  best  men 
among  the  settlers  of  Barnstable. § 

§  There  was  another  man  of  the  name  of  John  Cooper  in  the  Colony — a  man  who  did 
not  sustain  the  excellent  character  of  Dea.  John  of  Barnstable»  and  the  reader  of  the 
Colony  records  must  be  careful  not  to  confound  the  two. 


COLEMAN. 


Edward  Coleman,  of  Boston,  and  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Lumbard,  of  Barnstable,  were  married  at  Eastham  by 
Mr.  France,  Oct.  27,  1648.  He  was  of  Boston  in  1655,  and 
probably  came  to  Barnstable  soon  after  that  date.  He  was 
admitted  an  inhabitant  Oct.  3,  1662,  and  was  living  26th  March, 
1690,  when  the  town  granted  25  acres  of  land  at  "Yannows"  to 
his  son  Edward,  "on  the  condition  that  he  do  his  utmost  for  the 
maintainance  of  his  father  and  mother  and  the  rest  of  the  family." 
This  grant  was  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  town,  bounded 
easterly  by  the  bounds  of  Yarmouth,  "south  by  the  harbor  at 
Yannows,"  west  by  the  Hallett  land,  and  north  by  the  commons. 
Margaret  Coleman  was  living  Nov.  12,  1714  ;  but  Edward  Senior 
and  Junior  were  then  both  dead. 

Children  of  Edward  Coleman,  born  in  Boston. 

I.  Edward.  The  date  of  his  birth  was  probably  1649.  He 
died  in  1714,  leaving  no  issue,  and  his  estate  was  divided  to 
his  mother  Margaret ;  his  sister  Widow  Elizabeth  Hadaway  ; 
his  sister  Sarah  Coleman,  and  the  children  of  his  only 
brother  James  Coleman. 

II.  Elizabeth,  born  28th  11  mo.  1651,  was  the  second  wife  of 
the  first  John  Hadaway,  whom  she  married  in  Yarmouth, 
May  1,  1672. 

III.  Mary,  born  12th  Sept.  1653. 

IV.  Martha,  born  8th  Aug.  1655. 

V.  Sarah,  probably  born  in  Barnstable,  unmarried  in  1714. 

VI.  James,  probably  born  in  Barnstable,  married  Patience, 
daughter  of  James  Cobb.  He  was  not  living  in  1714,  and 
his  widow  married  10th  Sept.  1715,  Thomas  Lumbard. 
She  died  March  30,  1747,  aged  78  years. 

Children  of  James  Coleman. 

I.  Edward,  25th  Oct.  1695,  married  Thankful  Lumbard,  16th 
Sept.  1716.     The  names  of  his  children  I  do  not  find  on  the 


196        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

town  records.  His  son  Edward  was  baptized  Nov.  7,  1725, 
and  his  daughter  Miriara  Oct.  29,  1727.  The  latter  married 
Dec.  13,  1750,  Joseph  Bacon,  Jr. 

II.  Martha,  4th  March,  1698,  married  Sept.  25,  1718,  Capt. 
John  Phinney,  the  founder  of  Gorham,  Maine.  She  had 
nine  children,  viz  :  4  in  Barnstable  ;  3  in  Portland  ;  and  2 
in  Gorham. 

III.  Thanljful,  7th  Feb.  1699-1700,  married  Jan.  16,  1722-3, 
Robert  Claghorn,  and  died  April  1770,  aged  70  years  and  2 
months.  ) 

IV.  A  son,  26th  Feb.  1702-3,  died  same  diy. 

V.  James,  11th  April,  1704,  married  March  12,  1727-8  Pati- 
ence, daughter  of  Dea.  John  Phinney.  He  married  2d 
Martha  (Phinney.)  His  children  were  Martha,  born  Jan. 
31,  1758-9,  probably  died  young.  By  his  second  wife, 
Martha  again,  March  19,  1732-3.  3,  James,  Aug.  8,  1735, 
njarried,  Sept.  24,  1761,  Zerviah  Thomas,  and  June  28, 
1763,  Ann  Lumbard.  4,  John,  May  14,  1739,  removed  to 
Granville,  N.  S.  married  Feb.  19,  1764,  Abigail,  daughter 
of  Capt.  -James  Delap.  He  lived  to  be  aged,  and  has 
descendants  in  Nova  Scotia.  5,  Mary,  born  March  27, 
1739,  married  March  15,  1763,  David  Howland.  Mr. 
James  Coleman  died  April  16,  1781,  aged  77,  and  his  widow 
Feb.  29,  1784,  aged  80. 

VI.  Jolm,  born  26th  Sept.  1706,  married  Aug.  5,  1736,  Reliance, 
widow  of  Eleazer  Cobb.  She  died  June  11,  1742,  aged  36, 
and  he  married  2d,  Mary  Hamblin,  Aug.  2,  1743.  He 
resided  in  the  ancient  Samuel  Cobb  house  till  Nov.  20,  1746, 
when  he  removed  to  South  Sea.  His  children  were  all 
baptized  at  the  East  Church,  namelv  :  Martha,  June  19, 
1737;  John,  Oct.  29,  1738;  Mary,  May  11,  1740;  Mary 
again,  August  5,  1744;  Thomas,  November  8,  1747; 
Nathaniel,  Sept.  17,  1749 ;  Zaccheus,  Feb,  24,  1750-1  ; 
Reliance,  April  26,  1752.  Nathaniel  of  this  family  was 
insane  tlie  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  believed  the  land  had 
everywhere  become  soft  and  mu-y.  He  carried  a  very  long 
cane  with  a  ram's  horn  on  the  upper  end,  and  his  hat  was 
ornamented  with  feathers  of  various  colors,  stuck  under  the 
band.  Notwithstanding  his  constant  fear  of  sinliing,  he  was 
good  natvured,  cheerful,  and  inoffensive.  As  he  walked 
thro'  the  streets,  feeling  his  way,  with  his  left  foot  always 
in  advance  of  his  right,  he  would  sing  these  words,  "Bacon's 
got  home  and  brought  me  a  new  ram's  horn,  a  new  ram's 
horn,  a  new  ram's  horn." 

VII.  Patience,  6th  May,  1709,  married  June  20,   1732,    James 
Lothrop. 

VIII.  Ebenezer,  15th  Aug.  1711. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         197 

The  town  records  respecting  this  family  are  defective.  The 
deficiencies,  I  presume,  may  be  supplied  from  the  Church  and 
Probate  records. 

Edward  Coleman  built  the  first  house  at  Hyannis.  At  that 
time  all  the  southerly  part  of  Barnstable  was  called  "South  Sea," 
and  the  Indians  resident  there,  "South  Sea  Indians."  The  earli- 
est settlers  at  South  Sea  were  John  Thompson,  who  sold  his  land 
to  John  Lovell,  Roger  Goodspeed,  Jona  Hatch,  Thomas  Bumpas, 
and  Joshua  Lumbert.  The  first  building  erected  by  the  whites 
was  a  warehouse  by  Nicholas  Davis,  near  where  Timothy  Baker's 
store  now  stands,  and  on  land  presented  to  him  by  the  Sachem 
Hianna. 

In  1697  the  "South  Sea"  men  were  Thomas  Macy,  John, 
Benjamin,  and  Ebenezer  Goodspeed,  sons  of  Roger ;  John  Lovell, 
and  his  sons  John,  James,  William,  and  Andrew  ;  John  Issum, 
Thomas  Bumpass,  Dollar  Davis,  Thomas  Lewis,  Joshua  Lumbert, 
John  Lianell,  John  Phinney,  Jr.,  Edward  Lewis,  Joseph  Lothrop, 
Jr.,  John  Lewis,  and  Edward  Coleman. 

Soon  after  this  date  the  Hallett,  Crowell,  Bearse,  and  Clag- 
horn  families  settled  at  South  Sea.  Jouatlian  Lewis,  who,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  was  the  first  settler  in  the  present  village  of 
Hyannis,  probably  did  not  build  his  house  before  his  marriage  in 
1703.  The  foregoing  statement  shows  that  Edward  Coleman  was 
the  first  settler  at  Hyannis.  His  house  was  at  the  south-east 
corner  of  the  town,  not  far  from  Baxter's  wharf. 

The  Indian  villages  at  South  Sea,  beginning  at  the  south-west 
corner  of  the  town  were,  1st,  Cotuit  or  Satuite,  the  present  name  ; 
2d,  Mistic,  now  Marston's  Mills  ;  3,  Cot-o-ches-et,  now  Osterville  ; 
4,  Shon-co-net,  now  corrupted  into  Skunknet ;  5,  Che-qua-quet, 
or  Wee-qua-quet,  now  Centreville  and  Hyannis  Port ;  6,  Tam-a- 
hap-pa-see-a-kon.  This  was  the  name  of  the  brook,  now  known 
as  Baxter's  Mill  Pond  and  River.  The  lands  in  the  vicinity  were 
probably  known  by  the  same  name.  Tliis  was  the  uniform  prac- 
tice of  the  Indians,  and  it  was  not  probably  departed  from  in  this 
case.  The  name  being  a  long  one,  and  difficult;  to  pronounce  was 
dropped,  and  the  name  of  the  Sachem  adopted.  As  -I  intend 
devoting  an  article  to  this  name,  I  will  here  make  only  one 
remark.  In  writing  this  name  all  the  early  writers,  excepting 
Thacher,  dropped  the  aspirate  H  at  the  beginning,  and  wrote  the 
name  lyanough,  Yanno,  or  J  anno.  The  popular  pronunciation  of 
the  name  indicates  that  the  orthography  of  Mr.  Thacher's  Hianno, 
is  the  best. 

All  the  Indian  names  that  I  have  succeeded  in  translating 
are  descriptive  terms,  suggested  by  some  physical  peculiarity  of 
the  region  to  which  they  were  applied.  Cotuit  or  Satuit  means 
"cold  brook,"  and  was  so  named  because  there  are  many  springs 
of  cool  water  in  the  vicinity  of  the  pond  and  brook  of  tihat  name. 


198        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

There  is  a  brook  of  the  same  name  in  Scituate,  from  which  that 
town  derives  its  name.  Mistic  is  a  name  that  is  forgotten  and 
lost,  by  the  people  who  reside  in  that  vicinity.  Marston's  Mills 
is  not  an  improvement  on  the  Indian  name. 

Cot-o-che-set.  The  manner  in  which  this  name  is  written  on 
the  town  records,  has  probably  had  an  influence  in  bringing  it  into 
disuse.  For  more  than  half  a  century  it  was  the  popular  name  of 
Oyster  Island  village.  The  island  was  so  named  on  account  of 
the  abundance  of  Oysters  found  in  its  vicinity — a  very  appropriate 
name  for  the  island  ;  but  not  applicable  to  the  main  land.  When 
the  post-ofHce  was  established  in  the  village,  about  thirty  years 
ago,  it  was  called  Osterville,  for  what  good  reason  is  unknown. 
The  old  name  Cot-o-che-set,  is  a  better  one,  more  expressive,  and 
at  the  time  of  the  change,  was  familiar  to  many  of  the  aged. 

Skon-ko-net,  perhaps  a  derivative  of  Kong-kont,  the  crow, 
and  so  called  because  those  birds  frequent  that  region.  This 
name  is  now  incorrectly  written  and  pronounced  Skunknet.  Only 
the  northerly  and  westerly  part  of  the  tract  formerly  so-called  is 
now  so  designated.  The  western  branch  of  the  Skon-ke-net  river 
is  now  known  as  Bump's  river,  and  the  easterly  as  Phinney's  mill 
brook. 

The  changing  of  a  few  letters  in  an  Indian  name,  often 
makes  a  redical  change  in  the  meaning  of  the  word.  Che-qua- 
quet  signifies  "the  edge  of  a  forest."  The  large  knurls  on  the 
oak  were  called  by  the  same  name.  As  these  abound  more  on 
the  edge  than  in  the  center  of  a  forest,  it  is  not  surprising  that  in 
a  language  containing  so  few  words  as  the  Indian,  that  both 
shoukl  be  called  by  the  same  name.  The  termination,  "et,"  was 
applied  to  places  near  the  water,  so  that  the  literal  meaning  of 
Che-qua-quet  seems  to  be  "a  village  situate  on  the  edge  of  the 
forest  and  by  the  sea-shore."  This  is  descriptive  of  the  place, 
and  probably  the  true  signification  of  the  name. 

The  village  was  by  Bourne,  as  quoted,  Gooken,  called  Wee- 
qua-keet,  a  different  name,  Wee-koh-quat,  is  "fair  weather,"  and 
with  the  terminal  "et,"  instead  of  "at,"  the  meaning  would  \je 
fair  weather  harbor  or  river.  Mr.  Bourne's  authority  is  not  to  be 
rejected  for  slight  reasons.  In  the  records,  where  the  name 
frequently  occurs,  it  is  uniformly  written  Che-qua-quet,  with  some 
unimportant  variations  in  the  orthography — never  Wee-qua-keet. 
The  popular  pronunciation  of  the  name  is  uniformly  Che  or  Cha, 
not  Wee-qua-quet.  This  is  not  conclusive  ;  but  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  records,  I  think  it  settles  the  question  in  favor  of 
Che-qua-quet  as  the  best  authorized  spelling  of  the  name. 

When  the  post-office  was  established,  the  old  name  was 
dropped  and  the  French  Centreville  adopted.  This  is  not  so 
objectionable  as  Osterville,  yet  it  is  no  improvement  on  the  old. 
There  is,  however,  one  objection  ;  there  are  many  post-offices  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        199 

that  name,  and  for  that  reason  mail  matter  is  now  liable  to  be 
mis-sent.  This  objection  would  not  be  applicable  to  the  name 
Che-qua-quet.* 

*For  the  definition  of  Che-qua-qiiet  and  many  other  Indian  names,  I  am  indebted  to 
an  intelligent  Indian  Chief  irom  the  West.  He  had  a  perfect  knowledge  of  his  native  tongue 
which  was  a  dialect  of  the  language  spoken  by  the  Massachusetts  Indians.  He  could 
read  withoutmucli  difficulty  Eliot's  ludiau  bible,  and  Cotton's  vocabulary.  He  was  very 
cautious  in  giving  his  opinion.  The  names  of  places  were  often  spelt  so  diflerently  from 
the  manner  in  which  he  was  accustomed  to  write  the  equivalent  words  that  he  did  not 
always  recognize  them.  He  asked  me  several  times  if  the  pronunciation  of  the  first  sylable 
of  Che-qua-quet  was  Che  or  Tshe,  not  Wee,  because  the  meaning  of  the  name  depended  on 
that  pronunciation.  The  meaning  of  the  name  of  a  pond  in  Mashpee,  which  be  gave  me, 
is  confirmed  by  Mr.  Marston,  the  Indian  superintendent,  as  it«  tinae  meaning.  I  have  also 
attempted  to  obtain  information  from  members  of  the  Penobscot  tribe,  out  with  little 


CROCKER. 


Two  brothers  named  John  and  William  Crocker,  were  among 
the  first  settlers  in  Barnstable,  William  came  with  Mr.  Lothrop 
and  his  church  Oct.  21,  1639,  and  John  the  following  spring. 
There  was  also  a  Francis  Crocker  of  Barnstable,  able  to  bear 
arms,  Aug.  1643.  He  was  one  of  the  soldiers  in  the  Narraganset 
Expedition,  sent  from  Barnstable  Aug.  1645.  He  married  in 
1647,  Mary  Grant  "a  kinswoman  of  Mr.  Goggain  of  Barn- 
stable,"* and  removed  to  Scituate,  and  from  thence  to  Marshfield. 
He  had  a  family,  and  his  descendents  now  write  their  name 
Crocker. 

John  Crocker,  the  elder  brother,  left  no  family  ;  but  William's 
posterity  are  very  numerous.  Perhaps  no  one  of  the  first  comers, 
has  more  descendants  now  living.  A  large  majority  of  all  in  the 
United  States,  and  in  the  British  Provinces  of  the  name,  trace 
their  descent  from  Dea.  William  of  Barnstable.  The  descendants 
of  Francis  are  not  numerous.  A  Thomas  Crocker,  born  in  1633, 
settled  in  New  London  and  had  a  family.  Widow  Anne  Crocker 
of  Scituate,  had  a  son  Moses  born  in  1650,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  he  has  any  descendants.  Mr.  Savage  names  an  Edward  of 
Boston,  who  was  the  public  executioner  in  1684,  and  a  Daniel 
who  married  in  1660,  but  these  were  perhaps  descendants  of 
Francis. 

It  is  said,  on  how  good  authority  I  have  not  ascertained,  that 
John  and  William  Crocker  came  over  in  1634,  either  in  the  same 
ship  with  Rev.  Mr.  JjOthrop,  or  in  another  that  sailed  about  the 
same  time,  and  that  they  stopped  in  Roxbury  before  they  settled 
in    Scituate.      Th6y  did  not  remain    long  in  Roxbury,   for  their 

*The  renowned  Capt.  ^obn  Smith,  probably  the  first  white  who  visited  Barnstable  har- 
bor, wrote  this  name  as  here  spelled.  The  town  in  England  ii'om  which  our  town  was 
na)aed  is  now  written  Barnstaple.  On  his  return  from  his  voyage  in  1614,  he  presented  to 
Prince  Charles  a  schedule  of  Indian  names  of  places,  and  recommended  new  ones.  For 
Naembeck,  (probably  Naumkeag,  Salem)  he  proposed  the  name  of  Bastable,  for  Chaw-tim 
(Shaume)  part  of  Sandwich,  Barrwick,  (forAccomack,  Plymouth,  &c.  A  few  of  the  new 
names  are  retained.  Mr.  John  BuLey  (probably  John  Bursley)  afterwards  of  Barnstable, 
owned  one-fourth  of  the  two  ships  which  Capt.  bmith  commanded  in  1614. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    UAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        201 

names  do  not  appear  on  the  Massachusetts  Colony  Records. 

Crocker  or  Croker  as  the  name  is  usually  written  in  England, 
is  very  ancient.     An  old  proverbial  distich  record  that, 
"Crosker,  Crewys,  and  Copplestone, 
When  the  Conqueror  came,  were  at  home." 
The  family  of  Crocker,  originally  seated  at  Crocker's  Hale, 
and  Crokern.     For,  in  Devonshire,  became  possessed  of  Lineham, 
by  marriage  with  the  heirs  of  Churchill.     The  genealogy  of  the 
Crokers  of  Lineham  is  accurately  recorded  and  exhibits  a  descent 
of    eleven   John    Crockers   in    almost   uninterrupted    succession. 
Members   of  the   family   removed   to   Cornwall,  Waterford,  and 
other  places.     (See  Bui-ke.) 

JOHN   CROCKER. 

It  incidentally  appears  by  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  records,  that 
John  Crocker  was  an  inhabitant  of  Scituate  in  1636.  Feb.  1, 
1638-9,  he  and  other  inhabitants  of  Scituate  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance.  March  3,  1639-40,  he  is  called  of  Scituate,  but  he 
probably  removed  soon  after  this  date  to  Barnstable.  Mr.  Deane 
says  he  probably  did  not  remove  till  1654  ;  but  this  is  a  mistake, 
for  he  was  certainly  of  Barnstable  Aug.  1643.  The  account 
given  by  Mr.  Deane  of  his  family,  is  erroneous  and  the  fault  is 
perhaps  chargeable  to  his  printer,  and  not  to  the  author,  the  name 
of  John  having  been  inadvertantly  substituted  bj'  the  printer  for 
that  of  William.  His  wife's  name  was  Joan  or  Jane.  The  date 
of  his  marriage  does  not  appear  on  record,  probably  not  till  late 
in  life.  In  Mr.  Lothrop's  list  of  the  householders  in  Scituate  his 
name  does  not  occur,  making  it  probable  that  he  was  not  married 
till  after  1637.  If  he  had  any  children  they  all  died  young,  for 
he  had  none  living  at  his  death  in  1669. 

The  farm  of  John  Crocker,  now  owned  by  the  descendants 
of  his  brother  William,  is  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the  West 
Parish  in  Barnstable,  and  is  thus  described  on  the  town  records  : 
"Forty  acres  of  upland,  more  or  less,  bounded  easterly  by 
Goodman  Bearse,  westerly  by  Mr.  Dimmock,  northerly  by  the 
marsh,  and  southerly  into  the  woods."  He  also  owned  forty 
acres  of  salt  marsh  adjoining  his  farm  on  the  north  ;  and  thirty 
acres  of  upland  at  the  Indian  p(md,  the  later  he  sold  24th  Feb. 
1662-3,  to  John  Thompson.  Feb.  10,  1668-9,  (the  day  on  which 
he  executed  his  will)  Abraham  Blush  conveyed  to  him  for  £5,10, 
his  great  lot  containing  forty  acres  of  upland  and  six  of  marsh. 
This  lot  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Scorton  Hill,  and  is  now 
known  as  the  Bodfish  farm.  By  Blush's  deed  it  appears  that  John 
Crocker  had  formerly  owned  meadow  in  that  vicinity,  then  owned 
by  Edward  Fitzrandolph. 

John  Crocker  was  propounded  to  be  a  freeman  June  6,  1649, 
and  admitted  on  the  4th  of  June  following.  He  was  a  juryman 
in    1647,   '50  and  '54;   and  surveyor  of  the  liighways  in   1668. 


202        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLB    FAMILIES. 

June  6,  1649,  he  was  licensed  to  keep  an  ordinary,  tiie  name  by 
which  taverns  or  public  houses  were  then  known. 

March  2,  1646-7  he  made  a  complaint  against  Thomas  Shaw, 
which  is  entered  on  the  Colony  Records,  and  it  incidentally  fur- 
nishes some  information  that  is  of  interest.  This  is  the  first  crimi- 
nal complaint  made  against  a  Barnstable  man,  and  is  interesting 
on  that  account.  It  shows  that  John  Crocker  was  a  good-liver, 
that  his  house  was  either  pallisade  built,  or  surrounded  by  a 
pallisade ;  and  that  small,  as  well  as  large  offenders  were 
promptly  and  severely  dealt  with.     (See  Casely  No.  33.) 

"At  a  General  Court  holden  March  2d,  in  the  x  x  i  j  th  year 
of  his  Maj'etts  now  Raigne,  of  England,  &c.,  1646-7. 

At  this  Court  John  Crocker  compl.  against  Thomas  Shawe 
for  coming  into  his  house  by  putting  aside  some  loose  pallizadoes 
on  the  Lords  day,  about  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  tooke  and 
carried  out  of  his  said  house  some  venison,  some  beefe,  some 
butter,  cheese,  bread,  and  tobacco,  to  the  value  of  x  i  i  d,  which 
the  said  Thomas  Shaw  openly  in  publike  Court  confessed,  sub- 
mitting himself  to  the  censure  of  the  Court ;  whereupon,  his 
sureties  being  released,  he  was  committed  to  the  Marshall's 
charge  ;  and  the  Court  censured  him  to  make  satisfaction  for  the 
goods  stolen,  1  sh.,  being  so  valued,  and  14  s,  4  d,  a  peece  to  the 
two  men  that  attended  on  him  to  the  Court,  and  to  be  publikely 
whipt  at  the  post,  which  was  accordingly  don  by  the  publike 
officer." 

John  Crocker's  house  stood  near  the  ancient  dwelling-house 
recently  occupied  by  Joseph  and  Prince  Crocker  deceased.  Per- 
haps that  house  was  originally  John  Crocker's,  enlarged  by  its 
subsequent  owners.  It  appears  by  the  above  extract  that  the 
house  was  either  pallisade  built  or  was  surrounded  by  pallisade 
fence.  The  nine  houses  first  built  in  Scituate  were  small  pallisade 
houses  and  intended  only  as  temporary  residences.  They  were 
not  built  as  the  log-houses  at  the  West  are  built,  by  piling  logs 
horizontally  over  each  other ;  but  with  small  poles,  placed  in 
paralled  rows,  and  filled  in  with  stones  and  clay.  Some  of  the 
better  kinds  were  plastered.  The  I'oofs  were  thatched  with  the 
long  sedge  that  grows  abundantly  near  the  creeks  in  the  salt 
meadows.  The  fire-place  was  built  of  stone,  and  the  chimney  of 
sticks  piled  like  a  cob-house  and  plastered  on  the  inside  with  clay. 
Straw  or  thatch  served  for  a  floor  and  a  carpet.  The  south-east 
slope  of  a  hill,  near  water,  was  usually  selected  by  the  first 
settlers  on  which  to  place  their  dwellings.  By  digging  into  the 
hill-side  a  secure  back  to  the  fire-place  was  obtained  and  the  labor 
of  building  one  side  diminished.  As  a  substitute  for  glass,  oiled 
paper  was  used.  Such  houses  were  called  by  some  of  the  early 
writers  booths,  that  is  a  shelter  made  of  slight  materials  for  tem- 
porary purposes.  A  few  such  houses  were  put  up  in  Barnstable, 
by  those  who  came  with  Mr.  Lothrop  in  October,  1639.     Many  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        203 

those  who  came  in  the  spring  of  that  year  had  good  substantial 
frame-houses.  A  saw  mill  had  then  been  erected  in  Scituate  and 
lumber,  for  covering  and  finishing  buildings,  could  be  cheaply 
procured.  Mr.  Hull,  Mr.  Mayo,  Thos.  Lumbert,  Mr.  Dimmock, 
and  others  had  frame-houses.  According  to  tradition  preserved 
in  the  family,  the  first  house  built  by  Gov.  Hinckley,  and  that  by 
his  father  Samuel,  were  on  the  east  side  of  Goggins'  pond,  had 
thatched  roofs,  and  were  not  much  better  than  the  booths  above 
described,  yet  they  were  the  only  houses  they  had  for  several 
years. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  first  comers  ever  built  any  houses 
of  the  description  now  known  as  log-houses.  Block  houses  of  a 
similar  construction  to  a  log-house,  were  built  early.  They  were 
constructed  of  hewn  timbers,  two  stories  high,  and  adapted  for 
defence  against  Indian  hostilities  as  well  as  for  a  residence.  A 
block  house  was  built  in  Yarmouth  ;  but  in-  Barnstable,  the  lower 
stories  of  all  the  fortification  houses  were  of  stone,  and  have 
already  been  described. 

Some  of  the  pallisade  houses  built  by  the  first  settlers,  were 
the  most  comfortable  and  durable  houses  built.  Elder  John 
Chipman's,  I  believe,  was  so  constructed,  Mr.  John  Crow's,  of 
Yarmouth,  certainly  was,  and  stood  nearly  two  centuries,  required 
but  little  repair,  and,  in  fact,  the  recent  owners  did  not  know  that 
it  was  so  constructed  till  it  was  taken  down.  This  house  was 
built  by  taking  large  sticks  of  timber  for  sills  and  plates,  boring 
two  paralled  rows  of  holes  in  each,  about  six  inches  apart,  except- 
ing where  doors  or  windows  were  to  be  placed,  and  filling  between 
with  stones  and  clay.  This  formed  the  walls  of  the  house,  which 
were  plastered  with  shell  mortar  inside  and  out.  The  Crowell 
house  was  afterwards  clap  boarded,  which  concealed  the  original 
construction  from  sight. 

Jolin  Crocker's  house  probably  was  not  so  constructed, 
because  it  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  to  have  removed  the 
pallisadoes  and  entered  the  house  in  the  manner  described. 
Many  of  the  early  settlers  built  a  pallisade  around  their  houses, 
and  John  Crocker  probably  did,  as  a  defence  against  the  Indians, 
and  to  keep  out  intruders  and  wild  beasts.  Such  pallisades  were 
built  of  small  logs  12  or  15  feet  long,  sharpened  at  each  end  and 
set  or  driven  into  the  ground  side  by  side,  so  as  to  form  a  fence 
ten  feet  high,  which  it  would  be  difficult  for  man  or  beast  to 
scale. 

He  died  in  1669  leaving  a  wife  Jane,  but  no  children.  After 
providing  for  his  widow  he  gave  his  estate  to  the  sons  of  his 
brother  William,  and  appointed  his  nephew  Job,  his  executor. 
The  latter  came  into  possession  of  the  old  homestead,  and  it  is 
now  owned  by  his  descendants. 

He  was  a  very  different  man  from  his  brother  Dea.  William. 


204        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

He  was  illiterate,  kept  a  public  house  where  it  was  customary  in 
early  times,  for  a  certain  class  of  people,  found  in  all  commu- 
nities, to  assemble  to  drink,  and  indulge  in  low  and  vicious 
conversation.  Such  company  and  such  associations  never  im- 
prove the  temper  or  moral  character  of  a  man,  or  add  anything  to 
his  respectable  standing  in  society.  His  treatment  of  his  servant 
Roger  Glass,  a  very  worthy  young  man,  shows  that  he  was  a  man, 
"In  whose  veins  the  milk  of  human  kindness  did  not  flow."  That 
he  belonged  to  Mr.  Lothrop's  church,  does  not  appear.  He  was 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  Scituate  and  in  Barnstable.  He 
was  not  a  perfect  man.  His  ashes  rest  in  the  old  burying-ground 
beside  thosa  of  the  fathers  where  it  will  be  well  to  let  them  rest 
in  peace. 

William  Crocker,  a  younger  brother  of  John,  joined  Mr. 
Lothrop's  church  in  Scituate  Dec.  25,  1636.  He  came  to  Barn- 
stable Oct.  21,  1639,  and  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  baptized  Dec. 
22,  1639,  is  the  fourth  on  the  list,  showing  that  he  was  among  the 
first  who  came.  He  built  a  frame  house  in  Scituate  in  1636 — the 
forty-fourth  built  in  that  town.  June  5,  1644,  he  was  propounded 
a  freeman,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  admitted  till  after 
1652.  He  was  constable  of  Barnstable  in  1644;  on  the  grand 
jury  in  1654,  '55,  '57,  '61,  '67  and  '75 ;  selectman  in  1668 ; 
deputy  to  the  Colony  Court  in  1670,  71,  and  74  ;  and  surveyor  of 
highways  1673.  In  the  year  1675  he  was  on  the  jury  which 
condemned  the  murderers  of  John  Sassamon,  secretary  of  King 
Phillip.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  men  in  early  times  and  was 
often  employed  in  the  business  of  the  town  and  in  settling  the 
estates  of  deceased  persons. 

He  probably  settled  first  in  the  easterly  part  of  the  town, 
and  removed  to  West  Barnstable  about  the  year  1643.  The  loss 
of  the  early  records  makes  it  difficult  to  decide,  but  it  is  probable 
that  his  first  house  in  Barnstable  was  on  the  lot  next  west  of 
Henry  Bourne's.  He  had  a  large  landed  estate,  and  for  many 
years  was  perhaps  the  richest  man  in  town.  His  sons  were  all 
men  of  wealth.  In  1703  his  son  Joseph  was  the  owner  of  the 
largest  estate  in  Barnstable. 

In  1655,  Dea.  William  Crocker  owned  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  acres  of  upland,  and  twenty-two  acres  of  meadow  at 
West  Barnstable,  and  forty  acres  of  upland  at  the  Indian  ponds.* 
The  West  Barnstable  farm  was  bounded  easterly  by  the  farm  of 
John  Smith,  now  known  as  the  Otis  farm,  and  by  the  farm  of 
Samuel  Hinckley,  now  owned  by  Levi  L.  Goodspeed,  southerly 


t  Tbe  Indian  ponds  are  three  in  number,  and  form  the  head  waters  of  the  stream  now 
known  as  Marston's  Mill  river.  Excepting  where  the  water  was  very  high,  all  these  ponds 
did  "not  originally  connect  with  the  mill  stream.  They  were  called  the  Indian  I'ouds 
because  the  Indian  land  reservation  was  on  their  borders.  On  the  town  records  there  is  an 
entry  of  five  dollars,  paid  for  permanently  closing  one  of  the  passages ;  and,  at  some  former 
time  a  new  outlet  was  excavated  at  a  very  considerable  expense,  probably  for  the  purpose 
of  admitting  herring. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        205 

it  extended  into  the  woods.  The  southerly  part  of  the  farm,  in 
1654,  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  commons,  and  the  northerlj' 
part  by  lands  then  owned  by  Governor  Bodfish,  and  afterwards 
by  Lieut.  John  Howland.  He  afterwards  added  largely  to  his 
West  Barnstable  farm,  and  to  the  farm  at  the  Indian  pond,  the 
latter  containing  one  hundred  acres  at  his  death.  The  West 
Barnstable  farm  was  two  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south, 
extending  from  the  salt  meadows  on  the  waters  at  Barnstable 
harbor  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  West  Barnstable  meeting- 
house. The  lands  he  first  occupied  were  the  south-easterly  part 
of  the  farm,  the  old  stone  house  which,  according  to  tradition, 
was  his  first  residence,  was  about  a  fourth  of  a  mile  easterly  from 
the  West  Barnstable  church.  This  stone  or  fortification  house 
was  taken  down  many  years  ago.  A  few  aged  persons  remember 
to  have  seen  it  in  a  ruinous  state.  This  part  of  the  farm  his  son 
Josiah  afterwards  owned.  There  was  another  stone  house  on  the 
south-westerly  part  of  the  farm  owned  by  the  descendants  of 
Eleazer.  This  was  talsen  down  about  the  year  1815.  It  was 
called  the  old  Stone  Fort,  and  stood  where  Capt.  Josiah  Fish's 
house  now  stands.  It  was  about  25  feet  in  front  and  20  feet  on 
the  rear.  The  walls  of  the  lower  story  were  built  of  rough  stones 
laid  in  clay  mortar,  and  nearly  three  feet  in  thickness.  The 
upper  story  was  of  wood  and  projected  over  the  lower  on  the 
front,  about  three  feet.  In  this  projection  were  a  number  of  loop 
holes  about  six  inches  square,  closed  by  small  trap  doors.  The 
windows  in  the  lower  story  were  high  and  narrow.  These  and 
the  loop  holes  in  the  projection,  were  intende*&  to  be  used  as  port- 
holes, should  the  building  be  assaulted  by  hostile  Indians.  The 
earliest  known  occupant,  to  any  now  living,  was  Mr.  Benoni 
Crocker,  a  great-grand-son  of  Dea.  William.  He  made  a  two 
story  addition  on  the  south-side,  which  was  occupied  by  his  son 
Barnabas. 

Dea.  William  Crocker  married  in  1636  Alice.  She  was  living 
in  1683,  was  the  mother  of  all  his  children ;  but  died  soon  after 
that  date.  He  married  second  Patience,  widow  of  Robert  Parker 
and  a  daughter  of  Elder  Henry  Cobb.  He  died  in  the  fall  of 
1692.  His  age  is  not  stated,  but  he  was  propably  about  80  years 
of  age.  His  will  is  printed  below  at  full  length.  It  is  a  docu- 
ment that  will  be  interesting  to  his  descendants,  and  to  the  public 
as  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  those  instruments  were 
drawn  up  iii  olden  times. 

The  last  will  and  testament  of  Deacon  William  Crocker  of 
Barnstable,  in  New  England. 

The  6th  day  of  September  Anno  Dom.  1692  I,  William 
Crocker  of  Barnstable,  being  sick  and  weak  in  body  but  throu  ye 
mercy  of  God  of  disposing  mind  and  memory,  and  knowing  ye 
uncertainty  of    this  life  on  earth,  and  being  desirous  to  settle 


206        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

things  in  order,  do  make  tliis  my  last  will  and  testament  in  man- 
ner and  forme  following,  viz :  first  and  principally,  I  give  and 
committ  my  soul  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ  my  Saviour  and  Redeemer 
throw  whose  pretious  death  and  merrits  I  hope  to  find  ye  free 
pardon  and  remition  of  all  my  sinnes,  and  everlasting  salvation, 
and  my  body  to  ye  earth  from  whence  it  was  talien,  to  be  buried 
in  such  decent  manner  as  to  my  Executor  hereafter  named,  shall 
seem  meet  and  convenient,  and  as  touching  my  wordly  estate 
which  God  hath  in  mercy  lent  unto  me,  my  will  is  to  bestow  ye 
same  as  hereafter  is  expressed,  and  I  do  hereby  revoke  and  make 
void  all  wills  by  me  formerly  made  and  declared  and  appoint  this 
to  be  my  last  will  and  testament. 

Imprimus  my  will  is  that  all  those  debts  and  duties  which  I 
owe  in  right  or  conscience  to  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever, 
shall  be  well  and  truly  contented  and  paid  when  convenient  by  my 
Executor. 

Itt.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  Patience  my  loving  wife, 
besides  ye  liberty  to  dispose  of  all  ye  estate  which  she  brought 
with  her  or  had  at  ye  time  of  our  intermarriage,  and  besides  ye 
forty  pounds  I  then  promised  to  give  her,  in  case  she  should  sur- 
vive me,  I  give  unto  her  my  best  bedd  and  bedstead  with  all  ye 
ffurniture  thereto  belonging. 

Itt.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  eldest  son  John  Crocker  my 
now  dwelling  house  and  lands  both  upland  and  ffresh  meadows 
adjoyning  and  belonging  thereunto  now  and  of  late  under  my 
occupation  and  improvement  to  have  and  to  hold  to  him  his  heirs 
and  assignes  foreve^he  or  they  paying  to  ye  s'd  Patience  my  wife 
twenty  pounds  of  ye  fores'd  forty  pounds  she  is  to  receive,  and  I 
do  also  hereby  confirm  to  him  my  son  John  his  heirs  and  assignes 
forever  all  those  parcels  of  land  I  heretofore  gave  unto  him  and 
are  well  known  to  have  been  in  his  quiet  possession  for  sundry 
years  ;  I  further  also  give  and  bequeath  to  him  my  son  John  my 
two  oxen  which  he  hath  had  in  his  posession  some  years. 

Itt.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  son  Job  Crocker  besides  ye 
land  I  heretofore  gave  him  and  known  to  be  in  his  possession, 
twenty  acres  of  that  fifty  acres  at  ye  ponds  which  I  purchased  of 
John  Coggin  to  have  and  to  hold  to  him  my  son  Job  his  heirs  and 
assignes  forever  and  .that  he  chuse  it  on  which  side  of  s'd  land  he 
please. 

Itt.  I  will  and  bequeath  to  my  sons  Josiah  and  Eliazer 
Crocker  besides  those  lands  I  heretofore  gave  to  ea'eh  of  them 
and  are  in  their  particular  knowne  possession,  all  my  upland  at 
the  marsh  together  with  all  ye  marsh  adjoining  thereunto,  (except 
such  particular  parcel  or  parcels  thereof  as  I  have  heretofore 
given  and  is  possest  of  late  by  anj'  other  or  is  in  these  presents 
hereafter  mentioned,)  to  be  equally  divided  between  them  ye  s'd 
Josiah  and  Eliazer  to  have  and  to  hold  to  them  their  heirs  and 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        '201 

assignes  forever  :  Each  of  them  ye  s'd  Josiah  and  Eliazer  paying 
seven  pounds  and  ten  shillings  apiece  to  ye  s'd  Patience  in  paying 
of  ye  forty  pounds  above  mentioned.  And  I  further  will  and 
bequeath  to  my  sons  Josiah  and  Eliazer  to  each  of  them  one 
cow.  ' 

Itt.  I  will  and  bequeath  unto  my  son  Joseph  Crocker  (besides 
ye  two  parcels  of  upland  and  one  parcel  of  marsh  which  I  hereto- 
fore gave  him  and  is  known  to  be  in  his  possession  ye  house  and 
land  which  he  hired  of  me  and  now  lives  on)  that  is  to  say,  so 
much  of  my  s'd  land  as  he  hath  now  fenced  in  ;  together  with  that 
parcel  of  marsh  which  he  hath  from  year  to  year  of  late  hired  of 
me ;  to  have  and  to  hold  to  him  ye  s'd  Joseph  his  heirs  and 
assignes  forever :  he  or  they  paying  five  pounds  to  ye  s'd  Patience 
to  make  up  ye  full  of  s'd  forty  pounds  I  promised  to  her  as 
above  s'd. 

Itt.  I  give  and  bequeath  all  ye  rest  of  my  lands  att  ye  ponds 
to  my  grandsons,  viz  :  to  Nathaniel,  ye  son  of  John  Crocker, 
Samuel,  ye  son  of  Job  Crocker,  and  Thomas,  ye  son  of  Josiah 
Crocker  to  be  equally  divided  between  them  and  to  their  and  each 
of  their  heirs  and  assignes  forever. 

Itt.  my  will  is  and  I  do  hereby  constitute  and  appoint  my 
trusty  and  well  beloved  son  Job  Crocker  to  be  my  sole  executor  to 
see  this  my  last  will  and  testament  to  be  performed,  with  whom  I 
leave  all  ye  residue  of  my  estate  in  whatsoever  it  be,  to  be  equally 
distributed  amongst  all  my  children  unless  I  shall  signifie  my 
minde  to  have  such  part  or  parts  thereof  to  be  disposed  to  any  in 
particular. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  sett  my  hand  and  seal. 

On  my  further  consideration  I  signifie  my  mind  before  ye 
ensealing  hereof  and  it  is  my  will  that  Mr.  Russell  shall  have  my 
two  steers  which  are  att  Isaac  Howlands  and  that  Mr.  Thomas 
Hinckly  shall  have  my  nagro  boy  if  he  please  he  paying  fourteen 
pounds  to  my  Executor  for  him. 

WILLIAM  CROCKER.  [Seal.  J 

Signed  Sealed  and  declared 
In  presence  of 

SAMUEL  CHIPMAN, 
MERCY  CHIPMAN. 

Samuel  Chipman  and  Mercy  Chipman  whose  hands  are  sett 
as  witnesses  to  this  will  made  oath  in  Court  October  ye  19  :  1692, 
that  they  did  see  the  above  said  William  Crocker  now  deceased 
sign  seal  and  declare  this  above  written  to  be  his  last  will  and 
testament. 

JOSEPH  LOTHROP  :  c  1. 

Examined  and  duly  compared  with  ye  original  will  and  en- 
tered October  ye  22,  1692. 

Attest:  JOSEPH  LOTHROP,  Recorder. 


208        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

The  division  which  Deacon  Crocker  made  of  his  estate  in  the 
foregoing  will,  may  perhaps,  be  better  understood  by  the  follow- 
ing description  of  the  shares  of  each  of  his  five  sons.  Job  had 
the  estate  which  was  his  uncle  John's  homestead,  and  his  father 
therefore  gives  him  a  larg'er  proportion  of  his  estate,  not  imme- 
diately connected  with  the  West  Barnstable  farm. 

John  had  the  great  lot  of  his  uncle  John,  on  which  he  had  a 
house,  and  therefore,  there  was  no  immediate  need  that  he  should 
be  provided  for.  For  his  other  four  sons  he  had  provided  houses, 
or  they  had  built  on  his  land. 

The  present  road  running  north  from  the  "West  Barnstable 
Meeting  House,  to  the  Cape  Cod  Rail  Road  Depot,  divides  Dea. 
Crocker's  farm  into  two  nearly  equal  parts.  On  the  east  of  the 
road,  Josiah  had  the  south  part,  excepting  the  portion  given  to 
John,  and  Joseph  the  north.  On  the  west  side,  John  had  the 
south  part,  including  a  strip  running  north  to  the  meadows,  and  a 
strip  on  the  east,  adjoining  Josiah's  land,  where  Nathaniel 
Crocker  afterwards  lived,  and  Eleazer  the  north-westerly  part. 
A  question  arises  which  will  be  hereafter  considered,  and  that  is, 
whether  or  not  John's  portion  extended  far  enough  west  to  include 
the  old  stone  fort. 

Dea.  Crocker  died  in  good  old  age.  For  many  years  he  was 
deacon  of  the  Barnstable  Church,  and  living  an  exemplary  and 
pious  life.  He  has  a  clean  record.  Nothing  dishonest  or  dis- 
honorable was  ever  laid  to  his  charge.  Men  who  acquire  great 
wealth,  often  make  enemies  of  the  envioas ;  but  Dea.  Crocker 
appears  to  have  been  beloved  and  respected  by  all.  When  he 
removed  to  West  Barnstable,  the  lands  there  had  only  a  nominal 
value.  He  was  industrious,  economical,  and  a  good  manager. 
His  boys  were  as  industrious  and  as  prudent  as  the  father,  and 
that  was  the  whole  secret  of  their  becoming  wealthy.  In  early 
colonial  times  a  large  family  was  considered  a  great  blessing  in  a 
jjecuniary  point  of  view.  The  boys  assisted  the  father  on  the 
farm,  and  at  seventeen  were  able  to  do  the  work  of  a  man.  The 
girls  were  also  brought  up  to  more  than  earn  their  own  living. 
They  assisted  the  mother,  spun  and  wove  the  flax  and  the  wool, 
and  made  their  own  and  their  brother's  garments,  and  in  hay  time 
and  at  harvest  assisted  their  brothers.  A  man  with  a  large  family 
of  healthy  children  was  then  the  most  independent  of  men. 
From  his  farm  and  his  household  he  obtained  an  abundance  of  the 
prime  necessaries  of  life.  The  surplus  which  he  sold  was  more 
than  sufficient  to  pay  the  bills  of  the  mechanic,  and  to  buy  the 
few  articles  of  foreign  growth  and  manufacture  then  required. 
There  was  very  little  money  in  circulation,  and  very  little  was 
needed.  Taxes  were  payable  in  agricultural  products,  at  a  rate 
fixed  by  law,  and  if  lands  or  property  were  sold,  without  it  was 
expressly  stipulated  in  the  contract,  that  payment  should  be  made 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        209 

in  silver  money,  it  was  a  barter  trade,  payable  in  produce  at  the 
"prices  current  with  the  merchants." 

Aged  people  often  remark  that  theu-  ancestors  estimated  that 
every  son  born  to  them  added  to  their  wealth  a  £100,  and  of 
every  daughter  £50.  However  heterodox  this  theory  may  now 
appear  to  parents,  or  to  political  economists,  it  was  undoubtedly 
true  in  early  times.  The  Crocker's,  with  few  exceptions,  all  mar- 
ried in  early  life,  had  large  families,  and  excepting  the  few  who 
tried  to  live  by  trade  or  speculation,  acquired  good  estates,  lived 
comfortably,  and  were  respectable  and  honorable  members  of 
society. 

[The  genealogies  of  the  Crocker,  Gorham,  Hallett,  and 
several  other  families,  I  have  drawn  up  in  the  manner  recom- 
mended in  the  Genealogical  Register,  it  is  neccessary  to  transcribe 
them,  because  the  columns  of  a  newspaper  are  too  narrow  for 
such  kind  of  composition,  and  because  the  varieties  of  type 
required  are  not  kept  in  a  newspaper  office.  As  the  same  name 
so  frequently  occurs  in  the  Crocker  family,  I  shall  preserve  the 
serial  number  in  Arabic  or  common  figures,  using  the  Roman 
numerals  as  heretofore,  to  distinguish  members  of  the  same  fami- 
ly. John  and  Benjamin  are  names  that  frequently  occur,  and 
without  the  serial  numbers  it  will  be  diflScult  to  distinguish  them. 
At  one  time  there  were  four  John  Crocker's  in  Barnstable,  all 
householders  and  heads  of  families.  They  were,  from  necessity, 
distinguished  by  nick-names ;  but  the  use  of  the  serial  number 
will  render  the  repetition  of  those  names  unnecessary.] 

Family  of  Dea.    William  Crocker. 

Dea.  William  Crocker  married  for  his  first  wife,  Alice,  who 
was  the  mother  of  all  his  children.  She  was  living  in  1683,  but 
died  soon  after  that  date.  He  married  for  his  second  wife. 
Patience,  widow  of  Robert  Parker  and  daughter  of  Elder  Henry 
Cobb.  He  died  Sept.  1692,  aged  probably  80  years.  His 
children  were : 
2.       I.     John,  born  in  Scityiate  May  1,  1637,  baptized  June  11, 

1637. 
8.       II.     Elizabeth,  born  in  Scituate  Sept.  22,  1639,  baptized  in 

Barnstable,  Dec.  22,  1639.     She  was  his  only  daughter  and 

died  in  Barnstable  unmarried.  May  1658,  in  the  19th  year 

of  her  age. 

4.  III.     Samael,  born  in  Barnstable,  June  3,   1642,  baptized 
same  day.     He  died  Dec.  1681. 

5.  IV".  Job,  born  March  9,  1644-5,  baptized  same  day. 

6.  v.     Josiah,  born  Sept.  19,  1647,  baptized  same  day. 

It  seemed  improbable  that  Dea.  Crocker  had  three 
children  born  in  succession  on  the  sabbath,  and  that  each  was 
baptized  on  the  day  of  its  birth.     Mr.  Lothrop,  the  pastor  of  the 


210        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

church,  so  records  the  baptisms,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  question 
his  accuracy.  Gov.  Hinckley  so  makes  his  return  to  the  Colony 
Court,  and  David  Crocker,  Esq.,  one  of  the  early  town  clerks,  so 
transcribes  the  earlier  records.  A  single  instance  of  this  charac- 
ter was  noticed  in  the  family  of  Austin  Bearse,  (No.  12)  and  the 
comments  made  thereon  are  equally  applicable  to  this  case. 

7.  VI.     Eleazer,  born  July  21,  1650. 

8.  VII.  Joseph,  born  1654. 

2.  John  Crocker,  eldest  son  of  Dea.  William,  resided 
at  West  Barnstable.  His  father,  in  his  will,  gave  him  the  south- 
westerly part  of  his  farm,  and  the  dwelling-liouse  in  which  he 
then  lived.  John  Crocker  had,  at  tliat  time,  been  a  married  man 
thirty-three  years,  and  had  children  and  grand-children,  and 
owned  lands  and  a  dwelling-house  in  his  own  right,  independent 
of  the  property  bequeathed  to  him  by  his  father.  He  owned  the 
Bodfish  farm,  set  off  to  him  as  his  portion  of  his  uncle  John's 
estate,  on  which  there  was  a  dwelling  house.  One  half  of  that 
farm  he  conveyed  by  deed  to  his  son  Jonathan,  through  whom  it 
came  into  possession  of  the  Bodfish  family. 

The  lands  bequeathed  by  Dea.  William  to  his  son  Eleazer, 
are  not  clearly  defined  in  the  will.  Eleazer  owned  the  lands  south 
of  the  Dexter  farm,  on  Dexter's,  now  called  Fish's  Lane,  bounded 
west  by  the  land  of  Joseph  Bodfish,  Sen'r,  including  the  land  on 
which  the  Stone  Fort  stood.  I  infer  from  this,  that  the  house 
named  in  the  will  of  Dea.  William,  as  then  in  the  occupancy  of 
Eleazer,  was  the  old  iStone  Fort,  consequently  it  was  not  the 
house  given  to  his  son  John.  Anciently  there  was  another  stone 
house  on  the  Crocker  farm,  standing  about  a  fourth  of  a  mile 
easterly  from  the  West  Barnstable  Church.  This  was  probably 
built  about  the  year  1643,  and  as  it  was  on  his  first  grant  of  land 
at  West  Barnstable,  made  to  Dea.  William,  it  is  just  to  infer  that 
it  was  his  residence.  His  son  Josiah  afterwards  owned  it  and  the 
land  on  which  it  stood.  Seth,  a  grandson  of  Josiah,  built,  about 
the  year  1766,  a  large  and  convenient  dwelling  house  near  the  old 
stone  house,  in  which  he  had  previous!}'  resided.  Afterwards 
the  latter  was  used  as  an  out-building.  Seventy-five  years  ago  it 
was  in  a  ruinous  condition,  and  every  vestage  of  it  is  now  re- 
moved. It  corresponded  in  size  and  construction  to  the  fortifica- 
tion house  already  described.  Previously  to  his  death  Deacon 
William  built  and  resided  in  the  large  two  story  frame  house  on 
the  Meeting  House  way,  afterwards  owned  and  occupied  by  his 
grand-children,  Nathaniel  and  Experience.  They  came  into  the 
possession  of  it  soon  after  the  death  of  Dea.  William,  who 
devised  it  to  their  father  John,  after  the  death  of  his  widow 
Patience.  Neither  Nathaniel  nor  Experience  married.  Each 
owned  a  large  real-estate  and  had,  at  their  deaths,  money  on  hand 
and  money  loaned,  on  bonds  payable  in  silver  money.     In  1740 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         211 

the  house  required  repairs,  and  Experience,  before  her  death, 
provided  lumber,  nails,  &c.,  to  complete  the  same,  and  which  she 
directed  to  be  done  after  her  death.  This  house  was  taken  down 
about  fifty  years  ago.  The  style  was  that  of  the  first  settlers. 
Two  stories  in  front  and  one  in  the  rear. 

My  main  object  in  this  inquirey,  is  to  ascertain  from  records 
and  other  sources  of  information,  what  was  the  action  of  the 
townsmen  of  Barnstable  under  the  order  of  the  Colony  Court, 
dated  Oct.  10,  1643,  requiring  them  to  fortify  "a  place  or  places 
for  the  defence  of  themselves,  their  wives,  and  children,  against 
a  suddaine  assault."  The  committee  to  enforce  this  order,  were 
Mr.  Thomas  Dimmock,  Anthony  Annable,  Henry  Cobb,  Henry 
Coggen,  Barnard  Lumberd,  and  the  constable  James  Hamblen. 
The  three  deac(ms  of  the  church,  Dimmock,  Cobb  and  Crocker, 
each  complied  with  the  order  of  the  court,  built  fortification 
houses,  and  were  aided  by  theii'  neighbors,  because  in  case  of  a 
sudden  assault  by  the  Indians,  the  buildings  were  to  be  a  common 
place  for  refuge  for  all.  Who  built  the  stone  fort  on  Dexter's 
lane,  1  have  been  unable  to  ascertain.  In  1692  it  was  owned  and 
occupied  by  Eleazer  Crocker.* 

2.  John  Crocker,  the  second  of  the  name,  a  son  of  Dea. 
William  Crocker,  was  born  in  Scituate  May  1,  1637,  came  to 
Barnstable  with  his  father  1639.  Married  in  1659,  Mary,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  Bodflsh.  She  died  Dec.  1662,  and  he  married 
April  25,  1663,  for  his  second  wife,  Mary,  daughter  of  John 
Bursley.  He  died  May  1711,  aged  74.  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were  : 

9.  I.  Elizabeth,  7th  Oct.  1660,  married  Dea.  Richard  Child 
1678,  died  Jan.  15,  1716,  aged  56.  Her  first  house  was 
next  west  of  Lieut.  Rowland's.  She  afterwards  resided 
as  named  in  the  account  of  her  family. 

10.  II.  Jonathan,  15tb  July,  1662,  married  Hannah,  daughter 
of  John  Howland,  20th  May,  1686.  He  died  Aug.  24, 
1746,  aged  84,  and  is  buried  in  the  West  Barnstable 
graveyard. 

11.  III.  John,  17th  Feb.  1663-4,  married  5th  Nov.  1702,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  Bacon.  She  died  March  1710-11, 
and  he  married  22d  June  1721,  Sarah  Hinckley.     This  John 

*  The  earliest  land  owners  in  the  vicinity  of  the  old  stone  fort,  were  William  Crocker, 
Joseph  Bodfish,  Peter  Blossom,  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter,  Edward  Fitzrandolph,  and  John 
Bursley.  The  old  stone  fort  was  impre^iable  against  any  lorce  that  the  Indians  could 
raise,  and  it  is  sui-prising  that  its  history  is  buried  in  oblivion.  Perhaps  some  future  inves- 
tigator may  be  more  successful  than  I  have  been.  In  Yarmouth  a  fort  was  built  near  the 
Cong.  Meeting  House,  ou  a  rising  ground  known  as  "±"ort  Hill,"  and  in  the  easterly  part  of 
the  town,  on  land  owned  by  the  late  Capt.  Samuel  Rogers,  a  block  house.  That  house  was 
formerly  owned  by  TJlomas  Baxterr  Capt.  Rogers,  who  took  it  down  in  1810,  furnishes  me 
with  the  following  description.  "It  was  about  20  feet  by  28  feet  square,  walls  of  hewn  tim- 
ber, one  storv  high,  gambrel  roof,  windows  small,  diamond  glass  set  in  lead,  chimney  stone 
to  chamber  floor,  brick  above,  all  laid  in  clay  mortar.  Bricks  large ;  partially  burnt,  Fire- 
place in  front  room,  eight  feet  wide,  with  a  stone  hearth.  Shingles  on  the  walls  and  roof 
cedar,  long,  and  an  inch  thick.  Boards  used  apparently  sawed  by  hand."  Fortification 
houses  were  also  built  in  Sandwich.    See  Freeman's  History. 


212        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

is  called  Jr.,  on  the  early  records,  and  his  father  Sen'r. 
He  resided  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  a  short  distance 
north  from  the  present  meeting  house. 

12.  IV.  Hannah,  10th  Oct.  1665,  married  1st  July,  1686, 
Samuel  Lothrop,  a  grandson  of  Rev.  John. 

13.  V.  Joseph,  1st  March,  166T-8,  married  18th  Sept.  1691, 
Ann,  daughter  of  Lieut.  John  Howland. 

14.  VI.  Benjamin,  probably  died  young.  He  is  not  named  in 
his  father's  will  dated  30th  April,  1706,  or  in  the  division  of 
his  brother  Jabez's  estate,  April  3,  1700. 

15.  VII.    Nathaniel,  born  1773.      He  died  Feb.  11,  1740-1,  in 
the  69th  year  of  his  age,  leaving  neither  wife  nor  children. 
In  1715  his  house  is  described  as  being  near  the  head  of 

the  lane,  on  the  east  side,  and  north  of  the  land  on  which  the 
West  Barnstable  church  now  stands.  (Blue)  John  Crocker  after- 
wards owned  it,  and  subsequently  the  same  estate  was  owned  by 
the  late  Stephen  C.  Nye,  deceased.  He  owned  only  two  fifteenths 
of  the  house,  his  sister  Experience  owning  the  other  thirteen 
fifteenths.  His  estate  was  apprized  at  £2,003  10  10.  Silyer  at 
that  time  was  worth  28  shillings  per  ounce.  His  homestead  was 
apprized  at  £1,100.  He  had  92  ounces  of  silver  on  hand,  and 
£266,5  due  him  in  silver,  at  his  death.  He  left  no  will,  and  his 
own  brothers  and  sisters  contended  that  Jonathan  Crocker  and 
Elizabeth  Child's  heirs,  being  only  of  the  half  blood,  were  not 
entitled  to  shares.  The  Judge  of  Probate,  Hon.  Sylvanous 
Bourne,  in  a  very  able  report  on  the  law,  decided  that  they  were 
equally  entitled,  and  ordered  the  estate  to  be  divided  into  seven 
shares,  and  distributed  to  1,  Jonathan  Crocker;  2,  heirs  of 
Elizabeth  Childs ;  3,  Mrs.  Mary  Bursley,  surviving  sister ;  4, 
Children  of  Capt.  Joseph  Crocker,  deceased ;  5,  Children  of 
Hannah  Lothrop,  deceased ;  6,  Children  of  John  Crocker, 
deceased  ;  and  7,  to  heirs  of  Experience  Crocker  deceased. 

16.  VIII.  Experience,  born  in  1674,  died  single,  April  17, 
1740-1,  in  the  67th  year  of  her  age,  and  is  buried  in  the 
West  Barnstable  graveyard.  She  owned  thirteen  fifteenths, 
and  her  brother  Nathaniel  two  fifteenths,  of  the  ancient 
dwelling  house  of  her  grandfather,  which  has  already  been 
described.  Besides  the  estate  bequeathed  to  her  by  her 
father,  she  accumulated  a  considerable  amount  by  her  own 
industry  and  prudence.  Her  estate  was  apprized  at  £588 
14.  Her  silver  plate  were  valued  at  £69  14  :  50  ounces  at 
the  current  rate  of  silver  at  that  time.  In  her  will  she 
makes  bequests  to  her  brothers  Jonathan  and  Joseph ;  to 
her  sister  Mary  Bursley ;  to  the  children  of  her  sister 
Elizabeth  Childs,  deceased  ;  to  Benjamin,  son  of  her  brother 
Joseph  ;  to  Benjamin  and  Samuel,  sons  of  her  "^sister  Han- 
nah Lothrop  ;  to  Moses,  son  of  her  brother  John  ;  to  Mary 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        213 

Davis,  daughter  of  her  sister  Hannah  Lothrop  ;  to  Deborah, 
daughter  of  her  brother  Joseph ;  to  John,  son  of  her 
nephew  Moses  ;  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  her  brother  John  ; 
to  Joseph  Lothrop,  son  of  her  nephew  Joseph,  deceased  ;  to 
the  poor  of  the  church  of  which  she  was  a  member ;  to  the 
church  in  West  Barnstable ;  and  to  John,  son  of  the  Rev. 
Jonathan  Russell.  To  her  brother  John's  son  John,  (called 
Blue  John  Crocker)  she  bequeathed  the  lower  great  room 
in  her  house,  the"  bed  room  and  the  garret,  and  materials  to 
put  the  house  in  good  repair.  The  remainder  of  the  house 
she  bequeathed  to  her  neice  Hannah  Lothrop,  a  single 
woman,  then  fifty  years  of  age.  All  the  rest  of  her  estate 
she  gave  to  her  sister  Mary  Bursley,  Experience  Lothrop, 
Hannah  Lothrop,  Abigail  Lothrop,  and  Prudence  Gorham, 
wife  of  John  Gorham,  Esq.,  and  daughter  of  Joseph 
Crocker. 

Miss  Experience  had  scjme  of  the  good  qualities  of  the 
Vicar  of  Wakefield's  wife.  He  said  all  his  wife's  cousins 
even  to  the  fortieth  remove,  never  forget  their  relationship, 
and  never  passed  his  door  without  calling,  and  his  table  was 
always  well  filled  with  a  happy  company. 

17.  IX.  Jabez,  died  in  1700,  without  issue,  and  his  estate  was 
divided  among  his  brothers  and  sisters,  by  the  same  father 
and  mother,  then  surviving. 

18.  X.     Mary,  married  Feb,  11,  1702,  John  Bursley,  Jr. 

19.  XI.  Abigail.  Her  birth  is  not  recorded  on  the  town 
records.     She  died  young,  leaving  no  issue. 

20.  XII.     Bathshua,  also  died  young,  leaving  no  issue. 

Of  the  children  of  John  Crocker,  his  son  Joseph  is  the  last 
whose  birth  is  recorded  on  the  town  records.  The  names  of  the 
others  are  arranged  in  the  order  found  on  the  Probate  records. 

4.  Samuel  Crocker,  son  of  Dea.  William  Crocker,  born  in 
Barnstable  July  3,  1642,  died  Dec.  1681,  aged  39.  It  does  not 
appear  that  he  married.  If  he  had  left  issue,  his  children  would 
probably  have  been  named  in  their  grandfather's  will.  The  cause 
of  his  death  is  stated  in  the  following  extract  from  the  Plymouth 
Colony  Records,  Vol.  6,  page  82. 

An  Inditement. 

"Indian  James,  thou  art  here  indited  by  the  name  of  James, 
for  that  thou,  haveing  not  the  fear  of  God  before  thyne  eyes,  on 
the  one  and  twentyeth  day  of  November  1681,  in  the  town  of 
Barnstable,  didst  felloniously,  willfully,  and  of  mallice  fore- 
thought, with  intent  to  murder,  kick  Samuel  Crocker,  son  of 
William  Crooker,  of  Barnstable,  on  the  bottom  of  his  belley, 
whereof  the  said  Samuel  Crocker  three  weeks  after  died ;  which 
thou  hast  don  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  of  England,  and  this 
collonie,  and  contrary  to  the  peace  of  our  sou.'r  Lord  the  Kinge, 


214        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

his  crowne,  and  dignity. 

The  jury  find  the  prisenor  nott  guilty  of  willfull  murder." 

No  Indians  were  on  the  jury,  as  was  the  usual  practice  in 
such  cases  ;  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury  shows  that  impartial  jus- 
tice was  dispensed  by  our  ancesters  irrespective  of  caste  or  race. 
Against  Indian  James  no  further  proceedings  appear  on  the 
records. 

5.  Dea.  Job.  Crocker.  Few  men  in  Barnstable  were  held 
in  higher  esteem  in  his  day,  than  Dea.  Job  Crocker.  Like  his 
father,  he  was  honest  and  upright  in  his  dealing,  industrious  and 
prudent  in  his  habits,  an  obliging  neighbor,  a  good  citizen. 
Nurtured  by  pious  parents,  in  early  life  he  became  a  member  of 
the  church,  and  through  life,  his  daily  walk  was  in  accordence 
with  his  profession.  The  church  records  say  of  him,  "God  and 
his  people  having  elected  and  proved  our  Brother  Job  Crocker, 
for  the  office  of  deacon  in  this  church,  he  was  solomnly  set  a  part 
for,  and  ordained  unto  that  work  and  office  iu  July  1684  ;  to 
serve  in  the  deaconship  of  this  church,  together  with  his  father." 
For  eight  years,  during  the  pastorate  of  the  elder  Russell,  he  and 
his  venerable  father  were  joint  occupants  of  the  deacon's  seat. 
It  is  inscribed  on  his  grave  stones,  that  for  thirty  and  four  years 
he  was  a  deacon  of  the  Barnstable  church. 

Dea.  Job  Crocker  was  a  man  of  good  business  capacity, 
was  much  employed  in  the  business  of  the  town,  holding  many 
offices  which  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  enumerate.  He  inhabited 
the  homestead  of  his  uncle  John,  rocky  and  hard  to  cultivate, 
but  an  excellent  grazing  farm.  The  substantial  stone  walls  built 
thereon  in  his  day,  remain  as  monuments  of  his  industry  and 
perseverance.  His  house,  a  large  two  story  structiu-e,  built  in  the 
fashion  of  that  day  with  a  heavy  cornice  in  front,  and  a  long  low 
or  leantoo  roof  on  the  rear,  yet  remains.*  It  is  situate  near  the 
meadows  and  in  close  proximity  to  the  Cape  Cod  Railroad.  The 
first  location  of  the  road  was  between  the  house  and  spring  from 
which  seven  successive  generations  of  Crockers  had  drawn  water. 
Out  of  respect  to  the  then  venerable  occupants,  the  location  was 
changed  to  a  point  below,  a  concession  rarely  made  by  engineers. 

Dea.  Job  Crocker  married  for  his  first  wife,  Nov.  1668, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Rev.  Thomas  Walley,  the  then  pastor  of  the 
Barnstable  church.  She  was  born  in  London  and  there  baptized 
April  18,  1644.  She  came  over  with  her  father  in  the  ship 
Society,   Capt.   John  Pierce,  and  arrived  in  Boston  24th  of  the 


*  Some  doubt  may  arise  whetlier  or  not  Dea.  Job  occupied  the  western  or  the  eastern 
house.  He  occupied  the  most  ancient,  that  is  certain,  and  the  decision  of  the  question 
turns  on  this  point;  was  the  westeni,  tlie  one  now  standing,  the  most  ancient.  The  first 
settlers,  with  scarce  a  solitary  exception,  planted  pear  trees  near  their  houses  and  these  old 
button  and  fall  pear  trees  are  their  monuments.  The  trees  near  the  western  house  were 
vei-y  ancient,  while  those  near  the  eastern  were  smaller  and  not  so  old.  The  eastern  house 
was  a  two  story  siugrle  house  built  in  the  style  common  about  one  hundred  and  forty  years 
ago.  It  was  taken  down  aboiit  forty  years  ago.  It  was  occupied  by  David  Crocker,  Ksq., 
son  of  Job,  and  I  presume  was  built  by  him. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        215 

3d  month  (May)  1662.     She  died  about  the  year  1676,  leaving 
two  children. 

For  his  second  wife  he  married,  19th  July  1680,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Richard  Taylor  of  Yarmouth,  called  "tailor"  to  dis- 
tinguish him  from  another  of  the  same  Christian  name.  He  died 
March  1718-19,  aged  75  years,  and  is  buried  in  the  ancient  bury- 
ing ground.  His  wife  Hannah  surviyed  him,  and  died  14th  May 
1743,  in  the  85th  year  of  her  age.  In  her  will  dated  10th  of  July 
1739,  proved  8th  July  1743,  she  names  her  grandsons  in  law, 
Thomas  and  WaUey  Crocker,  her  daughters  Mary  Howland, 
Hannah,  Elizabeth  Allen,  and  Sarah  Lumbert ;  her  sons  John 
Crocker,  David  Crocker,  and  Job,  deceased  ;  Mary,  wife  of  Isaac 
Howland  ;  Abigail,  wife  of  Geo.  Howland  ;  Hannah,  daughter  of 
her  son  David  ;  grand-daughter  Hannah  Allen  ;  and  her  grand-son 
John  Howland. 

Children  of  Dea.  Job  Crocker. 

21.  I.     A  son,  born  18,  1769,  died  in  infancy. 

22.  II.  Samuel,  15th  May,  1671,  married  Dec.  10,  1696, 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Robert  Parker,  and  for  his  second  wife, 
April  12,  1719,  .Judeth  Leavet,  of  Rochester. 

23.  III.  Thomas,  19th  Jan.  1674,  married  23d  Dec.  1701, 
Elizabeth,  widow  of  "John  Lothrop,  the  son  of  Esquire 
Barnabas  Lothrop." 

24.  IV.  Mary,  born  29th  June,  1681,  married  June  19,  1719, 
.John  Howland,  Jr.,  his  second  wife,  and  had  John,  13th 
Feb.  1720-21,  graduate  of  Harvard  College  1741,  ordained 
at  Carver,  1746,  died  Nov.  4,  1804,  aged  84 ;  and  a  son 
Job,  June  1726. 

25.  V.     John,  24th  Feb.  1683,  called  Dea.  John. 

26.  VI.  Hannah,  2d  Feb.  1685.  [A  Hannah  Crocker  of 
Barnstable,  married  July  7,  1712,  John  Holden  of  War- 
wick.] 

27.  VII.  Elizabeth,  15th  May,  1688,  married  April  5,  1712, 
Rev.  Benjamin  Allen,  a  native  of  Tisbury,  Martha's  Vine- 
yard. He  graduated  at  Yale  College  1708,  ordained  July 
9,  1718,  as  the  first  misister  of  the  south  parish  in  Bridge- 
water,  where  he  remained  about  twelve  years.  He  was 
afterwards  installed  at  Cape  Elizabeth  where  he  died  May 
6,  1754,  aged  65.  He  was  improvident  in  his  habits  and  in 
consequence  often  involved  in  troubles.  One  of  his  grand- 
daughters by  the  name  of  Jourdan,  married  Rev.  Enos 
Hitchcock,  D.  D.,  of  Providence. 

28.  VIII.  Sarah,  born  19th  Jan.  1690-1,  married  May  27, 
1725,  Benjamin  Lumbard,  Jr.,  died  Nov.  1768,  aged  76, 
leaving  no  issue. 

29.  IX.  Job,  4th  April  1694,  died  May  21,  1731,  aged  37. 
He  did  not  marrv. 


216        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

30.  X.  David,  born  oth  Sept.  1697,  graduate  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege 1716,  married  12th  Nov.  1724,  Abigail,  daughter  of 
David  Loring,  and  Jan.  27,  1767,  Mrs.  Abigail  Stuart.  He 
died  in  1764,  aged  67. 

31.  XI.     Thankful,  born  14th  June,  1700,  died  unmarried  Oct. 

1,  1735. 

6.  Josiah  Crocker,  son  of  Dea.  William,  born  Sept.  19, 
1647,  was  a  substantial  farmer,  and  resided  in  the  old  stone 
house  built  by  his  father.  He  inherited  the  southeasterly  part  of 
his  father's  estate.  In  the  proprietor's  records,  it  is  stated  that 
his  heirs  owned  a  house  at  Cotuit ;  whether  or  not  it  was  ever 
occupied  by  him,  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  At  the  divis- 
ion of  the  common  meadows  in  1697,  lie  was  one  of  the  five  to 
whom  was  awarded  seven  acres,  showing  that  he  was  a  man  of 
wealth.  In  1690  there  was  laid  out  to  him  at  Cotuit  Neck,  forty 
acres  of  land  formerly  the  great  lot  of  John  Hall,  and  thirty  acres 
formerly  the  lot  of  Thomas  and  Peter  Blossom.  In  1698  he 
exchanged  twenty-seven  acres  of  his  land  at  Cotuit  Neck  with 
the  town,  taking  land  at  the  same  place  adjoining  Lewis's  Pond, 
now  called  Lovell's  Pond. 

In  1688  the  town  granted  him  one  and  a  half  acres  of  upland  on 
the  south  of  his  barn,  bounded  north  and  east  by  his  other  land, 
south  and  west  by  the  commons.  He  was  not  much  in  public  life. 
He  is  named  as  a  member  of  the  grand  inquest  in  1679,  and  was 
surveyor  of  highways  in  1682.  He  married  23d  Oct.  1668, 
Melatiah,  daughter  of  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley.  He  died  2d  Feb. 
1698-9  aged  51  years.  In  his  will  dated  on  the  28th  of  the 
preceding  month,  he  names  his  wife  Melatiah,  sons  Thomas, 
Josiah,  Ebenezer,  Seth,  Benjamin,  and  daughters,  Mercy,  Mary, 
Else,  and  Melatiah. 

The  Wid.  Melatiah  Crocker  died  2d  Feb.  1714-15,  aged  66 
years.  In  her  will  dated  Jan.  21,  1613-14,  she  names  her  five 
sons ;  and  daughters  Mary,  Alice,  and  Melatiah  ;  also  daughter 
Hannah  (wife  of  her  son  Thomas)  and  her  grand-daughter 
Tabitha. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

31.  I.     A  son,  born  20th  Aug.  1669,  died  Sept.  1669. 

32.  II.     Thomas,   born   27th   May   1671,   married    25th   March 

1696,  Hannah  Green  of  Boston.     He  died  April  1728,  aged 
57  years. 

33.  III.     Mercy,  born  13th  Feb.  1674,  died  in  early  life. 

34.  IV.  Mary,  born  10th  Sept.  1677,  married  Nov.  1705,  her 
cousin  William  Crocker. 

35.  y.  Alice,  born  25th  Dec.  1679,  married  14th  June  1711, 
George  Lewis.  She  died  23d  Feb.  1718.  Alice  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  a  favorite  name  with  the  Crockers. 
This  is  the  only  grand-child  of  the  name,  and  she  did  not 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         317 

give  the  name  to  either  of  her  daughters. 

36.  VI.  Melatiah,  born  20th  Nov.  1681,  married  Oct.  27,  1729, 
her  cousin  Timothv  Crocker. 

37.  VII.  Josiah,  born  8th  Feb.  1684,  married  April  10,  1711, 
Desii-e,  daughter  of  Col.  John  Thacher. 

38.  VIII.  Ebenezer,  bom  30th  May,  1687,  married  22d 
March,  1715,  Hannah  Hall  of  Yarmouth. 

39.  IX.  Seth,  born  23d  Sept.  1689,  died  in  Harwich,  1623, 
leaving  no  issue.  His  brother  Benjamin  of  Ipswich,  was 
executor  of  his  will. 

40.  X.  Benjamin,  born  26th  Sept.  1692,  graduate  of  Harvard 
College  1713.  He  removed  to  Ipswich,  Mass.,  and  was 
many  years  teacher  of  the  Grammar  School  in  that  town. 
He  was  a  representative  from  Ipswich  to  the  Mass.  Gen. 
Court  in  1726,  '34  and  '36.  He  was  a  member  of  the  south 
church  in  that  town ;  but  as  the  individuals  chosen  for  its 
Ruling  Elders  were  not  ordained,  because  Mr.  Walley,  the 
pastor,  did  not  believe  such  officers  were  required  by  the 
gospel,  he  left,  and  united  with  the  first  church.  He  was  a 
deacon  and  occasionally  preached.  He  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of    Rev.   William  Williams  of  Weston,   and  had 

Mary,  who  married Gannison,  and  John,  a  deacon  of 

the  chui'ch  and  a  man  of  note  in  his  day.  Dea.  Benjamin 
Crocker  died  in  1766,  aged  75,  and  his  wife  who  survived 
him  married Cogswell,  t 

7.  Eleazer  Crocker,  son  of  Dea.  William  Crocker,  born  in 
Barnstable  21st  July  1650,  was  admitted  a  townsman  in  1681. 
In  1692  he  was  one  of  the  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  a  list 
of  the  proprietors  of  the  common  lands,  and  determine  what 
was  each  man's  just  right  therein.  After  the  death  of  Nathaniel 
Bacon  in  1693,  he  was  "chosen  and  empowered  by  the  town  to  be 
a  land  measurer  to  lay  out  land."  He  married  7th  April  1682, 
Ruth,  daughter  of  Elder  John  Chipman.  She  died  8th  April 
1698,  aged  34.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Jan.  25,  1716-17, 
Mercy  Phinney. 

Children  of  Eleazer  Crocker. 

41.  I.     Benoni,  born  13th  May,   1682,  died  3d  Feb.  1701. 

42.  II.  Bethia,  born  23d  Sept.  1683,  married  John  Whiton 
March  13,  1710. 

43.  III.  Nathan,  born  27th  April,  1685,  married  10th  March, 
1708-9,  Joanna,  daughter  of  John  Bursley,  and  the  Barn- 

t  Alvah  Crocker,  Esq.,  of  Fitchburg,  in  a  letter  says  that  "upon  one  of  the  oldest 
Grave  Stones  in  St.  Anns  Church  Yard,  Newburyport,  he  finds  this  inscription,  *Capt. 
John  Crocker  born  in  1692,  died  March  19, 1763.' "  This  Capt.  John  Crocker  ivaa  the  great 
^andfather  of  Alvah  Crocker,  Esq.,  and  if  the  inscription  on  his  Grave  Stone  is  accur- 
ately transcribed  he  was  not  a  son  of  Benjamin  of  Ipswich.  Mr.  Crocker  says  the  tradition 
in  his  family,  is  that  he  is  a  descendant  of  Dea.  William,  but  as  at  present  advised  X  do  not 
preceive  how  the  tradition  can  be  verified. 


46. 

VI. 

47. 

VII. 

48. 

VIII. 

1718 

49. 

IX. 

218        GENEAIiOGIOAt   NOTES    OF  BARNSTABLE    PAMffilES. 

stable  records,  say.  lie.  also,  married  Abigail  Bursley  Mardii 
10,  1713-14,  eyideatly  an  error  of  the  Clerk. 

44.  IV.     Daniel,  born  23d  March,  1686-7,  died  without  issue 
1723. 

45.  V.     Sarah,  born,  23^  March,   1689,  married  Nov.  7,  1712^ 
Joseph  Bursley. 

Theophilus,  born  11th  March,  1691. 
Eleazer,  born  3d  Aug.  1693. 
Ruth,  born    3d  Aug.  1693,  married  Samuel  Fuller 

Abel,  born  15th  June,  1695,  married  April  16,  1818: 
Mary  Isum.  The  names  of  his  children  do  not  appear  on 
the  town  records.  His  wife  joined  the  church  Dec.  1723, 
when  her  son  Daniel  and  daughter  Rebecca  were  baptized, 
and  Aug.  1725,  her  son  Eleazer.  Soon  after  the  latter  date, 
the  family  removed  to  Plymton,  and  returned  1757. 

50.  X.     Rebecca,  born  10th  Dec.  1697,  married Robbins.. 

51.  XI.     Mercy,  by  his  second  wife,  and  named  in  his  will. 

8.  Sergeant  Joseph  Crocker,  youngest  son  of  Dea.  William,, 
born  in  1654,  resided  at  West  Barnstable.  He  inherited  the 
north-easterly  part  of  his  father's  farm,  bounded  easterly  by  the. 
Otis  and  Hinckley  estates.  That  portion  of  the  ancient  Crocker 
estate,  on  the  north  of  the  County  road  and  bounded  easterly  by 
the  lands  of  Mr.  John  Smith,  was  not  included  in  his  estate.* 
His  house  was  on  the  Meeting  House  road,  if  I  construe  the 
records  rightly,  not  far  from  the  present  location  of  the  Cape 
Cod  Railroad  Depot.  A  reservation  of  three  rods  in  width 
through  his  lands  was  made  for  that  road.  In  1703  he  was  rated 
the  highest,  and  probably  was  the  most  wealthy  man  in  Barn- 
stable. He  was  admitted  a  townsman  in  1 678 ;  but  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  often  employed  in  town  or  other  public  busi- 
ness. He  was  a  sergeant  in  the  militia  company,  than  an  office 
of  some  honor.  In  his  will  dated  20th  Feb.  1720-1,  he  gives  to 
his  wife  Temperance  all  his  personal  estate,  and  the  use  and 
improvement  of  all  his  real  estate  during  her  natur-al  life.  In 
most  of  the  old  wills  the  phrase  used  is,  "while  she  remains  my 
widow,"  on  the  presumption  that  the  husband  can  bind  the  wife, 
after  his  decease. 

To  his  four  daughters  he  devised  all  his  lands  and  meadows 
lying  by  the  mill  river  ;  to  his  son  William,  "all  his  housing  and 


*The  same  rule  was  adopted  in  Barnstable  and  Tarmouth  in  the  division  of  the  common 
lands ;  that  is,  one  third  to  the  townsmen,  one  third  on  the  estates,  and  one  third  to  the  tene- 
ments. In  Barnstable  only  the  ^oss  number  of  shares  alloted  to  each  is  recorded ;  in  Yar- 
mouth the  several  particulars  are  ^ven.  Joseph  Crocker  had  80  shares,  James  Gorham  74 
3-4,  John  Hamblin  71  3-4,  .James  Hamblin,  Sen'r,  69,  &c.  It  will  thus  be  perceived  why  it 
was  that  our  ancestors,  were  so  cautious  in  admitting  townsmen.  It  not  only  conferred  all 
the  rights  appertaining  to  a  citizen;  but  made  the  party  a  proprietor  of  the  common  lands. 
If  a  house  stood  on  the  common  land,  the  owner  was  not  entitled  to  a  tenement  right.  To 
confer  the  right,  the  house  had  to  be  on  the  land  of  the  individual,  and  the  title  acquired 
by  liim  according  to  the  usuagea  of  the  times. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES   OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        219 

lands  where  he  then  dwelt,"  and  all  his  wood  lots  ;  and  to  Timothy 
"all  his  lands  in  the  timber  lands,  at  a  place  called  Great  Hill,  all 
subject  to  the  use  and  improvement  of  their  mother  during  her 
natural  life.  Noah  is  not  named  in  the  will,  and  was  probably 
then  dead. 

Joseph  Crocker  married  Deo.  1677,  Temperance,  daughter 
of  John  Bursley.  She  survived  her  husband  many  years  and  died 
very  aged. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

52.  I.     William,  born  25th  Aug.  1679,  married  Nov.  1705,  his 
cousin  Mary  Crocker. 

53.  II.     Timothy,  born  30th  April  1681,  married  Oct.  27,  1709, 
his  cousin  Melatiah  Crocker.* 

54.  III.     Noah,  born  Dec.  1683,  died  young. 

55.  IV.     Joanna,  born  18th  July  1687,  married  9th  Feb.  1708-9, 
Joseph  Fuller,  Jr.,  died  April  13,  1766. 

56.  V.     Martha,  born  22d  Feb.  1689. 

57.  VI.     Temperance,  26th  Aug.  1694. 

58.  VII.     Remember,  26th  Aug.  1699,  married  Samuel  Annable, 
3d,  May  28,  1719. 

Third  Generation. 
(10)  Jonathan  Crocker,  son  of  John,  owned  the  laild  now 
known  as  the  Bodfish  Farm  at  West  Barnstable.  He  was  a  sub- 
stantial farmer,  owned  a  large  estate ;  and,  as  his  father  and 
grand-father  had  done,  he  conveyed  by  deeds  a  large  part  of  it  to 
his  children,  reserving  only,  a  sufficiency  for  his  comfortable  sup- 
port in  old  age.  His  residence  on  the  Bodflsh  Farm,  probablj' 
built  by  his  father,  was  a  two  story  single  house,  with  a  leantoo, 
or  "salt  box,"  as  they  were  sometimes  called,  on  the  side.  This 
he  sold  in  1713  to  his  son-in-law,  Benjamin  Bodflsh.  It  was 
taken  down  in  1819,  and  the  old  Bodfish  mansion  house  stands  on 
the  same  spot.f  His  will,  which  is  in  the  hand  writing  of  the 
Rev.  Jonathan  Russell,  is  dated  June  1737,  and  the  codicil  thereto 

*  Physiologists  may  perhaps  notice  these  two  instances  of  the  marriage  of  cousins. 
■William  and  Mary  had  eight  children.  One  was  still  bom,  and  one  died  aged  21  days. 
Of  the  other  six,  none  were  distinguished  either  for  phj^sical  or  intellectual  vigor.  Timothy 
and  Melatiah  had  five  daughters,  distinguished  for  their  intellectual  vigor,  graceful  accom- 
plishments, and  business  capacity.  Beautiful  specimens  of  embroidery  wrought  b^  them 
are  preserved  by  their  descendants.  A  few  years  since  a  gentleman  well  versed  in  the 
genealogies  of  the  Nantucket  ^milies,  attempted  to  show  that  the  marriage  of  cousins  was 
not  objectionable,  and  he  made  out  a  strong  case. 


t  Since  writing  the  above  I  have  examined  the  records  of  the  grants  of  land  made  in 
1716.  There  is  great  want  of  cleanness,  in  the  descriptions.  The  records  says,  "Set  out  to 
Jonathan  Crocker,  a  piece  of  land  at  the  head  of  his  own,  bounded  westerly  by  the  way 
that  goeth  up  by  his  house,  northerly  by  his  own  land  to  the  dividing  line  between  him  and 
.John  Crocker."  John  Crocker's  land  is  bounded  "easterly,"  evidently  should  be 
westerly,  by  Jonathan's,  and  easterly  by  the  way  to  Nathaniel  Crocker's.  Out  of  this 
grant  the  three  acres  on  which  the  west  Barnstable  meeting  house  now  stand»  was 
reserved.  The  reservation  was  made  in  the  grant  to  Thomas ;  but  appears  to  have  been 
taken  from  John's.  It  seems  by  this  that  Jonathan  Crocker's  house  in  1716,  was  on 
Dexter's  Lane,  and  whether  he  ever  resided  in  the  house  he  sold  t«  Bodfish  is  not  clear. 


220       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

June  1742,  four  years  before  his  death.  He  provides  for  the 
support  of  his  wife  Thankful,  giving  her  the  household  goods  she 
brought  with  her,  and  some  bedding  she  had  made  since.  He  gave 
his  son  Isaac  £30  and  his  great  chair,  names  his  son  James,  and 
James'  oldest  son,  to  whom  he  gave  his  gun.  To  the  Rev. 
Jonathan  Russell  he  devised  20  shillings  ;  to  the  church  20  shil- 
lings ;  and  to  Mercy  Dexter  then  living  with  him  £5.  All  the 
rest  of  his  estate,  real  and  personal,  to  the  children  of  his  three 
daughters,  Lydia,  Hannah  and  Reliance.  In  the  codicil  to  his 
will  he  gives  the  estate  which  had  fallen  to  him  by  the  death  of 
his  brother  Nathaniel,  equally,  in  five  shares,  to  his  sons  Isaac 
and  James,  to  the  children  and  heirs  of  his  daughter  Lydia  Bod- 
flsh,  deceased,  to  the  children  and  heirs  of  his  daughter  Hannah 
Fuller,  and  to  the  children  and  heirs  of  his  daughter  Reliance 
Smith,  deceased.  At  the  time  he  made  his  will  all  his  children, 
excepting  Isaac  and  James,  were  dead,  and  they  resided  in  Con- 
necticut. 

Jonathan  Crocker  man-ied  for  his  first  wife,  20th  May,  1686, 
Hannah,  daughter  of  Lieut.  John  Rowland.  She  was  the  mother 
of  all  his  children.  After  her  death  he  married  Feb.  1710-11, 
Thankful,  widow  of  Mr.  John  Hinckley,  Jr.,  and  daughter  of 
Thomas  Trott  of  Dorchester.  He  died  Aug.  24,  1746,  aged  84, 
and  i8«t)uried  in  the  West  Barnstable  grave  yard.  No  monuments 
are  erected  to  the  memory  of  either  of  his  wives. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

59.  I.  Lydia,  born  26th  Sept.  1686,  man-ied  Benjamin  Bodfish, 
10th  Nov.  1709. 

60.  II.  Hannah,  born  26th  March  1688,  married  10th  7th 
month,  1708,  Shubael  Fuller,  of  East  Haddam,  Conn.,  and 
removed  thither. 

61.  III.     Thankful,  born  6th  March,  1690,  died  young. 

62.  IV.  Isaac,  born  April  4,  1692,  married  Dec.  13,  1718, 
Ann  Smith,  and  removed  to  East  Haddam,  Conn.,  where 
she  died  June  1725,  aged  30.  Oct.  31,  1726,  he  married 
for  his  second  wife  Elizabeth  Fuller  of  Barnstable.  In 
1 729  he  removed  to  Westchester,  in  the  town  of  Colchester. 
He  died  Aug.  8,  1769,  at  4  o'clock  P.  M.,  aged  77  years,  4 
months,  and  8  days. 

Children  of  Isaac  Crocker  born  in  East  Haddam,  Conn. 

1,  Hannah,  Sept.  22,1719;  2,  Ann,  June  29,  1722,  died 
unmaiTied,  March  29,  1772,  aged  49  ;  3,  Joseph,  Dec.  20,  1724, 
married  Nov.  10,  1748,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Rev.  Judah  Lewis;  4, 
Elizabeth,  Aug.  26,  1727,  married  as  second  wife.  May,  26, 
1747,  Simeon  Ockley.  She  died  at  Williamston  Nov.  9,  1797, 
aged  70  ;  5,  Mary,  April  30,  1729  ;  6,  Martha,  born  at  Colchester, 
arch  3,  1731  ;   7,  Abigail,  March  10,  1733  :  8,  a  daughter,  Sept. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         221 

62.  1736,  died  same  day. 

63.  V.  Reliance,  born  28th  June,  1694,  married  Josepli  Smith, 
Jr.,  5th  Oct.  1712  ;  died  4th  May,  1704,  aged  30. 

64.  VI.  Jonathan,  born  28th  May,  1696,  married  Nov.  28, 
1723,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  second  John  Bursley.  He 
died  Sept.  21,  1726,  leaving  a  son  Ephraim,  who  died  Oct. 
17,  1726,  aged  one  year  and  15  days. 

65.  VII.  James,  born  3d  Sept.  1699,  married  Nov.  21,  1721, 
Alice  Swift,  born  in  Sandwich  July  23,  1698  da'r  of  Jireh 
and  Abigail  Swift.  About  the  year  1724  he  removed  to 
Colchester,  Conn.,  and  built  a  house  near  the  Colchester  and 
East  Haddam  turnpike  which,  till  1860,  was  occupied  by  his 
descendents.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  church 
in  the  parish  of  Westchester.  She  died  in  Westchester 
Jan.  15,  1783,  aged  84 ;  and  he  died  Nov.  7,  1785,  aged  86. 
They  lived  in  the  marriage  state  over  sixty-one  years. 
Their  children  were:  1,  Simeon,  the  Barnstable  records  say 
born  at  Barnstable,  March  22,  1722,  the  Colchester,  Sept. 
19,  1722,  (the  latter  probably  accurate.)  He  married 
March  7,  1751,  Dorothy  Williams.  He  died  at  Westchester 
Feb.  13,  1778.  His  death  was  caused  by  a  fall  on  the  ice, 
while  going  from  his  house  to  his  barn.  She  died  Aug.  4, 
1818,  aged  about  95.  2,  Abigail,  J  born  according  to  the 
the  Barnstable  record,  Sept.  19,  1724,  according  to  the 
Colchester,  March  25,  1724,  married  Feb.  23,  1744,  John 
Williams,  and  2d,  April  23,  1765,  Enoch  Arnold,  died 
1771.  3,  Hannah,  born  at  Colchester  Jan.  17,  1726.  4, 
Levi,  May  11,  1728.  5,  Jonathan,  March  16,  1730.  6, 
James,  April  20,  1732.  7,  Thankful,  Jan.  27,  1733-4.  8, 
Lydia,  Jan.  14,  1736-6.  9,  Ephraim,  Sept.  21,  1739.  The 
last  was  a  physician  settled  in  Richmond,  Mass. 

66.  VIII.     Ephraim,  born  April  1702,  died  May  1,  1704. 

(11)  John  Crocker  son  of  John,  born  7th  Feb.  1663-4,  was 
called  Junior  until  1711,  when  he  was  the  elder  of  the  name  in 
Barnstable.  He  married  6th  Nov.  1702,  Mary,  daughter  of  the 
second  Nathaniel  Bacon.  She  died  March,  1710-11,  aged  33,  and 
he  mamed  for  his  second  wife,  Sarah,  Nov.  11,  1711,  probably  a 
daughter  of  Ensign  John  Hinckley. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

67.  I.     Sarah,  born  4th  Jan.  1703-4. 

G8.  II.  Moses,  born  5th  April,  1705,  married  May  15,  1736, 
Mary  Fish  of  Sandwich,  and  had  1,  Nathaniel,  May  7, 
1736;  2,  John,  March  8,  1737-8,  he  was  4th  and  called 
Tanner.     He  married  Jan.  8,   1761,  Thankful  Hallett;  3, 

X  Abigail  Crocker  was  the  great  grand-mother  of  my  correspondent,  D.  "William  Patter- 
son, Esq.,  of  West  Winstead,  Conn.,  to  whom  I  am  much  indebted  for  information  respect- 
ing the  early  emigrants  from  Barnstable  to  Connectifut. 


222        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Sarah,  Aug.  16,  1740  ;  4,  Moody,  Feb.  14,  1742  ;  and  5, 
Edmund,  Aug.  17,  1645,  also  Nathaniel  not  named  in  the 
record. 

69.  III.  Mary,  bom  July,  1707.  In  a  deed  dated  37th  Aug., 
styles  herself  spinster,  names  her  uncle  Nathaniel,  deceased, 
and  her  two  brothers,  Moses  and  John. 

70.  IV.  John,  born  Sept.  1709,  called  John  Blue  or  Blue 
Stocking  John.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  the 
elder  of  the  four  John  Crocker's  and  called  first.  His 
house,  bequeathed  to  him  by  his  great  aunt,  Experience, 
stood  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  road,  a  little  distance  north 
of  the  West  Barnstable  church,  and  was  afterwards  owned  and 
occupied  by  Mr.  Lemuel  Nye.  He  married  Lydia  Barker  of 
R.  I.  (Neither  his  marriage  nor  the  publication  thereof  is 
on  the  Barnstable  town  records.)  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were  :  1,  Elizabeth,  Feb.  28,  1738  ;  2,  Stephen, 
Dec.  3,  1740;  3,  Joseph,  Feb.  6,  1842  ;  4,  AUyn,  Feb.  18, 
1745  ;  5,  Bathseba,  Jan.  23,  1747,  David  Kelley  ;  6,  Lydia, 
May  12,  1749;  7,  David ;  8,  Hannah,  March  13,  1753, 
Tobey;  9,  John,  May  12,  1755,  called  "Young  Blue."  He 
was  a  sea  captain,  and  active  and  intelligent  man.  He 
bought  the  ancient  Hinckley  house  in  which  he  resided. 
His  son  John  Barker  Crocker  is  well  known.  Abigail,  lOth 
child  of  Blue  John  Crocker,  was  born  Feb.  1758,  Nath'l 
Jenkins. 

71.  V.     Elizabeth,  born  March  1710-11. 

(13)  Capt.  Joseph  Crocker,  son  of  John,  born  1st  March, 
1667-8,  married  Ann,  daughter  of  Lieut.  John  Howland,  18th 
Sept.  1691.  Capt.  Crocker  was  an  influential  man,  and  was 
much  employed  in  public  business.  About  the  year  1700  he 
bought  the  house  of  Robert  Claghorn,  which  stood  at  the  east  end 
of  Lumbard's  pond,  and  the  lands  adjoining  which  he  afterwards 
sold  to  the  Lothrops  His  residence  was  at  Cotuit,  and  his  farm 
is  now  owned  by  Josiah  Sampson  and  others.  His  residence  was 
a  large  old  fashioned  two  story  double  house.  It  was  standing 
not  long  since. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 
1-2.     I.     Deborah,  last  of  Dec.  1691. 

73.  II.  Prudence,  born  26th  July,  1692,  married  Oct.  2,  1712 
John  Gorham,  Esq.,  of  Barnstable.  She  was  the  mother 
of  14  children,  13  of  whom  lived  to  mature  age.  She  died 
in  1778  aged  86. 

74.  III.  Benjamin,  born  5th  April,  1696,  married  17th  Sept. 
1719,  Priscilla,  daughter  of  Dea.  Joseph  Hall  of  Yarmouth. 
He  resided  at  Cotuit,  and  died  1757,  aged  61.  His  children 
were  1,  Deborah,  born  June  22,  1721,  died  early  ;  2,  Desire, 
born  Aug.  9,  1727,  married  Oct.  3,  1747,  Coi-nelius  Samp- 
son of  Rochester;  and  3,  Martha,  born  Juae  fi,  1732. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OE    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIKS.         223 

(22)  Samuel  Crocker,  son  of  Job,  born  15th  May,  1671, 
married  Dec.  10,  1696,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Robert  Parker.  She 
was  the  mother  of  thirteen  children,  and  died  in  1718,  aged  40. 
He  married  for  his  second  wife,  April  12,  1719,  Judith  Leavet  of 
Rochester,  by  whom  he  had  two  children.  His  farm  was  at  the 
village  now  called  Pondville,  near  the  Sandwich  line  and  was 
bounded  by  the  road  leading  to  Scorton. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

76.  I.  Samuel,  born  12th  Dec.  1697,  married  2d  March,  1723-4, 
Ruth,  daughter  of  the  third  James  Hamblin.  She  was 
born  in  1692,  and  was  five  years  older  than  her  husband. 
He  had  1,  Noah,  Sept.  12,  1724;  2,  Sarah,  Jan.  5,  1726, 
married  Shubael  Hamblin,  .Jr.,  July  16,  1761  ;  3,  Hannah, 
May  16,  1729,  married  Jan.  29,  1758,  Abel  Gushing  of 
Hingham;  4,  Anna,  May  8,  1731,  married  Jabez  Bursley, 
Dec.  15,  1747  ;  5,  Joanna,  June  4,  1735,  died  Aug.  7,  1735, 
6,  Joanna. 

77.  II.     Cornelius,  born  24th  Oct.  1698,  died  young. 

78.  III.     Mary,  8th  April,  1700. 

79.  IV.  Patience,  born  18th  April,  1701.  She  became,  in 
1727,  the  second  wife  of  Shubael  Davis,  sixteen  years  her 
senior. 

80.  V.  Elizabeth,  born  Feb.  1702-3,  married  James  Childs 
Sept.  27,  1722. 

81.  VI.  Cornelius,  born  23d  March,  1704.  (See  account  of 
him  below.) 

82.  VII.     Rowland,  born  18th  June,  1705. 

83.  VIII.  G-ersham,  bom  Dec.  1706,  died  Nov.  26,  1786, 
aged  80. 

84.  IX.  Ebenezer,  born  5th  June,  1710,  married  Ann  Eldredge 
of  Falmouth,  June  12,  1735,  removed  to  East  Haddam, 
Conn.,  1751.  Children  born  in  Barnstable,  1,  Rowland, 
June,  8,  1736,  married  24th  May,  1763,  Persis  Brown,  and 
had  six  children;  2,  Joanna,  born  Dec.  8,  1737;  3, 
Ezekiel,  born  Nov.  24,  1739,  married  Feb.  28,  1765,  Lydia 
Arnold  of  East  Haddam.  He  removed  to  Richmond, 
Mass.,  where  he  had  David,  Samuel  and  Lucy  baptized, 
Aug.  14,  1785.  He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Broome  County,  N.  Y.,  a  very  pious  man  and  regular  at 
family  worship.  One  morning  while  engaged  in  his  devo- 
tions, he  saw  his  cows  in  the  corn,  and  he  broke  into  his 
prayer  with,  "David!  Sam!  don't  you  see  those  cursed 
cows  in  the  corn  ?  run  boys  !  quick  !  !  "  and  seeing  them  well 
started  after  the  cows,  took  up  his  broken  prayer,  and 
leisurely  finished  it.  At  80  years  he  married  a  girl  of  18, 
promising  her,  it  is  said,  as  her  dower,  her  weight  in  silver 
dollars.       Thev    lived    together    but   a   short    time.       She 


224        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

separated  from  him  aud  married  his  grandson.  4,  Tabitha, 
born  in  Barnstable  Feb.  20,  1741-2  ;  5,  Bethia,  baptized 
Bethiel,  born  June  8,  1744  ;  6,  Gershom,  born  Oct.  8,  1746, 
married  Jan.  17.  1769,  Ann  Fisher;  7,  Alice,  baptized 
March  9,  1748-9  ;  8,  Ebenezer,  born  in  East  Haddam, 
June  25,  1751  ;  9,  Samuel,  June  2,  1753. 

85.  X.  Benjamin,  born  July,  1711,  married  1738,  Abigail, 
daughter  of  John  Jenkins  of  Falmouth.  He  married  in 
1747,  Bathsheba,  daughter  of  Dea.  Joseph  Hall  of  Yar- 
mouth. He  probably  married  for  his  3d  wife  in  1759  Annie 
Handy  of  Sandwich.  He  had  seven  children  born  in  Barnsta- 
ble, all  of  whom,  excepting  Josiah,  were  baptized  at  the  West 
Church.  1,  Joseph,  April  15,  1748  ;  2,  Benjamin,  Sept.  17, 
1749  ;  3,  Timothy,  Oct.  3,  1751  ;  4,  Abigail,  Nov.  91, 1753  ;  5, 
Bathsheba,  Nov.  11,  1755;  6,  Peter,  Jan.  11,  1758;  7, 
Josiah,  April  17,  1760. 

86.  XI.     Eebecea, ,  married  Eben  Jones,  March  20, 1 740. 

87.  XII.     Rachell,  .  married  Joseph  Howland,  Jan.  18, 

1738-9. 

88.  XIII.     David, ,  called  junior  to  distinguish  him  from 

David  Crocker,  Esq.,  son  of  Job,  married  Dorcas  Davis  of 
Falmouth,  1741,  had  1,  Anna,  born  Dec.  24,1742;  2, 
Rachel,  1744  ;  3,  Samuel,  Feb.  1747. 

89.  XIV.  Sarah, ,  married  Joshua  Backhouse  of  Sand- 
wich, Nov.  7,  1734. 

90.  XV.  Tabitha,  baptized  Aug.  21,  1721,  married  Timothy 
Davis  of  Falmouth,  Feb.  7,  1760. 

(81.  VI.)  Cornelius  Crocker,  son  of  Samuel,  was  bound, 
when  young,  as  an  apprentice  to  a  tailor,  and  afterwards  had  a 
shop  of  his  own,  and  worked  at  the  business  many  years.  He 
had  a  club-foot,  was  lame  and  unable  to  attend  to  business  which 
required  much  physical  effort  and  active  exertion.  He  married, 
Nov.  9,  1727,  Lydia,  daughter  of  Joseph  Jenkins.  He  resided 
in  the  East  Parish,  built  in  1741  the  high  single  house  near  the 
Agricultural  Hall,  afterwards  owned  by  Ebenezer  Taylor.  He 
bought  the  ancient  grist  mill  on  Mill  Creek,  which  he  rebuilt.  He 
afterwards  owned  the  farm  on  the  west  of  Rendevons  lane,  which 
was  originally  Thomas  Lothrop's  home  lot,  and  that  part  of 
Joseph  Lothrop's  which  was  on  that  side  of  the  lane,  together 
with  the  ancient  gambrel  roofed  house  which  according  to  tradi- 
tion, belonged  to  the  Glovers.  He  also  owned  the  wharf  known 
as  Crocker's  Wharf,  and  a  fish  house  near  the  same.  He  resided 
for  a  time  in  the  gambrel  roofed  house,  afterwards  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  son  Samuel.  He  also  bought  the  estate  known  of 
late  years  as  "Lydia  Sturgis's  tavern,"  where  he  kept  a  public 
house  many  years.  He  owned  other  real  estate,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  wealth v  men  of  his  time  in  the  East  Parish.     His  house 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         225 

till  within  a  few  years  has  been  a  noted  tavern  stand,  and  a 
favorite  resort  for  travellers.  It  has  always  been  kept  in  good 
repair.  It  was  built  to  accommodate  those  who  attended  the 
courts.  The  first  court  house  in  the  county  of  Barnstable  was 
built  in  the  field  next  on  the  east.  Its  location  caused,  at  that 
time,  much  excitement.  The  Gorhams  who  resided  at  the  lower 
part  of  the  town,  were  wealthy  and  influential,  and  insisted  that 
it  should  be  located  in  their  neighborhood.  They  urged  that  such 
a  location  was  nearer  the  center  of  the  population,  and  that  it 
would  give  better  satisfaction  to  the  people  of  the  County.  Gov. 
Hineldey  and  the  Lothrops  insisted  on  a  more  western  location, 
and  they  prevailed.  The  Lothrops  owned  the  land  on  which  it 
was  finally  located.  The  Gorhams  were  so  confident  that  the 
Court  House  would  be  located  in  their  neighborhood  that  one  or 
more  buildings  intended  for  hotels,  were  put  up. 

Cornelius  Crocker,  as  has  already  been  stated,  kept  a  public 
house  ;  he  was  also  engaged  in  the  fisheries,  gave  employment  to 
quite  a  number  of  men,  and  naturally  exerted  much  influence,  in 
his  neighborhood  and  in  the  town.  He  belonged  to  that  moderate 
class,  among  the  tories  who  deemed  it  inexpedient  for  the  colonies 
to  adopt  measures  that  would  inevitably  lead  to  a  war  with  the 
mother  country.  Perhaps  under  other  circumstances,  he  would 
have  been  more  decided  and  out-spoken  than  he  was.  He  had 
passed  the  age  of  man  ;  his  political  principles  and  his  interests 
were  antagonistical,  and  prudence  dictated  that  he  should  commit 
no  act  that  would  render  his  large  estate  liable  to  confiscation. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution  there  were,  in  fact, 
four  political  parties  in  Barnstable,  the  lines  between  which  were 
drawn  with  more  or  less  distinctness.  1,  The  ardent  whigs,  of 
whom  Dr.  Nathaniel  Freeman  of  Sandwich,  and  Joseph  Otis, 
Esq.,  a  brother  of  the  patriot  James,  were  the  moving  spirits  and 
leaders.  Dr.  Freeman  was  then  a  young  man,  active,  ardent  and 
zealous  ;  but  his  zeal  was  not  always  tempered  by  the  discretion  of 
age.  This  party  were  nearly  all  young  men,  burning  with  indig- 
nation at  the  outrages  which  the  mother  country  had  inflicted  on 
the  colonies.  In  the  East  Parish  the  leading  men  were  Daniel 
Davis,  Esq.,  Sylvanus  Gorham,  Seth  Lothrop,  Jonathan Lumbert, 
John  Thacher,  Jethro  Thacher,  Nathaniel  Lothrop,  John  Lewis, 
George  Lewis,  Timothy  Phinney,  and  James  Coleman.  Brigadier 
Joseph  Otis  at  first  acted  with  them,  but  he  and  Daniel  Davis, 
Esq.,  afterwards  acted  with  the  more  moderate  party.  2.  The 
leaders  of  the  more  moderate  party  were  older  men,  and  more 
conservative  in  their  views.  Col.  James  Otis,  Solomon  Otis, 
Esq.,  Nymphus  Marston,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Joseph Blish,  Capt.  Samuel 
Crocker,  Edward  Bacon,  Esq.,  Sturgis  Gorham,  Esq.,  Isaac 
Hinckley,  Esq.,  Shearjashub  Bourne,  Esq.,  Eleazer  Scudder,  and 
Dea.  Joseph  Hallett,  were  prominent  men  of  the   party.     During 


226    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BAKN8TABLE  FAMILIES. 

the  Revolution  they  were  always  in  the  majority  in  Barnstable, 
and  the  members  of  this  party  were  the  men  who  were  relied  on 
to  furnish  men  and  money,  tlie  sinews  of  war. 

The  tories  were  few  in  numbers  in  Barnstable.  They  were 
also  divided  into  two  parties,  the  out-spoken  and  decided,  of 
whom  David  Parker,'Esq.,  and  Mr.  Otis  Loring  were  the  leading 
men.  The  more  moderate  were  such  men  as  Mr.  Cornelius 
Crocker  and  his  son  Josiah.  Among  the  tories  were  men  of 
wealth,  of  respectability,  and  influence.  They  were  citizens,  and 
so  long  as  they  did  not  give  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  the 
country,  and  contributed  their  share  to  the  public  expenses,  they 
were  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  laws,  though  their  political 
opinions  might  not  have  been  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  a 
majority  of  the  people.  Such  protection  the  moderate  among  the 
whigs  were  willing  to  concede ;  but  for  making  this  concession, 
some  of  them  were  persecuted  with  more  bitterness  of  feeling 
then  were  the  open  and  avowed  tories.  Edward  Bacon,  Esq., 
who  had  been  chosen  a  representative  to  the  General  Court,  was 
denounced  as  a  tory,  and  an  enemy  to  his  country.  A  remon- 
strance embodying  these  charges  was  presented  to  the  Legislature 
and  published  in  a  newspaper  at  Watertown,  July  8,  1776,  and  in 
consequence  the  seat  of  Mr.  Bacon  was  declared  vacant.  He 
returned  home.  A  town  meeting  was  duly  notified  and  held,  and 
the  town  meeting  resolved,  with  great  unanimity,  that  the  charges 
preferred  against  him  were  false  and  slanderous. 

Capt.  Samuel  Crocker,  to  whom  unintentional  injustice  was 
done  in  the  notice  of  the  cutting  down  of  the  liberty  pole  in 
Barnstable,  was  also  persecuted  with  a  malignity  of  feeling  that  is 
not  creditable  to  those  who  took  an  active  part  therein.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  active  men  of  the  whig  party, 
conservative  and  tolerant  in  his  opinions.  His  position  was  un- 
fortunate ;  but  it  was  not  one  of  his  own  seeking  or  making,  and 
for  which  he  was  in  no  way  responsible.  His  father  and  brothers 
were  classed  among  the  loyalists,  whether  rightfully  or  wrong- 
fully, to  him  belonged  neither  the  censure  or  the  praise.  He  was 
responsible  for  his  own  acts,  not  for  those  of  others.  Natural 
affection  would  dictate  to  him  that  he  ought  not  to  deal  harshly 
with  those  who  were  bound  to  him  by  the  ties  of  consanguinity. 
His  position  entitled  him  to  sympathy  ;  but  there  were  those  who 
irreverantly  said  that  he  should  forsake  "father  and  mother  and 
wife  and  children,"  for  the  cause  of  his  country.  His  brother, 
Cornelius,  was  not  a  decided  politician,  though  he  generally  acted 
with  the  whig  party,  and  therefore  could  not  be  classed  among  the 
tories.  He  did  not  possess  the  commanding  talents  of  his  brother 
Samuel,  or  the  learning  of  his  brother  Josiah,  but  in  his  own  way, 
he  denounced,  with  perhaps  too  much  severity,  the  excesses  of  the 
day.     Such  a  course  exposes  a  man  to  the  censure   of  both   parties. 


GENEALOGICAL,   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       227 

In  times  when  the  political  elements  are  moved  to  their  very  founda- 
tions, men  cannot  be  neutral,  they  must  belong  to  the  one  party  or 
the  other.  To  some  extent  Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  professed  to  be 
neutral  in  politics,  and  he  was  therefore  denounced  by  both  parties. 
In  front  of  his  house  stood  the  Liberty  Pole,  the  emblem  of  progress, 
around  which  the  whigs  were  wont  to  assemble ;  and  near  by,  in  lov- 
ing proximity,  the  stocks  and  the  whipping  post,  lingering  emblems 
of  a  barbarous  code,  and  of  a  more  barbarous  age. 

The  inhabitants  in  town  meeting,  by  their  repeated  votes, 
manifested  their  confidence  in  the  political  integrity  of  Capt.  Samuel 
Crocker,  against  whom  the  shafts  of  malevolence  seem  to  have  been 
as  violently  hurled  as  against  his  father  and  brothers.  Its  bitterness 
may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  a  century  has  now  nearly  elapsed, 
yet  the  feelings  of  animosity  which  it  engendered  have  not  yet  sub- 
sided. 

Another  unhappy  dissension  between  individuals  also  divided 
public  sentiment.  An  unfriendly  feeling  which  existed  between 
Brigadier  Joseph  Otis  and  Edward  Bacon,  Esq.,  led  to  unpleasant 
political  action.  Mr.  Otis,  however,  soon  became  satisfied  that  the 
charges  against  Mr.  Bacon  were  false  and  malicious,  and  there- 
after cordially  co-operated  with  him  and  the  conservative  portion 
of  the  whig  party.  Mr.  Bacon  was  a  deacon  of  the  East  Church, 
and  the  matter  became  a  subject  of  church  discipline.  The 
church  wisely  decided  that  "a  church  being  an  ecclesiastical 
body,  have  no  right  to  call  its  members  to  an  account  for  actions 
of  a  civil  and  public  nature  ;  that  in  signing  petitions  against  Dea. 
Bacon,  they  exercised  their  just  right  as  men,  and  subjects  of  a 
free  state  ;  and  that  in  their  apprehension,  when  they  entered  into 
a  church  state,  they  did  not  give  up  any  of  their  civil  rights  ;  that 
they  did  not  charge  the  Deacon  with  any  immorality  ;  but  that  his 
religious  character  stood  as  fair  in  their  minds  when  they  signed 
the  petitions  as  before ;  that  if  they  were  chargeable  with  any 
overt  acts  of  wickednesi*,  or  breach  of  their  covenant  engage- 
ments, they  were  willing  to  answer  it  to  the  church,  and  to  make 
christian  satisfaction  ;  but  that  as  to  political  controversies,  they 
begged  leave  to  refer  them  to  a  civil  tribunal." 

This  extract  is  from  the  reply  to  the  complaint  of  Dea. 
Bacon.  The  vote  of  the  church  assumes  the  same  ground,  but 
all  the  particulars  are  not  recapitulated.  This  vote  was  passed 
June  22d,  1780,  three  years  later  than  the  action  of  the  town, 
and  after  the  passions  engendered  at  the  moment  had  had  time  to 
subside.  This  is  contemporaneous  authority  and  therefore  valu- 
able. Dea.  Bacon  had,  for  some  time,  withdrawn  himself  from 
the  communion  of  the  church,  and  a  second  vote  was  unanimously 
passed  desiring  and  requesting  him  "to  return  to  his  privilege  and 
duty  and  the  discharge  of  his  office  in  the  church."  On  the  2d  of 
August  following  a  committee  was   appointed   to   confer   with   him. 


228         GENEAL(JGICAL,    NOTKS    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

and  on  the  30th  they  reported  at  an  adjourned  meeting,  "that  the 
affair  between  Dea.  Bacon  and  the  Brethren,  styled  petitioners, 
was  happily  accommodated."  Dea.  Bacon  returned  to  the  dis- 
charge of  his  office,  and  harmony  once  more  apparently  prevailed 
in  the  councils  of  the  church. 

In  the  language  of  the  town  records,  "the  dissentions  which 
divided  our  once  happy  town"  were  so  intimately  blended  that  it  is 
difficult  now  to  draw  the  distinguishing  lines  between  them. 
"The  Crocker  quarrels"  were  two  in  number,  one  between  Col. 
Nathaniel  Freeman  and  others,  and  the  family  of  Cornelius 
Crocker,  and  the  other  between  Abigail  Freeman*  and  Samuel 
Crocker  and  others.  It  was  the  latter  that  the  town  refused  to 
take  action  on,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  private  matter,  and 
that  the  settlement  of  the  questions  involved,  belonged  to  the 
Courts  and  not  to  the  town. 

As  references  will  be  made  to  localities  in  vicinity  of  the 
Court  House,  a  brief  description  will  not  be  out  of  place.  The 
second  Court  House  has  been  remodeled  and  is  now  known  as  the 
Baptist  Meeting  House.  It  was  built  about  the  year  1774,  and 
stands  on  the  north  side  of  the  road.  At  that  time  there  was  on 
the  east,  where  Judge  Day's  house  now  stands,  an  ancient  two 
story  house,  probably  built  by  one  of  the  Lothrops  of  the  first 
settlers,  and  then  occupied  by  the  widow  Abigail  Freeman  as  a 
dwelling  house  and  grocery  store.  The  house  on  the  east, 
between  the  Court  House  and  Rendezvous  Lane,  said  to  have 
been  built  of  the  timber  of  the  old  meeting-house,  is  yet  standing, 
and  is  occupied  by  the  Baptist  Society  for  a  parsonage.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  lane,  there  was  air  ancient  two  story  house,  prob- 
ably built  by  Thomas  Lothrop,  a  brother  of  Joseph.  This  house 
was  then  owned  by  Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  and  occupied  as  a 
public  house.  In  front  of  these  buildings,  excepting  that 
occupied  by  the  widow  Freeman,  there  was  a  narrow  green,  on 
which  the  militia  company  often  paraded  during  the  Revolutionary 
struggle.  In  front  of  the  Court  House,  and  on  the  south  side  of 
the  street,  stood  the  public  house  of  Mr.  Otis  Loring.  Between 
the  Court  House   and   Loring's   tavern    was    his   blacksmith   shop, 

*Some  of  the  essential  features  of  this  transaction  have  been  the  subject  of  controversy 
between  the  writer  of  these  sketches  and  the  author  of  the  "Hist,  of  Cape  Cod."  The 
latter,  writing  with  much  apparent  feelinff,  and  in  a  tone  of  bitter  denunciation,  (See  Hist. 
C.  C,  Vol.  11,  pp.  305-306,)  controverts  the  assumption  of  Mr.  Otis,  that  this  outrage  was 
committed  by  Whig  sympathizers,  upon  a  Tory  lady,  but  charges  its  commission  upon  the 
Tories  and  their  loyalist  associates,  against  one  who  sympathized  with  the  Whigs.  The 
fact  that  the  outrage  was  committed  upon  Mrs.  Freeman  is  not  disputed.  In  support  of 
his  views,  Mr.  Freeman  quotes  Dr.  James  Thacher,  a  native  of  the  town  and  a  contem- 
porary of  the  events  in  controversy.  It  seems  very  singular  that  two  such  well-infonaed 
writers  as  Mr.  Otis  and  Mr.  Freeman  should  have  taken  such  entirely  opposite  views  of 
a  transaction  of  which  it  would  seem  that  the  truth  could  easily  have  been  arrived  at  by 
men  of  their  opportunities  of  jud^ng;  and  it  has  been  the  purpose  of  the  writei-  of  this 
note,  to  investigate  the  subject,  with  a  view  of  endeavoring  to  set  the  transaction  right; 
but  documentary  evidence  in  the  case  has  not  been  available  to  him.  He  deems  it 
proper,  however,  to  here  remark  upon  this  strange  contradiction,  with  an  expression  of 
the  hope  that  future  investigation  may  place  the  matter  in  controversy  in  its  true 
light.    [See  pp.  2334.]  S. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         229 

not  in  the  dii-ect  line  between,  but  a  little  eastward.  The  Sturgis 
tavern,  which  has  been  described,  is  about  three  hundred  yards 
eastward  from  the  Court  House,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  road. 
TJiere  has  been  only  one  change  in  the  location  of  the  buildings  in 
this  vicinity  since  1775 — the  Loring  tavern  has  been  taken  down. 
In  1774  Loring  made  an  addition  to  his  house,  in  order  to  induce 
the  justices  of  the  courts  to  stop  with  him.  During  the  Revolution 
his  house  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  tories,  and  the  Sturgis 
house  of  the  whigs. 

The.  exciting  incidents  which  occurred  in  that  vicinity,  are 
popularly  known  as  the  "Crocker  quarrels,"  though  others  beside 
the  Croekers  took  part  in  them.  The  scene  of  the  Indian  Dream 
was  laid  in  that  vicinity  ;  the  Liberty  pole,  cut  down  by  sacrileg- 
ious hands,  stood  at  the  west  end  of  the  Green;  the  widow 
Freeman  was  tarred  and  feathered  thereon,  the  difHculties  between 
Cols.  Freeman  and  Otis,  and  the  Croekers,  occurred  there,  and  in 
the  house  of  Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  fronting  thereon,  and  the 
defiant  passage  at  arms,  between  Otis  Loring  and  the  Vigilance 
Committee,  in  the  Blacksmith's  shop.  The  bitter  feelings  of 
personal  hostility  which  these  incidents  engendered,  has  no 
parallel  on  Cape  Cod,  if  the  case  between  the  Clarks  and  the 
Winslows  of  Harwich,  be  excepted.  Even  now,  individuals  may 
be  found  who  are  ready  "to  shoulder  their  crutches,  and  show 
how  the  battles"  were  fought. 

The  Indian  Dreame.  On  a  fine  morning,  just  before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  villagers  found  under  the 
latchets  of  their  doors,  a  small  pamphlet  entitled  "An  Indian 
Dream,  drempt  on  Cape  Cod,  intended  as  a  satire  upon  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  County,  particularly  on  the  justices  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Sessions.  It  was  written  with  much  ability,  and  its 
witty  allusions  commended  it  to  the  young  and  the  old,  and  to 
men  of  all  parties. 

The  Indian  said,  "I  dreamed  that  I  was  in  the  spirit  world, 
that  I  saw  a  long  bench,  with  twelve  antient .  men  sitting  thereon. 
(The  twelve  justices  of  the  Court.)  I  inquired  who  they  were, 
and  was  informed  that  they  had  just  arrived  from  the  lower  world, 
and  that  Satan  (a  nickname  of  Otis  Loring)  had  added  an  apart- 
ment to  his  domain  for  their  special  accommodation.  I  asked, 
who  is  that  venerable  man  sitting  at  the  head  of  the  bench. 
(Col.  James  Otis.)  I  was  told  that  he  was  their  Chief  in  the 
nether  world,  that  in  early  life  he  was  a  painter  and  glazier  by 
trade,*  that  he  afterwards  peddled  goods  to  customers,  and  law 
to  clients,  that  his  tribe  had  made  him  a  chief  sachem ;  but  of 
late  he  thought  himself  to  be  the  best  paddler  in  canoe  of  State." 

*  This  fact  I  have  never  seen  stated  in  any  biograpliy  of  Col.  James  Otis.  It  was 
during  the  time  he  travelled  from  house  to  house  paintinff  and  repairing  the  ancient  dia- 
mond glass  windows,  that  be  laid  the  foundation  of  his  influence  and  usefalness. 


230        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

In  this  manner  the  Indian  described,  in  his  dream,  the  twelve 
justices.  He  called  no  one  by  name  ;  but  described  some  peculiar 
trait  in  the  character  of  each,  so  that  the  individual  intended  was 
known. t 

The  pamphlet  caused  much  excitement  at  the  time,  and  was 
considered  a  tory  document.  The  secret  of  the  authorship  was 
well  kept ;  no  legal  proof  could  be  obtained  respecting  the  author 
or  the  printer.  It  was  a  caustic  satire  on  many  who  were  after- 
wards leading  whigs,  and  they  never  forgot  it,  or  forgave  the 
Crockers  who  were  the  reputed  authors.  Why  this  was  so,  it 
seems  difficult  to  determine,  for  tories  came  in  for  their  full  share 
of  the  satire.  If  that  pamphlet  had  emanated  from  a  different 
source,  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  it  would  have  been  differ- 
ently received.  It  was  the  allusions  therein  to  the  private  char- 
acters of  the  individuals  that  gave  offence.  "The  Body  of  the 
People"  prevented  the  same  justices  from  holding,  by  virtue  of 
authority  emanating  from  the  King,  their  court  in  Barnstable.  J 
The  Committee  arrested,  or  attempted  to  arrest,  others  who  were 
satirized  in  the  pamphlet.  Private  considerations  probably  had  an 
influence  in  giving  to  Mr.  Otis  Loring  so  prominent  a  position  m 
the  Dream.  He  kept  an  opposition  tavern,  and  had  then  recently 
enlarged  his  house,  and  was  endeavoring  to  induce  the  Coui:t  to 
stop  with  him. 

Mr.  Loring  was  an  outspoken  and  decided  tory.  He  made 
no  attempt  to  conceal  his  opinions.  When  the  Vigilance  Commit- 
tee, of  whom  Col.  Freeman  was  the  Chairman,  came  to  arrest 
him,  he  went  into  his  blacksmith's  shop  and  laid  a  long  bar  of 
iron  across  the  fire,  and  heated  the  central  portion  to  a  read  heat. 
His  friends  had  given  him  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  Com- 
mittee, and  when  they  arrived  he  was  prepared  for  them.  He 
stood  before  his  shop  door  holding  the  bar  by  either  end.  With- 
out burning  their  fingers,  it  would  have  been  diflScult  for  them  to 
have  made  an  immediate  arrest.  He  politely  said,  "gentlemen,  I 
am  ready  for  you,  come  on."  Finding  him  determined  to  resist, 
they  went  away,  without  maliing  an  arrest.  At  another  time,  Mr. 
Loring  was  concealed  in  a  chamber  of  his  house  for  several  days, 
to  avoid  arrest. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Loring  or  the  Crockers  had 
committed  any  overt  or  open   act  of  treason.     They  had   freely 

1 1  read  this  pamphlet  when  a  school  hoy  fifty  years  ago,  and  I  cannot  Touch  for  the 
verhal  accuracy  of  the  words  placed  in  quotation  marks.  Henry  Crocker,  Esq.,  now  of 
Boston,  sat  on  the  same  bench  with  me,  had  the  pamphlet,  and  I  read  it  in  the  school  room 
and  have  not  since  seen  it.  About  the  year  1824,1  had  a  conversation  with  Sarali  La^vrence 
respecting  it.  She  said,  "the  people  said  that  my  brother  Josiah  wrote  it,  that  it  was 
printed  in  Boston,  brought  from  there  in  the  packet,  and  the  night  following  a  copy  was 
laid  at  the  door  of  each  man  in  the  village."  Her  manner  induced  me  to  believe  at  tlie 
time,  that  there  was  truth  in  the  common  report,  though  she  did  not  so  state. 


JThe  original  papers  on  this   subject  have  been  preserved,   and  I  intended   to  have 
printed  them,  with  fac  similes  of  the  signatures ;  but  the  publication  must  be  deferred. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         231 

expressed  their  own  opinions,  usually  in  their  own  houses,  and 
however  obnoxious  such  opinions  may  have  been  to  others,  a 
sound  policy  did  not  demand  the  arrest  or  imprisonment  of  such 
men.  Treason  should  be  nipped  in  its  bud  ;  but  perfect  freedom 
to  debate  on  matters  of  policy  is  the  unalienable  right  of  a  free 
people. 


The  "Crocker  Quarrels." 

Almost  every  evening,  in  these  exciting  times,  the  whigs  met 
at  their  headquarters  in  the  Sturgis  tavern,  to  hear  the  news,  and 
discuss  current  political  events,  and  words  often  ran  high.  One 
evening  a  large  company  had  assembled,  Capt.  Samuel  Crocker, 
and  his  brothers  Cornelius  and  Josiah  were  present,  Col. 
Nathaniel  Freeman  of  Sandwich,  the  late  Capt.  Samuel  Taylor  of 
Yarmouth,  and  others  were  present.  The  sub.iect  of  the  conver- 
sation was  politics.  The  principal  speakers  were  Col.  Freeman 
and  Capt.  Samuel  Crocker.  The  latter  was  a  whig,  and  one  of 
the  most  efficient  of  the  party  in  Barnstable,  being  frequently  on 
Committees,  and  was  a  very  able  and  intelligent  man.  He 
opposed  the  system  of  espionage  which  had  been  established,  not 
only  as  useless,  but  as  calculated  to  do  injury  to  the  cause  of  the 
country.  Inquiring  of  the  aged  whether  they  had  tea  concealed 
in  their  houses,  and  of.  young  ladies  whether  they  were  whig  or 
tory,  he  said  was  a  duty  not  required  of  the  patriot  or  the  states- 
man. 

Others  of  the  company  opposed  both  Capt.  Crocker  and  Col. 
Freeman.  Words  ran  high.  The  Colonel  was  ardent  and 
zealous — of  a  nervous  temperament  and  opposition  kindled  his 
ii'e.  Capt.  Crocker,  when  excited,  was  earnest  and  irascible,  and 
would  not  submit  to  be  told  that  the  moderate  measures  that  he 
advocate^  was  toryism  in  disguise.  Crimination  lead  to  re-crimin- 
ation, and  re-crimination  to  personal  violence.  Some  of  the 
company  vented  their  spleen  against  the  Crockers  by  breaking 
down  the  fence  in  front  of  the  house. 

Opprobious  epithets  never  make  proselytes ;  like  the  over- 
charged gun,  they  are  apt  to  recoil.  The  violent  political  discus- 
sions of  those  days,  prove  no  more  this,  that  the  convictions  of 
the  people  were  deep — that  they  were  in  earnest  and  that  in  their 
earnestness  they  sometimes  over-stepped  the  bounds  of  pru- 
dence. 

If  the  difficulties  between  the  Crockers  and  the  Freemans  had 
ended  as  they  begun,  only  in  the  use  of  intemperate  language, 
the  remembrance  of  their  dissentions  would  have  long  since  been 
buried  in  oblivion. 

Not  long  afterwards  the  militia  company  paraded  on  the 
Court  House  Green.  Cols.  Nathaniel  Freeman  and  Joseph  Otis 
were  both  present.     They  were  both  unpopular  with  the  soldiers. 


232        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

for  what  reason  I  am  unable  to  say,  probably  on  account  of  the 
differences  in  political  sentiments  which  then  prevailed,  already  ex- 
plained in  the  account  of  parties  in  Barostable.  According  to 
military  usuages,  when  they  passed  through  the  lines,  the  soldiers 
should  have  presented  arms.  Instead  of  extending  to  them  this 
token  of  respect,  due  to  them  as  superior  officers,  every  soldiei', 
at  a  given  signal,  clubbed  his  musket.  ||  This  was  received,  as  it 
was  intended,  as  a  token  of  disrespect,  as  an  insult  from  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Company  to  their  superiors.  Col. 
Otis  turned  to  Capt.  Samuel  Crocker,  and  said  in  a  defiant  tone, 
"The  Croekers  are  at  the  bottom  of  this."  "You  lie,  sir,"  was 
the  response.  Col.  Otis  immediately  raised  his  cane  and  struck 
Capt.  Crocker  a  severe  blow,  which  he  returned.  The  spectators 
interfered,  but  before  they  were  parted  several  blows  were  inter- 
changed. Simultaneously,  Col.  Freeman  made  the  same  charge 
against  Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  who  had  gone  or  was  going  into 
his  house.  Col.  Freeman  followed  him  into  the  west  room  and 
made  three  passes  at  him  with  his  cutlass.  Fortunately  neither 
of  them  took  effect ;  but  some  one  called  out  that  Col.  Freeman 
had  cut  down  Nell  Crocker,  at  which  Elijah  Crocker  rushed  from 
the  ranks  into  the  house,  and,  with  fixed  boyonet,  swore  he  would 
revenge  the  blood  of  his  uncle.  Dr.  Samuel  Savage  was  stand 
ing  in  the  doorway,  and  grasping  the  bayonet,  turned  it  on  one 
side,  and  with  the  assistance  of  others  in  the  house,  prevented 
young  Crocker  from  executing  his  threat. 

One  or  more  of  the  blows  aimed  by'  Col.  Freeman  at  Cornelius 
Crocker,  Jr.,  took  effect  on  the  "summer-beam"  of  the  house, 
and  the  deep  incision  made  therein  showed  the  force  with  which 
the  blows  were  struck.  These  marks  remained  till  the  house  was 
taken  down,  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  were  often  examined  by 
visitors.  1tf> 

The  difficulty  between  Col.  Otis  and  Capt.  Crocker  was  satis- 
factorily, adjusted  and  settled.  That  between  Col.  Freeman  and 
the  Croekers  never.  The  only  palliation  for  the  offence  is,  it  was 
done  hastily  and  in  a  moment  of  uncontrolable  excitement,  caused 
by  a  palpable  insult  to  him  as  a  man  and  an  officer.  There  is  no 
other  excuse — it  cannot  be  justified — a  man's  house  is  his  castle, 
his  sanctuary,  and  he  that  invades  it,  without  legal  authority, 
commits  an  outrage  on  the  rights  of  others.  The  tory  proclivi- 
ties of  Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  did  not  warrant  Col.  Freeman  in 

II  Clubbing  Arms.  I  am  profoundly  ignorant  of  military  terms,  and  cannot  say  whether 
this  is  a  teclinical  or  cant  phrase.  I  am  told  that  it  ii  the  reverse  of  shoulder  arms,— that 
the  breach  is  elevated  across  the  shoulder,  and  the  muzzle  grasped  as  a  club  is  held. 

Note. — Attention  has  been  called  to  the  statement  found  on  page  224  which  says  of 
Benjamin  Crocker,  "He  probably  married  for  his  third  wife  in  1759,  Annie  Handy  of  Sand- 
wich." Ibis  is  rendered  inprobable,  by  the  fact  that  the  inscription  upon  their  grave- 
stones in  the  burying-gi-ound  at  Marston's  Mills  represent  liim  as  dying  in  1785,  and  his 
wife,  Bathsheba,  in  1808,  surviving  him  twenty-three  years.  S. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         233 

drawing  his  sword  on  an  unarmed  man,  nor  did  the  act  of  Col. 
Freeman  warrant  the  act  of  Elijah  Crocker  in  rushing  upon  him 
with  fixed  bayonet. 

I  have  repeatedly  heard  aged  men,  who  took  an  active  part  in 
the  stirring  events  of  those  times,  not  only  justify  the  act,  but 
refer  to  it  as  an  evidence  of  the  patriotic  zeal  of  Col.  Freeman.* 
He  had  numerous  adherents,  more  zealous  than  himself,  who 
counselled  no  concession.  The  Crockers  had  also  many  friends. 
The  wound  might  at  first  have  been  healed  ;  but  frequent  irrita- 
tions caused  it  to  fester,  and  its  virus  spread  through  the  village, 
parish,  and  town,  causing  divisions  in  families,  and  alienation  of 
old  friends.  The  children  and  friends  of  the  parties  ever  enter- 
tained a  bitter  hostility  towards  each  other,  and  their  grand- 
children, the  men  of  the  present  generation,  are  sensitive  on  the 
subject,  and  refer  to  it  with  painful  interest. 

Tar  and  feathering.  Abigail  Freeman,  baptized  in  the  East 
Church  Sept.  21,  1729,  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Davis  of 
Barnstable.  The  few  among  the  aged  who  remember  her,  call 
her  the  Widow  Nabby  Freeman.  April  8,  1753,  at  the  tender  age 
of  fifteen,  she  married  David  Freeman  of  Fairfield,  Conn.  His 
mother,  who  was  a  Sturgis,  had  married  for  her  second  husband. 
Job  Gorham,  and  it  appears  that  some  of  her  children  came  with 
her  to  Barnstable.  Abigail  had  a  son  born  March  25,  1757, 
named  Thomas  Davis  Freeman,  and  she  became  a  widow  soon 
after  that  date.  She  united  with  the  East  Church  March  26, 
1758,  and  continued  to  be  a  member,  of  good  standing,  till  the 
close  of  her  life  in  November,  1788. 

She  resided  in  the  ancient  dwelling  house  probably  built  by 
Joseph  Lothrop,  Esq.,  that  stood  next  east  of  the  new  Court 
House,  where  Judge  Day  now  resides.  Early  in  life  she  became  a 
widow  and  had  to  rely  on  her  own  unaided  exertions  to  procure 
the  means  of  subsistence.  She  kept  a  small  grocery  store,  and 
being  an  outspoken  tory,  refused  to  surrender  her  small  stock  of 
tea,  to  be  destroyed  by  the  Vigilance  Committee.  She  was  talka- 
tive, a  fault  not  exclusively  confined  to  her  sex,  was  a  frequent 
visitor  at  the  house  of  Otis  Loring,  made  no  attempt  to  conceal 
her  tory  principles,  and  was  sometimes  severe  in  her  denunciation 
of  the  acts  of  leading  whigs.  Her  course  was  not  patriotic  and 
not  to  be  commended.  Even  at  the  present  day  (1863)  there  are 
persons  who  condemn,  with'  more  severity,  the  acts  of  our  govern- 
ment and  the  leading  politicians,  than  did  Abigail  Freeman  during 
the  Revoluntionai-y  struggle ;  yet  no  sane  man  would  consider  it 
wise  or  expedient  to  enact  laws,  restraining  the  freedom  of  speech 
in  regard  to  the  policy  of  measures,  or  the  motives  of  individuals. 

*I  must  confess  that  I  have  myself  used  this  argument.  I  had  not  then  investigated 
the  facts  and  circumstances  of  the  case.  In  truth,  there  Is  only  one  essential  fact,  and  that 
is,  the  assault.  No  one  denies  it,  and  the* question  turns  on  this  point;  did  the  circum- 
stances justify  the  act?    T  once  thought  they  did.    I  now  think  otherwise. 


234       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Some  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers  in  Barnstable,  thought  differ- 
ently and  acted  differently.  Abigail  Freeman  was  an  eye  sore  to 
them.  ,  She  kept  a  little  grocery  store,  saw  many  persons,  and 
would  keep  her  tongue  in  motion  whenever  and  wherever  she 
could  find  a  listener.  Doctors  Freeman  and  Smith,  for  whom  she 
had  a  strong  antipathy,  some  of  the  Crockers  with  whom  she  had 
a  private  quarrel,  and  some  of  the  radical  whigs,  resolved  that  a 
bridle  should  be  put  upon  lier  tongue.  Ducking  stools,  for  the 
cure  of  scolds  and  unquiet  women,  had  then  gone  out  of  use,  and 
the  then  modern  invention  of  tarring  and  feathering,  and  riding 
on  a  rail,  were  in  vogue.  Perhaps  it  is  well  that  the  names  of  the 
individuals  who  took  part  in  this  courteous  ceremony  were  not 
recorded.  They  were  all  young  men,  and  acting  in  the  shade  of 
night,  perhaps  were  not  recognized  in  the  disguises  which  they 
assumed. 

When  they  came  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  Freeman  she  had 
retired  for  the  night.  They  obtamed  an  entrance,  took  her  from 
her  bed  to  the  Green,  besmeared  her  with  tar  and  covered  her 
with  feathers.  A  rail  was  procured  from  a  fence  in  the  vicinity, 
across  which  she  was  set  astride,  and  either  end  thereof  was 
placed  on  the  shoulder  of  a  stout  youth.  She  was  held  in  her 
position  by  a  man  who  walked  at  her  side,  holding  her  by  the 
hand.  When  they  were  tired  of  the  sport,  and  after  they  had 
exacted  from  her  a  promise  that  she  would  no  more  meddle  in 
politics,  they  released  her,  and  the  gallant  band  soon  after  sneaked 
homeward.. 

Though  some  who  took  an  active  part  in  this  demonstration — 
this  visible  argument  for  personal  liberty  and  the  freedom  of 
speech — disliked  to  be  known  as  participators  ;  yet  a  strong  party 
in  Sandwich  and  Barnstable  justified  the  act. 

No  apologist  for  this  can  now  be  found  ;  but  before  condemn- 
ing the  participators,  we  must  take  into  consideration  the  mitigat- 
ing circumstances.  Its  respectability  and  influence,  if  not  actual 
participators,  countenanced  and  supported  those  that  were. 
Allowance  must  also  be  made  for  the  excitement  of  the  times,  and 
that  men  acting  under  the  influence  of  such  excitement,  often  do 
things  which  they  afterwards  regret.  The  Widow  Freeman  was  a 
thorn  in  their  sides — she  could  out-talk  any  of  them,  was  fascinat- 
ing in  her  manners,  and  had  an  influence  which  she  exerted, 
openly  and  definantly,  against  the  patriotic  men  who  were  then 
hazzarding  their  fortunes  and  their  lives  in  the  struggle  for 
American  independence.  Sitting  quietly  at  our  firesides  we  may 
condemn  such  acts,  and,  as  moralists  say,  the  end  does  not  justify 
the  means.  Perhaps  if  we  were  placed  in  the  same  circumstance 
that  our  fathers  were,  we  should  do  as  they  did.  These  consid- 
erations are  not  presented  as  a  .justification  of  the  gross  and 
shameless   violation  of   the   personal  rights   of    Widow   Abigail 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        235 

Freeman,  but  as  mitigating  circumstances  which  should  temper 
the  verdict  of  public  opinion. 

Col.  James  Otis  attempted  to  heal  the  difficulties  in  town  and 
reconcile  the  parties,  and  h^  partially  succeeded.  Deacon  Bacon 
and  Coi.  Freeman  were  his  Idnsmen,  and  his  age  and  the  eminent 
services  which  he  had  rendered  to  the  town  and  County,  entitled 
his  opinions  to  high  consideration.  At  a  town  meeting  held  May 
21,  1776,  he  made,  what  the  records  call,  an  "apology  !  "  and  the 
town  voted  to  hear  a  part  of  it,  but  not  "that  part  relating  to 
Abigail  Freeman  and  the  Crocker's  quarrel."  The  reason  for 
making  this  distinction  is  apparent,  Dea.  Bacon  was  the  repre- 
sentative elect  of  the  town.  Joseph  Otis,  and  others,  had  peti- 
tioned the  General  Court  that  he  be  ejected  from  his  seat,  and 
therefore  any  matter  relative  to  Deacon  Bacon's  qualifications  or 
to  the  petition,  was  pertinent ;  but  neither  Abigail  nor  the 
Crockers  stood  in  the  same  relation  to  the  town,  and  therefore  the 
inhabitants,  as  a  town,  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  quarrels. 
These  votes  show  that  the  men  of  those  days  thought  and  acted 
independently,  and  that  they  could  not  be  persuaded  to  act  in 
opposition  to  what  they  believed  to  be  the  right  course  of  action, 
even  by  cne  who  had  been  President  of  the  first  continental  Con- 
gress at  Watertown. 

Mr.  Cornelius  Crocker  died  Dec.  12,  1784,  aged  80.  His 
wife,  Mrs.  Lydia  Crocker,  died  Aug.  5,  1773,  aged  68.  His  will 
is  dated  April  6,  1782,  and  the  codicil  thereto  Feb.  10,  1784. 
His  sons  Elijah  and  Elisha  were  then  dead,  and  are  not  named. 
To  Samuel  he  gave  "all  his  land  lying  westward  and  northward  of 
the  way  that  leads  from  the  County  road,  near  his  son  Cornelius's 
dwelling  house,  to  Rendevous  Creek,  with  the  dwelling  house  in 
which  he  now  lives,  and  all  other  buildings  standing  on  the 
premises,"  with  one  half  of  the  fish  house  and  the  land  on  which 
it  stood,  one  half  of  his  wharf,  and  one  half  of  the  way  to  the 
same.  His  son  Joseph  was  dead.  To  his  widow,  Elizabeth,  he 
gave  a  right  in  the  house  he  devised  to  the  sons  of  his  son  Josiah, 
and  to  his  grand-daughter  Mary  £30  in  silver  money.  To  his 
daughter.  Widow  Lydia  Sturgis,  he  gave  the  westerly  part  of  the 
dwelling  house  where  he  then  lived,  and  one  half  of  the 
furniture.  To  Cornelius  he  gave  one  half  of  his  fish  house, 
half  of  his  wharf,  £15  in  silver  money,  and  all  the  debts 
he  then  owed  him.  In  consideration  of  tlie  larger  proportion  of 
the  estate  given  to  Samuel,  the  latter  was  to  make  no  demand  on 
Cornelius,  Jr.,  for  debts  due.  His  son  Josiah  was  then  dead. 
To  his  grand-sons,  Robert,  Uriel,  and  Josiah,  the  house  in  which 
their  father  Josiah  had  lived,  with  one  and  one  half  acres  of 
land,  being  the  east  part  of  his  homestead  next  the  lane,  and 
£6  each  when  21 ;.  to  his  two  grand-daughters,  Deborah  and 
Mehitable,  children  of  his  son  Josiah.  £6  each  in  silver  money. 


236        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

To  his  daughter,  Widow  Sarah  Lawrence  £30  iu  silver,  his  desk, 
one  half  of  his  furniture,  and  one  quarter  of  his  pew  in  the  East 
Meeting  House. 

He  made  Samuel,  Cornelius,  and'Lydia,  his  residuary  lega- 
tees, giving  them  his  grist  mill,  the  easterly  part  of  his  dwelling- 
house,  wood-lots  and  meadows  and  all  his  other  real  and  personal 
estate  not  otherwise  specifically  devised.  His  will  was  witnessed 
by  Edward  Bacon  and  his  wife  Rachael,  and  Mercy  Crocker. 

The  sons  and  daughters  of  Cornelius  Crocker  were  all  per- 
sons of  more  than  ordinary  intellectual  vigor.  Josiah  received  a 
public  education,  and  all  of  the  family  were  well  educated  for  the 
times.  They  were  close  observers  of  passing  events,  and  were 
all  distinguished  for  their  conversational  powers,  and  their  ready 
command  of  language.  The  children  of  Cornelius  Crocker,  born 
in  Barnstable,  were :  1,  Elijah,  born  April  12,  1729;  2,  Elisha, 
born  Sept.  14,  17.30.  Both  died  in  early  life,  and  are  not  named 
in  the  will  of  their  father.  3,  Samuel,  born  July  29,  1732  ;  4, 
Joseph,  born  April  12,  1734;  5,  Lydia,  April  14,  1739;  6, 
Cornelius,  born  Aug.  21,  1740;  7,  Josiah,  born  Dec.  20,  1744, 
and  8,  Sarah,  whose  name  is  not  on  the  town  records,  born  in  the 
year  1749. 

Capt.  Samuel  Crocker,  son  of  Cornelius,  a  man  of  note  dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  struggle,  man-ied  April  8,  1753,  by  David 
Gorham,  Esq.,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Capt.  Samuel  Lumbert. 
She  died  of  consumption  June  13,  1757,  aged  27.  He  married, 
for  his  second  wife,  her  sister  Anna,  May  29,  1760.  His  children 
were:  1,  Abigail,  July  1,  1753;  2,  Elijah,  Oct.  27,  1755;  3, 
Elizabeth,  Feb.  24,  1767;  4,  Anna,  April  7,1766;  5,  Elisha, 
Aug.  30,  1767  ;  6,  Ezekiel,  Jan.  20,  1770  ;  and  7,  Susanna,  July 
7,  1773.  Elijah,  I  think,  died  early  in  life.  Elizabeth  lived  to 
be  aged,  and  died  unmarried.  Anna  married  Isaac  Bacon,  Jr., 
July  1,  1793,  died  early  leaving  a  large  family.  Elisha  was  a  sea 
captain,  had  a  family,  and  resided  in  the  ancient  gambrel  roofed 
house  on  Rendevous  Lane.  He  died  May  15,  1817.  Ezekiel,  the 
last  survivor  of  the  family,  married  Temperance  Phinney  Dec.  28, 
1794 ;  kept  a  public  house  where  Judge  Day  now  resides. 
Susannah,  married  .July  14,  1796,  John  Bursley,  father  of  the 
present  David  Bursley,  Esq.,  and  was  the  mother  of  a  numerous 
family. 

Joseph  Crocker,  son  of  Cornelius,  married  Jan.  12,  1758, 
Elizabeth  Davis.  He  had  Joseph  Nov.  15,  1760,  who  died  young, 
and  Mary  born  Dec.  28,  1763.  He  died  early.  His  widow  died 
Feb.  7,  1811,  aged  75,  and  her  daughter  Mary  or  Polly  married 
Isaac  Lothrop  Oct.  1796. 

Lydia,  daughter  of  Cornelius,  married  April  3,  1760,  Capt. 
Samuel  Sturgis,  3d.  He  was  a  captain  of  ^  Company  at  Cape 
Breton,  and  died  Aug.  9,  1762,  aged  25.     She  died  April  9,  1825, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         237 

aged  86,  having  lived  a  widow  62  years  and  8  months.  She  was 
born  in  the  house  which  has  been  named,  near  the  Agricultural 
Hall ;  but  resided  nearly  all  her  life  in  the  house  where  she  died, 
and  widely  known  as  "Aunt  Lydia's  tavern."  She  had  an  only 
child,  Sally,  who  married  Daniel  Crocker.  He  died.  April  22, 
1811,  aged  49.  She  died  Oct.  3,  1837,  aged  77,  leaving  many 
descendents.  A  grandson,  Barnabas  Davis,  Esq.,  of  Boston, 
now  owns  the  ancient  tavern. 

Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  married  Abiah  Hinckley.  He  had 
two  sons  ;  Naler,  born  in  1773,  many  years  one  of  the  selectmen 
and  town  clerk  of  Barnstable.  He  died  March  28,  1829,  he  had 
a  son  Henry,  now  living,  and  a  dauighter  Abiah,  first  wife  of 
Enoch  T.  Cobb.  Cornelius  also  had  a  son  Asa,  born  in  1776. 
He  taught  a  school  in  Barnstable  several  years  and  died  unmarried 
April  17,  1822,  aged  46.  Cornelius  Crocker,  Jr.,  died  early,  and 
his  widow  Abiah  survived  him  many  years,  dying  June  7,  1823, 
aged  77.  For  many  years  she  kept  a  tavern  in  the  dwelling  house 
now  owned  by  Dr.  Allen,  and  in  the  more  ancient  house  that 
stood  on  the  same  spot.  She  was  a  strong-minded,  intelligent 
woman,  and  of  good  business  capacity.  One  anecdote  respecting 
her  illustrates  her  character  for  firmness.  After  the  death  of  her 
husband  Col.  Freeman  called  at  her  house  on  a  court  week,  and 
asked  to  have  lodgings.  Her  reply  was,  "my  house  is  full,  sir." 
"But,"  said  the  Col.  "my  friends  put  up  here,  and  I  would  like  to 
be  with  them."  Her  reply  was,  "my  house  is  full,  sir."  Col. 
F.,  a  little  excited,  said,  "madam,  you  are  licensed  to  keep  a 
public  house,  and  are  bound  to  accommodate  travellers  and  per- 
sons attending  the  Courts."  "Yes,"  said  she,  "but,  if  my  house 
was  not  full,  (pointing  to  the  marks  on  the  summer  beam)  there 
would  be  no  room  for  Col.  Freeman."  To  this  he  responded, 
"It  is  time  to  forget  those  old  matters  and  bury  the  hatchet." 
"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Crocker,  "but  the  aggressor  should  dig  the 
grave. 

Joseph  Crocker,  son  of  Cornelius,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1765.  He  did  not  take  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 
He  resided  in  the  two  story  single  house  east  of  his  sister  Lydia's 
tavern,  and  afterwards  owned  by  Freeman  Hinckley.  He  taught 
a  school  some  little  time  in  Barnstable ;  but  on  account  of  his 
feeble  health  and  tory  proclivities,  was  not  much,  if  any,  in  public 
life.  He  married  Oct.  6,  1765,  immediately  after  leaving  college, 
Deborah,  daughter  of  Hon.  Daniel  Davis,  and  had  five  children, 
Robert,  Uriel,  Josiah,  Deborah,  and  Mehitable.  He  died  of 
consumption  May  4,  1780,  in  the  36th  year  of  his  age,  and  is 
buried  in  the  new  grave  yard  on  Cobb's  Hill.  His  widow  married 
Benjamin  Gorham,  Jr.,  and  had  by  him  Abigail,  who  married 
Aug.  4,  1803,  Capt.  Henry  Bacon.  Uriel  Crocker  settled  in 
Boston,  and  has  a  son  of  the  same  name  now  living.     Deborah 


238        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OE    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

married  John  Lotlirop ;  Mehitable,  Joseph  Parker.  The  Wkl. 
Deborah  Gorham  died  in  1818,  aged  72. 

Sally  or  Sarah,  daughter  of  Cornelius,  married  Capt.  David 
Lawrence,  after  a  very  brief  eourtsliip.  He  was  a  sea  captain, 
and  was  the  first  who  displayed  the  Stars  and  Stripes  in  the  port 
of  Bristol,  England.  Dea.  Joseph  Hawes  of  Yarmouth,  was  his 
mate.  Capt.  Lawrence  was  consumptive  and  was  unable  to  per- 
form his  duties  during  the  voyage,  and  died  soon  after  his  return, 
on  the  3d  of  October,  1783,  aged  35  years.  She  survived  till 
Feb.  21,  1825,  when  she  died,  aged  76.  Mrs.  Lawrence  was 
distinguished  for  her  conversational  power.  She  had  read  all  the 
current  literature  of  the  day.  Her  friends  were  among  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  times,  and  she  was  well  versed  in  local  history, 
and  in  all  the  leading  topics  of  conversation  in  her  day.  Her 
wit  was  keen  and  cut  without  seeming  to  give  offence.  She  was 
not  fastidious,  and  the  point  of  her  wit  was  never  blunted  in  order 
to  avoid  an  allusion  which  prudery  might  condemn.  She  was 
open,  candid,  and  decided  in  all  her  opinions,  and  in  the  expres- 
sion of  them,  her  wit  often  sparkled  with  a  brilliancy  that  silenced 
opposition.  Her  instantaneous  reply  to  Col.  Freeman  and  other 
members  of  the  Whig  Vigilance  Committee,  when  they  inquired  of 
her  whether  she  was  whig  or  tory,  was  of  this  character,  and  will 
be  long  remembered.  She  belonged  to  the  same  school  of  politics 
with  her  brother  Samuel,  and  held  that  the  asking  of  young  ladies 
such  questions  was  not  only  uncalled  for  ;  but  impertinent.  Her 
most  cutting  rebuke  consisted  of  only  four  words  ;  and  that  com- 
mittee never  forgot  them,  and  ever  after  treated  her  with  the 
most  marked  respect.  I  have  often  heard  her  relate  the  story, 
but  the  reply  she  made  was  always  pronounced  in  a  suppressed 
tone  of  voice. 

She  lived  a  widow  over  forty-one  years,  and  her  house  was 
the  resort  of  numerous  friends  who  appreciated  her  talents  and 
listened  with  delight  to  her  conversation.  Intellectually  she  never 
grew  old.  She  could,  without  seeming  effort,  adapt  herself  to  the 
old  and  the  young,  the  gay  and  the  religious.  She  could  discuss  the 
merits  of  the  last  novel,  or  the  doctrines  of  the  last  sermon.  Her 
friends  and  relatives  always  treated  her  with  marked  respect,  and 
the  survivors  still  fondly  cherish  her  memory. 

She  had  a  son  William,  who  was  a  hatter,  and  died  early  ;  and 
Lucy,  who  married  Holmes  Allen,  Esq.  He  built  the  house  now 
owned  by  Mr.  Frederick  Cobb.  He  was  a  lawyer,  a  man  esteemed 
for  his  talents  and  legal  knowledge  ;  but  unfortunately  became  in- 
temperate, and  died  in  early  life,  leaving  an  only  child,  Heni-y 
Holmes  Allen,  born  Aug.  14,  1801.  He  was  three  days  my  sen- 
ior. We  were  school-mates  and  play-fellows  in  early  life,  and  as- 
sociates in  manhood.  He  was  honest  and  honorable  ;  kind,  gen- 
erous, sympathetic — a  man  who  never  had  an  enemy.     He  married 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         239 

Abigail  T.  Gorham,  daughter  of  Edward.  She  died  early,  and  he 
soon  after  died  in  foreign  lands  ;  but  his  body  lies  entombed  beside 
that  of  his  wife.  He  left  no  issue,  and  having  no  near  relatives,  he 
devised  his  estate  to  the  Fraternal  Lodge,  of  which  he  was  an 
active  member. 

(23)  Thomas  Crocker,  son  of  Dea.  Job  Crocker,  born  19th 
Jan.  1674,  married  '23d  Dec.  1701,  Elizabeth  Lothrop,  widow  of 
"John  Lothrop,  son  of  Barnabas  Lothrop,  Esq."  She  was  the 
eldest  child  of  James,  son  of  James  G-reen  of  Charlestown,  and 
was  born  Nov.  14,  1662,  and  was  twelve  years  older  than  her 
second  husband,  and  five  older  than  her  first.  She  died  in  Hing- 
ham  Aug.  1,  1752,  aged  89.  By  her  first  husband  she  had  a  son 
and  a  daughter.  The  latter  died  earlj',  and  the  son  at  20.  Mr. 
Thomas  Crocker  resided  in  the  East  Parish,  and  is  styled  in  the 
records  "a  dealer."  He  died  in  1718,  insolvent.  His  indebted- 
ness was  large,  and  his  creditors  received  from  his  estate  2 
shillings  in  the  pound,  per  cent.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable 
were : 

91.  I.     Walley,  30th  Julv,  1703,  died  2d  Oct.  1703-. 

92.  11.     Thomas,  26th  Aug.  1704. 

93.  III.     Walley,  26th  June  1706. 

His  son  Thomas  married  1,  Mehitable,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Dimmock,  1727.  She  died  March  13,  1728-9,  and  he  married  2d, 
Oct.  20,  1730,  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Hamblin.  Mr. 
Thomas  Crocker  died  Dec.  5,  1756,  aged  51,  and  his  wife  May  9, 
1756,  aged  46.  He  resided  in  the  easterly  part  of  the  West 
Parish.  His  children  were  :  1,  Walley,  born  Feb.  28,  1727-8  died 
Aug.  23,  following;  2,  Elizabeth,  born  5th  Dec.  1731  ;  3,  Sarah, 
born  26th  Feb.  1733-4;  4,  Rebecca,  30th  Nov.  1735;  5,  Hope, 
March  1738 ;  6,  Thomas,  23d  Jan.  1740 ;  7,  Esther,  28th  Aug. 
1743;  8,  Barnabas,  26th  Oct.  1746;  9,  Huckins,  15th  March, 
1748 ;  10,  Mary,  31st  Aug.  1753.  Elizabeth  of  this  family 
married,  in  1757,  George  Conant,  and  died  Sept.  17,  1759  ;  Sarah, 
married.  May  19,  1757,  Joseph  Blish,  Jr.  ;  Rebecca  married  Oct. 
25,  1757,  Lemuel  Nye,  Jr.,  of  Sandwich;  Barnabas  married  at 
19,  March  24,  1765,  Ann  Smith  ;  Mary  died  unmarried. 

Walley  Crocker,  son  of  Thomas,  married,  Oct.  22,  1730, 
Abigail,  daughter  of  John  Annable.  He  had  born  in  Barnstable  : 
1,  Abigail,  Nov.  2,  1731;  2,  Temperance,  Dec.  18,  1733;  3, 
Walley,  April  18,  1737.  Temperance  married  April  5,  1759, 
Daniel  Carpenter. 

(25)  Dea.  John  Crocker,  son  of  Dea.  Job,  born  24,  1683, 
married  11th  Nov.  1704,  Hannah.  She  died  10th  Oct.  1720,  and 
he  married  2d,  22d  June,  1721,  Mary  Hinckley,  living  in  1731. 
It  appears  that  he  married  a  third  wife  Nancy,  her  grave  stones 
record  her  death  July  27,  1744,  aged  56.  Dea.  John  Crocker 
died  Feb.  7,  1773,  .aged  89  years  and  11   months,  (grave  stones). 


240        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

He  resided  on  the  westerly  part  of  his  father's  farm,  and  was 
many  years  a  deacon  of  the  West  Church.  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were : 

94.  I.  Abigail,  born  oth  Oct.  1705,  married  Oct.  28,  1731, 
George  Howland.  She  joined  the  West  Church  in  1728, 
and  after  marrige  was  dismissed  to  Deerfield. 

95.  11.  Zaccheus,  Aug.  1,  1707,  married  1734,  Elizabeth  Reals 
of  Hiugham.  His  children  were,  Joshua,  born  Aug.  6, 
1735 ;  Zaccheus  Dec.  1737  ;  Sylvanus,  baptized  Feb.  19, 
1739,  and  Hannah  born  June  21,  1743. 

96.  in.     John,  27  July  1710;  died  30th  May,  1711. 

97.  IV.  Ebenezer,  Nov.  1,  1713,  married  July  26,  1739, 
Elizabeth  Lovell,  Jr.,  and  had  James  Feb.  19,  1739-40;  2, 
Mary,  Nov.  7,  1744.  He  married  in  1746,  Zerviah,  daugh- 
ter  of    Kenelm   Winslow,  Esq.,   of  Harwich,   and  had   3, 

\       Alvan   Friday,   6th   Nov.    1747  ;  4,  Ashsah   Monday,  24th 

July,  1749  ;  5,  Ebenezer  Thursday,   26th   July,   1753,  died 

Feb.  17,   1817;  6,  Zerviah  Wednesday,  17th  July  1751  ;  7, 

Joshua   Friday,    4th  July   1755;  8,  Kenelm  Sunday,    14th 

Aug.    1757;  9,  George  Monday  18th  Feb.  1760;  10,  Zenas 

Friday,  25th  Dec.  1761  ;  11,  Heman,  April  14,  1764. 

There  were  four  Ebenezer  Crockers.     The  1st  son  of  Josiali 

died  in   1723 ;    2d,    a  son  of    Saumel,  born    1719,   removed  to 

East  Haddam  1751  ;  3,  a  son  of  Dea.  John,  born  in   1713 ;  4,  a 

son  of  Ebenezer,  born  1723.     Ebenezer,  son  of  John,  resided  at 

Cotuit,  and  the  house  which  he  built  there  is  still  owned  by   his 

descendants. 

John,  baptized  Oct.  16,  1715. 

98.  V.     Elizabeth,  baptized  Aug.  10,  1718. 

99.  VI.     Jabez,  16th  June,  1720,  died  11th  Dec.  1720. 

100.  VII.     John,  1st  April,  1722. 

101.  VIII.     Job,  29th  March,  1724. 

102.  IX.  Daniel,  1st  March,  1725-6,  married  three  wives,  1, 
Elizabeth  Childs,  May  19,  1748  ;  2,  Phebe  Winslow  of  Har- 
wich, 1755  ;  and  3,  Bathsheba  Jenkins.  His  children  were, 
1,  Job,  born  May  6,  1749,  removed  to  Western  New  York, 
and  has  descendants;  2,  Winslow,  Dec.   31,  1755,  resided 

at  West  Barnstable,  married  Blush,  had  a  family. 

Edward  W.  Crocker  of  Yarmouth,  is  of  this  family ;  3, 
Elizabeth,  March  14,  1770,  she  married,  1,  Heman  Crocker. 
Her  son,  Oliver  Crocker,  Esq.,  of  New  Bedford  is  now 
living,  and  2,  Elisha  Euggles,  of  Rochester ;  4,  Daniel, 
March  8,  1762,  married  Sally  Sturgis,  and  had  a  family ;  5, 
Mary,  July  11,  1767,  married  James  Davis;  6,  Abigail, 
Nov.  6,  1769,  married  Ebenezer  Bacon,  Esq. ;  7,  Joseph, 
Jan.  27,  1771,  married  Joanna  Bacon,  and  had  Walter, 
James,   and   others   now  living;  8,  Prince,   Sept.  6,  1772, 


GENEALOICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.      241 

married  Martha  Nye,  and  has  descendants  living.  Joseph 
and  Prince  owned  and  occupied  the  ancient  Crocker  house, 
and  both  lived  to  extreme  old  age.  9,  Temperance,  born 
July  28,  1776,  married  Ezra  Crocker;  10,  David,  Feb.  21, 
1779,  married  Rachell  Bacon,  and  his  sons  Eben,  Frederick 
and  Henry,  and  daughter  Caroline,  are  now  living;  11, 
Josiah,  Aug.  24,  1781,  died  unmarried  at  New  Orleans. 
103-.    X.     Timothy,  Aug.  23,  1728. 

104.  XI.  Jonathan,  born  Nov.  22,  1731,  mawied  May  2,  1754, 
Sarah  Childs.  He  died  of  the  small  pox  Dec.  4,  1796,  and 
his  wife  Sarah  of  the  same  disease  Dec.  16,  1796.  He  was 
the  iirst  buried  in  the  Crocker  burying  ground.  He  has 
descendants  living. 

(30)  David  Crocker,  Esq.,  youngest  son  of  Dea.  Job 
Crocker,  born  5th  Nov.  1697,  graduate  of  Harvard  College  1716, 
resided  on  the  John  Crocker  farm  at  West  Barnstable.  He  was 
many  years  town  Clerk,  transcribed  the  ancient  town  records,  now 
lost.  The  records  of  the  births  of  the  Crockers  he  arranged 
genealogically.  He  was  many  years  one  of  the  board  of  select- 
men, and  in  1742  a  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He 
died  in  1764,  aged  67  years.  He  married  12th  Nov.  1724, 
Abigail,  daughter  of  Mr.  David  Loring,  and  Jan.  27,  1757,  Mrs. 
Mary  Stuart.     His  children  were  : 

105.  I.     A  son,  born  Jan.  9,  1725,  died  Feb.  19,  1725. 

106.  n.     David,  April  14,  1726,  died  June  28,  1734. 

107.  III.  Abigail,  May  20,  1728,  married  Jan.  10,  1754,  Seth 
Blossom. 

108.  IV.  William,  Dec.  8,  1730  (called  Jr.)  He  resided  in  the 
house  which  was  his  father's.  He  belonged  to  the  East 
Parish,  and  was  a  member  of  the  East  Church.  He  married 
twice,  1st  in  1753  Lydia  Knowles  of  Eastham.  She  died 
April  16,  1764,  and  he  married  2d,  Sept.  30,  1764,  Mary 
Cobb,  Jr.  He  died  May  3,  1819,  in  his  89th  year,  and  she 
died  May  20,  1817,  aged  85;  His  children  born  in  Barn- 
stable were:  1,  Abigail,  March  15,1754;  2,  David,  Aug. 
23,  1755  ;  3,  Temperance,  Jan.  2,  1763  ;  4,  Sarah,  June  26, 
1765;  5,  Mary,  Nov.  2,  1766;  6,  William,  Nov.  19,  1768: 
7,  Matthias,  July  26,  1770  ;  8,  Ebenezer,  baptized  July  26, 
1772  ;  9,  Loring,  born  March  18,  1774.  Of  this  family, 
William  resided  in  his  father's  estate,  and  died  June  24, 
1844,  and  his  brother,  Dea.  Ebenezer,  a  tanner,  did  also  in 
the  first  part  of  his  life.  He  removed  to  the  West,  where 
he  died  a  few  years  since.  Matthias  was  a  hatter  and 
resided  in  Boston.  Loring  was  largely  engaged  in  the  salt 
manufacture  at  the  common  field,  and  died  March  21,  1841. 
His  son  Loring  now  owns  his  manufactories. 

109.  V.     Alice,  born   April  18,  1757,  baptized  July   30th,  1758, 


242        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

and  in   the  church   records  called  the  daughter  of    "Squire 
David  and  Marv  Crocker." 

110.  VI.     Hannah,  Sept.  24,  Wednesday  [1759.J 

111.  VII.     Sarah,  Oct.  24,  Tuesday,  [1761.] 

112.  VIII.     Lydia,  Feb.  28,  [1762]  died  Sept.  24,  1763. 

(32)  Thomas  Crocker,  son  of  Josiah,  born  28th  May, 
1671,  married  25th  March,  1696,  Hannah,  [Green]  of  Boston. 
He  died  April,  17^8,  in  the  67th  year  of  his  age,  and  is  buried  at 
West  Barnstable.  He  resided  in  the  ancient  stone  house,  as  be- 
fore stated.  In  his  will  he  makes  provision  for  the  education  of 
his  son  Joseph  at  College.  His  wife,  Hannah  Crocker,  died  Jan. 
23d,  1728-9  in  the  53d  year  of  her  age.  Their  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were  : 

113.  I.     Tabitha,  Dec.  20th,  1698. 

114.  II.     Josiah,  21st,  April  1701,  died  Feb.  23d,  1728-9. 

115.  III.  Seth,  13th  June,  1708,  He  resided  at  West  Barn- 
stable on  the  estate  which  was  his  father's.  He  married 
three  wives,  1,  Joanna  Leavet,  April,  16th,  1730.  She 
died  Aug.  4th,  1732,  aged  20.  2d,  Temperance  Thacher  of 
Yarmouth,  June  1st,  1734.  She  died  j;uly  11th,  1736,  aged 
24.  3d,  Abigail,  daughter  of  Joseph  Blush,  1742.  He 
died  March  25th,  1770,  in  the  62d  year  of  his  age,  and  is 
buried  with  his  wives  in  the  West  Barnstable  grave  yard. 
By  his  first  wife  he  had  a  daughter  Hannah,  born  July  18th, 
1732,  baptized  July  23d,  1732.  This  child  was  of  feeble 
mind.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  Thomas,  born  June  8th, 
1735.  He  married  in  1756,  Mercy  Hamblen,  and  about  the 
year  1781  removed  to  Lee,  Mass.  He  had  a  large  estate, 
and  has  numerous  descendants.  There  have  been  some  re- 
markable instances  of  longevity  in  this  family. 

116.  IV.  Hannah,  born  8th  May,  1711,  married  July  25th, 
1744,  Jabez  Robinson  of  Falmouth? 

117.  V.     Thankful. 

118.  VI,  Joseph,  born  1715,  graduated  at  Harvard  College, 
1734.  He  was  ordained  Sept.  12,  1739,  pastor  of  the 
chm'ch  and  society  in  Sopth  Eastham,  now  Orleans.  He 
died  March  2d,  1772.  He  married  twice,  had  Josiah,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1760 ;  Lucia,  who  married 
Ilev.  Simeon  William  of  Weymouth  ;  and  Ann,  who  married 
Rev.  Wm.  Shaw  of  Marshfieid.  Of  the  family  of  Rev. 
Josiah  Crocker,  the  Orleans  records  furnish  little  ir^orma- 
tion.  His  wife.  Reliance,  died  in  1759,  aged  44.  He  had 
six  children  who  died  in  infancy  between  1741  and  1757. 
His  son  Josia,li  was  born  ^in  Orleans  iij  1740,  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  ,in  1'('60,  arid  died  in,  Orleans  Jan.  20, 
1764,  aged  24.  He  had  received  a  call  to  ijecbrrie  pastor,  of 
tiie  second  Cliiiroii  in  Yarmouth,  (iibw  lieriiiis)  but  his  sick 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        243 

ness  and  death  prevented  his  ordination.  His  father 
caused  a  glowing  eulogium  to  be  inscribed  on  the  monument 
to  his  memorj  in  Orleans. 

The  bev.  Joseph   Crocker  was  a   Calvinist,  a  hard   student, 
and   a  well   read   theologian.     Wanting  the   graces   of   tlie 
orator,  he  never  was  a  popular  preacher. 
(38)  Capt.    Josiah  Crocker,|Son  of   Josiah,  born   8th  Feb, 
1684,    married   Desire,    daughter  of   Col.  John   Thacher  of   Yar- 
mouth, April    10,  1718.     He  was    a  sea  captain,  and  while  on  a 
voyage  to  Nova  Scotia,  was  betrayed  out  of  his  course  by  an 
Irishman  who  pretended  to  be  a  pilot.     He  and  all  his  crew  were 
sick  at  the  time.     He  died  on  board  his  own  vessel  in  St.  Mary's 
harbor,  Annapolis  Rial,  Oct.   10,  1721,  and  was  buried  at  Port 
Royal,  Oct.  14,  1721,  aged  37.     His  widow,  Mrs.  Desire  Crocker, 
died  in  Yarmouth,  on  the  morning  of  the   Sabbath,  May  6,  1722, 
and  is  buried  in  the  ancient  burying  ground  in  Yarmouth. 

He  had  two  children  born  in  Yarmouth. 
119.  I.  Josiah,  born  30th  Oct.  1719,  graduate  of  Harvard 
College,  1738,  and  ordained  May  19,  1742,  pastor  of  the 
church  in  Taunton,  He  entered  College  at  the  early  age  of 
15,  and  was  ordained  at  23.  He  was  of  an  ardent  tempera- 
ment, zealous,  earnest,  yet  tender  and  persuasive  in  his 
manner.  Like  other  zealous  men,  he  was  not  always  cau- 
tious in  his  expressions.  He  had  many  warm  friends,  and 
some  enemies.  His  call  to  the  Taunton  church  was  not 
unanimous,  and  there  were  always  some  who  opposed  him. 
He  was  dismissed  from  his  pastoral  charge  Dec.  1,  1765, 
but  continued  to  reside  in  Taunton  till  his  death.  He  was 
the  friend  of  Whitefield,  and  possessed  some  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  that  eminent  divine.  '  His  earnest,  persuasive 
manner,  drew  together  a  large  audience  when  it  was  known 
that  he  was  to  preach.  It  is  said  that  a  women  travelled 
from  Plymouth  on  foot,  carrying  a  child  in  her  arms  the 
whole  distance.  When  the  load  seemed  heavy,  or  the  way 
long,  she  would  comfort  herself  by  crying  out  at  the  top  of 
her  voice,  "Crocker's  ahead,  Crocker's  ahead,"  [See  Min- 
isters of  Taunton.]  He  married  twice.  His  first  wife  was 
Rebecca,  daughter  of  James  AUyn  of  Barnstable,  whom  he 
married  July  28,  1742,  She  died  Sept.  28,  1759.  He  mar- 
ried Nov.  5,  1761,  Hanriah,  daughter  of  Col.  Thos.  Cobb  of 
Attieboi'ough.  His  children  were  :  Josiah,  Benjamin,  AUyn, 
Joseph,  William,  Ebenezer,  Rebecca,  Leonard,  born  Oct.  2, 
1762,  and  Hahnab,  Oct.  18,  176,5.  He  died  Aug.  28,  1774, 
in  the  55th,  arid  not  the  53d  year  of  his  age,  as  inscribed  on 
his  tombstone.  A  similar  mistake  or  two  years  occurs  on 
the  monument  to  the  memory  oi  his  first  wife.  Tbe  Rev. 
Josiah  fcrocicer  iias  iriany  descendants  in  Taunton  and  other 


244        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

places.  His  grand-daughter,  Hannah  M.  Crocker,  was  the 
author  of  "The  Eights  of  Women,"  published  in  1818. 

120.  II.     Desire,  born  17th  Dec.  1721. 

(39)  Ebenezer,  son  of  Josiah,  born  May  30,  1687,  married 
May  22,  1715,  Hannah  Hall  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  18th  March, 
1722-3,  in  the  36th  year  of  his  age.  His  children  born  in  Barn- 
stable were  : 

121.  I.  Mehitable,  Sept.  16,  1716,  married  Nathan  Crocker, 
Jr.,  Dec.  27,  1739. 

122.  II.  Hannah,  Oct.  10,  1718,  married  Eben  Childs,  Jr., 
Jan.  15,  1747,  died  Feb.  23,  1755. 

123.  III.  Susannah,  Oct.  20,  1720,  mamed  George  Conant, 
Jan  30,  1755. 

124.  IV.     p:benezer,  March  2,  1722-3. 

(43)  Nathan,  son  of  Eleazer,  born  27th  April,  1685,  mar- 
ried, 10th  March,  1708-9,  Joannah  Bursley.  He  was  a  farmer, 
and  i-esided  jn  the  old  stone  fort.     His  children  were  : 

125.  I.  Jabez,  born  20th  June,  1709.  He  married,  July  6, 
1732,  Deliverance  Jones;  Feb.  9,  1737-8,  Mary  Baker;  and 
afterwards  Eemember  Fuller,  and  had  six  children :  1 , 
Anna,  March  6,  173-,  married  Benj.  Howland  March  15, 
1763  ;  2,  Deliverance,  May  7,  1740  ;  3,  Asa,  Sept.  4,  1741, 
4,  Ruth,  Aug.  25,  1743  ;  5,  Lot,  baptized  March  31,  1745 ; 
6,  Mary,  baptized  June  21,  1747.  Feb.  1750,  Jabez 
Crocker  sold  his  house  and  the  lot  containing  two  acres  on 
which  it  stood,  to  his  brothei-  John  Crocker,  who  was  then 
called  third.  Charles  Gray  now  owns  the  laud-  It  was 
then  bounded,  northerly  by  the  high  way,  westerly  by 
Dexter's  lane,  southerly  by  land  of  Cornelius  Dexter,  and 
easterly  by  land  of  Col  Otis.  In  a  mortgage  deed,  dated 
10th  May,  1746,  he  names  his  brothers,  Benoni,  Nathan 
and  John,  and  his  cousin,  John  Crocker,  Jr. 

126.  II.     Benoni,  born   24th   Feb.   1711-12,  married,  Feb.    19, 

1736,  Abigail,  daughter  of  John  Bursley.  He  inherited  the 
old  stone  fort  in  which  he  resided,  and  to  which  he  made  an 
addition.     His    childred  were:  1,  Lemuel,   born  March   1, 

1737,  married  Sarah  Backus  of  Sandwich,  1763  ;  2,  Barna- 
bas. (There  is  a  blank  in  the  record  which  I  fill  with  the 
name  of  Barnabas.  Benoni  had  a  son  of  that  name  for 
whom  he  made  the  addition  to  his  house.)  3,  Abigail, 
born  May  22d,  1745  ;  4,  Abner,  Aug.  18th,  1747. 

127.  III.  Nattian,  born  7th  March  1713-14,  married  Mehitable, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  Crocker,  Dec.  27th,  1739,  and  had 
ten  children:  1,  Enoch,  June  1st,  1741;  2,  Susannah, 
April  9th,  1743  ;  3,  Deborah,  March  30th,  1745  ;  4,  Aru- 
bah,  Aug.  14th  1747;  5,  Elijah,  Feb.  11th,  1749;  6, 
Nathan,  Aug.    10th  1753;  7,  Jonathan,  March    23d,  1756; 


qenkaLogioal  notes  oe  SarnsTable  families.      245 

8,  Mehitable,  June  8,  1768 ;  9,  David,  March  15th,  1761. 

128.  IV.  Isaac,  born  6th  May,  1719,  married,  Mafch  22d, 
1738-9,  Elizabeth  Fuller,  and  had  1,  Ansel,  Aug.  27th,- 
1739  ;  2,  Rebecca,  March  24th,  1740  ;  3,  Thomas,  Sept.  19th, 
1743;  4,  Josiah,  Oct.  14th,  1762  ;  5,  Ansel,  Jan.  22d, 
1767.  The  names  of  the  two  last  are  added  by  a  late  town 
clerk. 

129.  V.  John,  11th  Jan.  1721-2.  His  father,  in  a  deed  to  him, 
dated  Oct.  12th,  1744,  calls  him  3d.  He  was  in  the  ex" 
pedition  to  Cape  Breton,  and  to  distinguish  him  from  the 
others  of  the  same  name,  was  called  Cape  Breton  John. 

130.  VI.  Temperance,  born  Oct.  3d,  1724,  married  Joseph 
Annable,  Dec.  31st,  1744. 

(52)  William  Crocker,  son  of  Joseph,  born  25th  Aug. 
1679,  married,  by  Justice  Skiff  of  Sandwich,  Nov.  1705,  his 
cousin,  Mary  Crocker,  daughter  of  Josiah.  He  died  in  1741, 
in  the  62d  year  of  his  age,  his  mother.  Temperance,  a  daughter  of 
the  first  John  Bursley,  was  then  living.  In  his  will  dated  Feb. 
10th,  1740-1,  proved  July  8th,  1741,  names  his  wife  Mary  his  sons 
William  and  Joseph,  to  whom  he  gives  his  West  Barnstable  es- 
tate ;  and  Benjamin,  to  whom  he  devises  his  lands  in  Sandwich, 
and  meadows  at  Scorton.  He  also  named  his  daughters,  Mercy 
Blush  and  Mary  Beals,  and  his  "Hon'd  mother  Temperance 
Crocker,"  who  then  retained  the  improvement  of  his  estate.  He 
had  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  : 

131.  I.  Mercy,  22d  Sept.  1706,  married  Joseph  Blush  Oct. 
28th,  1730. 

132.  II.     A  son,  born  20th  June,  1708,  died  July  4,  1708. 

133.  III.     A  daughter,  still  born,  Aug.  3,  1709. 

134.  IV.  William,  born  9th  Sept.  1710.  He  resided  at  West 
Barnstable,  and  married,  in  1743,  Hannah  Baker,  and  had 
twelve  children.  He  is  called  Mr.  in  the  town  records,  then 
a  token  of  respect,  and  his  wife  Mrs.  Only  four  are  named 
on  the  town  records ;  but  the  names  of  all  are  on  the  church 
records.  1,  Marj'  (called  Mercy  on  the  church  records) 
born  March  25,  1745  ;  2,  William,  Feb.  6, 1744,  died  young  ; 
3,  Martha,  Nov.  28,  1748;  4,  Temperance,  Jan.  22,  1749; 
5,  Hannah,  baptized  April  22,  1751  ;  6,  Josiah,  July  5, 
1752;  7,  William  again,  Oct.  1753;  8,  Alice,  July  27, 
1755;  9,  Mercy,  Jan.  1,  1758;  10,  Josiah,  June  8,  1760; 
11,  Ephraim,  July,  26,  1761  ;  12,  Calvin,  May  1764.  The 
latter  was  the  late  Capt.  Calvin  Crocker,  who  has  descend- 
ants in  Barnstable. 

135.  V.  Alice,  born  Sept.  1712,  married  Stephen  Beals  of 
Hingham,  Sept.  16,  1736.  (In  the  abstract  of  his  father's 
will  I  have  the  name  Mary,  probably  an  error,  should  be 
Alice.) 


246   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

136.  VI.     Mary,  bom  Aug.  12,  1714. 

137.  VII.     Joseph,  bom  Dec.  1718. 

138.  VIII.  Beajamin,  March  20,  1720,  married  Bathsheba  Hall 
of  Yarmouth,  April  1747.     See  85.* 

(53)  Timothy,  son  of  Joseph  Crocker,  born  30th  April, 
1681,  resided  at  West  Barnstable.  He  was  a  merchant,  an  ensign 
in  the  militia,  as  his  grave  stone  informs  us,  and  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  He  was  married  27th  Oct.  1709,  by  Rev.  Jonathan 
Russell,  to  Mrs.  Melatiah,  daughter  of  his  uncle  Josiah  Crocker. 
His  children  were  : 

139.  I.  Jerusha,  born  12th  Dec.  1711.  She  married.  May  19, 
1741,  Mr.  Elijah  Deane  of  Raynham. 

140.  II.  Melatiah,  born  19th  March  1714,  married,  March  21, 
1734,  John  Sturgis,  Esq.,  of  Barnstable.  Her  children 
were,  Josiah,  born  Oct.  17,  1737,  Melatiah,  Oct.  11,  1739; 
Timothy  Crocker,  March  30,  1742  ;  Lucretia,  Oct.  14,  1743. 
The  latter  did  not  marry.  She  was  a  well  educated  and 
accomplished  lady,  resided  in  her  grand-father  Crocker's 
house,  and  taught  a  school  many  years.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  aged  at  West  Barnstable,  are  indebted  to  her  for 
their  early  education. 

141.  III.  Bathsheba,  born  2d  April,  1717,  married  Sept.  6, 
1738,  Rev.  Samuel  Tobey  of  Berkley.  He  was  born  in 
Sandwich  in  1715,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1733, 
ordained  Nov.  23,  1737.     He  had  twelve  children. 

142.  IV.  Abigail,  bom  April  2,  1721,  married  Sept.  2,  1740, 
Rev.  Rowland  Thacher,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Wareham. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1733. 

143.  V.  Martha,  born  26th  Dec.  1724,  married,  Feb.  2,  1744-5, 
Capt.  William  Davis,  of  Barnstable.  She  died  Jan.  5, 
1773,  aged  48.  Mrs.  Andrews  Hallett  of  Yarmouth,  has 
some  fine  specimens  of  worsted  work  embroidered  by  her 
grand-mother  Davis. 

The  dwelling  house  of  Timothy  Crocker,  Esq.,  stood  near 
where  Seth  Parker's  store  now  stands.  It  was  large,  two  stories 
high,  and  most  substantially  built.  The  style  was  that  of  the 
wealthy  among  the  first  settlers.  It  fronted  to  the  east,  the  gable 
being  towards  the  road,  aud  was  probably  built  as  early  as  1660. 
Who  was  the  first  owner  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain.  In 
1686,  when  the  road, was  laid  out,  it  appears  to  have  been  owned 
and  occcupied  by  Increase  Clap  ;  but  I  doubt  whether  he  was  the 
first  owner.     In  1649  Mr.  Thomas  Daxter  resided  in  that  neigh- 


*In  1747  there  were  four  Beniamin  Crockers,  1,  Benjamin,  son  of  Josiah,  bom  in  1692, 
removed  to  Ipswieh;  2,  Benjamin,  son  of  Josepli  born  in  1696;  3,  Benjamin,  son  of  Samuel, 
born  1711;  4,  Benjamin,  son  ol  William,  bor.i  1720.  The  Benjamin,  who  married  in  1747, 
Bethsheba  Hall,  is  called  Jr.,  and  I  inferi'ed  from  the  fact,  that  there  was  then  an  older 
man  of  the  same  name  in  to^vn,  that  the  one  numbered  85,  X,  was  the  person  intended.  I 
am  now  inclined  to  think  that  138,  III,  was  the  person  intended.  An  investigation  of  the 
wills,  which  I  have  not  the  time  to  do,  will  settle  the  question. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         247 

borhood,  and  owned  the  land  bordering  on  Dexter's  Lane ;  but 
whether  his  land  extended  so  far  east,  I  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining.  The  Rowley's  who  removed  to  Falmouth  about  the 
year  1661,  owned  land  in  the  vicinity.  Dea.  William  Crocker 
owned  the  land  on  the  east  at  the  settlement  of  the  town,  and  it 
was  afterwards  owned  by  his  son  John.  The  exact  bounds  of  this 
land  it  would  perhaps  be  now  difficult  to  ascertain. 

This  ancient  mansion,  while  owned  by  Timothy  Crocker, 
Esq.,  was  kept  in  good  repair,  and  elegantly  fuinished.  His 
family  ranked  among  the  aristocracy  of  those  daj's.  His 
daughters  were  well  educated  and  accomplished  ladies,  and  his 
house  was  the  resort  of  the  learned  and  the  fashionable.  The 
husbands  of  all  the  daughters,  excepting  Martha,  were  men  who 
had  been  liberally  educated.  Martha  had  many  suitors,  and  some 
of  the  tea-table  talk  of  those  days  is  reported  by  her  grand- 
children. She  might  have  married  one  who  was  afterwards  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  and  influential  citizens  of  Barnstable. 

Timothy  Crocker,  Esq.,  died  Jan.  31,  1737,  in  the  57th  year 
of  his  age,  and  is  buried  in  the  West  Barnstable  grave  yard.  I 
do  not  find  the  record  of  the  death  of  his  wife.  She  died  a  short 
time  previous  to  her  husband.  His  will  was  made  four  days 
previous  to  his  "decease.  He  gave  £10  to  Rev.  Jonathan  Russell, 
£10  to  Mr.  Joseph  Crocker,  Jr.,  and  the  same  sum  to  the  poor  of 
the  town.  He  divides  his  estate  equally  among  his  daughters, 
excepting  to  Jerusha,  to  whom  he  gave  £10  over  and  above  her 
share.     Mr.  John  Bursley  was  executor. 

His  estate  was  apprised  at  £6  607,7,2  in  old  tenor  currency, 
equal  to  about  $3,000  in  silver  money.  The  merchandise  in  his 
warehouse  was  apprised  at  £1,483,10;  his  homestead,  including 
all  his  buildings  and  lands,  at  £1,020,  equal  to  only  $460  in  silver. 
After  the  payment  of  his  debts,  there  was  only  the  real  estate 
and  £1,949,14  2  of  the  personal  estate  remaining,  equal  to  about 
$300  in  silver  to  each  of  the  heirs. f 

In  later  times  the  north  part  of  the  house  was  owned  by  his 
grand-daughter,  Lucretia  Sturgis,  the  school  mistress,  a  maiden 
lady  who  is  kindly  remembered  by  the  aged  at  West  Barnstable  ; 
and  the  south  pari?  by  Nathan  Foster. 

Conclusion. — Here  I  rest ;  not  because  my  materials  are  ex- 
hausted, but  because  I  am.  Respecting  the  early  families  I  have 
studied  to  be  accurate,  to  the  later  families  I  have  not  given  so 
much  attention.  Respecting  the  "Crocker  Quarrels,"  as  they  are 
called  on  the  records,  I  have  endeavored  to  be  impartial,  and  have 
softened  many  harsh  expressions  that  I  found  in  my  notes,  and 
have  omitted  some  circumstances  which  perhaps  others  may  think 

t  The  vei-y  low  prices  at  which  the  real  estate  and  the  furniture  was  apprised,  indicates 
that  a  portion  of  the  apprisal  was  in  lawful  money — that  is,  that  the  pound  was  equal  to 
^3,33  in  silver.  His  plate  and  silver  was  apprised  at  £73,10,  his  looking  glass  and  p  'tures 
at  £5,5,  and  his  Indian  girl  at  £5,  about  two  dollars.  If  she  was  worth  anything,  it  was  a 
very  low  price  to  apprise  her  at. 


'24:8       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

important.  If  I  have  fallen  into  errors,  I  shall  be  happy  to 
make  the  corrections.  The  part  which  the  Crockers  played  in  the 
Revolution,  was  one  not  to  be  omitted.  It  could  not  be  examined 
without  noticing  the  parts  which  others  acted  in  the  drama.  I  do 
not  justify  the  Crockers,  yet  I  do  not  believe  them  to  be  the  worst 
of  men,  neither  do  I  believe  that  Col.  Nathaniel  Freeman  was  a 
man  without  fault.  The  facts  will  not  justify  either  conclusion. 
Why,  then,  the  attempt  to  shield  their  acts  from  criticism.  When 
such  attempts  are  made,  most  men  think  there  is  something  wrong 
at  the  bottom.  I  may  attempt,  by  and  by,  to  do  justice  to  the 
character  of  Col.  Freeman  as  a  man  and  patriot ;  but  not  by 
drawing  a  veil  over  his  faults.  A  very  few  among  the  Crockers 
and  the  Freemans  object  to  certain  portions  of  my  article.  I 
was  aware  when  writing  those  portions,  that  I  was  treading 
on  the  scoria  of  a  yet  smouldering  volcano,  which  a  breath  would 
fan  into  activity.  I  hear  the  distant  rumblings  of  the  approaching 
earthquake ;  but  do  not  yet  fear  that  I  shall  be  engulfed 
thereby. 


CLAP. 


Extensive  genealogies  of  the  Claps  have  been  printed. 
Many  of  this  name  came  over  and  settled  in  Dorchester  and 
vicinity.  Two  of  the  name  were  early  in  Barnstable ;  but  no 
descendants  remain.  Eleazer,  a  son  of  Dea.  Thomas,  of  Wey- 
mouth and  Scituate,  was  a  soldier  in  King  Phillip's  war,  and  was 
slain  at  Rehobeth  March  26,  1675.  He  had  no  family  in 
Barnstable. 

Increase,  resided  at  West  Barnstable,  married,  Oct.  1675 
Elizabeth,  Widow  of  Nathaniel  Goodspeed,  and  daughter  of  John 
Bursley.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were:  1,  John,  Oct. 
1676  ;  2,  Charitv,  March,  1677  ;  3,  Thomas,  Jan.  1681,  died  Jan. 
1683  ;  4,  Thomas,  Dec.  1684. 

Increase  Clap's  house  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  a 
little  east  of  Dexter's  lane.  He  purchased  his  estate  probably  of 
the  Rowleys,  when  they  removed  to  Falmouth,  who  were  earlj' 
settlers  in  that  neighborhood,  and  was  a  proprietor  of  the  com- 
mon lands  "in  Rowley's  right."  He  was  living  in  1697.  Several 
of  the  Clap  family  of  Scituate  intermarried  with  the  Bournes  and 
Gorhams,  of  Barnstable. 


CAM  MET. 


I  do  not  find  this  name  in  the  works  of  Savage,  Bond, 
Mitchell,  or  Hinman.  Peter  Cammet  was  the  first  of  the  name 
in  Barnstable.  He  married.  May  4,  1741,  Thankful  Bodfish,  ai:d 
had  Hannah  26,  1742,  and  David  Sept.  25,  1744.  Hannah 
married,  in  1765,  John  Bates,  and  those  of  the  name  in  Barn- 
stable are,  I  think,  descendants  of  David. 


COTELLE. 


Peter  Cotelle  was  a  Frenchman.  He  resided  in  the  easterly 
part  of  the  West  Parish,  ,in  a  small  gambrel-roofed  house, 
embowered  in  trees  and  shrubbery — an  exquisite  little  place  which 
he  took  pleasure  in  adorning.  He  was  a  tinker,  shrewd  in  making 
a  trade,  and  it  is  said  that  he  would  take  advantage  of  his  pre- 
sumed imperfect  knowledge  of  English,  to  drive  a  hard  bargain. 
He  also  kept  a  small  grocery  store.     He  has  descendants. 


GANNON. 


This  is  not  a  common  name  in  Barnstable,  or  in  any  part  of 
New  England.  John  Cannon  came  over  in  the  Fortune  in  1621. 
He  was  not  of  Plymouth  in  1627.  Whither  he  i-emoved  or  went 
hence  is  unknown.  There  was  a  Robert  Cannon  of  New  London, 
in  1678,  and  one  of  the  same  name  in  Essex  County  in  1680, 
wliose  wife's  name  was  Sarah.  Mr.  Savage  states  that  there  was 
one  of  the  name  in  Sandwich  as  early  as  1650.  Capt.  John 
Cannon  was  of  Norwalk,  Conn.,  1750. 

The  earliest  record  of  the  name  in  Barnstable  is  April  12, 
1691,  where  Joanna  Cannon  joined  the  church.  On  the  following 
Sabbath  her  children,  John,  Philip,  Timothy,  Nathan,  and  Eliza- 
beth, were  baptized.  Of  these,  Timothy  is  again  named  on  the 
records.     He  married,  Nov.  9,   1711,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Isaac 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         251 

Hamblen.  The  names  of  his  children  are  not  on  the  Barnstable 
records.  Ebenezer  was  probably  his  son,  and  Joanna,  who  married, 
July  7,  1735,  Benjamin  Bursley,  was  probably  a  daughter. 

P^benezer  Cannon  married,  in  1735,  Mercy  Blossom;  July 
30,  1753,  Patience  Goodspeed.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable 
were : 

I.  Ebenezer,  March   19,  1736-7,  married,  in   1761,  Experience 
Tupper  of  Dartmouth.* 

II.  Ruth,  Jan.  18,  1738-9. 

III.  Nathan,  April  10,  1741,  married,  March  23,  1763,  Thankful 
Bassett. 

IV.  Joanna,    Sept.  4,   1743,  married,   Nov.   28,  1760,  Bezalee 
Waste,  of  Dartmouth. 

V.  Joseph,  Dec.  14,  1745. 

VI.  Timothy,  baptized  June  17,  1750. 

VII.  Mercy,  baptized  June  30,  1754. 
VIII    Ebenezer,  baptized  Jan.  30,  1756.* 

IX.  Ira,  baptized  Oct.  12,  1740. 

X.  Ziba,  baptized  Aug.  1762. 

*  The  Ebenezer  who  was  published  to  Deliverance  Tupper  in  1761,  is  called  Jr. ;  the 
Ebenezer  baptized  June  30,  1756,  is  called  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Patience.  It  is  probable 
that  there  was  jet  another  Ebenezer. 


CUDWORTH. 


GEN.  JAMES  CUDWOETH. 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  history  of  this  most  excellent 
man.  It  is  probable  that  he  came  to  Boston  in  1632,  with  his 
friend,  Mr.  Hatherly,  in  the  ship  Charles,  from  London.  In 
September  1634,  he  was  a  householder  in  Scituate,  and  a  freeman 
of  the  colony  of  New  Plymouth.  His  house  was  one  of  the  nine 
first  built  in  that  town,  and  is  described  as  a  "small,  plaine, 
palizadoe  house."  This  he  sold  to  Goodman  Ensign,  and  in  1636 
built  on  his  lot  near  the  bridge  at  the  harbor. 

Mr.  Cudworth  and  his  wife  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  Jan. 
18,  1634-5,  and  till  the  meeting-house  was  completed,  in  November 
1636,  the  congregation  frequently  met  on  the  Sabbath,  and  on 
other  special  occasions,  to  worship  in  his  "small,  plaine,  palizadoe 
house." 

In  1636  he  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Court,  to  revise  the  Colonial  laws  ;  in  1637  he  was  constable  of 
Scituate;  and  .Jan.  22,  1638-9,  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  lands 
in  Sippican,  where  Mr.  Lothrop  and  a  portion  of  his  church  then 
proposed  to  remove.  In  1640*  he  removed  to  Barnstable,  and 
was  elected  that  year  a  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court.  In  the  list 
of  Deputies  at  the  June  term  his  name  is  underscored,  and  that 
of  jMr.  Thomas  Dimmock  written  against  it.  In  a  subsequent 
entry  in  the  same  record  it  is  stated  that  Mr.  Cudworth  was  then 
an  inhabitant  of  Scituate,  and  if  so,  was  not  eligible  as  a  member 
from  Barnstable,  and  therefore  Mr.  Dimmock  was  elected  in  his 
place.  It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Cudworth  came  to  Barubtable 
in  the  Spring  of  1640  ;  but  did  not  become  a  permanent  resident 

*Mr.  Freeman  says  he  came  to  Barnstable  in  1639 ;  Mr.  Deane  says  in  1642.  The  latter 
is  certainly  wrong,  and  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  records,  I  find  no  positive  evi- 
dence that  Mr.  Freeman  is  in  the  right.  He  certainly  did  not  come  in  May,  1639,  with 
Messrs.  Hull  and  Dimmock,  and  I  find  no  evidence  tliat  he  came  in  the  following  October 
with  Mr.  Lothrop.  Some  difference  ^  about  this  time,  had  arisen  between  him  and  his 
friend  Hatherly,  and  in  the  entry  on  the  court  orders,  June  2, 1640,  it  is  distinctly  stated 
that  he  was  then  of  Scituate,  therefore  could  not  have  been  of  Barnstable  at  that  date, 
though  he  was  considered  one  of  the  proprietors. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         253 

till  the  autumn  of  that  year. 

Mr.  Cudworth's  name  appears  only  once  on  the  records  of 
the  town  of  Barnstable  now  preserved.  It  occurs  on  the  list  of 
townsmen  and  proprietors  dated  Jan.  1643-4,  and  its  position 
thereon,  indicates  that  he  resided  in  the  vicinity  of  Coggin's 
Pond.  In  the  church  records  he  is  named  as  of  Barnstable 
April  18,  1641,  March  28,  1642,  and  June  24,  1644.  He 
conveyed,  by  deed,  his  second  house  and  lot  in  Scituate,  to 
Thomas  Ensign,  June  8,  1642.  In  that  deed  he  is  styled  "gentle- 
man of  Barnstable,"  Jan.  4,  1641-2,  he  is  called  an  inhabitant  of 
I  Barnstable,  though  at  that  date  he  was  absent  from  town.  In 
1642,  Mr.  Cudworth  was  again  elected  a  deputy  to  the  June  court 
from  Barnstable,  and  his  name  was  again  underscored,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Dimmocli's  written  against  it.  The  fact  that  Barnstable 
was  entitled  to  only  two  deputies  at  thfe  June  terms  in  1640  and 
in  1642,  and  that  Anthony  Annable  and  Mr.  Dimmock  served  at 
those  terms,  seems  to  make  it  certain  that  Mr.  Cudworth  was 
sick,  or  absent  from  the  town  at  the  terms  named.  In  Aug.  1643, 
a  return  was  made  of  all  in  the  colony  "able  to  bear  arms."  JMr. 
Cudworth's  name  appears  on  the  return  from  Barnstable,  and  on 
that  from  Scituate.  On  the  former  it  is  crossed  out,  and  retained 
on  the  latter.  ^ 

These  few  isolated  facts  are  all  that  the  records  furnish 
relative  to  Mr  Cudworth's  residence  in  Barnstable.  The  records 
of  the  laying  out  of  the  lands  at  the  time  of  the  settlement,  being 
lost,  nothing  is  known  respecting  his  lands  in  Barnstable.  By  a 
municipal  regulation,  an  inhabitant  removing  from  town,  was 
obliged  to  offer  his  lands  to  the  other  inhabitants,  before  he  could 
legally  sell  to  a  stranger.  In  such  cases  a  memorandum  of  the 
transfer  was  made  on  the  proprietor's  records  now  lost.t 

Mr.  Hathway,  in  his  deed  to  the  Conihasset  Partners,  Dec. 
1,  1646,  styles  him  a"salter,"  that  is,  one  who  makes  or  sells  salt, 
and  this  fact,  perhaps,  explains  the  uncertainty  of  his  place  of 
residence  from  1639  to  1646.  He  had  a  salt  work  at  Scituate, 
which  it  does  not  appear  that  he  sold  on  his  removal  to  Barn- 
stable. This  required  his  attention  at  certain  seasons  of  the  j'ear, 
and  explains  why  he  was  so  often  absent  from  Barnstable.  A 
salt  work  was  erected  in  Barnstable  very  early,  on  the  point  of 
land  on  the  west  of  the  entrance  of  Rendevous  Creek,  still  known 

t  Thomas  Bird,  Byrd,  or  Bourd,  was  at  this  time  a  resident  in  Barnstable,  and  a  ser- 
vant  of  Mr.  Cudworth.  His  father,  also  named  Thomas,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Scituate,  and  a  freeman  in  1633.  There  was  a  man  of  the  same  name  at  Hartford,  and 
another  iit  Dorchester,  one  of  whom  was  perhaps  the  same  who  was  at  Barnstable.  As 
Thomas  Bird  resided  only  a  short  time  in  Barnstable,  I  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to 
investigate  his  history.  In  a  notice  of  the  criminal  calendar  of  Barnstable,  nnder  the  title 
of  Casely,  I  'perhaps  ought  to  have  mentioned  the  crime  of  Bird.  In  Jan.  1641-2,  for 
running  away  irom  his  master  and  breaking  into  one  or  more  houses  in  Barnstable,  and 
stealing  therefrom  "apparel  and  victuals,"  he  was  sentenced  to  be  whipt,  once  in  Barn- 
stable and  once  in  Plymouth.  His  father  settled  with  iv^r  Cudworth  for  the  tijne  Thomas 
had  to  serve,  and  the  young  man  was  released  from  the  messenger's  hands,  though  not 
absolved  from  the  punishment  of  his  crimes.    He  afterwards  resided  in  Scituate. 


254        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

as  Saltern  point.  This  word,  Saltern,  has  now  become  nearly 
obsolete.  It  means  a  salt  work,  a  building  in  which  salt  is  made 
by  boiling  or  solar  evaporation.  On  some  ancient  records  that 
point  is  called  "salt-pond"  point.  Who  owned  or  who  established 
this  ancient  saltern  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain.  It  was 
situated  on  the  Lothrop  land,  on  a  parcel  that  from  the  situation, 
I  should  judge  was  owned  by  the  Rev.  John,  and  afterwards  by 
his  widow  Ann.  Neither  in  the  wills  nor  in  the  settlement  of  the 
estates  of  the  Lothrops  is  any  reference  had  to  the  salt-work,  and 
I  am  of  the  opinion,  if  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  matter  are  ever 
ascertained,  they  will  prove  that  G-en.  James  Cudworth  was  the 
first  who  manufactured  salt  in  Barnstable.  | 

Before  1646  he  returned  to  Scituate,  and  became,  Dec.  1, 
1646,  one  of  the  Conihasset  Partners.  At  that  time  he  resided 
on  the  South  East  of  Coleman's  hills,  in  a  house  which  he  sold  to 
Thomas  Kobinson  before  1650.  After  this,  he  resided,  during 
life,  on  his  farm  near  the  little  Musquashcut  pond  in  Scituate. 

In  1652  he  was  appointed  captain  of  the  militia  company  in 
Scituate  ;  in  1649-'50-'51-'52-'53-'54-'55  and  '56,  a  representative  to 
the  Court ;  June  3,  1656,  he  was  chosen  an  assistant  of  the 
Governor,  and  re-elected  in  1657  and  1658.  In  1653  he  was 
chosen  one  of  the  council  of  war;  March  2,  1657-8  he  was  dis- 
charged, with  his  own  consent,  from  his  office  as  Captain  of  the 
militia  company,  and  in  1659,  for  the  same  reason,  he  was  not 
approved  of  by  the  Court  as  a  deputy  from  Scituate,  to  which 
office  he  had  been  elected  by  the  people.  June  6,  1660,  he  was 
required  to  give  bonds,  with  sufficient  surities,  for  £500  for  his 
appearance  at  the  next  October  Court,  and  so  from  one  General 
Court  to  another,  till  the  next  June,  "in  reference  unto  a  seditious 
letter  sent  for  England,  the  coppy  whereof  is  come  over  in  print." 
This  letter  was  dated  at  Scituate  in  1658,  and  was  addressed  by 
him  to  Mr.  John  Brown,  then  in  England.  It  has  been  justly 
admired  for  its  liberal  and  Catholic  sentiments,  clearly  and  boldly 
expressed. 

}  In  1624  a  man  was  sent  over  to  establish  salt  works  in  Plymouth.  Gov.  Bradford  says 
he  was  ignorant  of  the  business,  yain  and  self-willed.  The  facts  indicate  that  the  GoTcrnor 
was  severe  in  his  judgement.  It  was  evident  that,  in  the  variable  climate  of  New  Englaud, 
that  salt  could  not  be  manufactured  by  solar  evaporation,  in  the  mode  common  in  the  south 
of  Spain,  and  in  the  West  India  Islands.  On  the  other  hand,  the  smaU  proportion  of  salt 
contained  in  sea  water  would  render  the  English  process,  by  boiling  in  pans,  be  too  tedious 
and  too  expensive.  His  plan  seems  to  have  been  to  reduce  the  sea  water  by 
solar  evaporation  in  ponds  and  finis4i  the  process  by  boiling  in  pan's.  In 
selecting  the  sites  for  his  ponds  he  was  unfortunate,  whether,  as  Governor  Brad- 
ford says,  from  a  lack  of  good  judgment,  or  for  other  reasons,  does  not  appear.  The 
ponds  did  not  prove  to  be  tight,  and  to  correct  the  fault  of  the  bottom  and  make  it  more 
retentive,  he  covered  it  with  a  coating  of  clay.  Similar  ponds  are  constructed  by  the  salt 
makers  at  the  present  day,  and  errors  in  the  selection  of  sites  are  not  always  to  be  avoided 
by  men  of  good  judgement.  Before  this  man  (his  name  is  not  given)  had  a  fair  opportunity 
to  test  the  value  of  his  works,  his  buildings  and  most  of  his  pans  there,  were  unfortunately 
.  destroyed  by  flre.  The  little  information  preserved  respecting  the  salt  work  in  Barnstable, 
shows  that  the  method  was  similar  to  that  adopted  by  the  Plymouth  manufacturer.  A  pond 
was  dug  on  the  high  meadow,  and  a  dyke  thrown  up  around  it  to  retain  the  water,  and 
prevent  the  ingress  of  more  than  was  wanted.  When  the  water  was  reduced  to  a  weak 
brine  by  solar  evaporation,  it  was  conveyed  to  pans  and  the  process  completed  by  boiling 
There  was  a  similar  establishment  at  Pine  Hill,  Sandwich. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        255 

For  the  expressions  in  another  letter,  addressed  by  him  to  the 
Governor  and  assistants,  he  was  sentenced  at  the  same  court  to  be 
disfranchised. 

At  the  Court  held  Oct.  2,  1660,  the  printed  letter  of  Mr. 
Cudworth  was  read,  and  Mr.  John  Brown,  who  was  present,  testi- 
fied that  he  did  receive  a  letter  subscribed  by  James  Cudworth, 
of  Scituate,  and  that,  according  to  his  best  recollection,  it  was 
substantially  the  same  as  the  one  then  read.  The  bonds  for  £500, 
of  Mr.  Cudworth,  were  cancelled,  and  the  Court  ordered  that  a 
civil  action  should  be  commenced  against  him  at  the  next  follow- 
ing March  term  of  the  Court.  When  the  day  came,  no  action  was 
brought.  The  absurdity  of  men  sitting  as  judges,  in  a  case  where 
they  themselves  were  the  plaintiffs,  was  too  glaring,  and  they 
wisely  determined  to  drop  the  action. 

The  firmness  displayed  by  Gen.  Cudworth,  in  these  trying 
times,  will  ever  be  a  monument  to  his  memory,  more  endearing 
than  brass  or  granite.  Rather, than  violate  his  convictions  of 
right  and  of  duty,  he  submitted  to  disfranchisement,  ejection  from 
office,  and  to  be  placed  under  a  bond  for  a  larger  sum  than  the 
whole  colony  could  have'paid  in  coin.  He  did  not  come  over  in 
the  Mayflower  ;  but  he  had  adopted  as  his  own,  the  principles  of 
those  who  did,  and  no  earthly  power  could  make  him  swerve  from 
them.  Some  speak  lightly  of  those  principles ;  but  it  is  igno- 
rance of  their  character  which  makes  them  do  so. 

The  Pilgrims  came  over  with  their  bibles  in  their  hands,  and 
in  their  hearts  ;  that  holy  book  was  the  only  creed,  to  which  mem- 
bers of  their  church  were  required  to  give  their  assent.  They 
held  that  Christ  was  the  only  bishop  to  whom  they  owned  allegi- 
ance, and  that  the  gorgeous  vestments  of  the  priests  of  the 
Catholic  and  English  churches,  and  the  ceremonial  observances 
required,  were  anti-Christian,  and  not  in  conformity  with  the 
usages  of  the  Apostolic  age.  They  came  here  that  they  might 
have  liberty  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
consciences,  to  establish  a  pure  and  simple  form  of  worship  for 
themselves  and  their  posterity.  They  held  that  the  conscience 
was  free,  that  man  was  not  responsible  to  his  fellow  man  for  his 
faith,  but  to  God  alone. 

These  principles  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  that  is  tolerant  in 
religion,  liberal  in  politics,  or  worth  contending  for.  The  Pil- 
grims took  another  step  in  advance  of  the  prevalent  opinions  of 
their  time.  When  about  to  embark  from  Leyden,  their  reverend 
pastor,  in  his  farewell  address,  says :  "I  charge  you  before  God 
and  his  blessed  angels,  that  you  follow  me  no  further  than  you 
have  seen  me  follow  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Lord  has  more 
truth  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  his  holy  word.  I  cannot  suffi- 
ciently bewail  the  condition  of  the  reformed  churches,  who  are 
come  to  a  period  in  religion,  and  will  go  at  present  no  further  than 
the  instruments  of  their  reformation,     Luther  and  Calvin  were 


256        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILrES. 

great  and  shining  lights  in  their  times,  yet  they  penetrated  not 
into  the  whole  counsel  of  God.  I  beseech  you,  remember  it,  'tis 
an  article  of  your  church  covenant,  that  you  be  ready  to  receive 
whatever  truth  shall  be  made  known  to  vou  from  the  written  word 
of  God." 

This  was  not  spoken  for  rhetorical  effect,  it  was  a  sober  truth, 
a  solemn  injunction,  not  to  forget,  or  transgress  a  prime  article  in 
their  church  covenant.  The  covenant  of  the  Puritan  Church 
established  in  London  in  1616,  of  which  Mr.  Lothrop  was  after- 
wards pastor,  was  the  same  in  form.  The  members  of  that 
church,  with  joined  hands,  "solemnly  covenanted  with  each  other, 
in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  to  walk  together  in  all  Gods 
ways  and  ordinances,  according  as  he  had  always  revealed,  or 
should  further  make  known  to  them."  This  covenant  Mr.  Lothrop 
brought  over  with  him,  and  on  the  8th  day  of  Jan.  1634,  O.  S. 
(Jan.  18,  1635,  N.  S.)  at  Scituate,  after  spending  the  day  in 
fastmg,  humiliation  and  prayer,  at  evening,  there  was  re-union  of 
those  who  had  been  in  covenant  before.  Mr.  Cudworth  united 
with  the  church  ten  days  after,  and  from  the  expression  used  in 
the  record,  I  infer  that  he  had  not  been  a  member  of  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's  church  in  London. 

Till  1657,  the  Plymouth  Colony  had  maintained  the  principles 
of  its  founders  ;  but  during  the  preceding  twenty-six  years,  causes 
had  been  in  operation  which  had  gradually  disturbed  the  harmony 
of  sentiment  which  had  at  lirst  prevailed.  Rhode  Island,  influ- 
enced by  the  liberal  and  intelligent  counsels  of  Roger  Williams, 
had  become  the  impregnable  citadel  of  toleration  in  New  England. 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  were  founded  by  men  who  brought 
over  with  them  the  same  spirit  of  intolerance,  which  then  pre- 
vailed in  the  mother  country.  They  enacted  severe  laws  against 
the  Anna  baptists,  and  more  severe  against  the  quakers. 
Through  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  they  urged 
the  magistrates  of  Plymouth  to  pass  similar  laws. 

The  "first  comers"  had,  among  their  number,  a  large  propor- 
tion of  educated  men.  There  were  very  few  who  had  not  received 
the  elements  of  a  good  education.  They  were  men  of  large 
experience,  intelligent,  tolerant  in  religion,  and  liberal  in  their 
politics.  These  men  were  the  advocates  of  a  learned  ministry, 
and  desirous  of  establishing  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning. 
In  1657,  many  of  these  men  bad  passed  away.  Brewster  and 
Lothrop,  the  calm  yet  firm  advocates  of  toleration  and  liberty, 
were  dead.  A  new  race  had  succeeded — men  who  had  enjoyed 
few  educational  advantages,  and  who,  in  their  ignorance  of  better 
things,  had  imbibed  intolerant,  and  illiberal  principles. 

During  this  period  many  new  men  had  been  introduced  into 
the  colony,  some  from  Massachusetts,  but  mostly  from  the  eastern 
country.     Among  these  were  many  who  had  no  sympathy  for  the 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        257 

institutions  established  by  the  Puritans.  There  was  also  another 
class — disappointed  politicians — like  George  Barlow  of  Sandwich, 
of  which  I  have  had  occasion  to  speak  in  no  complimentary 
terms. 

The  effect  on  the  churches  was  disastrous.  The  Barnstable 
Church  was  rent  in  twain,  and  the  difficulties  did  not  end  till  the 
settlement  of  Mr.  Walley  in  1662.  There  were  divisions  in  the 
old  Plymouth  Church,  in  fact  in  almost  every  church  in  the 
colony. 

A  large  majority  of  those  known  as  first  comers,  then  sur- 
viving, sympathized  with  Mr.  Cudworth.  Seituate  was  very 
nearly  unanimous  in  his  support,  so  were  a  large  majoi-ity  in  Sand- 
wich and  in  Barnstable.  Of  the  state  of  feeling  in  other  towns 
at  that  period,  I  have  no  means  of  correctly  ascertaining. 

Such  was  the  state  of  public  feeling  in  the  colony  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1657  ;  yet  such  was  the  reverence  of  the  people  for  the 
institutions  first  established,  that  the  magistrates  and  representa- 
tives hesitated  in  passing  the  laws  recommended  by  the  commis- 
sioners. They  simply  ordained,  says  Mr.  Cudworth,  that  the 
word  "and"  in  an  old  law,  should  be  changed  to  "or."  This 
apparently  small  and  unimportant  alteration  changed,  as  will  be 
seen,  a  salutary  or  harmless  law,  into  an  instrument  of  tyranny. 

This  change  would  have  been  inoperative  if  there  had  not 
been  men  in  the  colony  in  whom  the  spirit  of  persecution  only 
slumberedj  who  were  ready  to  catch  at  every  straw  and  urge  the 
people  on  to  acts  of  madness.  Of  this  class  was  George  Barlow 
of  Sandwich,  and  as  he  was  the  type  of  the  class,  some  account 
of  him  will  not  be  out  of  place,  in  order  to  show  what  kind  of 
men  Cudworth,  Hatherly  and  Robinson,  had  to  contend  with. 

The  four  years  from  1657  to  1661,  have  been  called  the  dark 
ages  of  the  colony.  It  is  unpleasant  to  recount  the  events  of 
those  years — to  be  forced  to  admit  that  such  excellent  men  as 
Thomas  Hinckley,  Josiah  Winslow,  Thomas  Prence,  John  Alden, 
and  others,  adjured,  for  the  time  being,  the  liberal  principles  of 
civil  polity  which  the  fathers  professed,  and  were  led  astray  by  a 
senseless  clamour  from  without,  and  by  factious  and  ambitious 
men  within.  That  they  unwillingly  consented  to  enact  laws 
restraining  political  and  religious  freedom  is  evident,  from  the 
statements  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  Cudworth  to  Mr.  Brown  ;  and  that 
they  lived  to  regret  their  hasty  and  inconsiderate  action,  is  verified 
by  their  subsequent  acts  ;  but  that  unwillingness,  and  that  regret 
does  not  blot  from  the  memory,  or  from  the  statute  book,  the 
unjust  laws  which  they  sanctioned  and  enforced.  The  precedents 
established  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  are  no  excuse,  they 
and  their  associates  were  the  rulers  of  a  free  and  independent 


258        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

colony  and  were  amenable  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion  for  their 
acts.* 

The  Puritans  have  suffered  more  from  over  zealous  friends, 
than  from  open  and  avowed  enemies.  A  community  is  an  aggre- 
gation of  individuals — one  rule  of  act  applies  to  both,  and  he 
that  attempts  to  conceal  or  paliate  wrong,  does  an  injury  to  him 
whom  he  thus  essays  to  defend.  The  Plymouth  Colony  existed 
seventy-one  years.  During  sixty-seven,  with  the  exception  of  a 
short  period  during  the  usurpation  of  Andros,  the  people  enjoyed 
a  mild,  a  liberal,  and  a  paternal  government.  Shall  we  cease  to 
honor  the  institutions  they  established  because,  during  four 
years,  a  bigoted  majority  were  false  to  the  principles  of  the 
fathers  ? 

George  Barlow  was  the  type  of  a  class  who,  in  1657,  inaug- 
urated a  system  of  terrorism  in  the  Old  Colony,  and  it  may  be 
truthfully  said  that  he  made  more  converts  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Quakers  than  all  their  preachers.  The  spirit  of  persecution  which 
he  was  largely  instrumental  in  introducing,  raised  up  opponents 
who  at  first  sympathized  with  the  sufferers  then  with  their  doc- 
trines which  they  at  last  embraced.  In  the  towns  where  the 
Quaker  preachers  were  not  opposed  and  persecuted,  they  made 
no  proselytes,  but  where  they  were  persecuted,  there  they  made 
many  converts. 

In  a  former  article  I  have  spoken  of  George  Barlow,  not  In 
terms  of  commendation.  The  Puritans  and  Quakers,  though 
opposed  to  each  other,  agreed  in  this,  that  George  Barlow  was  a 
bad  man.  No  one  speaks  well  of  him.  Of  his  early  history  I 
know  nothing.  He  was  of  Boston  or  vicinity  in  1637,  perhaps 
earlier.  In  the  records  of  the  Quarter  Court  held  at  Boston  and 
Newtown  19th  Sept.  1637,  is  the  following  entry:  "George 
Barlow,  for  idleness,  is  censured  to  be  whipped."  From  Boston 
he  went  to  the  eastern  country,  and  was  at  Exeter  in  1639,  and 
at  Saco  in  1652.  .  At  these  places  and  elsewhere,  says  Mr. 
Savage,  he  exercised  his  gifts  as  a  pi-eacher.  On  the  5th  of  July, 
1653,  at  a  court  held  at  Wells,  by  Richard  Bellingham  and  others, 
commissioners  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  George  Badow  and 
fifteen  others,  inhabitants  of  Saco,  acknowledged  themselves  to  be 
subject  to  the  government  of  that  Colony,  and  took  the  freemans' 


*  He  that  supposes  that  Gov.  Hinckley,  and  those  who  acted  with  him,  had  neither  law 
nor  reason  on  their  side,  is  mistaken.  They  had  both.  The  lands  in  the  several  towns 
were  granted  on  the  express  condition  that  an  Orthodox  church  should  he  gathered,  of  at 
least  forty  families,  and  that  a  learned  minister  should  be  supported  out  of  the  products  ol 
those  lands.  These  were  legal  conditions,  and  the  grantees  were  bound  by  them.  Gov. 
Hinckley  was  the  best  read  lawyer  in  the  Colony,  and  he  examined  the  question  only  in  its 
legal  aspect.  On  that  ground  he  was  right.  Whether  his  course  was  judicious  is  another 
and  entirely  different  question.  The  Puritans  were  equally  severe  against  men  who 
attempted  to  disregard  the  conditions  on  which  the  lauds  were  gi-anted.  Rev.  Joseph  Hull, 
whose  learning  and  Orthodoxy,  for  making  such  an  attempt,  was  excommunicated  and 
forbidden  to  preach.  Mr.  Cudworth  considered  the  rights  of  conscience  as  paramount  to 
the  legal  obligation.  Gov.  Hinckley  thought  otherwise,  and  that  was  the  point  at  issue 
between  them. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        250 

oath  in  open  court.  In  the  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
same  court  the  following  passage  occurs  : 

"vSeveral  of  the  inhabitants  complained,  that  George  Barlow 
is  a  disturbance  to  the  place,  the  commissioners  thought  meet  to 
forbid  the  said  George  Barlow  any  more  publickly  to  preach  or 
prophesy,  under  the  penalty  of  ten  pounds  for  every  offence." 

Soon  after  the  last  date  he  removed  to  Newbury.  Of  his 
character  while  an  inhabitant  of  that  town,  Mr.  Thomas  Clark 
affirmed  in  open  court,  at  Plymouth,  on  the  13th  of  June  1660, 
"that  he  is  such  an  one  that  he  is  a  shame  and  reproach  to  all  his 
masters ;  and  that  he,  the  said  Barlow,  stands  convicted  and 
recorded  of  a  lye  att  Newbury." 

In  1657  he  was  of  Sandwich,  and  June  1,  1658,  he  was 
appointed  by  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court,  marshal  of  Sandwich, 
Barnstable  and  Yarmouth,  with  "full  power  to  act  as  constable  in 
all  things  in  the  town  of  Sandwich."  Oct.  2,  he-  was  commis- 
sioned to  apprehend  Quakers  coming  to  Manomett,  or  places 
adjacent,  in  boats.  June  7,  1659,  he  was  allowed  to  be  a  tows- 
man  of  Sandwich,  and  June  5,  1661,  his  authority,  as  marshal, 
was  extended  to  all  places  in  the  Colony. 

March  5,  1660-1.  The  court  ordered  George  Bai-low  "to 
pay  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings  to  Benjamin  Allen,  for  causing  him 
to  sit  in  the  stocks  at  Sandwich  the  greater  part  of  a  night, 
without  cause,  and  for  other  wrongs  done  by  him  unto  the  said 
Allen."  Barlow  was  also  ordered  to  return  unto  Ralph  Allen  a 
shirt  and  some  other  small  linen,  which  he  took  from  him,  in  the 
pursuit  of  Wenlock." 

March  4,  1661-2.  "George  Barlow  and  his  wife  were  both 
severely  reproved  for  their  most  ungodly  living  in  contention,  one 
with  the  other,  and  admimished  to  live  otherwise."  (See  Colony 
Records,  Vol.  4,  pages  7  and  10.)  In  May,  1665,  he  was  put 
under  bonds  for  his  good  behavior,  and  in  the  following  March  he 
was  fined  10  shillings  for  being  drunk  a  second  time. 

The  foregoing  extracts  are  from  the  records  of  the  friends  of 
Barlow,  and  it  is  safe  to  infer  that  they  did  not  admit  that  which 
was  not  true.  This  evidence  establishes  the  following  points : 
That  he  was  an  idle  fellow,  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace ;  that 
he  was  a  shame  and  reproach  to  all  his  masters  ;  that  he  was  not 
truthful ;  that  he  was  tyrannical,  that  he  was  quarrelsome,  and 
that  he  was  a  drunkard.  In  addition  to  the  testimony  of  Gov. 
Thomas  Prence  may  be  added,  it  is  reported  that  he  made  this 
remark  respecting  Barlow,  '  'That  an  honest  man  would  not  have, 
or  hardly  would  take  his  place."     (Bishop,  page  388.) 

The  following  testimony  is  extracted  from  the  writings  of  the 
Quakers.  I  quote  from  Bishop's  New  England  Judged,  (London 
Edition)  because  he  is  more  accurate  in  his  statement  of  facts 
than  many  of  the  early  writers  among  the  friends.     In  the  fea- 


260        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

tures  of  these  men  the   poet  Whittier  says  you  could  read  : 
"My  life  is  hunted — evil  men 
Are  following  in  my  track  ; 
The  traces  of  the  torturer's  whip 
Are  on  my  aged  back." 

Naturally,  however  meek  a  man  maybe,  it  is  hardly  to  be 
expected  that  a  man  having  the  traces  of  the  whip  on  his  own 
person,  can  describe  so  calmly  as  one  who  had  not  suffered. 
Bishop,  Vol.  1,  page  389,  says  :"  "As  for  this  Barlow,  his  natural 
inclination  is  to  be  lazy,  filthy  and  base  to  all.  In  his  former 
years,  he  was  one  of  the  Protectors  Preachers  at  Exeter,  in  New 
England  and  elsewhere ;  of  which  being  weary,  or  having  worn 
that  trade  out,  or  it  having  worn  out  him,  he  turned  lawyer  and 
so  came  into  Plymouth  Patent,  where  he  became  a  notorious 
spoiler  of  the  goods  of  the  innocent  by  being  a  marshal." 

•June  23,  1658,  Marshal  Barlow  arrested  Christopher  Holder 
and  John  Copeland,*  two  Quaker  preachers,  while  on  their  way' to 
a  meeting  in  Sandwich.  They  had  been  banished  from  the 
Colony  on  the  2d  of  the  preceding  February,  and  had  been  whipt 
at  Plymouth  on  the  8th  of  that  month  for  not  complying  with  the 
order  of  the  Courts.  Barlow  carried  them  before  the  selectmen 
of  Sandwich,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  Court,  in  the 
absence  of  a  magistrate,  to  witness  the  execution  of  the  law. 
They  "entertaining  no  desire  to  sanction  measures  so  severe 
towards  those  who  differed  from  them  in  religion,  declined  to  act 
in  the  case."  Barlow,  disappointed  at  the  refusal,  took  the 
prisoners  to  his  house,  where  he  kept  them  six  days,  and  then  on 
29th  of  June,  carried  them  before  Mr.  Thomas  Hincliley  of 
Barnstable,  who  had  that  month  been  elected  one  of  the  magis- 
trates and  an  assistant  of  Gov.  Prence.  Bishop,  page  184,  thus 
describes  the  scene  at  the  execution  :  "They,  (Christopher  Holden 
'  and  John  Copeland)  being  tied  to  an  old  post,  had  thirty-three 
cruel  stripes  laid  upon  them  with  a  new  tormenting  whip,  with 
three  cords,  and  knots  at  the  ends,  made  by  the  Marshal,  and 
brought  witli  him.  At  the  sight  of  which  cruel  and  bloody  execu- 
tion, one  of  the  spectators  (for  there  were  many  who  witnessed 
against  it)  cried  out  in  the  grief  and  anguish  of  her  spirit,  saying  : 
"How  long,  Lord,  shall  it  be  ere  thou  avenge  the  blood  of  thine 
elect?"  And  afterwards  bewailing  herself,  and  lamenting  her 
loss,  said  :  "Did  I  forsake  father  and  mother,  and  all  my  dear 

*  Before  1654 ^Christopher  Holder  resided  at  Winterhounie,  in  Gloucestershire,  Eng- 
land. He  is  represented  to  be  a  well  educated  man  and  of  good  estate.  He  came  to  New 
England  in  1656  and  again  in  1657,  and  spent  the  winter  of  that  year  in  the  West  Indies.  He 
returned  to  England  in  1660  and  there  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Richard  and  Katherine 
Scott,  of  Providence,  K.  I.  He  repeatedly  visited  America  and  other  countries,  and  suf- 
fered much  in  his  native  country  and  in  foreign  Lands.  He  died  July  13, 1688,  aged  about 
60.  John  Copeland  was  fi-om  Yorkshire  and  had  also  been  well  educated.  He  came  to 
America  in  1657.  In  1661  he  was  in  London,  and  in  1687  he  was  in  Virginia.  He  married 
thrice,  and  died  at  North  Cave,  County  of  York,  March  9, 1718,  veiy  aged.  Among  the 
first  settlers  it  is  probable  they  found  many  whom  they  had  known  in  England 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        261 

relations,  to  come  to  New  England  for  this?  Did  I  ever  think 
New  England  would  come  to  this?  Who  could  have  thought  it?" 
And  this  Thomas  Hinckley  saw  done,  to  whom  the  Marshal 
repaired  for  that  purpose. f 

"The  Friends  of  Sandwich,  aware  of  the  hatred  which  the 
Barnstable  magistrate  had  to  Quakerism,  with  a  view  to  cheer  their 
brethren  in  bonds,  accompanied  them  thither.  These  were  new 
proceedings  at  Barnstable,  and  caused  no  little  sensation  among 
the  quiet  settlers  of  tlie  district.  They  felt  that  however 
erroneous  Quakerism  might  be,  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  their 
rulers  did  not  consist  with  the  religion  of  Jesus."     (Bowden.) 

Bishop  (pages  188  and  189)  says  that  when  Barlow  went,  in 
1659,  to  arrest  Edward  Perry,  "he  was  so  drunk  that  he  could 
hardly  forbear  vomiting  in  the  bosom  of  him  whom  he  pretended 
to  press"  as  his  aid.  A  friend  of  Perry  who  was  present  said  to 
him,  "Yea,  George,  thou  mayst  wash  thy  hands,  but  thou  canst 
not  wash  thy  heart."  He  answered,  still  laughing  and  jeering, 
and  said,  "Yes,  one  dram  of  the  bottle  will  do  it,"  and  clapped 
his  hand  on  his  bosom.  Unto  which  kind  of  washing,  it  seems, 
he  is  used  to  much,  viz  :  To  be  drunk,  and  then  to  be  ftiad,  and  to 
beat  his  wife  and  children  like  a  mad  man  ;  and  to  throw  the 
things  of  the  house  from  one  place  to  another." 

Many  passages  from  the  early  writers  to  the  same  effect 
might  be  quoted.  That  he  was  honest  there  is  much  reason  to 
doubt.  Thomas  P^wer  charged  him  in  open  court  with  having  on 
a  garment  made  from  cloth  stolen  from  him.  Barlow  also 
encouraged  and  justified  his  children  in  stripping  the  fruits  from 
the  orchard  of  his  neighbor  Thomas  Johnson.  An  Indian  took  a 
knife  from  an  Englishman's  house,  and  being  told  he  should  not 
steal,  he  answered,  "I  thought  so,  but  Barlow  steals  from  the 
Quakers,  and  why  may  not  I  do  the  same  ?" 

■  It  has  already  been  stated  that  a  majority  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony  Court  had  pronounced  the  letter  of  Mr.  Cudworth  to  Mr. 
Brown  to  be  seditious.  The  foregoing  extracts  clearly  establish 
one  point,  and  that  is,  his  denunciations  of  Barlow  are  not 
seditious,  without  it  can  be  proved  that  telling  the  truth  is  sedition. 
The  other  statements  in  his  letter  will  also  be  verified  by  extracts 
from  the  records  and  contemporaneous  authorities. 

George  Barlow  does  not  appear  to  have  had  a  family  when  he 

t  Mr.  John  Wliitney  in  Truth  and  Innocency  defended.  London  edition,  1702,  pa^e  26, 
describes  the  scene  at  Barn'itable  sub'^tflntially  as  above;  but  his  lan^uaee  is  wanting  in 
cleamiess.  Bowden  does  not  refer  to  Wliitney ;  "but  lie  was  probably  misled  by  the  ambigu- 
ous language  of  that  author.  He  represents  that  the  residence  of  the  magistrate  was 
"about  two  miles  distant."  It  should  be  twelve  miles.  This  is  probably  a  mistake  of  the 
printer.  He  adds,  (page  116,  London  edition.)  "This  functionary,  after  a  frivolous  exam- 
ination of  tjie  prisoners,  ordered  them  to  be  tied  to  the  post  of  an  out-house ;  and  then, 
tuniing  executioner,  he  gave  each  of  them  thiritj'-three  lashes."  I  should  not  notice  this 
gross  scandal  if  it  had  not  been  copied  by  other  historians  without  comment.  (See  annals 
of  Sandwich,  pages  60  and  61.)  No  trustworthy  authority  can  be  quoted  in  its  support — its 
falsity  is  apparent.  Bowden  is  usually  very  cautious  in  his  statements.  He  refers  to 
Norton's  Ensign  as  his  authority;  but  he  evidently  relied  on  and  was  misled  by  the  ambigu- 
ous lan^age  of  Whifciojf. 


t62        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIKS. 

came  to  Sandwich.  He  married  Jane,  widow  of  the  lamented 
Anthony  Besse.  She  had  then  a  sou  Nehemiah,  ancestor  of  the 
Besses  of  Sandwich,  Wareham,  and  other  towns,  and  three 
daughters.  By  her  second  husband  she  had  a  son  John,  ancestor 
of  some  of  the  Barlows  in  Sandwich,  &c. 

Details  of  his  brutality  as  the  master  of  a  family,  have 
already  been  given.  Froni  Mr.  Besse's  once  "sweet  home," 
peace,  comfort,  and  happiness,  were  banished.  Morning  and 
evening  prayer  and  praise  had  ascended  from  the  family  altar, 
now  desecrated  by  impiety  and  drunken  revelries.  The  little  ones 
who  had  been  brought  up  to  be  liiud  and  affectionate,  one  towards 
the  other,  were  now  rude  and  disobedient,  and  taught  that  it  was 
no  sin  to  steal  from  those  who  were  not  members  of  their 
church. 

Barlow  made  high  pretension  to  piety,  and  became  a  member 
of  the  Sandwich  church.  He  also  claimed  to  have  studied  the 
law,  and  essayed  to  be  a  lawyer.  By  his  pretended  piety,  and«by 
his  plausible  address,  he  at  first  deceived  the  unsuspecting  Puri- 
tans, and  *hey  appointed  him  to  a  responsible  office.  This  they 
did  ignorantly,  and  no  blame  can  attach  to  the  court ;  but  he  was 
continued  in  office,  and  his  authority  enlarged,  after  his  true 
character  was  known.  For  this,  it  is  difficult  to  frame  a  sufficient 
excuse. 

The  worst  of  men  usually  have  some  redeeming  traits  of 
Character.  Contemporaneous  authorities  say  nothing  in  his  favor. 
He  was  hated  by  every  member  of  his  family,  wife,  sons,  daugh- 
ter, and  daughters-in-law  ;  despised  and  avoided  by  his  neighbors 
— a  blot  on  the  annals  of  the  Old  Colony  which  time  will  never 
wipe  out. 

Barlow,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  never  sober  of  his 
own  free  choice — as  an  officer  he  was  unfeeling  and  tyrannical, 
and  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  wringing  the  last  penny  from  the 
hard  hand  of  industry — in  dragging  men  and  women  to  the  prison 
and  the  whipping  post.  His  career  was  short.  An  outraged 
people  hurled  him  from  otHee,  and  in  his  old  age  he  craved  charity 
from  those  for  whom  he  had  shown  no  piety  in  the  day  of  his 
power. 

The  early  writers  furnish  many  details  of  his  cruel  acts.  1 
shall  relate  one,  and  prefer  giving  it  as  it  has  been  preserved  by 
tradition.  J 

t  Among  the  fli-st  settlers  in  Sandwich  was  George  Allen,  a  man  of  good  standing 
a.mong  the  Puritans,  notivithstanding  he  was  an  Ana  baptist.  The  lioase  which  he  built  at 
Spring  Hill  in  1646,  is  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Eliza  C.  Wing,  is  in  good  repair,  and  will  proba- 
bly last  another  century.  He  died  in  16i3,  leaving  nine  children  mentioned  in  his  will,  four 
of  whom  are  named,  Matthew,  Henry,  Samuel  and  William,  the  other  five  least  children 
not  named.  Brown  says  that  six  brothers  and  sisters  of  this  family  were  among  the  earUest 
who  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Fi-iends.  He  says  that  Halph  Allen  was  his  son,  and 
George,  Jr.,  was  probably  another.  The  two  last  named  must  have  been  men  grown  when 
they  came  to  this  country,  for  George  had  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity  in  England.  The 
Aliens  settled  at  Spring  Hill,  and  two  or  more  of  their  houses  yet  remain,  and  are  probably 
as  old  as  any  in  Massachusetts.  The  one  in  which  the  early  quakers  met  for  many  succes- 
sive years,  is  still  standing,  and  remained  in  the  family  till  1862,  when  it  was  sold  to  Frank 
Korns,  the  present  owner. 


GICNEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         263 

The  traveller  from  Sandwich  to  Barnstable  has,  perhaps, 
noticed  the  ancient  and  substantial  dwelling  houses  near  Spring 
Hill.  Some  of  these  have  stood  two  centuries,  and  were  the 
residences  of  the  early  Quakers.  In  1659  William  Allen  was  the 
occupant  of  one  of  them.  He  was  a  young  man,  married,  March 
21,  1649-50,  Priscilla  Brown.  His  flues  amounted  to  £86,17,  and 
were  imposed  for  the  following  offences  :  £40  for  twenty  meetings 
at  his  house  ;  £4  for  attending  meetings  at  other  places  ;  £5  for 
entertaining  Quakers ;  £25  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of 
fidelity  ;  £1  for  not  removing  his  hat  in  court,  and  the  balance  for 
expenses,  &c. 

In  payment  for  these  fines  there  was  taken  from  him  at 
different  times : 

18  head  of  cattle,  apprised  at  £64,10 

1  mare  and  a  horse   of    which  he  was  half    owner ;    but 

according  to  the  Treasurer's  accounts  mare  and  2  colts,       19,10 
8  bushels  of  corn  and  a  hogshead,  1,07 

Corn  at  another  time,  1,10 


£86,17 
In  addition,  a  brass  kettle  was  taken  in  payment  of  a  fine  of 
£1,  imposed  in  1660  for  wearing  his  hat  in  court.  These  dis- 
traints were  made  by  Barlow  at  different  times,  and  some  parti- 
culars may  be  found  in  Bishop.  In  the  winter  of  1660-61  William 
Allen  was  in  Sandwich.  In  June,  1661,  he  and  27  others  were 
released  from  prison  in  Boston,  tlie  authorities  having  received 
intelligence  that  King  Charles  would,  order  all  Quakers  imprisoned 
to  be  sent  over  to  England  for  trial.  The  mandamus  or  letter  of 
the  King  was  received  in  November,  1661,  and  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony  persecutions  and  the  exacting  of  fines  ceased ;  but  in 
Massachusetts  the  magistrates  found  means  to  evade  the  royal 
authority,  and  persecutions  did  not  entirely  cease  for  several 
years.    ' 

Sandwich  suffered  more  than  all  the  other  towns  in  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony — in  fact,  only  a  few  and  unimportant  cases  occurred 
out  of  that  town.  Many  of  those  who  were  imprisoned  in  Bos- 
ton were  Sandwich  men  who  went  there  on  business.  Though  two 
centuries  have  passed,  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  particulars 
respecting  the  persecutions  in  Sandwich  have  been  preserved. 

Accounts  of  the  sufferings  endured  by  the  Quakers  in  Boston, 
Sandwich,  and  other  places,  immediately  after  the  events  occured, 
were  published  in  London,  and  were  read  by  all  classes.  Such 
events  are  not  soon  forgotten,  and  it  takes  many  generations  to 
eradicate  the  memory  thereof  from  the  minds  of  the  descendants 
of  the  sufferers.  In  Sandwich  the  principle  facts  have  been 
preserved  by  tradition,  even  the  localities  where  the  events 
occurred  are  pointed  out.  The  preservation  of  so  many  of  the 
houses  of  the  first  Quakers,  the  ownership  whereof  for  successive 


264        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTAI5LE    FAMILIES. 

generations,  can  be  ascertained  bv  deeds,  wills,  and  other  legal 
instruments,  has  aided  in  keeping  in  memory  locations  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  forgotten.  The  following  incidents, 
said  to  have  occurred  when  Barlow  made  his  last  distraint  on  the 
goods  of  William  Allen,  are  yet  related,  and  the  exact  location 
where  they  occurred  pointed  out.  This  story  of  wrong  is  in  some 
particulars  differently  related  by  different  persons  ;  but  the  leading 
facts  are  confirmed  by  the  records. 

On  the  south  side  of  Spring  Hill,  in  Sandwich,  in  one  of 
those  cosey  nooks,  which  the  first  comers  selected  for  their  house 
lots,  sheltered  by  hills  from  the  bleak  north  and  west  winds,  the 
traveller  on  the  Cape  Cod  Railroad  has  perhaps  noticed  an  ancient 
dwelling  which  the  renovating  hand  of  modern  improvement  has 
allowed  to  remain  as  it  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  In 
1658  it  was  owned  by  William  Allen.*     He  and  his  wife  Priscilla 


*  William  Allen's  House.  Mr.NeiVPlI  Hoxie  who  has  made  the  sturly  of  the  antiquities 
of  Spring  Hill  a  speciiiliry,  is  of  the  opinion  that  William  Alien,  in  1658,  resided  in  a  house 
nearer  the  grave  yard  than  the  Alden  Allen  house.  The  history  of  the  latter  can  be  traced 
hy  records  from  the  year  1672.  It  was  then  the  residence  of  William  Allen,  and  continued 
to  be  till  his  death  in  1705,  when  he  bequeathed  it  to  Daniel,  son  of  his  brother  George, 
reserving  the  use  of  the  south  end  for  the  meetinfrs  of  the  Quakers  in  the  winter  as  had 
been  customary.  Daniel  bequeathed  it  to  his  son  Comelins,  Cornelius  to  his  son  CJeorgei 
George  to  his  son  William,  and  William  to  his  son  Aklen  who  died  Jan.  8, 1858,  aged  80. 

To  determine  the  question  of  the  age  of  this  house  I  have  spent  some  time.  Outwardly 
the  style  indicates  about  the  year  1680  as  the  date  of  its  erection;  but  on  comparing  the 
description  of  the  appearance  of  the  framing  and  interior  arrangements  furnished  me  by 
Mr.  Hoxie,  with  the  description  thereof  given  in  1705,  by  the  apprisers  of  the  estate  of 
William  Allen,  I  am  satisfied  that  it  has  been  enlarged  three,  if  not  four  times  since 
originally  built.  The  original  house  was  18  feet  by  23,  two  stories  high  In  the  life  time  of 
William  Allen  a  leanto  was  added  on  the  west  for  a  kitchen,  and  an  addition  made  on  the 
south  one  story  high,  with  a  leanto  roof,  in  the  style  popularly  known  as  a  "salt  box." 
Under  the  salt  box  there  was  a  cellar.  This  corresponds  with  the  description  of  the  build- 
ing in  1705  on  the  Probate  Kecords.  Soon  after  this  date  the  "salt  box"  was  removed  or 
enlarged,  and  an  addition  made  coiTespondiug  in  size  and  appearance  with  the  ancient  part, 
making  the  main  building  18  by  40  feet,  two  stories  high,  not  including  the  leanto  on  the 
west,  and  precisely  in  the  form  it  now  remains.  The  objection  to  this  view  is,  the  framing 
of  the  north  and  south  ends  are  precisely  alike,  the  posts  on  the  south  not  having  been 
spliced,  making  itprobable  that  both  ends  were  built  at  the  same  time,  but  if  so  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  apprisers  of  Allen's  estate  is  incorrect.  The  position  of  the  cellar  and  chimney 
indicates  that  both  ends  were  not  built  at  the  same  time,  and  the  plates  are  spliced  precisely 
at  the  place  where  the  addition  was  probably  made.  It  may  have  been  John  Newland's 
house,  which  William  Allen  bought  about  the  year  1680,  but  the  location  of  Ne^V^^fl's  house 
is  said  to  have  been  on  the  south  of  the  swamp,  the  collar  whereof  yet  remains. 

All  the  old  houses  at  Spring  Hill  have  undergone  similar  transformations  since  they 
were  built.  The  Wing  hou«e,  probably  the  oldest  house  in  Massachusetts,  built  before  1643 
as  a  fortification,  has  been  altered  so  otten  that  little  of  the  original  remains.  The  George 
Allen  built,  according  to  a  mark  thereon  in  1646,  is  in  good  preservation. 

The  conclusion  to  which  I  have  arrived  is  this,  that  it  is  not  perfectly  certain  that 
William  Allen  resided  in  the  Alden  Allen  house  in  1660.  It  is  difficult  to  prove  such  a 
question.  He  may  have  lived  in  a  hou«e  nearer  the  "grave  yard,"  as  tradition  savs. 
Portions  of  the  tradition  to  which  I  refer  are  proved  erroueou*,  namely,  that  William  Allen 
married  two  wives,  the  records  show  that  his  first  wife  Priscilla  sui-vi'ved  him;  that  having 
no  issue  he  devised  his  estate  to  Gideon  Allen,  the  record'*  show  that  he  bequeathed  it  to 
his  nephew  Daniel.  Both  houses  were  near  the  "grave  yard,"  and  nothing  is  proved  by  that 
expression,  and  if  the  tradition  is  erronous,  as  above  shown,  in  important  particulars,  it 
creates  a  doubt  at  least,  whether  or  not  it  is  accurate  in  regard  to  the  exact  location  of 
William  Allen's  house  in  the  year  1660. 

William  Allen  died  iu  the  Alden  Allen  house  Oct.  1, 1705,  aged  about  80  years,  having 
lived  in  the  marriage  relation  fifty-five  years  with  his  wife  Priscilla,  who  survived  him, 
certainly  thirty-three  years  in  the  house  in  which  he  died,  probably  tlie  whole  period.  His 
house,  during  the  latter  part  oihis  life,  and  when  owned  by  his  successors  Daniel,  Cornelius, 
Georae,  and  William,  was  the  resort  of  numerous  Friends  at  their  quarterly,  monthly,  and 
weekly  meeetings.  The  ot-cupants  were  hospitable  ami  provided  liberally  for  all  whocame. 
It  should  be  regarded  by  the  Friends  as  their  "Mecca"  and  be  preserved  as  a  monument  of 
the  "olden  time."    The  associations  connected  with  that  old  "south  end"  would  be  pleasant. 


GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES.    265 

were  among  the  first  in  Sandwich  who  embraced  the  principles  of 
the  Quakers.  His  father  was  an  Ana  Baptist,  a  sect  that  held  to 
some  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Qualters.  His  six  sons  and 
others  in  Sandwich  belonged  to  the  same  sect,  or  sympathized  in 
the  views  of  the  elder  Allen,  and  readily  received  the  doctrines  of 
the  Quakers.  The  father  had,  ten  years  before  the  time  of  Bar- 
low, "laid  down  his  life  in  peace."  His  sons  were  industrious  and 
prudent.  William  had  accumlated  a  good  estate  for  those  times, 
was  hospitable,  and  his  house  was  the  resort  of  the  early  Friends. 
The  distraints  which  the  Marshal  had  mad«  in  1658  and  9,  in  pay- 
ment of  the  fines  which  had  been  imposed  on  him,  had  strip't  him 
of  nearly  all  his  goods.  His  house,  his  lands,  a  cow,  left  "out  of 
pity,"  a  little  corn,  and  a  few  articles  of  household  furniture, 
were  all  that  remained,  and  he  was  living  on  bread  and  water,  a 
prisoner  in  the  common  jail  in  Boston.  These  things  did  not 
move  him,  he  held  fast  to  bis  faith. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  family,  when  the  Marshal 
appeared  with  a  warrant  to  collect  additional  fines.  The  sancti- 
monious Barlow  was  drunk.  The  distress  of  the  wife  did  not 
move  him.  He  took  the  cow  which  had  been  left  "out  of  pity," 
the  little  corn  remaining,  and  a  bag  of  meal  which  a  kind  neigh- 
bor had  just  brought  from  the  mill.  This  was  insufficient.  He 
seized  a  copper  kettle,  (two  iron  pots  according  to  one  tradition) 
the  only  one  remaining,  and  then  mockingly  addressing  Mrs. 
Allen,  said:  "Now  Priscilla,  how  will  thee  cook  for  thy  family 
and  friends,  thee  has  no  kettle."  Mrs.  Allen  meekly  replied : 
"George,  that  God  who  hears  the  young  ravens  when  they  cry, 
will  provide  for  them.  I  trust  in  that  God,  and  I  verily  believe 
the  time  will  come  when  thy  necessity  will  be  greater  than  mine." 
George  carried  away  the  goods,  but  he  remembered  the  "testi- 
mony" and  lived  to  see  it  verified. 

Friends,  and  among  them  were  many  who  had  no  sympathy 
for  the  doctrines  of  the  Quakers,  immediately  provided  for  all 
Mrs.  Allen's  wants,  and  soon  after  the  trembling  Magistrates  of 
Massachusetts,  fearing  that  the  royal  displeasure  would  be  visited 
on  their  own  heads,  opened  their  prison  doors,  and  ordered  all 
.who  were  in  bonds,  for  conscience  sake,  to  depart. 

The  letter  of  King  Charles  was  dated  Sept.  9,  1661,  and  was 
addressed  to  all  the  Governors,  Magistrates,  &c.,  in  his  colonies 
in  New  England,  ordering  them  "to  forbear  to  proceed  any 
further"  against  the  Quakers,  and  to  send  such  as  were  imprisoned 
to  England  for  ti'ial.  The  bearer  of  this  dispatch  was  Samuel 
Shattuck,  a  Quaker  who  had  been  banished  from  Massachusetts 
on  pain  of  death.  He  delivered  the  King's  letter  to  Gov.  Endicot. 
It  must  have  been  exceedingly  mortifying  to  the  Magistrates,  to 

The  men,  whose  names  now  belong  to  history,  met  there,  they  took  sweet  counsel  together, 
and  there  would  some  of  their  descendants  delight  to  assemble  and  recall  the  memories  of 
the  past. 


266         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

have  been  obliged  to  give  audience  to,  and  receive  the  King's 
letter  from  the  hands  of  one  whom  they  had  banished. 

The  news  of  the  King's  letter  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  on  Bar- 
low. He  had  grown  rich  "on  the  spoils  of  the  innocent,"  but  in 
after  times  he  was  very  poor,  and  often  wished  for  the  return  of 
"the  good  times,"  as  he  called  the  four  years  from  1657  to  1661. 
In  Iiis  old  age  he  often  craved  Priscilla's  charity;  She  always 
administered  to  his  wants,  and  though  he  never  went  from  her 
door  empty  handed,  yet  he  was  never  grateful ;  and  was  always 
sighing  for  the  return  of  the  "good  old  times." 

Barlow  died  as  he  lived,  a  poor  miserable  drunkard.  No 
loving  hand  smoothed  his  brow  in  death,  and  no.  stone  tells  where 
he  lies. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  persecutions  of  the  Quakers  at 
Sandwich  should  have  aroused  the  indignation  of  such  men  as 
Cudworth,  Hatherly,  and  Robinson — it  is  surprising  that  the  acts  of 
Barlow  should  have  found  an  apologist  in  the  Old  Colony.  William 
Allen  was  not  the  greatest  sufferer.  Edward  Perry,  who  resided  at 
East  Sandwich,  was  wealthy,  a  man  who  had  been  well  educated, 
he  suffered  more.  Robert  Harper  had  his  house  and  lands  and  all 
that  he  had  taken,  and  suffered  many  cruel  imprisonments  and 
punishments.  Thomas  Johnson,  the  poor  weaver,  to  whom  Mr. 
Cudworth  refers,  was  strip't  of  all  he  had.  Not  only  were  their 
goods  taken  from  them,  and  cruel  punishments  inflicted  ;  but  they 
were  disfranchised,  even  those  who  were  of  the  first  settlers  and 
had  lived  in  Sandwich,  twenty  years.  Oct.  2,  1658,  nine  were 
disfranchised  by  the  Colony  Court,  for  being,  or  sympathizing 
with  the  Quakers,  and  it  was  farther  ordered,  that  no  man  should 
thereafter  be  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  Sandwich,  or  enjoy  the 
privileges  thereof  without  the  approbation  of  the  church,  Gov. 
Prence,  or  one  of  the  assistants. 

During  the  Protectorates  in  England  a  similar  feeling  existed 
there,  and  the  injudicious  legislation  of  New  England  was  only 
the  echo  of  the  Puritan  opinion  in  the  mother  country.  Mr. 
Palfrey  in  his  excellent  history  of  New  England,  remarks  on  this 
subject:  "The  Puritan's  mistake  at  a  later  period  was:  that  he 
undertook  by  public  regulation  what  public  regulation  can  never 
achieve,  and  by  aiming  to  form  a  nation  of  saints,  introduced 
hypocrites  among  them  to  defeat  their  objects  and  bring  scandal  on 
their  cause,  while  the  saints  were  made  no  more  numerous  and  no 
better." 

The  following  letter  of  Mr.  Cudworth  to  Mr.  John  Brown 
was  written  in  December  1658,  and  printed  the  next  year  in  Eng- 
land, and  probably  had  an  influence  in  determining  King  Charles 
to  issue  his  letter  or  mandamus.  Mr.  Deane,  in  his  histf^ry  of 
Scituate,  publishes  the  letter  substantially,  omitting  many  passages 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         267 

and  modernizing  the  language  in   some  instances.     I  prefer  to 
give  the  letter  as  written  by  Mr.  Cudworth : 

LETTER  OF  JAMES  CUDWORTH. 

SciTUATB,  10th  mo.  1658. 
As  for  the  State  and  condition  of  Things  amongst  us,  it  is 
Sad,  and  like  so  to  continue  ;  the  Antichristian  Persecuting  Spirit 
is  very  active,  and  that  in  the  Powers  of  this  World  :  He  that  will 
not  whip  and  Lash,  Persecute  and  Punish  Men  that  Differ  in 
Mattefs  of  Religion,  must  not  sit  on  the  Bench,  nor  sustain  any 
Office  in  the  Common-wealth.  Last  election,  Mr.  Hatherly,  and 
my  Self,  left  off  the  Bench,  and  mj  self  Discharged  of  my 
Captainship,  because  I  had  Entertained  some  of  the  Quakers  at 
my  House  (thereby  that  I  might  be  the  better  acquainted  with  their 
Principles)  I  thought  it  better  fo  to  do,  than  with  the  blind 
World,  to  Censure,  Condemn,  Rail  at,  and  Revile  them,  when 
they  neither  faw  their  Persons,  nor  knew  any  of  their  Principles : 
But  the  Quakers  and  my  felf  cannot  close  in  divers  Things  ;  and 
fo  I  signified  to  the  Court,  I  was  no  Quaker,  but  must  bear  my 
Testimony  against  sundry  Things  that  they  held,  as  I  had  Occasion 
and  Opportunity:  But  withal,  I  told  them.  That  as  I  was  no 
Quaker,  fo  I  would  be  no  Persecutor.  This  Spirit  did  Work  those 
two  Years  that  I  was  of  the  Magistracy  ;  during  which  time  I  was 
on  sundry  Occasions  forced  to  declare  my  Dissent,  in  sundry 
Actings  of  that  Nature  ;  which,  altho'  done  with  all  Moderation 
of  Expression,  together  with  due  respect  unto  the  Rest,  yet  it 
wrought  great  Disaffection  and  Prejudice  in  them,  against  me  ;  so 
that  if  I  should  say,  some  of  themselves  set  others  on  Work  to 
frame  a  Petition  against  me,  that  so  they  might  have  a  seeming 
Ground  from  others  (tho'  first  moved  and  acted  by  themselves,  to 
lay  what  they  could  under  Reproach)  I  should  do  no  wrong.  The 
Petition  was  with  Nineteen  Hands  ;  it  will  be  too  long  to  make 
Rehearsal :  It  wrought  such  a  disturbance  in  our  Town,  and 
in  our  Military  Company,  that  when  the  Act  of  Court  was 
read  in  the  Head  of  the  Company,  had  I  not  been  present, 
and  made  a  Speech  to  them,  I  fear  there  had  been  such  Actings  as 
would  have  been  of  a  sad  Consequence.  The  Court  was  again 
followed  with  another  Petition  of  Fifty  Four  Hands,  and  the 
Court  returned  the  Petitioners  an  Answer  with  such  plausibleness 
of  Speech,  carrying  with  it  great  shew  of  Respect  to  them,  readily 
acknowledging,  with  the  Petitioners,  my  Parts  and  Gifts,  and  how 
useful  1  had  been  in  my  Place  ;  Professing,  they  had  nothing  at  all 
against  me,  only  in  that  thing  of  giving  Entertainment  to  Quakers  ; 
whereas,  I  broke  no  Law  in  giving,  them  a  Night's  Lodging  or 
two,  and  some  Victuals  :  For,  our  Law  then  was, — If  any  Enter- 
tain a  Quaker,  and  keep  him  after  he  is  warned  by  a  Magistrate 
to  Depart,  the  Party  so  Entertaining,  shall  pay  Twenty  Shillings 
a  Week,  for  Entertaining  them. — Since  hath  been  made  a  Law, — 


268         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

If  any  Entertain  a  Quaker,  if  but  a  quarter  of  an  Hour,  he  is  to 
forfeit  Five  Pounds. — Another, — That  if  any  see  a  Quaker,  he  is 
bound,  if  he  live  Six  Miles  or  moi-e  from  the  Constable,  yet  he 
must  presently  go  and  give  Notice  to  the  Constable,  or  else  is 
subject  to  the  Censure  of  the  Court  (which  may  be  hanging) — 
Another, — That  if  the  Constable  know,  or  hear  of  any  ( Juaker  in 
his  Precincts,  he  is  presently  to  Apprehend  him,  and  if  he  will  not 
presently  Depart  the  Town,  the  Constable  is  to  whip  him,  and  send 
him  away.  The  divers  have  been  Whipped  with  us  in  our  Patent ; 
and  truly  to  tell  you  plainly,  that  the  Whipping  of  them  with  that 
Cruelty,  as  some  have  been  Whipp'd,  and  their  Patience  under  it, 
has  sometimes  been  the  Occasion  of  gaining  more  Adherence  to 
them,  than  if  they  had  suffered  them  openly  to  have  preached  a 
Sermon. 

— Also  another  Law, — That  if  there  be  a  Quakers  Meeting 
any  where  in  the  Colony,  the  Party  in  whose  House  or  on  whose 
Ground  it  is,  is  to  pay  Forty  Shillings ;  The  Preaching-Quaker 
Forty  Shillings  ;  every  Hearer  Forty  Shillings :  Yea,  and  if  they 
have  Meetings,  thou'  nothing  be  spoken,  when  they  so  meet,  which 

they  say,  so  it  falls  out  sometimes Our  last  Law, That  now 

they  are  to  be  Apprehended,  and  carried  before  a  Magistrate,  and 
by  him  committed  to  be  kept  close  Prisoners,  until  they  will 
promise  to  depart,  and  never  come  again  ;  and  will  also  pay  their 
Fees — (which  I  preceive  they  will  do  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other)  and  they  must  be  kept  only  with  the  Counties  Allowance, 
which  is  but  small  (namely  Course  Bread  and  Water)  No  Friend 
may  bring  them  any  thing  ;  none  may  be  permitted  to  speak  with 
them ;  Nay,  if  they  have  money  of  then-  own,  they  ma\'  not  make 
use  of  that  to  relieve  themselves. 

In  the  Massachusetts  (namely,  Boston-Colony)  after  they 
have  Whipp'd  them,  they  Cut  their  Ears,  they  have  now,  at  last, 
gone  the  furthest  step  they  can.  They  Banish  them  upon  pain  of 
Death,  if  they  ever  come  there  again.  We  expect  that  we  must 
do  the  like  ;  we  must  Dance  Aftei  their  Pipe  :  Now  Plimouth-Sad- 
dle  is  on  the  Bay-Horse  (viz.  Boston)  we  shall  follow  them  on  the 
Career :  For,  it  is  well  if  in  some  there  be  not  a  Desire  to  be  their 
Apes  and  Imitators  in  all  their  Proceedings  in  things  of  this 
Nature. 

All  these  Carnel  and  Antichristian  Ways  being  not  of  God's 
Appointment,  effect  nothing  as  to  the  Obstructing  or  Hindring  of 
them  in  their  way  or  Course.  It  is  only  the  Word  or  Spu'it  of  the 
Lord  that  is  able  to  Convince  Gainsayers  :  They  are  the  Mighty 
Weapons  of  a  Christian's  Warfare,  by  which  Great  and  Mighty 
Things  are  done  and  accomplished. 

They  have  many  Meetings,  and  many  Adherents,  almost  the 
whole  Town  of  Sandwich  is  adhering  towards  them  ;  and  give  me 
leave  a  little  to  acquaint  you  with  their  Sufferings,  which  is  Griev- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         269 

ous  unto,  and  Saddens  the  Heart  of  most  of  the  Precious  Saints 
of  God  ;  It  lies  down  and  rises  up  with  them,  and  they  cannot  put 
it  out  of  their  minds,  to  see  and  hear  of  poor  Families  deprived 
of  their  Comforts,  and  brought  into  Penury  tind  Want  (you  may 
say.  By  what  Means?  And,  to  what  End?)  As  far  as  I  am 
able  to  judge  of  the  End,  It  is  to  force  them  from  their  Homes 
and  lawful  Habitations,  and  to  drive  them  out  of  their  Coasts. 
The  Massachusetts  have  Banish'd  Six  of  their  Inhabitants,  to  be 
gone  upon  pain  of  Death ;  and  I  wish  that  Blood  be  not  shed  : 
But  our  poor  People  are  pillaged  and  plundered  of  their  Goods  ; 
and  haply,  when  they  have  no  more  to  satisfy  their  unsatiable 
Desire,  at  last  may  be  forced  to  flee,  and  glad  they  have  their 
Lives  for  a  Prey. 

As  for  the  Means  by  which  they  are  impoverished  ;  These  in 
the  first  place  were  Scrupulous  of  an  Oath  ;  why  then  we  must  put 
in  Force  an  old  Law, — That  all  must  take  the  Oath  of  Fidelity. 
This  being  tendered,  they  will  not  take  it ;  and  then  we  must  add 
more  Force  to  the  Law  ;  and  that  is, — If  any  Man  refuse,  or 
neglect  to  take  it  by  such  a  time,  he  shall  pay  Five  Pounds,  or 
depart  the  Colony. — When  the  time  is  come,  they  are  the  same  as 
they  were ;  Then  goes  out  the  Marshal,  and  f  etcheth  away  their 
Gows  and  other  Cattle.  Well,  another  Court  comes,  They  are 
required  to  take  the  Oath  again,  —  They  cannot — Then  Five 
Pounds  more  :  On  this  Account  Thirty  Five  Head  of  Cattle,  as  I 
have  been  credibly  informed,  hath  been  by  the  Authority  of  our 
Court  taken  from  them  the  latter  part  of  this  Summer  ;  and  these 

people  say, If  they  have  more  right  to  them,  than  themselves, 

Let  them  take  them. Some  that  had  a  Cow  only,  some  Two 

Cows,  some  Three  Cows,  and  many  small  Children  in  their 
Families,  to  whom,  in  Summer  time,  a  Cow  or  Two  was  the  great- 
est Ontward  Comfort  they  had  for  their  Subsistence.  A  poor 
Weaver  that  had  Seven  or  Eight  small  children  (I  know  not  which) 
he  himself  Lame  in  his  Body,  had  but  Two  Cows,  and  both  taken 
from  him.     The   Marshal   asked   him.  What   he  would   do?     He 

must  have  his  Cows.     The  Man  said, That  God  that  gave  him 

them,  he  doubted  not,  but  would  still  provide  for  him. 

To  fill  up  the  measure  yet  more  full,  tho'  to  the  further 
emptying  of  Sandwich-Men  of  their  outward  Comforts.  The  last 
Court  of  Assistants,  the  first  Tuesday  of  this  Instant,  the  Court 
was  pleased  to  determine  Fines  on  Sandwich-Men  for  Meetings, 
sometimes  on  First  Days  of  the  Week,  sometimes  on  other  Days, 
as  they  say  :  They  m5et  ordinarily  twice  in  a  Week,  besides  the 
Lord's  Day,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Pounds,  whereof  W.  New- 
land  is  Twenty  Four  Pounds,  for  himself  and  his  Wife,  at  Ten 
Shillings  a  Meeting.  W.  Allen  Forty  Six  Pounds,  some  affirm  it 
Forty  Nine  Pounds.  The  poor  Weaver  afore  spoken  of.  Twenty 
Pounds,  Brother  Cook  told  me,  one  of  the  Brethen  at  Barnstable 


270         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

certified  him,  That  he  was  in  the  Weaver's  House,  when  cruel 
Barloe  (Sandwich  Marshal)  came  to  demand  the  Sum,  and  said, 
he  was  fully  informed  of  all  the  poor  Man  had,  and  thought,  if  all 
lay  together,  it  was  not  worth  Ten  Pounds.  What  will  be  the 
end  of  such  Courses  and  Practices,  the  Lord  only  knows.  I 
heartily  and  earnestly  pray,  that  these,  and  such  like  Courses, 
neither  raise  up  among  us,  or  bring  in  upon  us,  either  the  Sword,  or 
any  devouring  Calamity,  as  a  just  Avenger  of  the  Lord's  Quarrel, 
for  Acts  of  Injustice  and  Oppression  ;  and  that  we  may  every  one 
find  out  the  Plague  of  his  own  Heart ;  and  putting  away  the  Evils 
of  his  own  Doings,  and  meet  the  Lord  by  Entreaties  of  Peace, 
before  it  be  too  late,  and  there  be  no  Eemedy. 

Our  Civil  Powers  are  so  exercised  in  Things  appertaining  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  in  Matters  of  Religion  and  Conscience, 
that  we  have  no  time  to  effect  any  thing  that  tends  to  the  Promo- 
tion of  the  Civil  Weal,  or  the  prosperity  of  the  Place  ;  but  now  we 
must  have  a  State-Religion,  such  as  the  Powers  of  the  World  will 
allow,  and  no  other :  A  State-Ministry,  and  a  State  way  of 
Maintenance  :  And  we  must  Worship  and  Serve  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  the  World  shall  appoint  lis :  We  must  all  go  to  the  publick 
Place  of  Meeting,  in  the  Parish  where  he  dwells,  or  be  prevented  ; 
I  am  Informed  of  Three  or  Fourscore,  last  Court  presented,  for- 
not  coming  to  publick  Meetings ;  and  let  me  tell  you  how  they 
brought  this  about :  You  may  remember  a  Law  once  made,  call'd 
Thomas  Hinckley's  Law, — That  if  any  neglected  the  Worship  of 
God,  in  the  Place  where  he  lives,  and  sets  up  a  Worship  contrary 
to  God,  and  the  Allowance  of  this  Government,  to  the  public 
Prophanation  of  God's  Holy  Day  and  Ordinance,  shall  pay  Ten 
Shillings. — This  Law  would  not  reach  what  then  was  aimed  at : 
Because  he  must  do  so  and  so ;  that  is,  all  things  therein  ex- 
pressed, or  else  break  not  the  Law.  In  March  last  a  Court  of 
Deputies  was  called,  and  some  Acts  touching  Quakers  were  made ; 
and  then  they  contrived  to  make  this  Law  serviceable  to  them  ; 
and  that  was  by  putting  out  the  word  [and]  and  putting  m  the 
word  [or]  which  is  a  Disjunctive,  and  makes  every  Branch  to 
bepome  a  Law.  So  now,  if  any  do  neglect,  or  will  not  come  to 
the  publick  Meetings,  Ten  Shillings  for  every  Defect.  Certainly 
we  either  have  less  Wit,  or  more  Money,  than  the  Massachusetts  : 
For,  for  Five  Shilling  a  Day,  a  man  may  stay  away,  till  it  come  to 
Twelve  or  Thirteen  Pounds,  if  he  had  it  but  to  pay  them :  And 
these  Men  altering  this  Law  now  in  March,  yet  left  it  Dated, 
June  6,  1651,  and  so  it  stands  as  the  Act  -of  a  General  Court; 
they  to  be  the  Authors  of  it  Seven  Years  before  it  was  in  being  ; 
and  so  you  your  selves  have  your  part  and  share  in  it,  if  the 
Recorder  lye  not.  But  what  may  be  the  Reason  that  they  should 
not  by  anc'ther  Law,  made  and  dated  by  that  Court,  as  well  effect 
what  was  intended,  as  by  altering  a  Word,  and  so  the  whole  sense 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         271 

of  the  Law  ;  and  leave  this  their  Act  by  the  Date  of  it  charged  on 
another  Court's  Account?  Surely  the  chief  Instruments  in  the 
Busiaess,  being  privy  to  an  Act  of  Parliament  for  Liberty,  should 
too  openly  have  acted  repugnant  to  a  Law  of  England ;  but  if 
they  can  do  the  Thing,  and  leave  it  on  a  Court,  as  making  it  Six 
Years  before  the  Act  of  Parliament,  there  can  be  no  danger  in 
this.  And  that  they  were  privy  to  the  Act  of  Parliament  for 
Liberty,  to  be  then  in  being,  is  evident,  That  the  Deputies  might 
be  free  so  act  it.  They  told  us,  That  now  the  Protector  stood  not 
engaged  to  the  Articles  for  Liberty,  for  the  Parliament  had  now 
taken  the  Power  into  their  own  Hands,  and  had  given  the  Pro- 
tector a  new  Oath,  Only  in  General,  to  maintain  the  Protestant 
Religion ;  and  so  produced  the  Oath  in  a  Paper,  in  Writing ; 
whereas,  the  Act  of  Parliament,  and  the  Oath,  are  both  in  one 
Book,  in  Print :  So  that  they  who  were  privy  to  the  one,  could  not 
be  Ignorant  of  the  other.  But  still  all  is  well,  if  we  can  keep  the 
People  Ignorant  of  their  Liberties  and  Priviledges,  that  we  have 
Liberty  to  Act  in  our  own  "Wills  what  we  please. 

We  are  wrapped  up  in  a  Labyrinth  of  Confused  Laws,  that 
the  Freemen's  Power  is  quite  gone ;  and  it  was  said,  last  June- 
Court,  by  one, — That  they  knew  nothing  the  Freemen  had  there  to 
do. — Sandwich-Men  may  go  to  the  Bay,  lest  they  be  taken  up  for 
Quakers :  W.  Newland  was  there  about  his  Occasions,  some  Ten 
Days  since,  and  they  put  him  in  Prison  Twenty  Four  Hours,  and 
sent  for  divers  to  Witness  against  him ;  but  they  had  not  Proof 
enough  to  make  him  a  Quaker,  which  if  they  had,  he  should  have 
been  Whipp'd :  Nay,  they  may  not  go  about  their  Occasions  in 
other  Towns  in  our  Colony,  but  Warrants  lie  in  Ambush  to 
Apprehend  and  bring  them  before  a  Magistrate,  to  give  an 
Account  of  their  Business.  Some  of  the  Quakers  in  Rhode 
Island  came  to  bring  Goods,  to  Trade  with  them,  and  that 
for  far  Reasonabler  Terms,  than  the  Professing  and  Oppressing 
Merchants  of  the  Country  ;  but  that  will  not  be  suffered  :  So  that 
unless  the  Lord  step  in,  to  their  Help  and  Assistance,  in  some  way 
beyond  Man's  Conceiving,  their  Case  is  sad,  and  to  be  pitied  ;  and 
truly  it  moves  Bowels  of  Compassion  in  ail  sorts,  except  those  in 
place,  who  carry  it  with  a  high  Hand  towards  them.  Through 
Mercy  we  have  yet  among  us  worthy  Mr.  Dunster,  whom  the  Lord 
hath  made  boldly  to  bear  Testimony  against  the  Spirit  of 
Persecution. 

Our  Bench  now  is,  Tho.  Prence,  Governour ;  Mr.  Collier, 
Capt.  Willet,  Capt.  Winslow,  Mr.  Alden,  Lieut.  Southworth,  W. 
Bradford,  Tho.  Hinckley.  Mr.  Collier  left  June  would  not  sit  on 
the  Bench,  if  I  sate  there ;  and  now  will  not  sit  the  next  Year, 
unless  he  may  have  Thirty  Pounds  sit  by  him.  Our  Court  and 
Deputies  last  June  made  Capt.  Winslow  a  Major.  Surely  we  are 
Mercenary  Soldiers,  that  must  have  a   Major  imposed  Upon  us. 


272         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Doubtless  next  Court  they  -may  choose  us  a  Governour,  and 
Assistants  also.  A  Freeman  shall  need  to  do  nottijng  but  bear 
such  Burdens  as  are  laid  upon  him.  Mr.  Alden  has  deceived  the 
Expectations  of  many,  and  indeed  lost  the  Affection  of  such,  as 
I  judge  were  his  Cordial  Christian  Friends  ;  who  is  very  active  in 
such  Ways,  as  I  pray  God  may  not  be  charged  on  him,  to  be 
Oppression  of  a  High  Nature.  James  Ccdwokth. 

A  tabular  statement  of  the  amount  of  the  fines,  &c.,  of  the 
Sandwich  Quakers  in  the  years  1658,  1659  and  1660  : 


Cattle  taken.            Remarks. 

£ 

Shs 

Kalph   Allen,  Sen'r, 

8 

3  horses,  &c. 

68 

Ralph       "      Jr., 

4 

18 

Joseph      " 

2  pr.  Wheels  and  a 

Cloak  ■ 

5 

12 

George      " 

8 

25 

15 

William    " 

IS 

1  horse,  2  colts,  15 

bush,  corn,  &c. 

86 

17 

Matthew,  " 

16 

8  bnsh.  corn, 

48 

16 

John          " 

5 

Thomas  Greenfield, 

1 

all  his  corn, 

4 

Robert  Harper, 
William  Giflord, 

9 

house  &  land. 

44 

15 

1-2  house,  1-2  pig. 

57 

19 

Peter  Grant, 

10 

1  horse,  corn,  and  wheat. 

43 

14 

Ralph  Jones, 

4 

1 

Thomas  Johnson, 

house  &  land. 

10 

John  Jenkins, 

3 

money  £8, 

19 

10 

Thomas  Ewer, 

money,  chest,  clothing, 

axe, 

25 

08 

Rich,  Kerby,  Sr.,  &  Jr., 

15 

S  bush,  corn. 

87 

12 

Wm.  Newland, 

2 

2  horses. 

36 

John  Newland, 

1  horse. 

2 

06 

Edward  Perry, 

17 

tar,  feathers,  &c.. 

89 

18 

Michael  Turner, 

9  sheep. 

13 

10 

Daniel  Wing, 

12 

Cattle  taken,  129,  3  horses,  9  sheep,     £679,02. 

To  the  above  lists  may  be  added  the  names  of  Stephen  Wing, 
Henry  Saunders,  Samuel  Kerley  and  others.  Ralf  Jones'  house 
was  in  Barnstable,  but  close  to  the  Sandwich  bound.  He  belonged 
to  the  Sandwich  Meeting.  He  does  not  appear  to  have  been  fined 
only  £1  for  not  attending  meetings.  Keith's  wonderful  story 
about  his  cows,  wants  confirmation. 

From  1660  to  1673,  Capt.  Cudworth  resided  at  Scituate. 
During  this  period  he  was  often  employed  in  settling  differences 
between  his  neighbors,  &c.,  but  sustained  no  office.  In  1666  he 
was  nominated  by  the  military  company  of  Scituate  to  the  oflflce 
of  Captain,  against  the  advice  of  the  Court,  and  his  appointment 
was  not  confirmed.  This  vote 'shows  that  he  was  held  in  high 
estimation  by  his  townsmen.  June  3,  1773,  Major  JosiahWinslow 
succeeded  Mr.  Thomas  Prence  as  Governor,  and  made  honorable 
amends  for  the  abuse  and  neglect  which  Capt.  Cudworth  had 
received  from  his  predecessor.  He  was,  at  the  July  Court  re- 
established into  the  right  and  privilege  of  a  citizen,  and  authorized 
to  solemize  marriages,  grant  subpoenas  for  witness,  and  to  admin- 
ister oaths.  Dec.  17,  1673,  he  was  unanimously  appointed 
Captain  of  the  Plymouth  forces  in  the  proposed  expedition  against 


GEN^EALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         278 

the  Dutch  at  New  York.  The  following  quotations  from  his  letter 
to  Gov.  Winslow,  declining  the  appointment,  I  find  in  Deane'a 
History  of  Scituate : 

"Sir,  I  do  unfeignedly  and  most  ingenuously  receive  the 
Court's  valuation  and  estimation  of  me,  in  preferring  me  to  such 
a  place.  It  is  not  below  me  or  beneath  me,  (as  some  deem  theirs 
to  be),  but  is  above  me,  and  far  beyond  any  desert  of  mine  ;  and 
had  the  Court  been  well  acquainted  with  my  insufficiency  for"  such 
an  undertaking,  doubtless  I  should  not  have  been  in  nomination ; 
neither  would  it  have  been  their  wisdom  to  hazard  the  cause  and 
the  lives  of  their  men  upon  an  instrument  so  unaccomplished  for 
the  well  management  of  so  great  a  concern.  So  being  persuaded 
to  myself  of  my  own  insufficiency  it  appears  clearly  and  undoubt- 
ediey  unto  me,  that  I  have  no  call  of  God  thereunto :  for  vox 
populi,  is  not  always  vox  Dei.  Beside,  it  is  evident  unto  me, 
upon  other  considerations,  I  am  not  called  of  God  unto  this  work 
at  this  time.  The  estate  and  condition  of  my  family  is  such  as 
will  not  admit  of  such  a  thing,  being  such  as  can  hardly  be 
paralleled  ;  which  was  well  know  unto  some  :  but  it  was  not  well 
or  friendly  done  as  to  me,  nor  faithfully  as  to  the  country,  if  they 
did  not  lay  my  condition  before  the  Court.  My  wife,  as  so  well 
known  unto  the  whole  town,  is  not  only  a  weak  woman,  but  has 
so  been  all  klong  ;  and  now  by  reason  of  age,  being  sixty-seven 
years  and  upwards,  and  nature  decaying,  so  her  illness  grows 
strongly  upon  her. 

'■'Sir,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  do  not  in  the  least  waive  the  busi- 
ness out  of  any  discontent  in  my  spirit  arising  from  any  former 
difference :  for  the  thought  of  all  which  is  and  shall  be  forever 
buried,  so  as  not  to  come  in  rcjaembrance  :  neither  out  of  any 
effeminate  or  dastardly  spirit ;  but  I  am  as  freely  willing  to  serve 
my  King  and  my  Country  as  any  man,  in  what  I  am  capable  and 
fitted  for  :  but  I  do  not  understand  that  a  man  is  called  to  serve 
his  country  with  the  inevitable  ruin  and  destruction  of  his  own 
family. 

"These  things  being  premised,  I  know  your  Honor's  wisdom 
and  prudence  to  be  such,  that  you  will,  upon  serious  considera- 
tion thereof,  conclude  that  I  am  not  called  of  God  to  embrace 
the  call  of  the  General  Court.  Sir,  when  I  consider  the  Court's 
act  in  pitching  their  thoughts  upon  me,  I  have  many  musings  what 
should  be  the  reason  moving  them  thereunto ;  I  conceive  it  cannot 
be,  that  I  should  be  thought  to  have  more  experience  and  better 
abilities  than  others,  for  you,  with  many  others,  do  well  known, 
that  when  I  entered  upon  military  employ,  I  was  very  raw  in  the 
theoretic  part  of  war,  and  less  acquainted  with  the  practical  part : 
and  it  was  not  long  that  I  sustained  my  place  in  which  I  had 
occasion  to  bend  my  mind  and  thoughts  that  way ;  but  was  dis- 
charged thereof,  and  of  other  publick  concerns  :    and  therein  I 


274         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

took  VOX  populi  to  be  vox  Dei,  and  that  God  did  thereby  call  and 
design  me  to  sit  still  and  be  sequestered  from  all  publick  transac- 
tions, which  condition  suits  me  so  well  that  I  have  received  more 
satisfaction  and  contentment  therein,  than  ever  I  did  in  sustain- 
ing any  publick  place." 

Capt.  Cudworth  was  chosen,  in  1674,  an  assistant,  and 
annually  thereafter  till  1680.  In  1674,  though  over  70  years  of 
age,  was  re-established  Captain  of  the  Military  Company -in 
Scituate.  Oct.  4,  1675,  "Major  James  Cudworth  was  unanimously 
chosen  and  re-established  in  the  office  of  a  General  or  Commander- 
in-chief,  to  take  the  charge  of  our  forces  that  are  or  may  be  sent 
forth  in  the  behalf  of  the  Colony  against  the  enemy,  as  occasion 
may  require." 

In  1678  he  was  on  the  committee  to  revise  the  laws,  and 
again  appointed  in  1681.  June  7,  1681,  he  was  chosen  a  Com- 
missioner of  the  United  Colonies,  and  Duputy  Governer.  In 
Sept.  1681,  he  went  over  to  England  as  the  Agent  of  the 
Colony,  and  died  of  the  small  pox  in  London  in  the  spring  of  the 
following  3'ear. 

Thus  ended  the  life  of  one  who,  take  him  all  in  all,  had  no 
superior  in  the  Old  Colony.  As  a  christian,  he  was  meek,  humble, 
and  toleraut ;  as  a  neighbor,  he  was  mild,  humane,  and  useful ;  as 
a  man,  he  was  magnanimous  in  all  his  acts,  and  as  a  commander 
be  was  brave  and  able,  and  had  the  entire  confidence  of  his 
soldiers.  When  disfranchised  and  thrust  out  of  office,  he  did  not 
murmur,  he  regretted  that  some  of  his  ancient  friends,  particularly 
John  Alden,  should  be  led  astray,  and  though  he  condemned  their 
acts,  yet  he  never  allowed  a  difference  of  opinion  to  break  the  ties 
of  friendship.  He  retired  to  his  farm,  and  for  thirteen  years  was 
constantly  engaged  in  rural  occupations.  Referring  to  this  period 
he  says,  they  were  the  happiest  years  of  his  life. 

It  is  no  credit  to  the  memory  of  Gov.  Thomas  Prence  that  he 
had  not  the"  magnanimity  to  do  justice  to  the  merits  of  Gen. 
Cudworth.  He  had  many  excellent  qualities,  but  toleration  in 
matters  of  faith  was  not  one  of  them,  and  therefore  his  hostility. 
Gov.  Hinckley  was  a  zealous  Puritan  ;  but  he  was  more  tolerant  and 
more  liberal  in  his  views.  He  never  joined  in  the  crusade  against 
the  Anna  Baptists,  and  in  respect  to  the  Quakers,  many  things 
have  been  laid  to  his  charge  of  which  he  was  not  guilty.  What- 
ever may  have  been  his  opinion  in  1658  and  1674,  he  and  all  the 
assistants  and  deputies  unanimously  co-operated  with  Gov. 
Winslow  in  awarding  justice  to  Gen.  Cudworth.  Such  conduct 
disai-ms  criticism.  Gen.  Cudworth  lived  down  all  opposition,  and 
in  his  old  age  the  highest  honors  in  the  gift  of  the  people  were 
freely  bestowed  on  him. 

Of  the  family  of  Gen.  Cudworth,  no  record  has  been  pre- 
served.    His  wife  was  living  in  1674,  but  had  deceased  at  the 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         275 

date  of  his  will,  Sept.  15,  1681.  He  names  therein  his  sons 
James,  Israel,  and  Jonathan  and  daughter  Mary's  four  children, 
and  Hannah  Jones. 

His  children  were :  James,  baptized  in  Scituate  3d  May, 
1635;  Mary,  baptized  in  Scituate  23d  July,  1637;  Jonathan, 
baptized  in  Scituate  16th  Sept.  1638,  died  here;  Israel,  baptized 
in  Barnstable  18th  April,  1641  ;  Jonna,  baptized  in  Barnstable 
24th  March,  1643. 

Besides  these  he  had  a  son  buried  in  Barnstable  24th  June, 
1644,  who  died  young — a  daughter  Hannah,  and  another  son 
named  Jonathan. 

James  and  Jonathan  resided  in  Scituate  and  had  families. 
Israel  removed  to  Freetown. 


DAVIS. 


ROBERT    DAVIS 


Some  of  the  descendants  of  Robert  Davis*  have  supposed 
that  he  was  the  first  who  settled  in  that  part  of  Barnstable  known 
from  early  times  as  Oldtown.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  He  was  not 
the  first  nor  the  second-  Rev.  Stephen  Bachiller  and  his  company, 
settled  there  in  the  winter  of  1637-8.  William  Chase  owned  a 
farm  there  very  early,  probably  in  1639,  certainly  June  8,  1642, 
when  he  mortgaged  a  part  of  it  to  Stephen  Hopkins.  He  sold  out 
before  1648.  In  the  division  of  the  fences  that  year,  it  appears 
that  the  fence  on  the  south  boundary  of  his  land  extended  seventy 
rods.  In  1648,  the  Oldtown  lands  were  owned  by  the  following 
persons,  in  the  following  order,  beginning  on  the  east  at  Stony 
Cove,  as  the  mill-pond  was  then  called:  1st,  Mr.  Thomas  Allyn 
25  acres,  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett  8,  Goodman  Isaac  Wells  9, 
Goodman  James  Hamblin  9,  Mr.  John  Mayo  7,  Thomas  Huckins 
1,  Goodman  Rogers  Goodspeed  2,  Mr.  Henry  Coggin  4,  Samuel 
House  (or  Howes)  4,  the  Sachem  Nepoyetam  30,  and  the  Sachem 
Cacomicus  10.  The  quantities  here  given  included  only  the 
cleared  lands  fit  for  planting.  Forest,  swamps,  and  meadows, 
were  not  probably  included  in  the  measurement. 

In  January,  1648-9,  the  grist  mill  now  known  as  Hallett's 
water-mill,  had  been  built  and  the.  division  of  the  fences  com- 
menced at  the  mill.  Mr.  Allyn  had  purchased  largely,  and 
Samuel  Hinckley  seven  acres.  Mr.  Hallett,  Mr.  Coggin,  and 
Cacomicus,  had  sold  out.  After  this  date,  the  records  furnish  no 
means  of  tracing  the  ownership  of  these  lands. 

Robert  Davis'  name  appears  on  the  list  of  those  who  were 
able  to  bear  arms  in  Yarmouth  in  August,  1643.  He  married,  in 
1646,  and  his  daughters  Deborah  and  Mary  were  born  in  Yar- 
mouth the  latter  April  28,  1648.     The  birth  of  his  son  Andrew 

*  Two  of  the  name  of  Robert  Davis  came  over.  Robert  of  Sudbury,  bora  in  1609,  came 
(witli  Margaret  Davis,  perliaps  his  sister,  aged  26)  in  1638,  in  the  confidence  of  Southamptott 
as  servant  of  Peter  Noyes,  and  died  19th  July,  1755,  aged  47.  He  had  a  wife  Bridget  who 
sui-vived  him,  and  daugliters  Rebecca  and  Sarah  ;  the  Tatter  born  10th  April,  1646. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         277 

in  May,  1650,  is  on  the  Barnstable,  and  not  on  the  Yarmoutli 
return,  which  fixes  the  date  of  his  removal  with  sufficient  exact- 
ness. 

Excepting  of  the  births  of  his  children,  the  earliest  entry  I 
find  of  his  name  on  the  records,  is  12th  May,  1657,  when  a  grant 
of  "a  parcel  of  common  land"  in  the  New  Common  Field  was 
made  to  him,  lying  between  the  lands  of  Goodman  Cobb  and 
Goodman  Gorham.  He  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony 
in  1659. 

Robert  Davis  was  not  a  man  of  wealth,  was  not  distinguished 
in  political  life,  nor  was  he  ever  entitled  to  the  then  honorable 
appellation  of  "Mister;"  he  was 

"An  honest  good  man, 

And  got  his  living  by  his  labor, 

And  Goodman  Shelly*  was  his  neighbor." 

His  character  for  honesty  and  industry  he  transmitted  to  his 
posterity.]; 

His  lands  were  not  recorded  in  1654.  His  farm  in  1639,  was 
included  within  the  bounds  of  Yarmouth,  and  with  the  exception 
of  a  small  lot  owned  by  Robert  Shelly,  was  bounded  on  the  west 
by  Indian  Lane — the  original  boundary  between  the  towns — on 
the  east,  his  farm  was  bounded  by  the  lands  of  Joseph  Hallett, 
and  on  the  south  by  Dead  Swamp,  including  the  narrow  strip 
between  the  present  road  and  that  swamp.  The  easterly  part  of 
his  farm  was  a  part  of  the  William  Chase  farm.  The  westerly 
part  he  bought  of  the  town,  of  the  Indians,  and  of  James  Gor- 
ham, and  the  south  was  a  part  of  the  great  lot  of  Thomas  Lum- 
bert.§  His  house,  in  1686,  was  not  on  the  present  County  road, 
but  on  the  higher  ground  north,  of  the  swamp  where  the  first  road 
probably  passed.  In  1686,  the  house  of  Robert  Shelly  was  the 
next  west  of  that  of  Robert  Davis,  and  both  appear  to  have  been 
on  the  north  of  the  swamp.     In  that  year  the  town  granted  Good- 

*  Goodman  Shelly  was  a  v^ry  worthy,  unambitious  mau,  "a  rolling  stone  that  gathers  no 
moss" — in  other  words,  he  was  often  removed  from  place  to  place,  and  was  always  poor. 
His  wife.  Goody  Shelly,  was  a  Bay  lady,  and  a  cobbler  would  say  of  her,  was  "high  in  the  ' 
instep."  If  Mrs.  Lothrop  or  Mrs'.  Diminock  had  a  party,  if  she  was  not  an  invited  guest, 
she  took  great  oifeuce,  and  her  seat  at  church  on  the  following  Sabbath  would  be  vacant. 
Rev.  Mr.  Lothrop  complains  bitterly  of  this  trait  in  her  character. 

X  All  the  descendants  of  Robert  Davis  for  eight  successive  generations,  have  been 
noted  for  their  honest  dealings  aud  industrious  habits.  Of  the  whole  number,  I  find  only 
one  whose  character  for  integrity  was  doubted  by  his  neighbors.  Cornelius  Davis,  I  pre- 
sume, was  a  descendant  of  liobert,  though  the  evidence  is  not  satisfactory.  He  was  not 
reported  honest.  Perhaps  his  habit  of  carrying  an  Indian  basket  on  his  back  was  no 
credit  to  him.  It,  however,  is  said  that  other  peoples'  goods  got  into  that  basket.  Whether 
or  not  these  reports  were  slanderous  I  cannot  say ;  but  this  much  is  certain,  he  did  not  enjoy 
an  unspotted  i-eputation  for  honesty  and  integrity  in  his  dealings.  There  is  something  in 
race;  tor  even  now,  the  character  of  the  ancestor  can  be  traced  in  the  child  of  the  ninth 
generation. 

§  Thomas  Lumbert's  great  lot  was  all  finally  owned  by  the  descendants  of  Robert 
Davis.  In  1664,  the  western  part  was  owned  by  Samuel  Hinckley,  and  the  eastern  part  by 
the  widow  of  Nicholas  Davis.  Robert  Davis  appears  to  have  owned  the  uorth-easterly  part 
of  the  Lumbert  lot. 


278         GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

man  Shelly  a  part  of  the  swamp,  and  Robert  Davis  sold  him  "a 
small  gore  of  land,"  so  that  Shelly's  lands  was  afterwards  bounded 
south  by  the  present  highway.  This  addition  was  made  where 
the  late  Capt.  John  Easterbrooks'  old  house  now  stands.  Fifty 
years  ago  John,  Abner,  and  Elisha  T.  Davis,  sons  of  Joseph, 
owned  all  Eobert  Davis'  lands  on  the  north  of  the  highway. 

Robert  Davis  died  in  1693.  His  will  is  dated  April  14',  1688, 
and  proved  June  29,  1693.  He  names  his  wife  Ann.  To  his 
son  Joseph  he  devises  the  land  in  the  New  Common  Field,  which 
he  bought  of  the  Indians  ;||  and  to  Josiah  he  devises  the  two  acres 
of  land  in  the  Common  Field,  which  the  town  gTanted  to  him  in 
1657.  He  also  names  Josiah's  house  lot,  now  owned  by  Lot 
Easterbrooks.  He  also  names  his  son  Andrew,  to  whom  he  gave 
five  shillings,  and  his  son  Robert ;  also  his  daughters  Deborah 
Geere,  Sarah,  Mercy,  Mary  Dexter,  and  Hannah  Dexter.  His 
estate  was  apprised  at  £75,13,  a  small  sum  ;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  money  had  not  then  been  depreciated,  and  that  land  at 
that  time  was  not  valuable. 

His  widow,  Ann  Davis,  died  in  1701.  Her  will  is  dated  May 
5,  1699,  and  was  proved  April  1,  1701.  She  named  Robert 
Davis,  my  son  Joseph's  son,  daughter  Hannah  Dexter,  grand- 
child Sarah  Dexter,  son  Josiah's  wife,  and  daughters  Sarah  Young 
and  Mercy  Young.  The  fact  that  she  names  only  the  younger 
children,  indicates  that  she  was  the  second  wife  of  Robert 
Davis. 

1.     Robert   Davis  of  Yarmouth,    in  1643,  of    Barnstable  in 
1650  where  he  died  in   1693,  probably  married  twice.     His  last 
wife,  whom  he  probably  married  in  1657,  was  named  A  nn. 
Children  horn  in  Yarmouth. 
Deborah,  Jan.  1645. 
Mary,  April  28,  1648. 

Born  in  Barnstable. 
Andrew,  May,  1650. 
John,  March  "l,  1652. 
Robert,  Aug.  1654. 
Josiah,  Sept.  1656. 

Hannah,  Sept.  1658. 
.     Sarah,  Oct.  1660. 
Joseph. 
Mercy. 

1.  Deborah  Davis  married  Thos.  Geere  of  Enfield,  Conn., 
had  Shubael  who  has  descendants,  and  Elizabeth  born  May  4, 
1685,  who  died  under  three  years  of  age.     Thomas,  the  father, 

II  This  fact  is  probably  the  foundation  of  the  family  tradition,  that  Robert  Davis  boueht 
his  farm  of  the  Indians  for  a  brass  kettle.  The  recent  discoTery  of  the  gi-ave  of  lyanoueJj 
has  revived  the  old  story,  which  has  no  foundation  in  truth.  b     »«  "i  j.i'.uougu 


2. 

I.     ] 

3. 

II. 

4. 

,111. 

■5. 

IV. 

6. 

V. 

7. 

VI. 

8. 

VII. 

9. 

VIII 

10. 

IX. 

11. 

X. 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         279 

died  14th  Jan.  1722,  aged  99  years,  and  his  wife  Deborah  in  1736, 
aged  91. 

2.  Mary,  married  a  Dexter,  whose  Christian  name  1  cannot 
find. 

3.  Andrew,  to  whom  £is  father  gave  five  shillings  in  his  will, 
removed  from  Barnstable,  perhaps  to  I^ew  London,  Conn. 

4.  John  Davis  is  not  named  in  his  father's  will  and  probably 
died  young. 

5.  Robert  Davis,  2d,  removed  from  Barnstable.  Mr. 
Deane,  in  his  history  of  Scituate,  says  that  "Tristram  Davis,  son 
of  Robert  of  Yarmouth,  born  in  1654,  was  in  Scituate  in  1695. 
He  married  Sarah  Archer  of  Braintree  1694."  Mr.  Savage  copies 
the  mistake  of  Deane.  Robert  Davis,  Senior,  had  no  son  Tristram. 
It  was  probably  Robert  that  Deane  intended  to  name. 

6.  Josiah  Davis'  house  is  named  in  the  laying  out  of  the 
County  road,  in  1686,  as  next  east  of  Samuel  Cobb's,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  way.  It  stood  a  few  feet  east  of  the  present  dwelling 
bouse  of  Lot  Easterbrooks,  and  was  taken  down  not  many  years 
ago.  In  his  will,  dated  21st  April,  1709,  and  proved  the  5th  of 
October  following,  he  names  his  nine  children,  all  of  whom  were 
then  living.  To  his  sons  John,  Josiah,  and  Seth,  he  gave  his 
dwelling  house,  the  land  he  bought  of  James  Gorham,  the  Com- 
mon Field  land,  given  him  by  his  father,  and  one-half  of  the 
orchard  lying  before  his  door,  on  the  south  side  of  the  road.  To 
his  sons  Jonathan  and  Stephen,  the  other  half  of  the  orchard, 
&c.  He  names  his  daughters  Hannah  Cobb,  and  Ruth,  Sarah  and 
Anna  unmarried.  The  legacies  to  his  daughters  he  ordered  to  be 
paid  out  of  the  £53  he  ventured  in  trading  at  sea,  £30  in  the 
hands  of  his  son  John,  and  £23  in  the  hands  of  Gersham  Cobb. 
His  estate  was  apprised  at  over  £500,  corn  being  then  worth  10 
shillings  a  bushel,  showing  that  there  had  been  some  depreciation 
in  the  currency  since  the  death  of  his  father.  In  the  division  of 
the  common  he  was  entitled  to  43  1-2  shares,  a  number  above  the 
average.  He  was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  John  Gorham's  company  in 
King  Phillip's  war  in  1675,  and  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Gorham- 
town. 

7.  Hannah  Davis  married  a  Dexter  whose  Christian  name 
does  not  appear  on  the  record.     She  had  a  daughter  Sarah. 

8.  Sarah  Davis  married,  28th  Oct.  1679,  Joseph  Young , of 
Eastham,  son  of  the  first  John  and  had  a  family. 

9.  Joseph  Davis  resided  in  Barnstable.  His  family  was 
one  of  the  most  respectable  in  town.  He  died,  say  the  Church 
Records,  Aug.  10,  1735,  aged  about  70  years,  and  his  widow 
Hannah  May  2,  1739,  aged  68. 

10.  Mercy  Davis  married  first  Nathaniel  Young,  brother  of 


280         GENKALOGIOAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Joseph  above  named,  and    10th  June,  1708,  Nathaniel  Mayo,  of 
Eastham. 

(7-6)  Josiah  Davis,  son  of  Robert,  born  Sept.  1656,  married 
Ann,  daughter  of  Richard  Taylor,  (tailor)  of  Yarmouth,  June  25, 
1679,  and  had 

12.  I.     John,    2d   Sept.   1681,  married  M.  Dimmock  Aug.  13, 
1705. 

13.  II.     Hannah,  April,  1683,  married  Gersham  Cobb  Feb.  24, 
1702-3. 

14.  III.     Josiah,  Aug.  1687,  married  M.  Taylor  July  10,  1712. 

15.  IV.     Seth,  Oct.  1692,  married  Lydia  Davis  Aug.  6,  1727. 

16.  V.     Ruth,  Feb.   1694,   married   John   Scudder,  19th   May, 
1715. 

17.  VI.     Sarah,  Feb.    1696,  married  Elisha  Taylor  24th  Oct. 
1718. 

18.  VII.     Jonathan,  1698,  married  Susan  Allyn  April  24,  1735. 

19.  VIII.     Stephen,  12th  Dec.  1700,  married  Rebecca . 

20.  IX.     Anna,  5th  April  1702,  married  Theophilus  Witherell, 
1724. 

(10-9)     Joseph    Davis,    son   of    Robert,    married,    by    Mr. 
Thatcher,  March  1695,  to  Hannah,  daughter  of  James  Cobb. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

21.  I.     Robert,  7th  March  1696-7  married  Jane  Annable,  Oct. 
8,  1719. 

22.  II.     Joseph,  23d  March,  1698-9. 

23.  III.     James,  30th  July,  1700,  married  Thankful    Hincldey 
Jan.  4,  1727-8. 

24.  IV.     Gersham,  5th  Sept.  1702,  married  three  wives. 

25.  V.     Hannah,  5th  March,  1705,   married  Samuel  Dimmock 
1724. 

26.  VI.     Mary,  5th  June  1707,  married  Matthias  Gorham  March 
1,  1730. 

27.  VII.     Lydia,    12th   Feb.    1709,  died  unmarried   Dec.    30, 
1763. 

28.  VIII.     Daniel,  28th  Sept.  1713,  married  twice. 

(12-1)  John  Davis,  Esq.,  son  of  Josiah,  born  in  Barnstable 
2d  Sept.  1681,  married,  Aug.  13,  1705,  Mehitable,  daughter  of 
Sbubnrd  Dimmock.  Her  father  resided  for  a  time  in  Yarmouth, 
and  she  was  a  member  of  the  Yarmouth  Church,  and  was  dis- 
missed to  the  East  Church  in  Barnstable  Feb.  12,  1725-6.  She 
died  May  1775,  aged  89.  She  was  blind  several  years  previous 
to  her  death.  John  Davis,  Esq.,  was  a  captain,  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  &c.,  and  was  a  man  of  note  in  his  day.  He  died  29  — — , 
1736,  aged  58,  leaving  a  good  estate.  He  bought  a  part  of  the 
great  lot  of  Mr.  Thomas  Lumbard,  and  the  house  which  he  built 
thereon  is  now  standing,  and  is  now  owned  by  the  successors  of 


,30. 

II. 

31. 

III. 

32. 

IV. 

33. 

V. 

34. 

VI. 

35. 

VII, 

Feb. 

36. 

VII] 

37. 

IX. 

38. 

X. 

39. 

XI. 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         281 

the  late  Eleazer  Cobb,  Sen'r,  and  George  L.  Gorham. 
His  OMldren  born  in  Barnstable,  were  : 
29.     I.     Thomas,  Oct.  1,  1706,  married  Susan  Sturgess  Nov.  17, 
1726. 

John,  Sept.  8,  1708,  married  twice. 
Solomon,  April  5,  1711,  died  July  18,  1712. 
William,  April  10,  1713,  died  July  4,  1713. 
Solomon,  June  24,  171.5,  married  twice. 

Mehitable,  Aug.  10,  1717,  married  four  times. 
.     William,  Aug.    24,    1719,  married   Martha   Crocker 
.  2,  1745. 

I.     Josiah,  Feb.  17,  1722. 
Isaac,  ^      died  Oct.  28,  1724. 
>-  twins,  Aug,  3,  1724. , 
Jesse,      )      died  Aug.  13,  1724. 
Isaac,  March  1,  1727,  died  Nov.  2.,  1727. 
(14-3)  Josiah  Davis,  son  of  Josiah,  married,  July  10,  1712, 
Meliitable,  daughter  of  Edward  Taylor  of  West  Barnstable. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 
Edward,  19th  June,  1713. 

Mary,  8th  Aug.  1714. 
.     Josiah,  2d  Aug.  1718. 

A  Josiah  Davis  resided  in  the  high  single  house  next  west  of 
Capt.  Jonathan  Davis'  afterwards  bought  by  James  Davis,  and 
now  owned  by  his  descendants. 

(15-4)  Seth  Davis,  son  of  Josiah,  was  of  Barnstable  in  1728. 
Aug.  6,  1727,  Lydia  Davis  was  admitted  to  the  East  Church. 
Aug.  4,  1728,  Lucy,  daughter  of  Seth  and  Lydia  Davis,  was 
baptized.  The  name  then  disappears  on  the  Church  records. 
Sept.  29,  1755,  a  Seth  Davis  married  Sarah  Sturgis.  I  thinii 
Cornelius  Davis  was  his  son.  He  owned  Josiah  Davis'  house, 
who  was  probably  his  grandfather. 

(18-7)  Capt.  Jonathan  Davis,  son  of  Josiah,  resided  in 
Barnstable.     He  was  a  sea  captain.     His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth 

.     She   died   Sept.    14,    1733,    aged    32.     He   married, 

April  24,  1735,  Susannah  Allyn.  She  died  Aug.  14,  1751,  aged 
36.  According  to  the  Church  records  he  died, Dec.  2,  1782,  aged 
83.  His  grave  stones  in  the  burying  ground  near  the  Unitarian 
Meeting  House,  say  Jan.  4,  1784,  in  the  82d  year  of  his  age. 
His  will  was  proved  Jan.  1788.  He  names  Wm.  Belford  and 
daughter  Ann,  to  whom  he  gives  all  his  estate,  and  i^s  daughter 
Elizabeth.  Neither  correspond  with  the  record  of  his  birth.  His 
house  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  between  the  houses  of 
Samuel  Cobb  and  Josiah  Davis.  His  daughters  Ann  and  Eliza- 
beth were  his  only  cliildren  living  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Ann 
taught  a  school  several  years.     She  married  John  Belford,  one  of 


40. 

I. 

41. 

II. 

42. 

Ill 

282         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

the  Scotch  Irish,  (see  Delap)  and  had  Susy  Davis  baptized  Oct. 
11,  1772;  Edward,  baptized  .Jan.  1,  1770,  died  young;  Edward 
again,  baptized  Oct.  1778;  and  Davis,  June  18,  1781.  The 
descendants  write  their  name  Ford. 

His   children  born  in  Barnstable,  and  baptized  at  the  East 
Church,  were :  ? 

43.  I.     Elizabeth,  baptized  Nov.  9,  1729,  died  young. 

44.  II.     Elizabetii,  baptized  Oct.  24,  1736,  died  young. 

45.  III.     Susannah,  born  July  29,  1738. 

46.  IV.     Elizabeth,    baptized   Oct.    4,  1741,  married  

Hamlin. 

47.  V.     Anna,  baptized  May  1,  1743,  married  Wm.  Belford. 

48.  VI.     Jonathan,  baptized  June  14,  1747,  died  young. 
(19-8)  Stephen  Davis,  called  Stephen  Jr.,  to  distinguish  him 

from  Stephen,  son  of  Dolar,  who  was  ten  years  his  senior,  was 
son  of  Josiah,  born  in  Barnstable  Dec.  12,  1700.  He  bought  the 
ancient  John  Scudder  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  John  Scudder, 
Jr.,  and  six  acres  of  land,  a  part  of  Rev.  Mr.  Lothrop's  great 
lot.  The  old  house  was  taken  downiJ^1803,  by  his  son  Jonathan, 
and  the  dwelling  house  of  the  late  George  Davis  stands  on  the 

same  spot.     He  married,  in   1723,  Rebecca ,  and'  had  a- 

large  family,  the  record  of  which  on  the  town  books  is  imperfect, 
and  the  deficiencies  are  supplied  from  the  Church  records.  He 
joined  the  East  Church,  and  was  baptized  March  21,  1773,  at  the 
age  of  72.  He  died  Jan.  4,  1782,  aged  81,  and  his  wife  Rebecca 
Nov.  28,  1769,  aged  60.  Both  have  monuments  in  the  grave  yard 
near  the  Unitarian  Meeting  House. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

49.  I.     Prince,  Nov.    17,   1724,  married  Sarah  Coleman,  Feb. 
15,  1750. 

50.  II.     Ann,  Dec.  13,  1726,  married  Benjamin  Cobb,  May  17, 
1749. 

51.  III.     Isaac,  Sept.  14,  1729,  married  Hannah  Davis,  Jan.  16, 
1752. 

52.  IV.     Rebecca,  Feb.  26,  1731,  married  Benjamin  Childs,  Jr., 
Nov.  6,  1751. 

53.  V.     Susannah,  May  14,  1734,  married  Solomon  Otis,  Jr. 

54.  VI.     Sarah,  Jan.   20,   1737,  married  Jonathan  Bacon,  Jr., 

May  13,  1755. 

55.  VII.     Stephen,  baptized  Aug.  17,  1740. 

56.  VIII.     Abigail,  baptized  May  15,  1743. 

57.  IX.     Thankful,    baptized   Oct.  26,   1746,  married   Samuel 
Smith.* 

58.  X.     Jonathan,  baptized   Oct.   1,    1749,  married   Susannah 
Lewis. 

(21-1)  Dea.  Robert  Davis,  son  of   Joseph,  resided  in  Barn- 
stable,  and    lived   where    the    late   Nath'l   Holmes's    house    now 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         283 

stands.  He  had  a  Cooper's  Shop,  and  was  a  part  of  his  life 
captain  of  the  Barnstable  and  Boston  packet.  He  was  much 
employed  in  town  affairs  and  was  often  one  of  the  selectmen. 
He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  and  held  in  esteem  by  all  who 
knew  him.  He  married,  Oct.  8,  1719,  Jane  Annable.  He  has  no 
children  recorded  on  the  town  or  church  records.  He  died  June 
1,  1765,  aged  69,  and  his  wife  Jane  Nov.  27,  1766,  aged  66. 
In  his  will  he  devises  his  estate  to  James,  son  of  his  brother 
Gersham  Davis. 

(22-2)  Joseph  Davis,  son  of  Josiah,  I  persume,  died  young 
— I  find  no  notice  of  him  on  the  records. 

(23-3)  James  Davis,  son  of  Joseph,  married,  Jan.  4,  1727-8, 
Thankful,  daughter  of  Joseph  Hinckley  of  West  Barnstable.  She 
died  Aug.  20,  174.5,  aged  38,  and  her  ^husband  about  the  same 
time,  leaving  a  family  of  seven  children,  who  were  brought  up 
by  their  grandfather  Hinckley. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

59       I.     Hannah,  baptized  July  4,  1729,  died  young. 

60.  II.     Hannah,  May  31,  1731,  married  twice. 

61.  III.     Joseph,  Aug.  15,  1733,  married  twice. 

62.  IV.     Benjamin,  June  27,  1635,  married  Patience  Bacon,  May 
19,  1757. 

63.  V.     Eunice,  Aug.  8,  1737,  married Jones  of   Hing- 

ham. 

64.  VI.     Thankful,   Nov.  7,   1739,  married  Joseph  Palmer   of 
Falmouth,  Dec.  6,  1765. 

65.  VII.     James,  March  6,  1741,  married  Reliance  Cobb. 

66.  Vin.     David,  Jan.  4,  1743. 

67.  IX.     Barnabas,  died  young. 

(24-4)  Dea.  Gersham  Davis,  son  of  Joseph,  born  in  Barn- 
stable 5th  Sept.  1702,  was  a  farmer,  and  was  a  man  of  good 
standing.  His  house  stood  where  Capt.  Pierce's  house  now  stands, 
at  the  north-west  corner  of  the  great  lot  laid  out  to  Thomas  Lum- 
bard.  He  married  thrice.  First,  Feb.  24, 1725-6,  Elizabeth  Sturgis, 
daughter  of  Samuel,  she  died  June  6, 1727,  aged  21.  He  married 
2d  Mary,  daughter  of  Joseph  Hinckley  of  West  Barnstable, 
Sept.  23,  1731.  He  married  for  his  third  wife,  in  1757,  Thankful 
Skiff  of  Sandwich.  He  died  May  6,  1790,  in  the  88th  year  of  his 
age. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

68.  I.     James,   June   2,    1727,    married   Jean   Bacon,  Oct.    3, 
1745. 

69.  II.     Eobert,  July  12,  1732,  and  died  soon. 

70.  III.     Samuel,   Sept.  13,  1734,  married  Mary  Gorham,  Jr., 
Dec.  22,  1757. 


284         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

71.  IV.     Elizabeth,  Aug.   12,   1736,  married   Josepli  Crocker, 
Jr.,  Jan.  12,  1758. 

72.  V.     Mary,  Dec.  5,  1740. 

73.  VI.     Abigail,  July  12,  1744,  died  voung. 

74.  VII.     Abigail,  July  12,  1746. 

75.  VIII.     Mercy,  Feb.  4,  1748,  died  young. 

(28-8)  Hon  Daniel  Davis,  son  of  Joseph,  born  in  Barnstable 
28th  Sept.  1713,  was  Judge  of  Probate,  and  held  other  offices  of 
trust  and  responsibility.  He  resided  in  the  house  afterwards 
occupied  by  his  son  Dr.  John  Davis  and  now  owned  by  Daniel  Cobb, 
a  descendant  in  the  female  line.  He  was  an  active  man,  and  an 
ardent  patriot  during  the  Revolution.  He  often  represented  the 
town  in  the  General  Court,  was  on  committees,  and  performed 
much  labor.  As  I  have  hjid  occasion  to  remark  in  a  former  arti- 
cle, at  the  commencemeBt  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  he  was 
inclined  to  take  sides  with  the  radical  portion  of  the  whigs  ;  but 
was  afterwards  more  conservative  in  his  views.  Barnstable  had 
not  a  more  devoted  patriot  than  Daniel  Davis.  He  married 
Mehitable, '  daughter  of  Thomas  Lothrop.  The  land  on  which 
Daniel  Davis  built  his  house,  was  a  part  of  the  original  allotment 
to  Joseph  Lothrop,  the  father  of  Thomas.  He  married  for  his 
second  wife,  July  7,  Mehitable  Sturgis,  noticed  below.  Hon. 
Daniel  Davis  died  22d  April,  1799,  aged  85  years,  6  months,  and 
13  days. 

CMldren  horn  in  Barnstable. 

76.  I.     Mary,  Axjril  29,  1740. 

77.  II.     Daniel,  Oct.  10,  1741. 

78.  III.     Robert,  March  27,  1743. 

79.  IV.     John,  Oct.  7,  1744. 

80.  V.     Deborah,  Aug.  13,  1746,  married,  Oct.  6,  1765,  Josiah 
Crocker. 

81.  VI.     Thomas,  Aug.  24,  1748. 

82.  VII.     Desire,  March  27,  1750,  married  Freeman  Parker. 

83.  VIII.     Ansel,  March  13,  1752. 

84.  IX.     Experience,  July  11,  1754,  married  Joseph  Annable. 

85.  X.     Mehitable,  July  11,  1756. 

86.  XI.     Lothrop,  lost  at  sea,  no  issue. 

87.  XII.     Daniel,  May  8,  1762. 

(29-1)  Thomas  Davis,  son  of  Capt.  John,  born  Oct.  1,  1706, 
married  Nov.  17,  1726,  Susannah  Sturgis,  daughter  of  Edward. 
He  had  a  daughter  Susy  baptized  in  the  East  Church  April  17, 
1737.  He  died  April  9,  1738,  and  his  widow  married,  Aug.  12, 
1739,  Mr.  Elisha  Gray  of  Harwich. 

(30-2)  John  Davis,  son  of  Capt.  John,  born  Sept.  8,  1708, 
married,  Feb.  5,  1720-30,  Abigail  Otis,.and  second  Anna  Allen, 
March  23,  1736.  He  had  sons.  Josiah  and  John,  and  daughter 
Martha,  baptized  in  the  East  Church  April  25,  1742. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        ^^85 

(33-6)  Solomon,  son  of  Capt.  John,  born  June  24,  1715,  was 
a  merchant  and  resided  in  Boston.  During  the  siege  he  removed 
his  family  to  Barnstable.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Gov. 
Hancock.  In  1791  he  was  dining  with  his  Excellency  in  company 
with  some  of  the  rare  wits  of  the  day,  John  Kowe,  Joseph  Balch, 
and  others,  Mr.  Davis  made  some  witty  remark,  which  induced 
Mr.  Balch  to  say  to  him,  "Well,  Davis,  you  had  better  go  home 
now  and  die,  for  you  will  never  say  as  good  a  thing  as  that  again." 
On  his  way  home  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill,  and  sat  down  on  the  . 
steps  of  King's  Chapel,  from  whence  he  was  removed  to  his  hduse 
in  the  vicinity,  where  he  shortly  after  died. 

Solomon  Davis  married  Jan.  29,  175X),  Elizabeth  Wendell  of 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.  She  died  at  Plymouth  Feb.  20,  1777,  aged 
about  47.  She  was  the  mother  of  all  his  children.  He  married, 
Nov.  18,  1777,  her  sister  Catharine  Wendell,. who  died  April  7, 
1808,  aged  66.     He  died  June  6,  1791,  aged  76. , 

His  children  were :  1,  John,  born  May  19,  1753  ;  2,  Solomon, 
Sept.  25, 1754,  died  at  sea  Sept.  1789  ;  3,  Edward,  Dec.  18,  1765, 
died  at  sea  Nov.  11,  1708  ;  4,  Thomas,  July  26,  1757,  died  at 
Falmouth,  Eng.,  Oct.  10,  1775  ;  5,  Elizabeth,  Oct.  14,  1758,  died 
Aug.  14, 1833.  (She  married  Dr.  David  Townsend  May  24, 178o, 
^d  was  the  mother  of  Dr.  Solomon  Davis  Townsend  of  Boston.) 
6,  Mehitable,  July  14,  1760,  died  Oct.  28,  1761  ;  7,  Henry,  Oct. 
8,  1761,  died  March  15,  1762;  8,  Josiah,  Sept.  S4,  1763,  died 
June  29,  1777,  buried  at  Barnstable;  9,  Isaac,  April  2,1765, 
married  Elizabeth  Fellows,  died  Dec.  5, 1800,  at  Hartford,  Conn, ; 
10,  William,  April  26,  1768,  married  Martha  Harris,  he  died  Sept. 
14,  1804,  at  Dorchester.  Solomon  Davis  has  descendants  living 
in  Boston,  and  other  places,  Gustavus  F.  Davis  president  of  the 
City  Bank,  Hartford,  Conn.,  is  a  descendant  of  Isaac  Davis  of 
Boston  and  many  others  of  note. 

Dr  Solomon  Davis  Townsend  of  Boston,  son  of  Elizabetii 
Davis,  born  March  1,  1793,  married  his  cousin,  a  daughter  of 
Edward  Davis,  and  is  now  three  score  years  and  ten.  He  was 
consulting  surgeon  to  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital  fronl 
1835  to  1839,  and  Acting  Surgeon  frdm  1839. to  1863,  when  be 
tendered  his  resignation  of  the  place  he  had  so  long  and  honorably 
filled.  In  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Hospital, 
they  expressed  their  high  appreciation  of  his  long,  faithful  and 
valuable, services,  of  his  generous  devotion  to  the  interest  of  that 
institution,  of  his  professional  skill,  of  his  ability,  sound  judg- 
ment, assiduity  and  kindness,  and  his  consistent  and  gentlemanly 
conduct. 

(34-6)  Mehitable  Davis,  daughter  of  Capt.  John,  born  in 
Barnstable  Aug..  10,  1717,  was  a  remarkable  woman,  and  deserv- 
ing of  especial  note.  She  married  four  husbands,  all  men  of 
character,  influence  and  respectability,  namely  : 


286        UENEALOGICAL    KOTKS    OF    BAKNSTAB1,K    FAMILIES. 

At  23  she  married,  April  9,  1741,  Dr.  James  Hersey,  a  native 
of  Hingham,  a  man  of  learning  and  skillful  in  his  profession.  By 
him  she  had  a  son  Ezekiel,  born  Jan.  14,  1741-2.  He  died  July 
22,  1741,  aged  26.  His  first  wife  was.Lydia  Gorham,  whom  he 
married  July  27,  1737.  She  had  a  son  James,  bom  Nov.  9, 1738, 
and  she  died  Nov.  9,  1740.  Dr.  James  Hersey  owned  that  por- 
tion of  the  Dimmoek  farm  on  which  the  fortification  house  stood, 
and  whether  he  resided  in  that,  or  in  a  house  that  formerly  stood 
a  little  west  of  the  present  residence  of  Asa  Young,  Esq.,  1  cannot 
say.  Dr.  James  was  succeeded  in  his  practice  by  his  brother,  Dr. 
Abner  Hersey,  a  curious  compound  of  good  sense  and  eccen- 
tricity. 

2d,  at  26,  she  married,  Oct.  21,  1744,  John  Russell,  son  of 
Dr.  John  of  Barnstable.  By  him  she  had  one  son  John,  whose 
birth  is  not  recorded.  The  father  died  Aug.  1,  1748,  aged  24. 
The  son  was  baptized  Sept.  4,  1748,  on  the  day  his  widowed 
mother  was  admitted  to  the  East  Church.  He  was  captain  of  the 
marines  on  board  the  ill  fated  private  armed  ship  Gen.  Arnold, 
Capt.  James  Magee,  lost  in  Plymouth  Harbor  Dec.  26,  1778,  when 
nearly  all  on  board  perished.  Though  a  strong,  robust  man,  he 
was  one  of  the  first  who  perished.  On  his.  monument  in  Plymouth 
church  vard  it  is  stated  that'he  was  then  31,  if  &o,  he  was  born 
in  1747.' 

3d,  at  37,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1754,  she  became  the  second 
wife  of  John  Sturgis,  Esq.,  of  Barnstable.  By  him  she  had  Sarah, 
whose  birth  is  recorded  with  sufBcient  particularity,  namely  :  at 
"3  1-2  o'clock  A.  M.,  Thursday,  April  17,  1755,  and  baptized  on 
the  Sunday  following;"  and  John  baptized  March  19,  1758. 
John  Sturgis,  Esq.,  died  Aug.  10,  1759,  aged  56. 

4th,  at  44,  she  married,  July  7,  1761,  her  relative,  Hon. 
Daniel  Davis,  and  again  assumed  her  maiden  name.  By  him  she 
had  one  son,  Daniel,  born  May  8,  1762. 

Her  daughter  Sarah  married  the  late  Mr.  Isaiah  Parker  of 
West  Barnstable,  had  a  family  and  lived  to  be  aged.  John  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College,  and  died  early.  Her  son  Daniel 
was  Solieiter  General,  and  a  distinguished  man.  She  survived  all 
her  husbands,  but  at  last  "the  woman  died  also,"  namely  :  on  the 
aged  87  years. 

Her  son,  Hon.  Daniel  Davis,  married-Lois  Freeman,  daughter 
of  Constant  Freeman,  and  sister  of  the  Rev.  James  Freeman  of 
the  Stone  Chapel,  Boston,  and  had  a  large  family.  Louisa,  the 
eldest  daughter,  married  William  Minot,  Esq.,  of  Boston.  Rear 
Admiral  Charles  Henry  Davis,  of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  is  his  youngest 
son. 

(35-7)  Capt.  William  Davis  owned  the  house  and  estate 
which  was  his  father's.  He  was  a  sea  captain,  and  died  in  1759, 
aged  forty  years. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.        267 

He  married  Feb.  2,  1745,  Martha,  daughter  of  Timothy 
Crocker,  Esq.,  of  Barnstable.     She  died  Dec.  2,  1772,  aged  67. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

1,  Mehitable,  March  4,  1746,  married  Benjamin  Gorham,  Jr., 
(called  Young  Fiddler)  a.  man  of  more  wit  than  sound  judgment ; 
2,  William,  born  Jan.  18,  1748,  was  clerk  in  the  store  of  his  uncle 
Solomon  in  Boston,  and  died  unmarried  at  the  age  of  24,  of 
yellow  fever;  3,  Catharine,  born  April  29,  1761,  married  Stephen 
Hall  of  Sandwich;  4,  Elizabeth,  born  April  13,  1755,  married 
Eleazer  Cobb,  Sen'r,  and  inherited  half  of  her  father's  house 
where  she  resided;  5,  Martha,  born  Aug.  19,  1758,  (she  was 
always  called  Patty)  married  John  Cobb,  who  bought  the 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  Jr.,  house,  and  had  a  family.  Mrs.  Hetty 
Davis  Hallett,  widow  of  Andrews,  is  her  daughter ;  6,  Ruth,  born 
Jan.  24,  1763,  married  Capt.  Thomas  Gray  of  Yarmouth;  7, 
Jesse,  who  died  aged  2  years. 

(36-8)  Josiah  Davis,  son  of  Capt.  John,  born  Feb.  19,  1722. 
Of  this  Josiah  Davis  I  have  no  certain  information. 

(40-1)  Ebenezer,  son  of  the  2d  Josiah,  born  19th  June,  1713. 
Of  Ebenezer  I  have  no  certain  intelligence.  I  think  he  removed 
to  Maine. 

(42'-3)  Josiah  Davis,  son  of  2d  Josiah,  born  Aug.  2,  1718, 
married,  in  1745,  Thankful  Matthews  ;  and  May  3, 1760,  Thankful 
Gorham.  He  resided  in  the  house  which  was  his  father's,  and  sold 
the  same,  on  his  removal  to  Gorham,  to  the  late  Mr.  James 
Davis.  He  had  Josiah  and  Thankful  baptized  June  6,  1756; 
Mary,  Sept.  3,  1759  ;  Josiah,  Oct.  11,  1761,  and  three  children 
born  in  Gorham,  in  1773,  1776  and  1780.  . 

(49-1)  Prince  Davis,  son  of  Stephen,  Jr.,  born  Nov.  17, 
1724,  was  a  house  carpenter.  He  resided  in  Barnstable  till  1760,  , 
when  he  removed  to  Gorham,  Maine,  of  which  town  he  was  a 
proprietor  in  the  right  of  his  grandfather  Josiah,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Company  of  Capt.  John  Gorham  in  King  Phillip's 
war  in  1675.  Mr.  Prince  Davis  early  joined  the  East  Church  in 
Bai'nstable,  and  continued  to  be  a  church  member  after  his  removal 
east.  At  Gorham  his  name  appears  as  one  of  the  selectmen,  and 
in  church  affairs  he  was  a  prominent  man.  He  was  married  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Green,  Feb.  17,  1749-50,  to  Sarah  Coleman,  daughter  of 
James,  of  Barnstable.  The  births  of  his  children  are  not  on  the 
town  records.  He  died  in  Gorham  in  1809,  aged  85  years,  and 
his  wife  in  1804.  He  had  five .  children  born  in  Barnstable,  four 
baptized  Oct.  9,  1757,  namely,  Elijah^  Edward,  Prudence  and 
Alice,  and  Temperance  baptized  Nov.  18,  1759  ;  and  five  born  in 
Gorham,  namely,  Isaac,  March  27,  1762';  David,  Oct.  20,  1764; 
Rebecca,  July  15,  1766;  Thomas,  May  14,  1768;  and  Jonathan 
.  Jnlv  10,  1770. 


288         GENRALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Elijah  married  Pbebe  Hopkins  April  8,  1780;  Prudence 
married  Josiah  Jenkins  June  15,  1776,  and  died  1836;  Alice 
married  Enoch  Frost  April  22,  1779,  and  died  1802  ;  Temperance 
married  Da\'id  Harding  June  23,  1781,  and  died  1810  ;  Isaac  did 
not  marry,  died  in  1738;  David  married  Martha  Watson  March 
17,1788;  Rebecca  married  Geo.  Knight  March  14,  1789,  died 
June  18,  1836';  Thomas  did  not  marry  ;  Jonathan  married  Mary 
April  10,  1796.* 

(51-3)  Isaac  Davis,  son  of  Stephen,  Jr.,  born  Sept.  14, 
1729,  married  Hannah  Davis,  daughter  of  James.  His  house 
was  on  the  north-easterly  part  of  Thomas  Lumbert's  great  lot,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  road,  opposite  his  grand-father's  house.  He 
had  a  son,  and  a  daughter  Rebecca  baptized' Aug.  3,  1755,  and 
another  daughter  of  the  same  name  baptized  Jan.  15,  1768,  and  a 
son  Isaac  born  Dec.  3, 1764.  The  latter  married  Abigail  Gorham, 
and  had  Stephen  G.,  Cashier  of  the  Shawmut  Bank,  Boston, 
Frederick  of  Falmouth,  and  others.  The  widow  Hannah,  of  the 
first  Isaac,  married,  June  17,  1783,  Col.  David  .Gorham,  she  died 
Oct.  3,  1810,  aged  79  yrs.  and  3  mos. 

(58-10)  Jonathan  Davis,  son  of  Stephen,  Jr.,  born  in  Barn- 
stable, baptized  Oct.  1,  1749,  married  Susannah  Lewis,  born  the 
same  day,  Sept.  27,  1749,  or  rather  within  a  few  hours  of  each 
other.  He  went  to  sea  in  early  life,  and  was  in  after  life  a 
farmer.  He  had  sons  Stephen,  Solomon,  and  George,  and  a 
daughter  Susannah  yet  living.  Stephenwas  a  carpenter,  removed 
to  Falmouth,  and  lived  to  be  aged,  and  has  descendants  there. 
Solomon  was  a  carpenter,  died  a  young  man,  and  has  descendants 
in  Dennis.  George  was  a  shoemaker,  and  resided  on  the  paternal 
estete,  and  died  Nov.  6,  1847,  aged  68,  leaving  one  son,  the  pre- 
sent Mr.  Isaac  Davis.  He  being  now  the  sole  representative  on 
the  voting  list  of  Barnstable,  of  the  many  Davis  families  of  that 
town.  Mr.  Jonathan  Davis  died  Sept.  22,  1840,  aged  90.  She 
died  Sept.  25,  1841,  aged  91  years. 

(61-3)  Joseph  Davis,  son  of  James,  born  Aug.  16,  1733,  was 
a  tanner  and  currier  and  resided  in  a  house  that  stood  near  where 
the  first  Robert's  stood.  He  married  first  Lucretia  Thatcher  Nov. 
17,  1763,  and  bad  Phebe,  Rebecca,  who  married  Job  Gorham, 
Elisha  Thatcher,  Mary,  Lucretia,  Joseph  and  Benjamin.  By  his 
second  wife,  Mary  Bacon,  John,  Lucretia  and  Abner. 

John,  (father  of  Joseph  and  Barnabas  of  Boston)  built  a 
house  near  where  the  first  Josiah  Davis  house  stood.  Abner 
(father  of  Adolphus  and  James  W.,  of  Boston,)  inherited  the 
paternal  mansion.  He  was  a  lawyer,  and  Clerk  of  the  Courts. 
Elisha  Thacher  was  a  tanner  and  shoe  maker,  died  a  young  man, 

*  Manuscript  letter  of  .Josiah  Pierce,  Esq.,  author  of  her  history,  of  Gorham,  Maine. 
The  climate  of  Maine  seems  to  agree  with  the  Davis  fanjily.  Prince  has  more  descendants 
than  his  nine  brothers  and  sisters. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         289 

leaving  a  large  family  of  young  children.  His  widow  lived  to 
great  age. 

(62-4)  Benjamin  Davis,  son  of  James,  married,  May  19, 
1754,  Patience  Bacon. 

(66-7)  James  Davis,  son  of  James,  married  Reliance  Cobb. 
He  had  James,  David,  and  others.  James  removed  to  Boston,  was 
a  brass  founder,  acquired  a  large  estate,  and  died  very  suddenly  in 
1862,  aged  84. 

(68-1)  James  Davis,  son  of  Dea.  Gersham,  married,  Oct.  3, 
1745,  Jean  Bacon.  His  uncle,  Dea.  Robert  Davis,  made  him  his 
heir.  His  children  were:  1,  Elizabeth,  July  2,  1746  ;  2,  Elizabeth 
again,  March  25,  1748;  3,  Jean,  April  24,  1760;  4,  Patience, 
June  13,'  1752;  5,  Desire,  Oct.  22,  1754;  6,  Joseph,  Sept.  19, 
1757;  7,  Robert,  June  30,  1760;  8,  Hannah,  Dec.  19,  1762;  9, 
James,  Jan.  19,  1767  ;  baptized  May  5,  1765  ;  and  Desire  baptized 
Sept.  20,  1772. 

C70-3)  Samuel  Davis,  son  of  Dea.  Gersham,  married,  Dec. 
23,  1759,  Mary  Gorham,  Jr.,  and  had  Ebeuezer  baptized  July  6, 
1760 ;,  Samuel,  July  4,  1762;  Mary,  Sept.  25,  1763;  Ebenezer, 
Feb.  17,  1765;  Prince,  May  17,  1767;  William,  June  9,  1771. 
This  familv  removed  to  Gorham,  where  they  had  Elizabeth  April 
14,  1777.  " 

(79-4)  Hon.  John  Davis,  son  of  Daniel,  born  Oct.  7,  1744. 
He  practiced  medicine  many  years,  was  Judge  of  Probate,  and  held 
many  responsible  offices.  He  was  a  mild,  pleasant  man,  not  inherit- 
ing the  energy  of  character  for  which  his  father  was  distinguished. 
He  resided  in  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  the  house  now  standing 
that  was  Col.  Davis  Gorham's.  -After  the  decease  of  his  father  he 
removed  to  the  paternal  mansion,  where  he  continued  to  reside  till 
his  death.  He  was  afflicted  with  cancer  on  the  nose  which  nearly 
destroyed  that  organ.  He  had  a  large  family.  The  late  Hon.  Job 
C.  Davis  was  his  son,  who  married  Desire  Loring  daughter  of  Otis 
Loring — had  12  children. 


In  1643,  five  of  the  name  of  Davis  were  "able  to  bear  arms"  in 
Barnstable,  viz  :  Dolar  or  Dollard  and  his  sons  John,  Nicholas. 
Simon,  and  Samuel,;  and  in  Yarmouth,  Robert  Davis,  afterwards  of 
Barnstable.  Dr.  Palfrey  informed  Mr.  Savage  that  the  graves  of  the 
ancestors  of  Dolar  Davis  were  at  Bennefield,  Northamptonshire, 
and  that  was  probably  his  native  town.  -He  married  as  early  as 
1618,  Margery,  daughter  of  Richard  Willard,  of  Horsmonden,  in 
the  Counl^  of  Kent,  where  all  his  sons  were  born,  and  perhaps  his 
daughter  Mary.  He  came  over  in  1634,  in  company  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Major  Simon  Willard,  a  man  of  note  in  the  history 
of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  He  stopped  first  at  Cambridge,  a  nd 
in  1635  was  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  had  a  house  lot  on  Water 
street.     He  sold  his  lands  in  Cambridge  in  1636,  and  removed.     He 


290        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

was  also  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  lands  in  Concord.  In  1638 
he  was  of  Duxbury.  April  6,  1640,  lands  and  meadows  were  granted 
to  hina  and  others,  at  North  Hill,  in  that  town,  and  on  the  31st  of 
August  following,  he  had  granted  to  him  fifty  acres  of  upland,  and  a 
proportion  of  meadows  on  the  Namassaeuset  river.  May,  1641,  he 
was  bondsman  for  George  Willard  of  Scituate,  and  is  called  of 
that  town. 

August,  1643,  he  and  his  sons  were  included  among  those  able 
to  bear  arms  in  Barnstable.  He  probably  came  to  Barnstable  in 
1639  with  the  first  settlers,  though  he  did  not  make  it  the  place  of 
his  permanent  residence  until  1642  or  3.  He  was  a  carpenter,  and 
a  raa.ster  builder  ;  his  son  John  was  also  a  carpenter,  and  his  sons 
Nicholas,  Simon,  and  Samuel,  probably  assisted  their  father.  This 
fact  furnishes  an  explanation  of  his  frequent  removals  from  place  to 
place.  In  the  new  settlements  he  found  more  employment  than  in  the 
older.  It  did  not,  however,  require  much  time  to  construct  the 
rude  dwellings  of  our  ance.stors.  In  1643  William  Chase  built  the 
house  of  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.,  finding  all  the  materials,  and  delivered 
it  "latched,  thatched  and  daubed"  for  the  sum  of  £5.  Some  of  the 
first  settlers  put  up  substantial  frame  houses,  like  that  of  Nathaniel 
Bacon,  which  has  been  described  ;  but  generally  they  were  as  rudely 
and  as  cheaply  constructed  as  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr's.  The  chimneys 
were  of  rough  stone,  and  above  tlie  mantel  piece,  which  was  always 
of  wood,  they  were  often  only  cob-walls,  that  is 'built  with  small 
sticks  and  clay.  The  roofs  were  thatched,  and  oiled  paper  was 
often  a  substitute  for  glass.  They  were  not  plastered — the  cracks 
were  "daubed,"  that  is  filled  up  with  clay  or  mortar.  The  hardware 
and  nails  required,  were  furnished  by  the  blacksmith.  Saw  mills 
had  been  built  at  Scituate,  and  the  lumber  for  the  best  houses  came 
from  that  town  ;  but  at  first  the  boards  required  were  sawed  by  hand, 
or  hewn  from  split  logs. 

Houses  of  this  description,  having  only  one  large  room  on  the 
lower  floor,  whether  one  or  one-half  stories  high,  were  quickly  and 
cheaply  built. 

Neither  Dolar  Davis  or  his  sons  were  anfibitious  of  political 
distinction.  In  1642  he  was  on  the  jury  of  trials,  in  1645  a  grand 
juror ;  but  was  excused  from  serving  on  account  of  sickness,  in 
1652  surveyor  of  highways,  and  in  1654  constable. 

In  1655  he  removed  to  Concord,  Massachusetts.  He  was  one 
of  the  original  proprietors  of  Groton,  and  he  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Hinckley  of  Barnstable,  were  of  the  first  Board  of  Selectmen 
appointed  by  the  Legislature  May  28,  1655,  and  to  hold  office  two 
years.  The  Selectmen  managed  the  prudential  affairs  of  the  town, 
laid  out  the  lands  •  into  lots,  and  disposed  of  them  to  the  first 
settlers. 

In  1656,  Dolar  Davis  was  a  resident  at  Concord,  and  in  receipt 
dated  April  9,  of  that  year,  calls   himself  of  that  town.      In    a  deed 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         ^91 

executed  in  that  town  July  17,  1658,  describes  himself  as  a  house 
carpenter  late  of  Barnstable.  Feb.  IG,  1667-8,  he  had  returned  to 
Barnstable,  where  he  died  June  1673,  aged  about  80  years. 

Dolar  Davis'  house  lot  was  the  most  northerly  on  the  east  side  of 
the  ancient  Mill  Way.  discontinued  in  1669.  In  his  deed  to  Abra- 
ham Blush,  dated  July  17,  1658,  he  says,  "all  my  house  lott  of 
lands  lying  by  a  place  commonly  called  Old  Mill  Or'eek,"  containing 
two  acres,  and  was  bounded  northerly  by  his  own  meadow  in  the  Mill 
Pond,  easterly  partly  upon  Mr.  Dimmock  marsh,  and  partly  upon 
his  own  land  ;  southerly,  partly  on  the  common,  and  partly  by 
Goodman  Huckins,  and  westerly,  partly  on  Goodman  Huckics  and 
partly  by  Nicholas  Davis.  His  house  stood  not  far  from  the  water 
mill  built  by  the  first  settlers  on  the  spot  where  the  present  mill 
stands. 

He  also  owned  three  lots  of  land  at  Stony  Cove,  containing 
twelve  acres,  ten  acres  of  meadow  on  the  north  ot  his  house  lot,  and 
on  the  opposite  side  of  Mill  Creek,  twelve  acres  in  the  old  common- 
field,  and  a  lot  of  four  acres  adjoining  his  houselot  on  the  south-east, 
bounded  westerly  partly  upon  the  common,  and  partly  by  his  own 
land,  easterly  by  Nicholas  Davis,  northerly  by  Mr.  Dimmock's 
marsh,  and  southerly  by  Goodman  Foxwell's  land. 

The  above  described  lands  and  meadow  he  sold  to  Abraham 
Blush,  by  deed  dated  17th  July,  1658.  The  common  land  named  in 
the  above  description,  consisted  of  two  acres  of  swamp,  a  little  dis- 
tance north-west  of  the  Agricultural  Hall,  afterwards  granted  to 
John  Davie,  and  by  him  sold  to  Abraham  Blush. 

Dolar  Davis'  great  lot  of  sixty  acres,  "butted  easterly  upon  the 
Indian  Pond,  westerly  into  the  commons,  bounded  southerly  by  John 
Crocker,  northerly  by  Henry  Brown."  This  he  sold  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Allen,  who  re-sold  .the  same  22d  Feb.  1665,  to  Roger  Goodspeed. 

The  causeway  across  Mill  Creek  to  the  Common  Field,  which 
was  then,  and  now  is,  the  mill  dam.  Mill  Creek  is  frequently 
named  in  the  description  of  the  lands  and  meadows  in  the  vicinity  ; 
but  the  owners  of  the  Mill  are  not  named  in  the  earliest  records  now 
.extant.  Nicholas  Davis  owned  the  land  adjoining  the  spot  on 
which  the  Mill  .stood.  No  description  of  his  lands  except  the  grant 
made  to  him  by  the  Indifin  Sachem  at  Hyannis,  is  found  on  the  town 
records.  After  his  death  his  lands  were  set  off  to  his  creditors,  and 
no  particular  description  is  given.  John  Bacon,  Esq.,  was  an  early 
owner  in  the  mill,  and  was  part  owner  of  the  landing  or  dock  on 
the  west  side  of  the  mill  formerly  owned  by  Nicholas  Davis,  and 
yet  the  property  of  the  Bacons.  Dolar  Davis  sold  his  farm,  includ- 
ing his  dwelling-house  arid  meadows,  for  £75.  Nicholas  Davis'  real 
estate,  not  ini;luding  the  twelve  acres  sold  to  John  Bacon,  or  the 
Caleb  Lumbert  farm  which  was  set  off  to  his  widow  as  her  portion, 
was  apprised  at  £180.  He  did  not  own  sO'Tnany  acres  as  his  father, 
and  it  is  evident  that  the  superior  value  of    his  property  consisted  in 


292i        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

the  buildings  and  improvements  thereon.  He  had  a  warehouse  at 
Hyaunis,  the  first  building  erected  by  the  English  at  South  Sea,  and 
a  warehouse  on  his  lot  at  Mill  Creek..  The  latter  contained  not 
more  than  two  acres,  and  on  this  there  was,  sixty  years  ago,  a  large 
and  valuable  frame  dwelling-house,  built  in  the  style  of  the  first 
comers.  In  absence  of  all  evidence  to  the  contrary,  the  presumption 
is  that  this*  ancient  house  and  the  Mill,  were  originally  the  property 
of  Nicholas  Davis. 

Perhaps  among  all  the  families  which  came  to  New  England, 
not  one  can  be  selected  more  deserving. of  our  esteem  and  uuquaiified 
approbation  than  that  of  Dolar  Davis.  As  a  man,  he  was  honest, 
industrious,  and  prudent ;  as  a  Christian,  tolerant  and  exact  in  the 
performance  cf  his  leligious  duties;  as  a  neighbor,  kind,  obliging, 
and  ever  ready  to  help  those  who  needed  his  assistance,  and  as  a  father 
and  the  head  of  his  family,  he  was  constantly  solictious  for  the 
welfare  of  all  its  members^  cultivating  tho.se  kindly  feelings  and 
amenities  of  life,  which  render  home  delightful.  His  sons  and  his 
grand-sons  followed  in  his  footsteps.  They  were  men  whose  charac- 
ters stand  unblemished.  It  is  pleasant  to  read  their  wills  on  record, 
and  note  the  affection  with  which  they  speak  .of  the  members  of 
their  families,  and  their  desire  to  provide  not  only  for  their  immediate 
wants,  but  for  the  future  prospective  misfortunes  or  necessities  of 
any  of  their  kindred.  The  latter  remark,  however,  will  apply  more 
particulaily  to  Samuel,  of  whom  a  more  particular  account  will 
be  given. 

The  family  of  Dolar  Davis  is  for  convenience  of"  reference 
arranged  in  a  regular  genealogical  series,  in  order  to  distinguish 
between  members  of  this  tamily,  and  that  of  Robert  of  the  same 
Christian  name.  I  call  Nicholas  a  son  of  Dolar.  If  I  am  asked  to 
point  to  the  record  of  the  fact  I  cannot.  Many  circumstances  show 
that  they  were  near  relatives.  The  fact  that  Nicholas  was  a  favorite 
name  among  the  descendants  of  Dolar  who  joined  the  Quakers,  that 
the  house  lots  of  Dolar  and  Nicholas  were  parts  of  the  same  orij^inal 
lot,  and  other  circumstances,  have  induced  me  to  call  Nicholas  the 
son  of  Dolar. 

1.  I.  Dolar  Davis,  carpenter,  married  first  Margery  Willard', 
daughter  of  Richard  Willard  of  Horsmonden,  County  of  Kent, 
in  England.  He  came  over  in  1634:.  His  first  wife  probably 
died  in  Concord.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  Joanna, 
widow  of  John  Bursley,  and  daughter  of  Rev.  Joseph  Hall. 
He  died  in.  1673,  and  names  in  his  will  dated  Sept.  12,  1672, 
his  children,  then  living.  Nicholas  was  then  dead,  and  left  no 
children . 

2.  I.  John,  born  in  England,  married  Hannah  Linnell  15th 
March,  1648. 

3.  II.     Nicholas,  borft-in  England,  married  Mary  or  Sarah. 

4.  HI.     Simon,    born    in   England,  married   Mary   Blood,    12th 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         293 

Dec.  1660. 

5.  IV.  Samuel,  born  in  England,  married  Mary  Meads  llth 
Jan.  1665. 

6.  V.  Mary,  born  in  England,  married  Thomas  Lewis,  June 
15,  1653. 

7.  VI.  Ruth,  born  in  Barnstable,  baptized  24th  March,  1644, 
married,  Dec.  3,  1663,  Stepen  Hall,  son  of  widow  Mary 
of  Concord.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Stowe,  was  repre- 
sentative in  1689. 

John  Davis  was  a  house  carpenter  and  was  one  of  the  three 
last  survivors  of  the  first  settlers.  His  houselot,  containing  eight 
acres,  was  the  first  on  the  west  of  Baker's  Lane,,  now  called 
Hyannis  road.  The  lot  was  originally  laid  out  to  Edward 
Fitzrandolph,  'who  sold  the  same  in  1649  to  John  Chipman  ;  but 
the  deed  was  not  executed  till  Aug.  13,  1669,  and  was  never 
recorded.*  John  Davis'  deed  of  the  same  lot  recorded  in  the 
Barnstable  town  records  is  dated  Oct.  15,  1649,  and  signed  by 
John  Scudder. 

Jan.  14,  1658,  he  sold  six  acres  of  his  houselot  to  Samuel 
Normon,  bounded  northerly  by  his  little  fenced  field,  easterly  by 
the  Hyannis  road,  southerly  by  the  woods,  and  westerly  by  the 
land  of  Mr.  Wm.  Sergeant.  On  the  26th  of  February,  1665, 
Norman  re-conveyed  this  land,  with  his  dwelling  house  thereon, 
to  John  Davis ;  but  the  land  yet  retains  the  name  of  Norman's 
Hill.  He  also  owned  thirteen  acres  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hyan- 
nis road,  bounded  northerly  "upon  Mrs.  Hallet's  set  of,"  easterly 
by  Mrs.  Hallett,  westerly  by  the  Hyannis  road  ;  and  an  addition 
of  five  acres  on  the  south,  extending  on  both  sides  of  the  Hyannis 
road.  He  also  owned  three  acres  in  the  old,  and  two  acres  in  the 
new  common-field,  half  an  acre  on  the  north  side  of  the  County 
road,  opposite  his  house,  improved  as  an  orchard  and  garden,  and 
a  quarter  of  an  acre  bought  of  Henry  Cobb  near  where  David 
Bursley's  house  now  stands,  four  acres  of  meadow  at  Sandy  Neclr, 
and  two  acres  within  the  present  dyke,  bounded  westerly  by 
Rendevous  Creek. 

In  his  will,  dated  May  10,  1701,  proved  April  9,  1703,  he 
bequeaths  to  his  "eldest  son  John  all  that  parcel  of  upland  and 
swamp  that  he  now  possesses  and  dwells  on  contained  within  his 
fence  on  the  eastward  side  of  the  highway  that  leads  up  into  the 
woods,  estimated  to  be  about  fourteen  acres,  upon  condition  that 
he  shall  pay  £30  in  money  to  my  executors  as  shall  be  hereafter 
ordered.  And  what  he  hath  already  paid  to  be  deducted  out  of 
ye  said  £30. 

*I  refer  here  to  an  original  deed  which  I  have  in  my  possession.  Another  deed  of  the 
same  property  dated  June  1,  1649,  to  John  Chipman  was  recorded  that  year-  Why  two 
were  p^iven  of  the  same  property  is  not  easily  explained.  They  are  not  exact  copies. 
Perhaps  the  one  I  have,  wa.=!  given  to  correct  some  error  in  the  first. 


294         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Itt— I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter  Mercy  for  her  tender 
care  and  labor  past  done  for  me  and  her  mother,  £20  in  money, 
and  £5  a  year  so  long  as  she  continues  to  attend  me  and  her 
mother,  or  the  longest  liver — her  diet,  washing,  and  lodging,  in 
the  family  with  her  brother  Benjamin;  1  cow  and  heifer,  2  sheep, 
2  swine,  and  at  her  mother's  decease,  1-2  the  household  stuff  and 
bedding  forever,  and  the  southward  end  of  the  house  so  long  as 
she  shall  live  a  single  life. 

Names  son  Samuel,  to  whom  he  gives  1  yoke  of  Oxen  and  a 
great  chain.  Son  Benjamin,  to  whom  he  gives  nearly  all  his 
estate  in  consideration  of  his  taking  care  of  him  and  his  mother 
during  life. 

Names  sons  Dollar,  Timothy,  Jabez,  daughters  Ruth  Linnell, 
Hannah  Jones'  5  children,  son  John's  four  eldest  sons,  grand- 
daughter Mary  G=oodspeed,  grand-son  Joseph  Davis,  Daughter 
Mary  Hinckley.  Benjamin  Davis,  Executor. 

Signed  with  his  mark,  J.  D. 
Witness — Joseph  Lothrop,  James  Cobb,  Samuel  S.  Sergeant,  (his 

mark) . 
Appraisers — James  Lewis,  Jeremiah  Bacon,  Edward  Lewis. 

Am't  of  Inventory  268,12,4. " 

Nicholas  Davis  came  to  Barnstable  with  his  father,  and  was 
able  to  bear  arms  in  1643.  Judge  Sewall  says  he  favored  the 
Quakers  at  their  first  coming,  though  he  did  not  embrace  their 
principles  till  after  1657,  when  he  took  the  oath  of  fidelity.  He 
was  a  trader,  built  a  warehouse  at  South  Sea,  the  first  building 
erected  by  the  English  in  that  part  of  the  town.  His  accounts 
show  that  he  dealt  more  with  the  Indians  than  was  for  his  profit, 
and  that  the  gift  of  land  to  him  by  the  Sachem  Hianna,  was  not 
in  the  end  a  good  bargain. 

June  1656,  he  was  in  the  court  at  Plymouth  when  the  Sand- 
wich men  were  convicted  and  fined  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of 
fidelity,  and  was  a  witness  of  the  unjust  usages  to  which  they 
had  been  subjected  by  the  cruelty  of  the  under  Marshal  Barlow. 
He  was  indignant  and  attempted  to  speak,  saying  "That  he  was  a 
witness  for  the  Lord  against  their  oppression,"  and  was  about  to 
say  wherein,  when  he  was  put  down,  and  committed  to  prison ; 
but  was  soon  released. 

In  the  same  month  he  went  to  Boston  to  settle  with  those 
with  whom  he  had  traded,  and  pay  some  debts.  He  was  there 
arrested,  sent  to  prison  to  remain  till  the  sitting  of  the  court  of 
Assistants.  His  fellow  prisoners  were  William  Robinson,  a  mer- 
chant of  London,  and  Marmaduke  Stevenson  of  Yorkshire, 
Quaker  preachers,  and  Patience  Scott  of  Providence,  a  little  girl 
eleven  years  old.  He  was  kept  in  prison  till  Sept.  12,  16.79, 
when  he  was  liberated  on  the  consideration  if  found  within  the 
colony  of   Massachusetts  after  the  14th  of    that  month  he  should 


GENEALOGICAL,    NOTJES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         295 

suffer  death.  The  two  Quaker  preachers  who  were  confined  did 
not  leave  the  Colony  within  the  time  prescribed,  were  again 
arrested,  and  afterwards  hung  on  Boston  Common. 

On  the  6th  of  October  following  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court 
ordered  the  notorious  Marshal  Barlow  "to  repair  to  the  house  of 
William  Newland  and  Ralph  Allen  of  Sandwich,  and  Nicholas 
Davis  of  Barnstable,  to  make  search  in  any  part  of  their  houses, 
or  in  any  of  the  chests  or  trunks  of  the  above  said,  or  elsewhere, 
for  papers  or  writings  that  were  false,  scandalous,  and  pernicious 
to  the  government,  and  return  such  as  they  may  find  to  the  court." 
As  no  retm-n  appears  to  have  been  made,  it  is  presumed  no  such 
papers  were  found. 

Nicholas  Davis  continued  his  business  in  Barnstable  till  1670. 
In  the  spring  of  1672  he  was  a  resident  of  Newport,  where  he 
traded,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  permanently  removed 
from  Barnstable.  He  was  drowned  before  9th  Aug.  1672.  His 
wife  Sarah  administered  on  his  estate  at  Newport.  Maj.  John 
Walley  administered  on  his  estate  in  Massachusetts. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Nicholas  Davis  was  a  member  of  the 
Society  pf  Friends.  His  name  does  not  appear  on  the  records  of 
the  Sandwich  Monthly  Meeting,  yet  he  probably  was  a  member  at 
the  time  of  his  removal  to  Rhode  Island,  otherwise  Roger 
Williams  in  his  big  book  against  the  Quakers,  would  not  have 
boasted,  that  in  his  public  conference,  with  the  friends  of  George 
Fox,  that  he  made  good  use  of  the  event  that  Nicholas  Davis,  one 
of  their  leading  men,  was  drowned. 

Nicholas  Davis  owned  a  large  real  estate  in  Barnstable. 
Hianna,  the  Sachem,  gave  him  a  tract  of  land  on  the  inlet  now 
called  Lewis'  Bay.  The  boundaries  are  indefinite ;  it  included 
the  land  where  Timothy  Baker's  store  now  stands,  and  on  which 
he  erected  a  warehouse. t  He  traded  at  New  York,  Connecticut, 
and  Rhode  Island,  and  his  goods  were  landed  at  Hyannis  and 

t  To  all  persons  to  whom  these  presents  shall  coni6,  know  yee  that  I,  Yanno  Sachem  of 
a  certaine  tract  of  lands  lying  and  being  att  the  South  See,  in  the  presincts  of  Barnstable,  in 
the  GoTemment  of  New  Plymouth,  in  New  England,  in  America,  have  for  divers  good 
reasons  mee  moving  freely  and  absolutely  given,  granted,  enfeofed,  and  confirmed,  and  by 
these  presents  do  giye,  graunt,  enfeof,  and  confirm  unto  Nicholas  Davis,  of  Barnstable, 
aforeeaid  merchant  a  certaine  p  sell  of  the  said  lands  lying  att  the  South  Sea  aforesaid, 
commonly  called  by  the  name  of  Sam's  Neck,  bounded  northerly  by  the  lands  of  Barnstable 
-  bought  of  mee,  the  said  Yanno,  at  the  head  of  the  river  where  the  said  Nicholas  Davis  hath 
now  erected  a  warehouse,  and  from  thence  extending  to  the  head  of  the  river,  westerly 
where  the  ludians  were  wont  to  dwell  in  winter,  extending  southerly  over  the  mouth  of  the 
said  river  to  the  sea,  and  bounded  westerly  partly  by  the  said  river  and  partly  by  the  lands 
of  Barnstable,  and  bounded  easterly  by  the  harbor,  commonly  called  Yanno's  harbor. 

The  mark  (Ixj )  of  Yanno. 

And  a  fseale]. 
Yanno  Sachem  above  said,  personally  appeared  before  mee  and  acknowledged  this  to  be 
his  acte  and  deed. 

Atttest,  THOMAS  HINCKLEY,  Assistant. 
Wattanwassan,  the  eldest  son  of  the  said  Yanno,  appeared  before  mee  and  acknowl- 
edged his  &ee  consent  to  this  above  said  deed  of  gift. 

THOMAS  HINCKLEY,  Assistant. 
The  above  deed  is  dated  October  26th,  1666,  and  recorded  in  Plymouth  Colony  Becords 
Book  of  Deeds  Vol.  3,  Pago  61. 

WM.  S.  RUSSELL,  keeper  of  said  record. 


296         GKNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSXABLB    FAMILIES. 

transported  across  the  Cape.  Oysters  were  at  that  ti-ne  very 
abundant  and  Davis  bought  them,  put  up  in  barrels,  of  the 
Indians  and  others,  and  shipped  them  from  Hyannis.  In  early 
times  the  "making  of  Oysters,"  as  the  packing  of  them  is  called 
in  the  will  of  Benjamin  Bearse,  was  a  considerable  business. 
Many  of  the  Oysters  packed  were  probably  brought  from  the 
vicinity  of  Oyster  Island. 

He  also  owned  two  acres  of  land  on  the  west  of  his  father's 
land,  where  the  late  Dea.  Joseph  Chipman  lived,  including  the 
landing  and  the  land  around  the  water  mill,  which  was  then  proba- 
bly his  property.  On  his  land  he  had  a  dwelling  house  which 
stood  where  Mr.  Maraspin's  now  does,  corresponding  in  size  and 
appearance  to  that  built  by  Nathaniel  Bacon  which  has  been 
described.  He  also  had  a  warehouse  on  this  lot.  He  had 
twelve  acres  of  land  on  the  south-east  of  his  father's,  sold  to 
John  Bacon,  Esq.,  and  already  described.  He  also  bought  of 
Caleb  Lumbard  the  easterly  part  of  the  great  lot  of  Thomas 
Lumbard,  with  the  house  thereon.  This  was  set  off  to  his  widow 
as  her  dower,  and  was  afterwards  owned  by  the  descendants  of 
Robert  Davis. 

(2-1)  John   Davis,   son  of    Dolar    Davis,   married   by    Mr. 
Prince,  at  Eastham,  March  15,  1648,  to  Hannah,  daughter  of  Mr. 
Robert  Linnell  of  Barnstable.     He  died  1703. 
Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

8.  I.     John,  born  15th  Jan.  1649-50,  married  three  wives. 

9.  II.     Samuel,  born  15th  Dec.  1651,  died  unmarried  1711. 

10.  III.     Hannah,  married  Jedediah  Jones. 

11.  IV.     Mary,  born  3d  Jan.    1753-4,   married   1st,   B.  Good- 
speed,  1676,  2d,  John  Hinckley,  Nov.  24,  1697. 

12.  V.     Joseph,    born    June    1656,    married    Mary    Claghorn, 
March  28,  1682. 

13.  VI.     Benjamin,  born  June,  1656,  died  unmarried  1718. 

14.  VII.     Simon,  born  15th  July,  1658,  died  young,  no  issue 
probably. 

15.  VIII.     bolar,  born  1st  Oct.   1660,  married  3d  Aug.  1681, 
Hannah  Linnell. 

16.  IX.     Jabez,  married  Experience  Linnell,  20th  Aug.  1689. 

17.  X.     Mercy,  unmarried  1718. 

18.  XI.     Timothy,  married  Sarah  Perry  1690. 

19.  XII.     Ruth,  born  1674,  married  John  Linnell  1695. 

(3-2)  Nicholas  Davis  of  Barnstable,  probably  son  of  Dolar 
Davis,  married,  June  1661,  Mary  or  Sarah.  There  is  no  record 
of  his  family  on  the  Barnstable  town  records.  He  was  drowned 
at  Newport  before  Aug.  9,  1672. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

20.  I.     A  child  Feb.  1661-2. 

21.  II.     Simon,  1656,  drowned  Feb.  13,  1657-8. 


22. 

I. 

23. 

II. 

24. 

III. 

25. 

IV. 

26. 

V. 

27. 

VI. 

28. 

VII 

GENEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.'        297 

(4-3)  Simon  Davis  .of  Concord,  son  of  Dolar  Davis,  married 
12th  Dec.  1660,  Mary,  daughter  of  James  Blood. 
Simon,  born  12th  Oct.  1661. 
Mary,  born  3d  Oct.  1663. 
Sarah,  born  15th  March,  1666. 
James,  born  19th  June,  1668. 
Ellen,  born  22d  Oct.  1672. 
Ebenezer,  1676. 
.     Hannah,  born  1st  April  1679. 
(5-4)  Samuel  Davis  of  Concord,  son  of  Dolar  Davis,  married, 
11th  Jan.  1665,  Mary  Meads  (or  Meddows.) 
29.     I.     Mary,  born  Sept.  27,  1666. 
.30.      II.     Samuel,  born  21st  June  1669. 

31.  III.     Daniel,  born  16th  March  1673. 

32.  IV.     EUza. 

33.  V.     Stephen. 

34.  VI.     Simon,  born  9th  Aug.  1683. 

(6-5)  Thomas  Lewis,  son  of  George,  married  Mary  Davis 
15th  June  1653,  and  had  James  March  1654;  Thomas,  15th  July 
1656  ;  Mary,  2d  Nov.  1659  ;  Samuel,  14th  May  1662.  Thomas 
Lewis  was  probably  the  first' town  clerk  of  Falmouth,  but  I  am 
not  certain.  '  ' 

(3-1)  John  Davis,  Jr.,  son  of  John,  and  grandson  of  Dolar, 

married  Ruth  Goodspeed  2d  Feb.   1674.      She  died .      2d, 

married  Mary  Hamlin  22d  Feb.  1692,  she  died  Nov.  1698.  3d, 
married  Widow  Hannah  Bacon  1699,  widow  of  Nathaniel.    ■ 

35.  I.     John,  last  of  Nov.  1675,  died  middle  August  1681. 

36.  II.     Benjamin,  8th  Sept.  1679. 

37.  III.     John,  17th  March  1684. 

38.  IV.     Nathaniel,  17th  July  1686. 

39.  V.     Jabez,    baptized    10th    May   1691,    married    Patience 
Crocker,  1727. 

40.  VI.     Shobal,  born, 10th  July  1694. 

41.  VII.     James,  24th  March  1696. 

42.  VIII.     Ebenezer,  13th  May  1697. 

43.  IX.     Nicholas,  12th  March  1699. 

44.  X.     Jedediah,  5th  June  1700. 

45.  XI.     Desire,  born  May  1705. 

46.  XII.     Noah,  7th  Sept.  1707. 

John  Davisi  Jr.,  was  a  house  carpenter.  Feb.  21,  1677-8, 
the  town  granted  to  him  "liberty  to  set  up  a  shop  on  a  knowl  of 
ground  over  against  his  house  adjoining  to  his  father's  fence  on 
the  other  side  of  the  highway.''  In  August,  1683,  the  neighbors 
wanted  a  watering  place  in  the  swamp  on  the  south  side  of  his 
house,  and  the  town  agreed  to  give  him  five  acres  of  land  at  the 
head  of  Samuel  Sergeant  and  Isaac  Chapman's  lots.  That  now 
within  fence,  was  afterwards  re-sold  by  the  town  to  Ebenezer 
Lewis. 


298      ■  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BAKNSTABL15    FAMILIES. 

His  father  gave  him  the  fourteen  acres  of  land  he  owned  on 
the  east  of  the  Hyannis  road  on  which  he  built  a  house.  He 
removed  to  Falmouth  about  the  year  1710,  and  died  in  1729,  aged 
80,  leaving  an  estate  appraised  at  £1,810.  He  names  his  ten  sons 
and  two  daughters,  and  his  wife's  daughter,  Elizabeth  Bacon,  in 
his  will,  which  is  similar  to  that  of  his  brothei*  Samuel's.  He 
orders  a  fund  of  £500  to  pay  legacies,  &c. 

(9-2)  Samuel  Davis,  son  of  John  Davis,  resided  in  Barn- 
stable. He  did  not  marry.  He  died  in  1711,  leaving  a  large 
estate  for  those  times.  He  owned  all  the  land  on  the  south  side 
of  the  road,  between  the  lot  which  was  his  father's,  and  the  lane 
next  west  of  the  Barnstable  R.  R.  Depot.  Dec.  21,  1696,  he 
sold  lands  in  Rochester,  to  Samuel  Chipman,  for  £35.  His  will 
on  record  is  dated  25th  June,  1711,  and  was  proved  on  the  4th  of 
January  following.  It  is  one  of  those  wills  that  please  gene- 
alogists. He  says :  "I  freely  give  unto  my  brother  Benjamin 
Davis,  during  his  natural  life,  the  use  and  improvement  of  all  the 
uplands  and  meadows  I  bought  of  Isaac  Chapman  and  Samuel 
Sargeant  here  lying  together^butting  against  the  land  of  Ebene- 
zer  Lewis  on  Potter's  Neck,  and  so  up  into  the  ■  woods  to  the  head 
thereof  and  also,  in  like  manner,  to  have  my  woodlot  lying  above 
the  head  thereof,  and  at  the  decease  of  my  brother  Benjamin, 
then  my  will  is  that  Samuel  Davis,  son  of  my  brother  Jatoez 
Davis,  deceased,  shall  have  all  the  forementioned  lands,  meadows, 
and  woodlot,  to  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  forever,  he  or  they 
paying  three  hundred  pounds  for  the  same,  (excepting  five  pounds 
of  said  sum  to  himself)  and  to  have  seven  years  time  to  pay  out 
the  same,  after  said  lands  come  into  his  hands." 

He  further  provides,  that  if  Samuel  should  die  or  refuse  to  take 
the  same,  then  Simon,  son  of  his  brother  Joseph,  to  take  the 
same,  on  the  same  conditions,  and  if  he  refuse,  then  the  next  in 
kin  of  the  "Davises"  to  have  the  same  offer,  and  the  £295  to  be 
divided  as  follows : 

To  my  sister  Mary  Davis,  £40 

Solomon,  son  of  Jabez  Davis,  5 

Brother  Jabez  Davis'  3  daughters,  3 

Sister  Ruth  Linnell,  5 

"         "  "       children,  7 

Br.  Joseph  Davis'  3  sons  5  each,  15 

"        "  "      daughter  Mary,  5 

"  Dolar  Davis'  son  Shubael,  5 

"       "         "      daughter  Hannah,  5 

"       "         "      Thankful  and  Mary,  2 

Sister  Mary, Hinckley,  10 

"         "  "  daughter  Mary,  1 

"      Hannah  Jones'  children  £1  each,  7 

Br.  John  Davis'  10  sous  £4  each,  40 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  299 

To  Br.  John  Davis'  2  daughters,  £1,  £  2 

"    "    Timothy  Davis,  20 

"    "           "    "       "      son  Nicholas,  5 

"    "           "           "      daughter,  '       5 


£182 

To  his  brother  Benjamin  Davis  he  gave  ten  acres  of  land  in  the 
common  field  bought  of  Samuel  Sargent,  and  other  property,  and 
to  his  sister  Mercy  Davis  nearly  all  his  moveable  estate. 

He  also  ordered  a  part  of  the  income  of  his  estate  to  be  kept 
in  bank,  and  to  be  distributed  to  such  of  his  relations  of  the 
Davis'  as  may  fall  under  decay,  and  be  in  want  either  by  sickness 
or  lameness  or  other  accident — proportioned  according  to  their 
several  necessities — until  all  is  distributed. 

He  appointed  Benjamin  Davis  his  executor.  He  died  in  1718 
and  Samuel  assumed  the  trust,  and  though  the  estate  was 
appraised  at  £481,17,10,  it  proved  insufficient  to  pay  the  legacies 
in  full.  Samuel,  before  making  a  final  settlement,  remaved  ■  to 
to  Connecticut.  Some  of  the  receipts  call  him  of  Groton,  others 
of  New  London,  and  others  of  Coventry. 

(10-3)    Hannah,  daughter  of   John  Davis,  married  Jedediah 
Jones  18th  March,  1681,  and  resided  at  Scorton,  just  within  the 
bounds  of  Barnstable.     In  the  town  records  only  Shubael,  Simon, " 
Isaac,  Timothy  and  Hannah,  are  named  born  previous  to  1695. 

(11-4)    Mary,  daughter   of    John  Davis,  married   in  1677, 

Benjamin  Goodspeed,  and  had  Mary  Jan  10,  1677-8,  who  married 

•Ichabod  Hinckley,  and  receipted  for  his  wife's  legacy.     Nov.  24, 

1697,  she  married  Ensign  John  Hinckley  of  West  Barnstable.     By 

her  last  husband  she  had  no  children. 

(12-5)  Joseph,  son  of  John  Davis,  married,  March  28,  1682, 
Mary  Claghorn,  daughter  of  James.  He  resided  at  Chequaquet, 
and  died  about  1690.     She  died  1706. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

47.  I.     Simeon  19th  Jan.  1683. 

48.  II.     Marv,  19th  June  1685. 

49.  III.     Joseph,  April,  1687. 
60.  IV.     Robert,  13th  June  1689. 

James  Cahoon,  illegitimate  son  born  Oct.  25,  1696. 

(13-6)  Benjamin,  son  of  John  Davis,  died  unmarried  in  1718, 
and  his  estate  was  divided  among  his  brothers  and  sisters  and  their 
representatives  then  living:  1,  to  John  Davis,  (Samuel  died  in 
1711)  ;  2,  to  heirs  of  Hannah  Jones,  deceased;  3,  to  heirs  of 
Mary  Hinckley,  deceased  ;  4,  to  heirs  of  Joseph  Davis,  deceased, 
(Benjamin  and  Simon  deceased)  ;  5,  to  heirs  of  Dolar  Davis ; 
6,  to  heirs  of  Jabez  Davis ;  7,  to  Mary  Davis;  8,  to  Timothy 
Davis ;  and  9,  to  Ruth  Linnell.  Of  the  family  of  John  Davis 
four  were  living  in  1718,  three  had  died  leaving  no  issue,  and  five 


300         GENEALOGICAL    NQT^IS    QF    B/^KjSTSTAHLE    FAMILIES. 

who  had  families.  He  had  lands  at  Catacheset,  Oyster  Island, 
Cotuit,  Cooper's  Pond,  and  at  the  Common  Field.  .  He  owned  the 
dwelling-house  which  was  his  father's. 

(14-7)  Dolar,  son  of  John  Davis,  removed  early  to  South  Sea. 
His  farm  was  at  Skoneonet.  He  married,  3d  Aug.  1681,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  David  Linnell.  He  was  a  house  carpenter  and  joiner. 
He  died  in  1710,  and  names  in  his  will,  sons  Shubael,  Stephen, 
Daniel,  Job,  and  Noah,  and  daughters  Hannah,  Thankful,  Remem- 
ber Mercy.  He  gave  one  half  of  his  joiners  tools  to  Stephen, 
and  the  othef  half  and  all  his  carpenters  tools,  to  Job.  He  had 
two  swords,  which  indicates  that  he  had  seen  service  as  a  soldier. 
The  best  he  gave  to  j'ob,  and  the  other  to  Noah.  His  wife  is  not 
named;  and  was  probably  dead. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

51.  I.     Shubael,  23d  April,  1685,  married  twice. 

52.  II.     Thomas,  Aug.  1686  died  young. 

53.  Ill,     Hannah,  Dec.  1689. 

54.  IV.     Stephen,  Sept.  1690. 

55.  V.     Thankful,  March  1696. 

56.  VI.     Daniel,  July  1698. 

57.  VII.     Job,  July  1700. 

58.  VIII.     Noah,  Sept.  1702. 

59.  IX.     Remember  Mercy,  16th  Oct.  1704. 

(16-9)  Jabez,  son  of  John  Davis,  was  a  carpenter,,  and 
resided  in  Barnstable.  In  his  will  dated  29th  Sept.  1710,  he 
named  all  his  children  excepting  Reuben  and  Ebenezer,  who- 
probably  died  young.  He  orders  his  sons  Isaac  and  Jacob  to  be 
put  to  some  trades  as  soon  as  they  are  capable.  Inventory 
£538,16,08. 

Jabez  Davis  married,  20th  Aug.  1689,  Experience,  daughter 
of  David  Linnel,  of  Barnstable.  He  died  1710,  and  his  widow 
married,  JFeb.  13,  1711-12,  Benjamin  Hatch,  of  Falmouth..  She 
died  a  widow  Dec   1736. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

60.  I.     Nathan,  2d  March  1690,  (town  and  church  records.) 

61.  II.     Reuben,  (church  records.) 

62.  III.     'Samuel,  25th  Sept.  1692.     Removed  to  Connecticut. 

63.  IV.     Bathsheba,  16th  Jan.  1694. 

64.  V.     Isaac,  23d  April,  1.696,  died  in  1718. 

65.  VI.     Abigail,  26th  April,  1698,  married  Sept.  1718,  Joseph 
Hamblin. 

66.  VII.     Jacob,  Oct.  169§. 

67.  VIII.     Mercy,  6th  Feb.  1701. 

68.  IX.     Ebenezer,  bap   23d  June,  1706. 

69.  X.     Solomon,  4th  Sept.  1706. 


70. 

I. 

71. 

II. 

72. 

III. 

73. 

IV. 

74. 

V. 

75. 

VI. 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         301 

(17-10)  Mercy,  daughter  of  John  Davis,  was  an  old  maid, 
.  gentle,  kind,  affectionate,  nurse  and  physician  to  her  father  and 
mother,  her  brothers  and  sisters,  and  the  host  who  called  her  aunt. 
She  died  in  1733,  aged  about  70,  and  bequeathed  her  whole  estate 
to  her  sister  Ruth  Linnell,  to  children  of  her  brother  John,  and  to 
her  nephew  Simon  Davis. 

(18-11)  Timothy,  son  of  John  Davis,  joined  the  society  of 
Friends  and  removed  to  Rochester,  and  is  the  ancestor  of  the 
Davis's  in  New  Bedford  and  Rochester.  Until  the  discovery  of 
Samuel  Davis' Will  they  were' unable  to  trace  their  descent  from 
Dolar.  They  knew  they  were  distantly  related  to  the  Davis's  in 
Falmouth,  descendants  of  John  Jr.,  and  that  Nicholas,  the  early 
Quaker,  was  a  connection,  but  the  degree  of  consanguinity  was 
unknown. 

Timothy   Davis   married    7th   of  ,  1st   month,   1690,    Sarah, 
daughter  of    Edward  Perry,  of   Sandwich.     His  oldest  son  was 
born  in  Sandwich,  his  other  children  probably  in  Rochester. 
Nicholas,  Oct.  28,  1690. 
Hannah,  Sept.  17,  1692. 
.     Sarah,  March  18,  1693-6. 
Rest,  Sept.  17,  1700. 
Peace,  April  14,  1702. 
Dorcas,  Sept.  10,  1704. 

These  dates  are  from  the  records  of  the  Sandwich  monthly 
meeting,  and  first  month  was  then  March. 

(19-12)  Ruth,  daughter  of  John  Davis,  married,  in  1695, 
John  Linnel,  one  of  the  first  who  removed  to  South  Sea.  His 
house  was  at  Hyannis  Port,  and  was  taken  down  a  few  years  ago. 
She  had  seven  children ;  making  the  whole  number  of  the  grand 
children  of  John  Davis,  Senior,  56.  She  died  May  8,  1748,  in 
the  75th  year  of  her  age,  and  is  buried  in  the  ancient  grave  yard 
at  Barnstable. 

[The  Concord  and  Falmouth  branches  are  here  dropt.J 

(47-1)  Capt.  Simon  Davis,  son  of  Joseph,  born  19th  Jan. 
1683-4,  was  an  officer  in  the  militia,  and  a  man  of  some  note.  At 
41  he  married.  May  12,  1725,  Elizabeth  Lumbert,  who  died  leav- 
ing no  issue.  At  56  he  married  Priscilla  Hamblin,  (June  5,  1740.) 
By  her  he  had  Mary,  Feb.  28,  1741-2  ;  Content,  March  23,  1743-4  ; 
Priscilla,  Feb.  17,  1745-6,  and  Joseph  baptized  July  17,  1748. 
She  died  April  1751,  aged  41. 

(50-4)  Robert,  son  of  Joseph  Davis,  probably  removed  to 
Rochester,  where  he  had  by  Mary,  Joseph,  April  8,  1727; 
Benjamin,  Feb.  22,  1728-9  ;  Benajah,  June  27,  1734. 

(51-1)  Shubael  Davis,  son  of  Dolar,  married,  Sept.  15,  1720, 
Hopestill  Lumbert,  and  2nd,  Patience  Crocker  1727. 

(54-4)  Stephen  Davis,  son  of  Dolar,  married  Desire  Lewis 
March  12,  1730.  He  died  very  suddenly  Dec.  7,  1756.  He  had 
Mary  and  Martha,  twins,  born  April  23,  1732  ;  Jonathan  baptized 


302         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

June  8,  1740  ;  and  Stephen  born  July  6,  1746.  Mary  married 
Benjamin  Lumbert,  Jr.,  May  23,  1751  ;  Martha,  Joseph  Lewis, 
Esq. 

(56-6)  Daniel  Davis,  son  of  Dolar,  married  Mary  Lothrop. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable  :  Daniel,  April  1,  1724  ;  Samuel,  May 

8,  1727;  Joseph,  May  28,  1729,  died  June  30,  same  year; 
Jonathan,  Sept.  21,  1733.  Mrs.  Mary  Davis  was  dismissed  Sept. 
26,  1742,  from  the  Barnstable  church  to  the  church  in  Lebanon, 
Conn. 

(57-7)  Job  Davis,  son  of  Dolar,  married,  Dec.  22,  1724, 
Mary  Phinney.  He  inherited  the  estate  of  his  ancestor  John. 
He  died  April  4,  1751,  aged  50,  and  his  widow  died  at  the  great 
age  of  98  years.  Their  children  were:  1,  Mary,  June  21,  1725, 
died  young;  2,  Thomas,  Oct.  16,  1726,  deaf  and  dumb,  was  a 
weaver,  died  unmarried;  3,  Shubael,  March  19,  1729,  married 
Thankful  Lewis,  Jr.,  April  30,  1852;  4,  Mary,  July  18,  1731, 
married  Thomas  Young  Feb.  1759-60  :  5,  Mehitabel,  March  9, 
1733-4,  married  1st  Gershom  Cobb  Feb.  6,  1761-2,  and  2d, 
Nathaniel  Lothrop,' 1776  ;  6,  Seth,  Dec.  27,  1736;  7,  Hannah, 
Sept.  6,  1739,  married  David  Childs  April  4,  1758,  and  through 
her  the  ancient  Davis  estate  passed  into  the  Child  family ;  8, 
Ebenezer,  Dec.  17,  1742,  deaf  and  dumb,  a  shoe  maker.  He 
removed  to  Maine. 

(58-8)  Noah  Davis,  son  of  Dolar,  married.  May  7,  1724, 
Hannah  Fuller,  and  had  Lewis,  Aug.  26,  1724;  Thankful,  March 

9,  1728;  Eunice,  April  20,  1734;  John,  baptized  July  4,  1742; 
Joseph,  Oct.  21,  1746.  Eunice  married  Jabez  Claghorn  Nov.  21, 
1759. 

(60-1)  Nathan  Davis,  son  of  Jabez,  was  a  wheelwright,  he 
married,  24th  Nov.  1714,  Elizabeth  Phinney,  and  had  Jabez  7th 
Oct.  1715;  Sarah,  12th  Aug.  1717;  Elizabeth,  15th  Sept.  1718; 
Isaac,  9th  June  1720.  He  administered  on  his  brother  Isaac's 
estate  in  1710. 

Solomon,  sou  of  Jabez  Davis,  married  Mehitabel  Stertevat  of 
Sandwich,  and  removed  to  that  town. . 

(70-1)  Nicholas  Davis,  son  of  Timothy,  belonged  to  the 
Society  of  Friends  and  resided  at  Rochester.  He  was  a  Quaker 
preacher,  and  spent  most  of  his  time  in  Rochester  and  Dart- 
mouth. He  however  travelled  extensively,  visiting  North  Caro- 
lina, Virginia,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York.  On  his  return  from  a  journey  from  New  York  he 
was  taken  sick  of  a  fever  and  died  at  the  house  of  William  Russell 
in  Oblong,  10th  month,  7th  Oct.  1775,  (after  1752  January  was  the 
first  month)  in  the  65th  year  of  his  age.  He  married  thrice. 
1st,  Mary,  2d,  Hannah,  and  3d  Ruth.  By  his  first  wife  he  had 
Nathan  born  11th  month,  (Jan.)  28,  1715-16;  Elizabeth,  11 
month,  20,  1718-19.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  no  children.  By 
his  third  wife,  Timothy,  born  2d  month  (April)  9, 1730.;  Nicholas, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        303 

3  month,  (May)  10, 1732  ;  Abram,  12th  month  (Feb.)  20,  1735-6  ; 
(Rochester  records  Feb.  1,  1736)  Mary,  5th  month  (July)  3, 
1742  ;  James,  3d  month  (May)  1743.  The  latter  was  grandfather 
to  Wm.  P.  Davis  of  Yarmouth.  Timothy  of  this  family  was  a 
Quaker  preacher.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  an  ardent  whig, 
and  wrote  a  pamphlet  in  favor  of  prosecuting  the  war.  For  this, 
he  was  disowned  by  his  brethren.  [It  is  said,  on  what  authority 
I  am  unable  to  say,  that  Jefferson  Davis  is  a  descendant  of 
Timothy.] 

In  early  times  the  descendants  of  .Dolar  Davis  were  very 
numerous  in  Barnstable ;  now  not  one  remains  who  is  a  legal 
voter.  Many  families  of  the  name  removed  ;  but  not  so  many  as 
of  some  other  names.  Many  of  the  families  have  dwindled  and 
died  out. 

The  Davis  families  in  Truro  are  descendants  of  Benjamin 
Davis,  born  about  the  year  1730.  He  married  Betsey  Webb.  He 
had  Benjamin  who  removed  first  to  Chatham  and  thence  to  Reed- 
fleld,  Maine  ;  James  W.  ;  Ebenezer  L.  ;  and  Betsey  who  married 
Solomon  Mirick,  of  Brewster.  His  son  Ebenezer  L.  married 
Azubah  Hinckley,  and  had,  Dianah,  Solomon,  Ebenezer,  Betsey, 
Benjamin,  Azubah,  and  Joshua  H.,  most  of  whom  are  now  living. 
James  W.  has  also  descendants  now  living. 


DELAR 


JAMES  DELAP. 


'  In  1688,  when  William  and  Mary  ascended  the  throne  of 
England,  manufacturing  industry  had  given  wealth  and  prosperity 
to  Ireland.  In  the  first  year  of  their  reign  the  royal  assent  was 
given  to  laws  passed  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  to  discourage 
the  manufactures  of  Ireland  which  competed  with  those  of  Eng- 
land. Lord  Fitzwilliam  says  that  by  this  inviduous  policy  100,000 
operatives  were  driven  out  of  Ireland.  Many  of  the  Protestants 
to  Germany,  some  of  the  Catholics  to  Spain,  and  multitudes  of 
all  classes  to  America.  Dobbe,  on  Irish  trade,  printed  in  Dublin  . 
in  1729,  estimated  that  3000  males  left  Ulster  yearly  for  the 
colonies. 

The  tolerant  policy  of  William  Penn,  induced  many  to  settle 
in  Pennsylvania.  The  arrivals  at  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  of  Irish 
emigrants,  for  the  year  ending  December  1729,  was  5,655.  The 
satiriol  Dean  Swift  reproached  the  aristocracy  for  their  suicidal 
impolicy  "in  cultivating  cattle  and  banishing  men." 

The  Irish  emigrants  who  came  over  at  the  close  of  the  1 7tb 
and  the  beginning  of  the  18th  centuries,  were  a  very  different 
class  from  those  who  now  throng  to  our  shores.  Very  few  could 
claim  a  purely  Celtic  ancestry.  Those  from  the  north  of  Ireland 
were  descendants  of  Scots  who  had  settled  there  and  were  known 
as  Scotch  Irish.  Many  were  descendants  of  English  parents,  and 
of  the  Huguenots  who  found  an  asylum  in  Ireland  after  the 
Eevocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantz.  A  large  proportion  of  them 
were  tradesmen,  artisans,  and  manufacturers.  Many  settled  in 
the  Southern  States.  Londonderry,  in  New  Hampshire,  -was 
settled  by  the  Scotch  Irish,  and  several  towns  in  Maine.  Many 
settled  in  various  towns  in  New  England,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
most  noted  men  in  our  country  trace  their  descent  from  these 
Irish  refugees.  Among  these  are  some  families  of  the  name  of 
Allison,  Butler,  Cathern,  Carroll,  Clinton,  Fulton,  Jackson,  Knox, 
McDonouah,  Ramesy,  Read,  Sullivan,  Walsh,  Wayne,  and  many 
others  distinguished  in  the  annals  of    our  country.     Of    the   fiftv- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        305 

six  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  nine  were  Irish, 
or  of  Irish  origin. 

The  influence  of  this  class  of  imigrants  has  not  been  suffi- 
ciently appreciated.  The  acts  of  the  British  Parliament  which 
brought  ruin  to  Ireland,  gave  prosperity  to  America.  Wherever 
the  Irish  refugees  settled,  there  mechanical  and  manufacturing 
industry  was  developed,  giving  a  diversity  of  employment  to  the 
people,  adding  to  their  wealth,  and  making  them  prosperous  and 
less  dependent  on  the  mother  country.  The  introduction  of  steam 
power,  the  construction  of  canals  and  many  great  public  enter- 
prises, originate'd  with,  or  were  promoted,  and  brought  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue,  by  the  descendants  of  these  settlers.  In  the 
Revolutionary  army  many  of  the  most  efficient  officers  were  Irish, 
or  sons  of  Irishmen.  In  civil  life  many  were  eminent.  Gov. 
James  Sullivan  of  Mass.,  w.sis  the  son' of  a  Limerick  school 
master,  who  with  other  Irish  families  settled  in  Belfast,  Maine,  in 
1723.  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  the  son  of  an  Irish  refugee. 

Among  them  were  men.  distinguished  in  literature,  George 
Berkluy,  Dean  of  Derry,  came  in  1729.  His  "Theory  of  Vision" 
has  made  his  name  familiar  in  Europe.  His  object  was  to  estab- 
lish a  college  for  the  conversion  of  the  red  race.  He  settled  at 
Newport  where  he  had  a  farm  of  ninety  acres.  Failing  in  his 
purposes  in  1732,  he  gave  his  farm  and  the  finest  collection  of 
books  which  had  then  come  over  at  one  time,  to  Yale  College.  In 
Newport  his  "Minute  Phylosopher"  was  composed,  and  the  follow- 
ing beautiful  lines  so  poetical  in  conception,  and  known  to  -every 
school  boy  to  "this  day  : 

"Westward  the  Star  of  Empire  takes  its  way, 

Tlie  tliree  first  acts  already  past; 
The  fourth  shall  close  it  with  the  closing  day, 

Earth's  noblest  Empire  is  the  last." 

Among  the  first  settlers  in  this  County  several  Irish  names 
occur.  Higgins  is  a  Longford  name.  The  Kelley's  descended 
from  the  O'Kelley's,  a  noted  clan  resident  near  Dublin.  In  latter 
fimes,  several  of  the  Scotch-Irish  settled  in  Barnstable,  namely : 
William  Belford,  James  Delap,  John  Cullio,  John  Easterbrooks, 
and  Matthew  Wood. 

Charles  Clinton,  the  ancestor  of  the  Clintons  in  New  York, 
was  born  in  Longford,  Ireland,  in  the  year  1690.  His, grand- 
father William  was  an  adherent  of  Charles  T,  and  took  refuge  in 
the  north  of  Ireland.  His  father  James  married  Elizabeth  Smith, 
a  daughter  of  one  of  the  Captains  in  Cromwell's  army.  He  was 
a  man  of  wealth  and  influence,  and  induced  many  of  his  friends 
and  neighbors  to  emigrate  with  him  to  America.  He  chartered 
the  ship  George  and  Ann,  Capt.  Ryper,  to  transport  them  and 
their  effects  from  Dublin  to  Philadelphia.  The  whole  number  of 
passengers,  including  men,  women,  and  children,  was  one  hundred 


306        GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

and  fourteen.  Among  the  papers  of  Mr.  Charles  Clinton  is  a 
document  showing  that  he  paid  the  passage  money  for  ninety- 
four. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  unfortunate  in  his  selection  of  a  ship ; 
but  more  unfortunate  in  his  selection  of  a  captain.  Rymer 
was  a  cold  blooded  tyrant,  of  whom  his  officers  and  sailors 
were  in  constant  fear,  and  as  base  a  villian  as  ever  trod  the  deck 
of  a  slave-ship.  The  George  and  Ann  sailed  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1729,  from  the  port  of  Dublin  for  Philadelphia,  poorly  supplied 
with  stores  for  a  voyage  of  the  ordinary  length,  but  protracted  by 
the  infamy  of  the  master  to  one  hundred  and  ttiirty-five  days. 
The  passengers  were  not  isolated  individuals  who  had  casually  met 
on  ship-board,  they  consisted  of  families  who  had  converted 
their  estates,  excepting  such  portion  as  they  could  con- 
veniently take  with  them,  into  gold,  to  purchase  lands  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  build  a  town  where  they  could  enjoy  the 
civil  apd  religious  privileges  denied  to  them  in  their  native 
land.  They  had  selected  the  mild  season  of  the  year  for  their 
passage,  and  expected  to  arrive  in  Philadelphia  in  July,  in  season 
to  select  their  place  of  residence,  and  put  up  dwellings  before 
winter.  Such  were  their  anticipations.  They  did  not  dream  that 
half  of  their  number  would  find  watery  graves  before  reaching 
the  shores  of  America. 

Among  the  passengers  in  this  ill-fated  ship  were  the  father 
and  mother  of  James  Delap,  and  his  sisters  Rose,  Jean,  and 
Sarah.  Tradition  says  there  was  another  child  whose  name  is  not 
preserved.  The  Delap  family  were  from  Cavan,  a  county 
adjoining  Longford,  the  former  home  of  nearly  all  the  other 
passengers.  There  were  two  on  board  whom  Capt.  Delap  in  his 
narrative,  calls  "Methodists."* 

Several  besides  Mr.  Clinton  had  considerable  sums  in  gold 
and  silver  coins.  This  was  known  to  the  captain,  and  excited  his 
cupidity,  and  he  resolved  to  prolong  the  voyage,  and  to  keep  his 
ship  at  sea  until  his  provisions  were  exhausted,  and  his  passengers 
had  died  of  famine  and  disease,  and  then  seize  and  appropriate 
their  goods  to  his  own  use.  Such  was  the  diabolical  plan  of  Capt. 
Rymer. 

The  ship  had  not  long  been  at  sea  before  the  passengers 
began  to  mistrust  that  the  captain  had  evil  designs.  He  was 
tyrannical  in  the  exercise  of  his  authority,  and  his  officers  and 
men  were  in  constant  fear  of  him.  The  ship  was  making  slow 
progress  towards  her  port  of .  destination,  the  passengers  had  been 
put  on  short  allowance,  and  some  had  already  died  of  disease 
engendered  by  the  small  quantity  and  bad  quality  of  the  provisions 

*No  Methodist  preachers  came  oyer  as  early  as  1729.  "MethodiBt"  was  a  nick-name 
then  applied  to  men  who  were  very,  exact  in  the  performance  of  their  religious  duties, 
whether  Catholic  or  Protestant.  The  converts  of  the  ■Wesle3''8'  were  called  "Methodist," 
and  they  adopted  the  name,  as  the  converts  of  Fox  did  that  of  Qualter. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         307 

served  out.  Starvation  and  death  seemed  inevitable  if  no  change 
could  be  effected,  and  the  passengers,  after  consultation,  resolved 
to  assume  the  command  if  a  change  could  not' otherwise  be  made. 
The  two  called  "Methodists,"  having  some  knowledge  of  the 
theory  and  practice  of  invigation,  were  appointed  to  watch  night 
and  day  all  the  movements  of  Capt.  Rymer.  One  night  soon 
afterwards,  they  discovered  that  though  the  wind  was  fair,  the 
ship  was  sailing  in  an  opposite  direction  from  her  true  course. 
They  inquired  of  the  helmsman  why  he  so  steered  ;  his  reply  was, : 
"that  is  the  captain's  order." 

This  fact  was  communicated  to  the  other  passengers.  Several 
had  then  died  of  starvation,  and  many  had  become  so  weak  and 
emaciated  by  want  of  food  and  nourishment  that  they  could 
scarcely  stand.  Though  weak  and  feeble  they- resolved  to  make 
an  effort  to  compel  the  captain  to  keep  his  ship  on  her  true  course, 
both  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  One  of  the  passengers  had  a 
brace  of  pistols.  These  Xvere  loaded  and  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  "Methodists,"  and  all  the  passengers  who  had  sufficient 
strength  remaining  followed  them  to  the  quarter  deck.-f"  With  the 
loaded  pistols  in  their  hands  they  charged  the  captain  with 
treachery,  with  protracting  the  voyage,  with  the  design  of  keep- 
ing the  ship  at  sea  till  all  the  passengers  had  perished  of  disease 
or  famine,  and  then  seize  on  their  goods.  He  said  in  reply  that 
the  voyage  had  been  prolonged  by  ■  head  winds,  and  not  by  any 
fault  or  connivance  of  himself  or  his  offcers.  They  then  charged 
him  with  having  kept  his  ship  off  her  course  in  the  night,  thus 
deceiving  the  passengers,  who  were  mostly  landsmen,  and  unable 
in  dark  weather  to  judge  whether  or  not  the  ship  was  on  her  true 
course ;  with  issuing  fuller  rations  to  his  crew  than  to  the  passen- 
ers  that  he  might  be  able  to  navigate  his  ship.  Seeing  the  resolute 
and  determined  manner  of  the  passengers,  he  made  fair  promises  ; 
but  he  made  them  only  that  he  might  break  them.  J 

The  Capes  of  Virginia  was  the  first  land  made,  but  no  date  is 
given,  from  whence,  according  to  the  pretence  of  the  captain,  he 
was  driven  by  stress  of  weather  to  Cape  Cod,  making  the  land  on 
the  4th  of  October  1729. 

This  was  only  pretence,- and  though  his  surviving  passengers 
earnestly  persuaded  him  to  land  them,  according  to  contract,  at 
Philadelphia,  or  at  New  York,  or  at  any  port  he  could  make,  he 
refused  to  accede  to  their  requests,  and  obstinately  kept  his  vessel 
at  sea,  though  his  passengers  were  daily  perishing  for  want  of 


t  Another  account  says  this  occurred  in  the  cabin  of  the  ship.  Prudence  required  that  it 
should  not  occur  in  presence  of  the  crew,  and  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  tradition 
in  our  family  is  at  fault  in  this  particular. 

X  Wliether  this  uprising  among  the  passengers  was  before  or  after  land  had  been  dis- 
covered is  not  named  in  the  narrative  of  Capt.  Delap.  "  It  probably  occurred  before.  It  is 
refeiTed  to  in  several  notices  of  the  voyage  that  I  have  seen.;  but  the  date  of  its  occurrence 
is  not  given,  nor  the  date  of  the  first  sight  of  land. 


308         GENEAIXJGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAHNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

food.  Every  sailor  knows  that  the  gale  which  would  drive  a 
vessel  from  the  Capes  of  Virginia  to  Cape  Cod,  would  enable  a 
captain  of  very  moderate  attainments  to  havp  made  a  harbor  either 
in  the  Chespeake  or  in  Delaware  Bay,  or  to  have  reached  the  port 
of  New  York.  Like  many  other  villains,  he  did  not  see  the  goal 
to  which  his  base  conduct  inevitably  led.  When  off  the  Capes  of 
Virginia  he  had  wit  enough  to  perceive  the  difBculty  in  which  he 
was  involved.  If  he  listened  to  his  passengers,  and  made  for  the 
port  of  Philadelphia,  he  would  have  been  immediately  ari-ested  on 
his  arrival,  and  his  only  alternative  was  to  keep  his  ship  at  sea, 
avoid  speaking  any  vessel,  and  persist  in  his  diabolical  purpose. 

The  New  England  Weekly  Journal,  printed  at  Boston  Nov. 
10,  1729,  contains  the  following  notice  of  the  arrival  of  the 
George  and  Ann : 

"We  hear  from  Martha's  Vineyard  that  some  time  last  month 
Capt.  Lothrop,  in  his  passage  from  this  place  (Boston)  to  that 
island,  off  of  Monomoy  espied  a  vessel  which  put  out  a  signal  of 
distress  to  them.  He  making  up  to  her  went  aboard  ;  found  her  to 
be  a  vessel  from  Ireland,  bound  for  Philadelphia,  (as  they  said) 
who  had  been  from  thence  20  weeks  and  brought  out  190  passen- 
gers, 30  of  whom  were  children,  being  destitute  of  provision, 
(having  then  but  15  biscuit  on  board),  100  of  them  were  starved 
to  death,  among  which  were  all  the  children  except  one,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  passengers  looked  very  ghastfully.  They  craved 
hard  for  water,  of  which  one  drank  to  that  degree  that  he  soon 
after  died  ;  and  two  more  died  while  Capt.  Lothrop  was  aboard. 
Only  three  of  the  sailors  were  aiive  (besides  the  master  and  mate) 
and  they  sick.  They  entreated  him  to  pilot  them  into  the  first 
harbor  they  could  get  into,  but  the  master  was  for  bringing  them 
to  Boston.  They  told  him  if  he  would  not  let  the  pilot  carry 
them  into  what  place  he  should  think  fit,  they  would  throw  him 
overboard  ;  upon  which  Capt.  Lothrop  having  brought  the  vessel 
off  of  Sandy  Point,  told  them  there  was  but  one  house  near,  and 
spoke  of  going  somewhere  else,  but  they  were  all  urgent  to  put 
them  ashore  anywhere,  if  it  were  but  land.  Accordingly  he 
carried  them  in  and  left  them  there,  with  provisions  ;  'tis  thought 
many  are  since  dead.  Notwithstanding  their  extremity,  and  the 
sad  spectacles  of  death  before  their  eyes,  and  a  near  prospect  of 
their  own,  'twas  astonishing  to  behold  their  impenitence,  and  to 
hear  their  profane  speeches." 

The  renowned  Capt.  John  Smith,  and  other  early  navigators, 
speak  of  Isle  Nauset,  which  in  ancient  times  extended  from  the 
entrance  to  Nauset  harbor,  south  about  four  miles.  Deep  naviga- 
ble waters  now  occupy  its  location.  The  loose  sands  of  which 
it  was  composed  have  been  carried  southward  by  the  currents,  or 
blown  inward,  covering  up  the  meadows,  which  for  many  years 
have  been  seen  croping  out  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  beach,  which 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTAIiLE    FAJIILIB!<;.        309 

has  passed  entirely  over  them,  and  united  with  Pochet  islands. 
The  harbor  between  the  latter  and  Nauset  Itle  is  now  entirely  filled 
up.  Since  1729  Monomoy  Point,  in  Chatham,  has  extended  south 
several  miles.  The  point  which  Capt.  Lothrop  calls  Sandy,  was 
then  about  four  miles  north  of  Monomoy  Point.  A  vessel  then 
entering  Chatham  harbor  could  sail  eight  miles  in  a  northerly 
direction  within  the  islands  up  to  the  present  town  of  Eastham". 
It  is  certain  that  Capt.  Rymer  landed  his  passengers  at  Nauset, 
and  in  that  part  of  the  territory,  now  called  Orleans. 

When  Captain  Lothrop  boarded  the  George  and  Ann,  Mono- 
moy Point  was  the  nearest  land  ;  a  barren,  desolate  region,  where 
neither  shelter  nor  provisions  could  be  procured.  The  point  which 
,  he  called  Sandy  point  was  on  the  north  of  the  entrance  to  Chat- 
ham, probably  then  separated  by  a  channel  from  Isle  Nauset. 
This  was  also  a  barren,  desolate  region,  with  only  one  house. 
The  settlement  at  Chatham  was  the  nearest,  but  at  that  time  there 
were  only  a  few  inhabitants  scattered  over  a  large  territory. 
Capt.  Lothrop  judged  it  better  to  proceed  further  up  the  harbor  to 
Nauset,  or  Eastham,  an  older  settlement,  where  an  abundance  of 
supplies  could  be  procured.  The  passengers  were  probably  landed 
near  the  head  of  Putamomacut  harbor,  in  the  easterly  part  of  the 
present  town  of  Orleans.  Tradition  says  they  were  landed  on 
Nauset  Beach  ;  but  it  was  equally  as  convenient  to  set  them  ashore 
on  the  main  land,  and  not  on  a  desert  island.  J 

Capt.  Lothrop  belonged  to  Barnstable,  and  was  a  very  relia- 
ble and  accurate  man.  He  states  that  the  number  of  passengers 
was  190,  instead  of  114.  I  give  both  statements,  not  knowing 
which  is  the  most  accurate. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  fourteen  (or  190  as  stated  by  Loth- 
rop) who  embarked  at  Dublin,  less  than  one-half  were  then  living 
— all  the  rest  had  been  committed  to  the  watery  deep.  Of  the 
Delap  family  the  father,  Rose,  Jane,  Sarah,  and  another,  had  been 
buried  in  the  ocean.  The  mother  was  living  when  Capt.  Lothrop 
came  on  board — emaciated  and  very  weak,  in  consequence  of  long 
abstinence.  "When  food  was  distributed  she  took  a  biscuit,  and 
in  attempting  to  swallow  it  a  piece  lodged  in  her  throat,  and 
before  relief  could  be  obtained,  expired.  Her  body  was  taken  on 
shore,  and  buried  at  Nauset.  James,  when  taken  from  the  boat, 
was  so  weak  that  he  could  not  stand,  and  crawled  from  the  boat 
to  the  beach.  After  landing  the  surviving  passengers  and  some 
of   their  goods,  Capt.  Rymer  proceeded  on  his  voyage  to  Phila- 


J  June  25, 1863.  Not  being  able  to  clearly  understand  the  statement  of  Capt.  Lothrop, 
which  I  received  this  week,  I  went  yesterday  to  Nauset  beach,  and  examined  the  localities, 
and  I  feel  certain  that  the  comments  made  thereon  are  reliable  and  accurate.  Monomoy  is 
now  called  also  Sandy  Point,  which  creates  confusion.  By  Sandy  Point  Capt.  Lothrop 
meant  the  point  at  the  north  entrance  of  Chatham  harbor,  possibly  he  may  have  meant  the 
point  at  the' entrance  of  Potamomacut  harbor;  but  be  that  as  it  may  it  does  not  affect  the 
result.  Now  if  a  vessel  should  arrive  olf  Chatham  in  such  condition  the  news  would  be 
transmitted  to  Boston  in  an  hour,  then  it  was  thirty-five  days  before  the  intelligence  reached 
Boston. 


HIO         GKNEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLK    FAMILIES. 

delphia.  After  his  ai-rival  the  sailors,  relieved  from  the  terror  in 
which  they  had  been  held,  entered  a  complaint  against  their 
Captain.  He  was  arrested,  a  preliminary  examination  was  had, 
and  he  was  sent  in  irons  to  P^nglaud  for  trial.  The  charges  of 
cruelty  to  his  passengers  and  crew,  of  extortion,  and  of  an 
attempt  to  embezzle  the  goods  of  the  passengers,  were  proved, 
and  he  was  condemned  to  be  hung  and  quartered,  and  this  just 
sentence  was  duly  executed  in  Dublin.* 

Such  is  the  short  and  sad  narrative  of  the  passage  of  James 
Delap  to  this  country.  No  details  of  Individual  suffering  are 
given.  The  fact  that  more  than  one-half  of  all  on  board  perished 
of  starvation,  is  a  suggestive  one.  He  was  then  fourteen  years  of 
age;  young,  but  the  incidents  of  such  a- passage  would  make  a< 
deep  impression,  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  So  far  as  known,  he 
was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  family — an  orphan  boy,  weak  and 
emaciated — a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  without  money,  without 
any  friend  or  protector  but  "the  father  of  the  fatherless." 

Little  is  known  of  his  orphanage.  From  Eastham  he  came 
to  Barnstable,  and  Nov.  5,  1729,  he  chose  John  Bacon,  Jr., 
saddler,  for  his  guardian,  with  whom  he  resided  during  his  minor- 
ity, as  an  apprentice  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith. f 

He  had  a  guardian  appointed  early  that  he  might,  as  stated  in 
the  record,  have  an  agent  who  had  legal  authority  to  secure  the 
small  "estate  of  his  Honored  father,  deceased."  A  small  portion 
was  recovered,  and  on  the  26th  of  the  following  January  apprised' 
at  £16, 4s  by  Geo.  Lewis,  James  Cobb,  and  John  Scudder,  Jr. 
The  "Goods  and  Chatties"  saved  consisted  of  articles  of  men  and 
women's  apparel,  bedding,  table  linen,  woolen  yarns,  and  a  gun. 

Capt.  Delap  always  spoke  kindly  of  his  "Master  Bacon." 
He  was  treated  as  a  member  of  the  family.  The  children 
regarded  him  as  a  brother,  and  for  three  successive  generations 
the  relation  between  the  families  was  most  intimate. 


*  Respecting  the  Toj'agc  and  its  lermination,  there  are  some  discrepencies.  Iloosack. 
in  his  life  of  Clinton,  says  tlie  ship  sailed  from  Dublin  in  May,  1729,  and  after  a  voyage  of  21 
weeks  and  3  days  arrived  at  Cape  Cod,  in  the  fall,  where  Mr.  Clinton  and  his  surviving 
friends  remained  till  the  following  spring,  when  they  took  passage  for  New  Winsor,  Orange 
Co.,  New  York.  As  the  ship  had  been  insured  in  Dublin  the  captain  contrived  to  let  her 
slip  her  moorings  on  a  stormy  night,  in  which  she  was  lost.  The^accouat  in  Hoosack  says 
that  the  captain  kept  his  passengers  at  sea  until  he  extorted  a  sum  of  money  from  them  to 
land  them;  that  Clinton  wanted. the  officers  oi  the  ship  to  seize  the  Captain  and  ship  but 
they  refused. 

Eager,  in  his  history  of  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  says  the  Captain  was  seized,  put  in  irons 
by  the  passengers,  and  the  command  given  to  the  mate,  who  brought  the  vessel  in,  in  a 
few  days. 

Among  the  passengers  were  three  of  the  name  of  Armstrong,  all  of  whom  died  on  the 
passage,  Charles  Clinton  and  wife,  Alexander  Dennison,  and  John  Young,  who  survived. 
[For  the  information  in  this  note,  I  am  indebted  to  E.  B.  O'Callagan,  Esq.,  of  Albany.  I 
am  also  indebted  to  Hon.  .John  G.  Palfrey,  and  Rev.  Henry  M.  Dexter,  of  Boston,  and  J.  R. 
Bordhead,  Esq.,  author  of  the  history  of  New  York,  for  assistance  in  compiling  this 
article.] 

t  John  Bacon,  -Jr.,  was  the  father  of  the  late  Capt.  Isaac  Bacon,  Sen'r,  and  own^d  the 
house  in  which  the  latter  lived,  a  large  two  story  gambrel  roofed  honse,  that  stood  next  east 
of  the  ancient  Bacon  mansion.  .John  Bacon,  Jr.,  is  called  a  saddler,  lie  was  also  a  black- 
smith and  a  sailor.  His  blacksmith's  shop  stood  on  the  west  of  his  house,  near  the  row  of 
ancient  cherry  trees,  and  there  James  learned  his  trade. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAilNSTABLP:    FAMILIES.        311 

After  completing  the  term  of  his  apprenticeship,  he  bought 
the  estate  of  Jeremiah  Bacon,  Jr.,  bounded  south  by  the  county 
road,  the  present  lane  to  the  Common  Field  is  on  the  west  of  his 
land,  north  by  Mill  Creek,  and  east  by  a  small  run  of  water,  con- 
taining three  and  one-half  acres,  with  the  two  story  single  house 
thereon.  His  shop  stood  on  the  road,  east  of  the  irun  of  water. 
The  hill  on  the  east  of  his  shop  is  yet  known  as  Delap's  Hill. 

In  the  summer  season  he  sailed  in  the  Barnstable  and  Boston 
packet,   at   first,   with   Capt.   Solomon   Otis,   and   afterwards   as ' 
master.      In  the   winter   he   was   employed   in   his   blacksmith's 
shop. 

June  22,  1738,  he  was  married  by  Rev.  Mr.  Green,  to  Mary, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  O'Kelley,  of  Yarmouth.  She  was  born 
April  8,  1720,  O.  S.,  and  at  the  tirne  of  her  marriage  had  been 
residing  in  the  family  of  Deacon  Isaac  Hamblin  of  Yarmouth. 
Though  only  18,  she  was  a  member  of  the  Church  in  Yarmouth,, 
and  was  all  her  life  a  woman  of  exemplary  piety.  Her  mother, 
Mary,  was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  (Walker)  Lumbert, 
born  in  Barnstable  17th  June,  1688.  She  was  a  widow  many 
years,  and  resided  with  her  daughter,  was  a  mid-wife,  a  vocation 
which  a  century  ago  was  a  very  common  and  very  useful  employ- 
ment for  females.  She  was  experienced,  and  stood  high  in  her 
profession.  When  more  than  four  score  years,  when  on  her  way 
to  visit  a  patient,  her  horse  stumbled,  and  she  fell  and  broke  her 
leg ;  but  after  being  confined  to  her  room  some  months  she  . 
recovered,  and  resumed  her  useful  labors  for  a  short  time.  She 
died,  according  to  t^e  church  records.  May  1,  1772,  aged  82  years 
— nearly  84  years  of  age,  if  her  birth  is  accurately  recorded. 

Capt.  James  Delap  removed  from  Barnstable  to  Granville, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1775,  and  resided  on  a  farm 
which  he ,  inherited  from  his  son  Thomas,  who  died  young.  All 
his  family  removed  with  him  excepting  his  daughters  Rose  and 
Catherine.  His  health  began  to  fail  before  he  removed  from 
Barnstable,  and  he  died  in  Granville  in  1789,  of  apoplexy,  aged 
about  74. 

He  is  spoken  of  as  a  "very  friendly,  civil  man,  hospitable  to 
strangers,  kind  to  all,  and  very  liberal  in  his  efforts  to  educate  his 
children."  His  letters  to  his  children  indicate  that  he  was.  a 
very  affectionate  parent,  and  took  a  lively  interest  in  their  welfare. 
"In  person  he  was  short,  thick  set,  stout  built,  with  a  short  neck, 
a  form  which  physiologists  say  predisposes  to  apoplexy  of  which 
he  had  three  shocks,  two  before  he  removed  from  Barnstable.  In 
politics,  he  was  a  staunch  loyalist,  a  fact  that  seems  inconsistent 
with  the  history  of  his  family.  Though  his  widow  was  sixty -nine 
years  of  age  at  his  death,  she  married  John  Hall,  Esq.,  of  Gran- 
ville, whom  she  survived.  She  died  June  4,  1804,  aged  84  years. 
She  was  an  exemplary  and  consistent  Christian  ;  an  active  ener- 
getic woman  ;  and  an  excellent  wife  and  mother. 


312    GKNEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

Capt.  James  Delap  had  ten  children  all  born  in  Barnstable, 
all  lived  to  mature  age,  and  all  excepting  Thomas  married  and 
had  families.  The  eight  daughters  of  James  Delap  were  all 
robust  and  healthy  ;  women  of  good  sense,  sound  judgement,  and 
good  business  capacity,  most  of  them  lived  niore  than  seventy 
years  and  had  numerous  descendants. 

Children  of  James  and  Mary  Delap  horn  in  Barnstable. 

I.  Rose,  born  Feb.  25,  1739,  O.  S.,  married  Ebenezer  Scud- 
der,  of  Barnstable,  Jan,  11,  1759,  and  had  ten  children: 
1,  Ebenezer,  Aug.  13,  1761;  2,  James,  March  14,  1764, 
died  young;  3,  Thomas,  Sept.  10,  1766,  died  young;  4, 
Isaiah,  Jan.  8,  1768  ;  5,  Asa,  July  25,  1771  ;  6,  Elizabeth, 
Oct.  12,  1773,  married  Morton  Croclier ;  7,  Josiah,  Nov. 
30,  1775;  8,  James  D.,  Oct.  27,1779;  9,  Thomas  D., 
Jan.  25,  1782  ;  10,  Rose,  April  24,  1784,  died  young. 
Mrs.  Rose  Scudder  died  April  17,  1812,  aged  72  years. 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Scudder  died  June  8,  1818,  aged  85  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  mild,  pleasant  disposition,  a  quiet,  good 
neighbor.  Mrs.  Rose  Scudder  was  a  woman  of  great 
firmness  and  decision  of  character,  and  of  untiring  industry. 
She  resided  at  Chequaquet,  near  Phinney's  Mill,  seven 
miles  from  the  meeting  house  in  the  east  parish,  yet  she 
often,  on  the  Sabbath,  walked  to  meeting,  attended  the 
morning  and  afternoon  service,  dined  and  took  tea  with 
her  sister  Catherine,  and  walked  home  in  the  evening,  the 
whole  distance  by  unfrequented  roads,  and  moi'e  than  one- 
half  the  distance  through  forests.  She  often  traveled  four 
miles  to  spend  an  evening,  and  at  9  o'clock  walked  home 
alone,  nearly  the  whole  distance  through  a  dense  forest. 
She  spun  much  street  yarn  ;  but  she  spun  it  for  some  pur- 
pose. She  carried  her  knitting  work  with  her,  and  knit  as 
she  walked  on.  She  said  her  work  was  good  company  on 
a  dark  night.  Her  sons  Ebenezer,  Isaiah,  Asa,  Josiah  and 
James,  inherited  the  character  of  their  mother,  and  were 
active  business  men,  and  successful  in  life.  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth,  like  their  father,  were  mild  and  pleasant;  but 
wanting  in  energy  of  character. 

II.  Abigail,  born  Nov.  6,  1741,  0.  S.,  married,  Feb.  9,  1764, 
John  Coleman,  of  Granville,  Nova  Scotia.  He  was  a  son 
of  James  Coleman  of  Barnstable.  She  had  several  chil- 
dren. Her  sons  James  and  Thomas  were  lost  at  sea.  She 
died  in  1825,  aged  84. 

ni.  Catherine,  born  Sept.  3,  1743,  married  Amos  Otis,  (my 
grandfather)  and  always  resided  in  Barnstable.  She  had 
two  children,  Amos  and  Solomon.  She  died  Feb.  28, 
1819,  aged  75,  having  lived  a  widow  47  years. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAJiNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         313 

IV.  Thomas,  born  April  14,  1745,  did  not  marry.  He  was 
master  of  a  vessel,  in  the  King's  service,  Dec.  6,  1771, 
while  on  a  voyage  from  Philadelphia  to  Halifax,  during  a 
violent  gale  and  snow  storm  was  east  ashore  on  Great 
Point,  Nantucket.  All  on  board  succeeded  in  getting  to 
the  shore.  It  was  a  thick  snow  storm  and  very  cold. 
Capt.  Delap  perished  in  one  of  the  hollows  or  gorges  on 
that  point.  Mr.  Amos  Otis  in  another.  Two  of  the  sailors 
went  on  to  Cortue  Point,  heading  towards  the  town,  and 
both  froze  to  death  on  that  point.  Two  other  sailors  and 
a  boy,  John  Weiderhold,  succeeded  in  getting  off  Great 
Point,  and  reached  a  barn  at  Squam.  They  covered  them- 
selves up  in  the  hay,  placing  the  lad  between  them,  so  that 
the  warmth  of  their  bodies  kept  him  from  freezing. 

The  next  day  the  vessel  was  discovered  by  people  from 
the  town,  high  and  dry  on  the  beach,  and  if  the  captain  and 
crew  had  remained  on  board  none  would  have  been  lost; 
Capt.  Delap,  Mr.  Otis,  and  most  of  the  crew,  had  been 
exposed  to  the  storm  about  twelve  hours  when  the  vessel 
was  east  on  shore,  and  were  wet,  benumbed  with  cold,  and 
almost  exhausted,  when  they  got  to  the  land.  The  boy 
was  the  only  one  who  had  not  been  exposed,  and  who  had 
dry  clothing.  Capt.  Delap  is  buried  at  Nantucket,  and  the 
manner  of  his  death  is  recorded  on  a  monument  to  his 
memory.     His  age  was  26  years,  7  months,  and  11  days. 

The  boy,  Weiderhold,  from  that  time  made  Nantucket 
his  home.  He  died  about  thirty  years  ago.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  and  a  very  worthy  man. 
He  often  related  the  sad  story  of  the  shipwreck,  and  pointed 
out  the  spots  where  each  perished. 

V.  Mary,  born  Nov.  3,  1747,  O.  S.,  married  Seth  Backus  of 
Barnstable,  had  a  family  of  six  children,  Walley,  Betsey, 
Mary,  Seth,  James,  Thomas,  and  removed  to  Lee,  Mass., 
where  she  died  at  an  advanced  age.  Her  son  Walley  was 
an  influential  man. 

VI.  Sarah,  born  April  11,  1750,  O.  S.,  married  Capt.  James 
Farnsworth,  of  Groton,  and  removed  to  Machias,  where 
she  died  in  1785,  aged  35  years.  She  had  a  son  who  died 
in  childhood,  and  three  daughters.  One  married  Simeon 
Foster,  and  resided  at  Cooper,  Maine.  Her  grandson, 
Benjamin  F.  Foster,  was  a  popular  writing  master,  and 
author  of  a  system  of  penmanship.  Another  daughter, 
Sarah,  married  George  S.  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Machias. 

VII.  Jane  or  Jean,  born  Aug.  13,  1752,  O.  S.,  married,  in  1772, 
Jonas  Farnsworth,  (a  cousin  of  the  Capt.  Jonas  who  mar- 
ried Sarah.)  Their  oldest  daughter,  Nancy,  (my  mother) 
was  born  at  Machias,  in  1773.     Having  obtained  of   the 


314         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

British  authorities  a  permit  to  remove,  and  a  protection 
against  capture,  tlie  family  embarked  for  Boston.  On  their 
passage  the  vessel  was  taken-  by  the  British  ship  of  war 
Viper,  and  sent  to  Halifax.  They  afterwards  took  passage 
in  another  vessel,  were  again  captured,  and  were  finally 
landed  at  Newburyport,  from  whence  they  proceeded  to  his 
native  town,  Groton,  Mass.  When  captured,  several  shots 
were  fired,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Captain,  Mrs.  F. 
and  her  infant  daughter  laid  on  the  cabin  floor,  which  was 
below  the  water  line  and  comparatively  safe.*  Mr.  Jonas 
Farnsworth  died  suddenly  of  apoplexy,  July  16,  1805,  aged 
57  years.  She  died  May  1826,  aged  73.  They  had  ten 
children,  and  have  numerous  descendants.  Their  youngest' 
son.  Rev.  James  Delap,  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College, 
and  collected  materials  for  genealogies  of  the  Farnsworth 
and  Delap  families,  which  remain  unpublished. 

VIII.  Hannah,  born  July  14,  1755,  N.  S.,  married  Samuel  Street, 
Esq.,  a  Captain  in  the  British  Navy,  and  died  soon  after, 
leaving  no  children. 

IX.  Temperance,  born  in  1757,  baptized  at  the  East  Church 
Jan.  15,  1758,  married  Dea.  Thaddeus  Harris, f  of  Corn- 
wallis.  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  Nov.  9,  1732,  aged  76,  leav- 
ing a  numerous  family  of  children  and  grand-children. 
One  of  her  sons  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the 
Queen's  Council.  A  grandson  for  several  years  was  a 
minister  at  Hyannis. 

X.  James,  born  March,  baptized  Nov.  18,  1759,  married  at 
20,  Sarah  Walker,  of  Granville,  and  had  twelve  children. 
He  married  for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Pengree,  of  Corn- 
wallis,  N.  S.,  and  removed  to  that  town.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  deacon  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Granville. 
He  lived  to  be  an  old  man. 


It  is  surprising  that  no  contemporaneous  account  of  the  voy- 
age of  the  George  and  Ann  to  this  country  can  be  quoted — a  voy- 
age unparelled  in  atrocity  in  the  annals  of  immigration.  Most 
that  is  known  is  traditionary.  Records  must  somewhere  exist. 
The  newspapers  of  the  day  probably  contain  some  information. 
The  records  of  the  court  in  Dublin,  where  Rymer  had  his  trial,  if 
'Copies  could  be  obtained,  would  furnish  authentic  information. 

.„  *-t"  ?  '""^"^  °^  "^7  Sreat  grandfather,  James  Delap,  to  his  daughter  Jane,  dated  Gran- 
ville, July  15, 1780,  but  not  forwarded  till  Oct.  1,  he  says ;  "We  want  to  see  you  very  much ; 
but  as  the  times  are,  cannot.  Pray  write  at  every  opportunity,  for  we  long  to  hear  from  you 
and  little  Nancy.  Wo  heard  you  had  a  tedious  time  home,  and  were  taken  again.  We  hope 
all  these  things  wUl  work  together  for  your  good.  We  are  old,  and  the  times  are  such,  we 
never  expect  to  see  you  again.  Let  us  endeavor  to  become  the  true  children  of  God,  so  as 
to  meet  in  the  Heavenly  Kingdom,  and  never  more  he  separated." 

t  Dea.  Harris  was  living  in  1834,  affcd  86, 


DEXTER. 


ME.  THOMAS  DEXTER,  SENIOR. 

Of  the  early  life  of  Mr.  Dexter,  little  is  known.  He  came 
over,  either  with  Mr.  Endicott  in  1629,  or,  in  the  fleet,  with  Gov. 
Winthrop,  the  following  year,  bringing  with  him  his  wife,  and  chil- 
dren, and  several  servants.  He  had  received  a  good  education, 
and  wrote  a  beautiful  court-hand  ;  was  a  man  of  great  energy 
of  character,  public  spirited,  and  ever  ready  to  contribute  of  his 
means,  and  use  his  influence  in  promoting  any  enterprise  which  he 
judged  to  be  for  the  interest  of  the  infant  colony.  He  did  his 
own  thinking,  and  was  independent  and  fearless  in  the  expression 
of  his  opinions.  Such  were  the  leading  traits  in  the  character  of 
Mr.  Dexter  ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  his  energy  of  character 
bordered  on  stubbornness,  and  his  independence  of  thought,  on 
indiscretion  and  self-will. 

In  the  year  1630,  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  with  ample  means, 
he  settled  on  a  farm  of  eight  hundred  acres,  in  the  town  of  Lynn. 
In  the  cultivation  of  his  lands  he  employed  many  servants,  and 
was  called,  by  way  of  eminence,  Farmer  Dexter.  His  house  was 
on  the  west  side  of  Saugus  river,  above  where  the  iron  works 
were  afterward  built.  In  1633,  he  built  a  weir  across  the  Saugus 
river,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  bass  and'alewives,  of  which  many 
were  dried  and  smoked  for  shipment.  He  also  built  a  mill,  and 
bridge  across  the  Saugus.  In  these  enterprises  he  was  the  man- 
ager, and  principal  owner. 

Mr.  Dexter  was  admitted  to  be  a  freeman  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Colony  May  18,  1631  ;  but  disfranchised  March  4,  1633, 
therefore  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  printed  list.  He  had 
many  quarrels,  and  many  vexatious  law-suits.  If  the  contro- 
versies respecting  the  iron  works,  in  which  he  was  a  large  owner, 

*  One  of  Mr.  Dexter's  descendants  writes  that  the  absence  of  all  reference  to  any  wife  in 
numerons  deeds,  dating  back  to  1639,  seems  to  make  it  certain  that  he  was  a  widower  when 
he  came  over,  or  lost  nis  wife  early  in  his  residence  here.  The  fact  that  his  youngest 
daughter  was  marriagable  in  1639,  would  seem  also  necessarily  to  throw  hack  his  birth  date 
to  1590-1595 ;  which  would  make  him  81  to  86  when  he  died . 


'316         GKNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

are  included  in  the  records  and  documents,  which  have  been  pre- 
served, in  which  he  had  an  interest,  they  would  fill  a  moderate 
sized  volumn.  The  reader  of  these  records  should  remember  that 
they  were  made  by  the  personal  enemies  of  Mr.  Dexter,  and  though 
the"^  facts  may  be  accurately  stated,  yet  some  allowance  is  to  be 
made  for  the  hostile  feeling  which  existed  in  the  minds  of  the 
writers. 

In  March,  1631,  he  had  a  quarrel  with  Gov.  Endicott,  in  which 
the  Salem  Magistrate  struck  Mr.  Dexter,  who  complained  to  the 
Court  at  Boston.  Mr.  Endicott  m  his  defence,  says,  "I  hear  I 
am  much  complained  of  by  goodman  Dexter  for  striking  him  ; 
understanding  since  it  is  not  lawful  for  a  justice  of  the  peace  to 
strike.  But  if  you  had  seen  the  manner  of  his  carriage,  with  such 
daring  of  me,  with  his  arms  akimbo,  it  would  have  provoked  a 
very  patient  man.  He  has  given  out,  if  I  had  a  purse  he  would 
make  me  empty  it,  and  if  he  cannot  have  justice  here,  he  will  do 
wonders  in  England  ;  and  if  he  cannot  prevail  there,  he  will  try  it 
out  with  me  here  at  blows.  If  it  were  lawful  for  me  to  try  it  at 
blows,  and  he  a  fit  man  for  me  to  deal  with,  you  would  not  hear 
me  complain."  The  jury  to  whom  the  case  was  referred,  gave  on 
the  3d  of  May,  1631,  a  verdict  for  Mr.  Dexter,  assessing  the 
damage  at  £10  sterling  ($44.44.) 

In  March,  1633,  the  court  ordered  that  Mr.  Dexter  "be  set  in 
the  bilbows,  disfranchised,  and  fined  £10  sterling,  for  speaking 
reproachful  and  seditious  words  against  the  government  here 
established."  The  bilbows  were  a  kind  of  stocks  set  up  near  the 
meeting-house  in  Lynn,  in  which  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  culprit 
were  confined 


"A  Bastile,  made  to  imprison  hands, 
By  strange  enchantment  made  to  fetter, 
The  lesser  parts,  and  free  the  greater." 

Mr.  Dexter,  having  been  insulted  by  Samuel  Hutchinson,  he 
met  him  one  day  on  the  road,  "and  jumping  from  his  horse,  he 
bestowed  about  twenty  blows  on  his  head  and  shoulders,  to  the  no 
small  danger  and  deray  of  his  senses,  as  well  as  sensibilities." 

These  facts  show  that  Mr.  Dexter  was  not  a  meek  man.  He  had 
many  difficulties  with  his  neighbors,  and  one  of  the  vexatious  law- 
suits in  which  he  was  engaged,  he  left  as  a  heritage  to  his  children 
and  to  his  grand-children.  Whether  justice  was  or  was  not  on  his 
side  in  all  these  cases,  the  troubles  that  environed  him  at  Lynn, 
induced  him  to  seek  a  quieter  home.  In  1637,  he  and  nine  of  his 
neighbors  obtained  from  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court  a  grant  of 
the  township  of  Sandwich.  He  went  there  that  year,  and  with 
the  commendable  public  spirit  for  which  he  had  ever  been  distin- 
guished built  the  first  grist  mill  erected  in  that  town.  He  did  not 
remain  long,  for  in  1638,  the  next  year,  he  had  350  acres  of  land 
assigned     him     as    one   of     the   inhabitants    of     Lynn,    and    he 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTKS    OF    BAKNSTABLB    FAMILIES.         317 

remained  there  certainly  till  1646,  when  he  was  indicted  by 
the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  as  a  common  sleeper  at  meetings. 
It  is  probable  that  he  left  his  son  Thomas,  not  then  of  age,  at 
Sandwich,  to  take  the  care  of  his  property  in  that  town,  and  that 
he  returned  to  Lynn.  At  Sandwich  he  had  lands  assigned  to  him 
in  the  first  division.  At  the  division  of  the  meadows  April  16, 
1640,  he  had  six  acres  assigned  to  him  for  his  mill,  and  "twenty- 
six  acres  if  he  come  here  to  live."  This  record  is  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  he  was  not  of  Sandwich  in  1640.  Mr.  Freeman,  in  his 
annals  of  that  town,  is  mistaken  in  his  statement  that  "he  was  one 
of  those  able  to  bear  arms  in  Sandwich  in  1643."  His  name  is 
not  on  the  list ;  neither  is  that  of  his  son  Thomas  who  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  of  Sandwich  that  year.  From  the  year  1640 
to  March  1646,  neither  the  father  or  the  son  are  named  in  the 
Colony  Records  as  residents  in  Sandwich,  though  the  father  con- 
tinued to  own  the  mill,  and  was  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
lands. 

March  3,  1645-6,  Thomas  Dexter,  of  Sandwich,  was  pre- 
sented by  the  grand  jury,  for  conveying  away  a  horse  that  had 
been  pressed  for  the  country  use.  Whether  this  was  the  father  or 
son,  does  not  appear,  nor  is  it  material,  for  both  were  residents  in 
Sandwich  that  year.  The  father  did  not  remain  long  in  Sandwich. 
Mr.  Freeman  saj^s  he  left  in  1648,  he  was  certainly  of  Barnstable 
in  1651,  and  was  an  inhabitant  of  thattown  till  1670,  probably  till 
1675. 

About  the  year  1 646  he  purchased  two  farms  in  Barnstable. 
One  to  which  reference  has  been  frequently  had  in  these  articles, 
situate  on  the  south-east  of  the  Blossom  farm,  and  adjoining  to 
the  mill  stream,*  and  afterwards  owned  and  occupied  by  William 
Dexter,  probably  his  son,  and  the  other  on  the  north-eastern 
declivity  of  Scorton  Hill.  His  dwelling  house  was  situate  on  the 
north  side  of  the  old  county  road,  and  commanded  an  extensive 
prospect  of  the  country  for  miles  around. 

He  led  a  quiet  life  in  Barnstable,  his  name  occasionally 
appears  as  a  juryman,  and  as  a  surety  for  the  persecuted  Quakers, 
showing  that  he  did  not  sympathize  with  the  Barlow  party.  He 
could  not,  however,  entirely  refrain  from  engaging  in  law  suits. 
At  the  March  term  of  the  Court  in  1648-9,  he  had  eight  cases, 
principally  for  the  collection  of  debts,  and  he  recovered  in  seven. 
In  1653,  he  had  a  controversy  with  his  neighbors  respecting  the 


*  In  my  investigations,  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  who  built  the  first  mill  ou  tlie 
stream  now  known  as  Jones's  mill  stream  at  West  Barnstable.  Mr.  Dexter's  lands  were 
partly  bounded  by  that  stream,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  some  future  investifrator 
should  ascertain  that  he  built  the  first  mill  at  West  Barnstable,  also  the  Old  Stone  Fort,  to 
which  frequent  reference  is  made  in  the  Crocker  article. 

On  Wednesday  last  1  was  at  Sandwich,  and  for  the  first  time  examined  the  records  of 
that  towu  for  information  respecting  the  Dexter  family.  I  found  much  that  I  regret  that  I 
had  not  known  before  writing  this  article.  The  records,  in  almost  every  instance,  and  I  am 
not  certain  but  in  every  instance,  refer  to  the  second  Thomas  Dexter.  A  deed  of  his  to  the 
town  of  Sandwich,  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  document. 


318         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

boundaries  of  his  lands,  and  at  his  request  two  men  were  appointed 
by  the  Colony  Court,  "to  set  at  rights  the  lines  or  ranges,"  pro- 
vided the  parties  cannot  agree  among  themselves.  It  was  after- 
wards referred  to  Barnard  Lumbard. 

He  had,  soon  after  his  settlement  in  Barnstable,  a  contro- 
versey  with  the  inhabitants,  which  remained  unsettled  for  many 
years.  As  the  case  has  a  historical  interest  and  illustrates  the 
leading  trait  in  his  character,  I  shall  give  some  details.  Some 
years  prior  to  1652,  he  built  a  causeway  across  his  own  meadow, 
and  a  bridge  across  Scorton  Creek,  and  extended  the  causeway  to 
the  upland  on  Scorton  Neck,  at  the  place  where  the  new  County 
road  now  passes  over.  A  bridge  and  causeway  to  Scorton  Neck 
had  previously  been  built  by  Sandwich  men,  about  half  a  mile 
farther  west,  which  had  been  used  in  common  by  them  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Barnstable.  Mr.  Dexter's  bridge  shortened  the 
distance  which  the  latter  had  to  travel  to  their  meadows  on  Scorton 
Neck,  and  they  claimed  a  right  to  pass  over  the  new  bridge  with- 
out having  assisted  in  the  building,  and  without  paying  toll ; 
because  in  the  year  1652,  according  to  the  Barnstable  town 
records,  "It  was  agreed  upon  by  the  Jury  for  the  highways, 
Anthony  Annable  being  the  foreman  thereof,  that  a  Highway  two 
rod  broad  go  from  the  point  of  upland  of  Samuel  Fuller's 
through  the  marsh  of  Thomas  Dexter's  to  the  main  creek,  and  so 
cross  the  marshes  as  far  as  the  marsh .  of  Samuel  Hinckley's. 
Also,  it  is  agreed  by  the  said  Jury  that  a  foot  way  go  from 
Lieutenant  Fuller's  house  across  the  creek,  where  Mr.  Dexter's 
bridge  was,  and  so  straight  along  to  Mr.  Bursley's  bridge,  leaving 
Mr.  Dexter's  orchard  on  the  right  hand,  and  Goodman  Fitzrandles 
house  on  the  left  hand." 

The  highway  laid  out  passed  on  the  west  side  of  Dexter's 
farm,  southerly  to  the  old  County  road.  The  foot  way  corre- 
sponds in  locations  with  the  new  County  road,  till  it  joins  the 
old,  and  thence  by  the  latter  to  Bursley's  bridge. 

The  matter  was  a  cause  of  diflSculty,  and  remained  unsettled 
till  Obtober  5,  1656,  when  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court  appointed 
and  requested  M.  Prence,  and  Capt.  Cudworth,  to  view  the  place 
in  controversy,  and  if  they  they  can,  put  an  end  to  it,  and  if  they 
cannot,  to  make  report  unto  the  Court  of  the  state  of  the 
matter. 

On  the  10th  of  the  same  month  the  parties  interested,  namely, 
Thomas  Dexter,  Senior,  of  the  one  part,  and  of  the  other,  Samuel 
Hinckley,  William  Crocker,  Samuel  Fuller,  Peter  Blossom, 
Thomas  Hinckley,  Robert  Parker,  John  Chipman,  and  Robert 
Linnell,  appeared  on  the  premises  iDefore  Mr.  Thomas  Prence  and 
Capt.  James  Cudworth,  and  the  case  that  had  caused  so  much 
trouble,  was  "issued"  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  parties.  1, 
It  was  agreed,  "that  all  that  are  interested   in  any   marsh  above 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         319 

the  aforesaid  marsh,  that  needs  the  privilege  of  the  said  way, 
shall  pay  unto  the  said  Thomas  Dexter  six  pence  per  acre,  in  lieu 
and  full  recompense  for  the  said  marsh  wayed,  forever,  himself 
and  such  others  as  make  use  thereof,  to  make  and  repair  the  said 
way,  proportionable  to  the  use  made  of  it — the  gates  or  bars  to  be 
shut  after  any  one's  use  thereof  by  them,  to  prevent  damage." 

Right  in  this  case,  is  apparent.  If  Thomas  Dexter  built,  as 
he  did,  a  causeway  and  bridge  on  his  own  meadow,  no  one  had  a 
legal  right  to  use  the  same  without  his  consent.  The  owners  of 
the  meadows  on  Scorton  Neck  had  a  right  of  way  to  the 
same,  and  the  town  had  a  legal  right  to  lay  out  such  way  ;  and  if 
they  laid  it  out  over  Thomas  Dexter's  private  way,  he  had  a  legal 
right  to  claim  compensation.  This  he  claimed,  and  the  parties 
interested  refused  to  pay.  The  ^referees  decided  the  case  in  his 
favor,  giving  him  six  pence  an  acre,  or  about  six  dollars  in  all,  not 
enough  to  pay  the  law  expenses  he  probably  incurred.  He  had 
legal  right  on  his  side  ;  but  there  were  other  considerations  which 
should  have  deterred  him  from  exacting  "the  pound  of  flesh."  It 
was  the  only  convenient  place  to  build  a  bridge,  it  was  the  natural 
outlet  of  the  meadows  above,  and  before  the  bridge  was  built  the 
owners  had  sometimes  crossed  over  at  that  place.  It  was  not  an  act 
of  good  neighborhood  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Dexter  to  maintain  a 
quarrel  more  than  five  years,  that  he  might  have  his  own  way. 

In  the  following  year,  1657,  he  commenced  his  lawsuit  against 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Lynn  for  the  possession  of  Nahant, 
which  he  claimed  as  his  private  properly  by  virtue  of  purchase 
made  about  the  year  1637,  of  the  Indian  Sachem,  Poquanum,  or 
Black  Will,  for  a  suit  of  clothes.  This  was  a  mercantile  specula- 
tion, and  the  law  suits  which  it  produced  were  very  expensive. 
In  February  1657,  the  inhabitants  of  Lynn  voted  to  divide  Nahant 
among  the  householders,  to  each  an  equal  share,  and  Mr.  Dexter 
thereupon  brought  an  action  against  the  town  for  taking  possession 
and  occupying  his  property.  He  had,  up  to  that  time,  manu- 
factured tar  from  the  pine  trees  ;  and  the  town  had  also  exercised 
some  rights  of  ownership.  This  unusual  mode  of  division  made 
every  householder  an  interested  party  against  Mr.  Dexter,  who 
was  then  a  non-resident.  The  court  decided  in  favor  of  the 
defendants,  and  Mr.  Dexter  appealed  to  the  Assistants,  who  con- 
firmed the  judgment  of  the  lower  court.  Whatever  might  have 
been  the  justice  of  his  claim,  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  him 
to  have  obtained  a  verdict  where  nearly  all  the  witnesses  in  the 
case  liad  an  adverse  interest.* 

After  his  death  his  administrators,  Capt.  James  Oliver,  his 
son-in-law,  an  eminent  merchant  of    Boston,  and  his  grandson, 

*  The  law  forbidding  purchases  of  land  from  the  Indians  except  by  public  permission, 
had  not  been  passed  when  Mr.  Dexter  bought  Nahant ;  so  that  it  would  seem  that  he  had  a 
legal  l-ight  to  make  the  purchase.  S. 


320         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

Thomas,  of  Sandwich,  were  not  satisfied  with  the  decisions  of  the 
courts,  and  in  1678,  brought  another  action,  and  in  1695,  after  the 
death  of  Thomas  Dexter,  3d,  another  was  brought  all  with  like 
results.  These  suits  continued  at  intervals  through  a  series  of 
thirty-eight  years,  were  very  expensive,  and  the  Dexters  being  the 
losing  party,  their  costs  must  have  amounted  to  a  large  sum.  It 
was  the  settled  policy  of  the  first  settlers,  that  all  purchases  of 
lands  from  the  Indians,  should  be  by  virtue  of  public  authority. 
Mr.  Dexter  was  not  so  authorized,  and  therefore  had  no  legal 
right  to  make  the  purchase. 

In  1657,  Mr.  Dexter  took  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  was 
admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  June  1,  1658.  For 
the  succeeding  eighteen  years  he  appears  to  have  lived  a  quiet, 
retired  life,  on  his  farm  at  Scorton  Hill.  He  had  passed  that 
period  in  life  when  men  usually  take  an  active  and  leading  part  in 
business  or  in  politics.  Notwithstanding  his  expensive  law  suits, 
he  had  ample  means  remaining.  During  his  life,  he  appears  to 
have  conveyed  his  mill  and  his  large  real  estate  in  Sandwich  to  his 
son  Thomas,  and  his  West  Barnstable  farm  to  William,  retaining 
his  Scorton  Hill  farm  and  his  personal  estate,  for  his  own  use. 
The  latter  farm  he  sold  about  the  year  1675  to  William  Troop  and 
removed  to  Boston  that  he  might  spend  his  last  days  in  the  family 
of  a  married  daughter,  where  he  died  in  1677  at  an  advanced  age. 
No  attempt  has  been  made  to  veil  his  faults — he  did  not  bury  his 
talent  in  a  napkin — and  in  estimating  his  character,  we  must 
inquire  what  he  did,  not  what  he  might  have  done.  Who  did 
more  than  Thomas  Dexter  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  infant 
settlement  at  Lynn  ?  who  more  at  Sandwich  ?  Others,  perhaps, 
did  as  much,  none  more.  He  knew  this,  and  his  self  esteem  and 
love  of  approbation,  prompted  him  to  resist  those  who  sought  to 
appropriate  to  themselves  without  compensation,  the  benefits  of 
the  improvements  which  he  had  been  the  principal  party  to  intro- 
duce. When  at  Lynn,  he  built  a  weir  across  the  Saugus  river, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  fisheries,  a  grist  mill,  a  bridge  across  the 
Saugus,  and  was  foremost  in  establishing  the  iron  works  in  1643  ; 
and  at  Sandwich  he  built  a  grist  mill,  and  at  Barnstable  a  cause- 
way and  bridge  across  Scorton  Creek  and  marshes ;  all  improve- 
ments in  which  the  public  took  a  deep  interest.  For  these  acts,  he 
is  deserving  of  credit  and  they  will  forever  embalm  his  memory. 
His  harsh  and  censorious  spirit  created  enemies,  where  a  more 
conciliatory  course  would  have  made  friends.  Vinegar  was  an 
element  of  his  character,  and  no  alchymist  could  have  transmitted 
it  into  oil.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Puritan  Church  ;  yet  tolerant 
and  liberal  in  his  views.  No  immorality  was  ever  laid  to  his 
charge,  and  judging  him  by  the  rule  laid  down  by  the  Great 
Teacher  in  the  parable  of  the  ten  talents,  we  must  decide  that  he 
was  a  useful  man  in  his  day  and  therefore  entitled  to  the  respect 
of  posterity. 


GENEALOGICAL,    JSOTES    OF    BAEN8TABLE    FAMILIES.         321 

Of  the  family  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter,  Senior,  very  little  is 
certainly  known.  Mr.  Lewis,  the  historian  of  Lynn,  was  unable 
to  furnish  anything  that  was  certain  and  reliable,  and  the  undefati- 
gable  Mr.  Savage  gives  but  a  meagre  account  of  his  family.  Mr. 
Freeman  repeats  the  statements  of  his  predecessors,  adding  very 
little  to  the  information  furnished  by  them.  It  is  surprising  that 
so  little  should  be  known  of  the  family  of  so  noted  a  man  as  Mr. 
Dexter. 

It  is  certain  that  he  had 

I.  Thomas,  born  in  England,  settled  in  Sandwich. 

II.  Mary,  who  married  Oct.  1639,  Mr.  John  Frend,  who  died 
young.  Before  Aug.  1655,  as  is  show  by  a  deed  in  Suffolk 
Registry,  she  had  married  Capt.  James  Oliver.  They  left  no 
children. 

And  he  probably  had 

III.  William,  who  settled  in  Barnstable. 

IV.  Francis,  who  married  Richard  Wooddy.  They  had  eight  chil- 
dren. They  lived  some  years  in  Roxbury.  In  1696,  Mary 
and  Frances,  who  were  then  widows,  brought  the,  fourth  suit 
in  behalf  of  their  father's  claim,  upon  Nahant,  against  the 
town  of  Lynn,  once  more  in  vain. 

In  regard  to  the  two  last  named,  I  say  probably,  yet  I  have 
no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement  that  William  was  the  son;  of 
Thomas.  Messrs.  Lewis,  Savage,  and  Freeman,  say  he  was  his 
son;  but,  after  the  most  careful  research,  I  cannot  find  positive 
evidence  that  such  was  the  fact. 

Mr.  Drake,  the  able  historian  of  Boston,  has  forwarded  to. 
me  the  following  abstracts,  from  the  records  in  the.  Probate  Office 
of  the  County  of  Suffolk,  which  furnish  additional ,  information  to 
what  was  before  known  : 

"Feb.  9,  1676-7.  Power  of  administration  to  the  estate  of 
Thomas  Dexter,  Senior,  late  of  Boston,  deceased,  is  granted  to. 
Capt.  James  Oliver,  his  son-in-law,  and  Thomas  Dexter,  Jr.,  his 
grandson." 

"Nov.  1678,  Ensgne  Richard  Woodde  was  joined  with  Capt. . 
Oliver  in  this   administration,  in  room   of    Thomas   Dexter,  Jr., 
deceased." 

The  Rev.  Henry  M.  Dexter  of  Boston,  a  descendant,  furnishes 
the  following  abstract  of  the  inventory  of    the  estate  dated  April 
25,  1677.     ft  includes  merely  "so  much  as  is  due  by   bill  from 
William  Troop  of  Barnstable,  as  follows  : 
Payable  before  or  in  Nov.  1677,  £20 

u  14        a    u      u        1678,  20 

"  "      "  "     "      1679,  20 

"  "      "  "     "      1680,  10 

£70 


322    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  EAMILIES. 

It  is  added,  "this  is  inventory  and  all  of  the  estate  that  is 
known  belonging  to  the  deceased  party  aforsaid,  only  a  claim  of 
some  lands  which  ly  within  the  bounds  of  Lynn  ;  the  value  whereof 
we  cannot  determine  at  present  until  further  insight  into  and 
known." 

The  "claim  of  some  lands"  was  for  Nahant,  which  was 
worthless  and  to  which  reference  has  already  been  had. 

These  two  extracts  prove  that  Thomas  Dexter,  Senior,  was  a 
resident  in  Boston  at  the  time  of  his  death,  that  he  died  the  latter 
part  of  1676  or  early  in  1677,  that  he  had  a  son  Thomas  and  a 
grand-son  Thomas,  "and  a  daughter  who  married  Capt.  James 
Oliver,  an  eminent  merchant  of  Boston. 

These  facts  enable  us  to  trace  one  branch  of  his  family  with 
certainty — that  of  his  son  Thomas — who  was  an  early  settler  in 
Sandwich,  and  died  there  Dec.  30,  1686.  He  died  intestate,  and 
his  estate  was  apprised  on  the  12th  of  the  following  January  by 
John  Chipman,  Stephen  Skiff,  and  William  Bassett  at  £491,5,  a 
very  large  estate  in  those  times.  He  owned  240  acres  of  land 
at  the  Plains,  valued  in  the  inventory  at  only  £12,  or  one 
shilling  an  acre.  He  owned  four  valuable  tracts  of  meadow, 
one  on  the  north  of  Town  Neck,  valued  at  £30 ;  one  at 
the  Islands  near  James  Allen's,  £90  ;  one  below  Mr.  John  Chip- 
man's  new  house,  £4 ;  and  one  at  Pine  islands,  £40.  He  owned 
two  dwelling-houses.  That  in  which  he  resided  (situated  about 
half  a  mile  southerly  from  the  Glass  Factory  village)  was  a  large 
two  story  building,  apprised  at  £40;  his  barn,  corn-house,  &c., 
£10  ;  his  home  lot  10  acres,  £30  ;  and  a  tract  of  20  acres  adjoin- 
ing, at  £30.  His  other  dwelling  was  occupied  by  his  son  John, 
and  the  farm  on  which  it  was  situated  is  described  as  consisting  of 
about  28  acres  of  "meane  land,"  and  "two  parcels  of  meadow  that 
belongs  to  that  Seate,"  estimated  at  8  acres,  all  apprised  at  £80. 
The  mill,  now  known  as  the  town  mill,  with  "all  her  apperten- 
ances,"  at  £50.  As  this  apprisment  was  carefully  made, 
and  was  the  basis  of  the  division  of  the  estate,  it  shows 
the  relative  value  of  different  article  at  that  time.  A  pair 
of  oxen  was  valued  at  £5,  and  a  negro  slave  at  four  times  that 
sum,  £20,  7  cows  and  one  steer,  £12  ;  28  sheep,  £5  ;  1  mare,  £2 ; 
1  colt,  10  shillings ;  his  silver  ware  at  £5,  5  shs. ;  and  his  house- 
hold furniture,  clothing,  tools,  &c.,  £25  10  shs. 

The  estate  was  settled  by  an  agreement  of  the  Ijeirs  in  writ- 
ing, dated  Feb.  16,  1686-7,  and  is  signed  by  the  widow  Elizabeth 
Dexter,  Senior,  John  Dexter,  son  of  Thomas  Dexter,  late  of 
Sandwich,  gentleman  deceased  in  his  own  rights,  Elizabeth  Dexter, 
Jr.,  in  her  right,  Daniel  Allen  of  Swansea,  in  the  right  of  Mary, 
his  wife,  and  by  Jonathan  Hallett,  in  the  right  of  Abigail,  his  wife. 
This  agreement  shows  that  Thomas  Dexter,  the  third  of  the  name, 
was  then  dead,  and  had  no  lineal  heir  surviving. 


UKMEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BAKMSTABiJi    rAMlL,lJ<;s.         323 

June  1647,  Thomas  Dexter,  Jr.,  or  the  second  of  the  name, 
was  chosen  Constable  of  the  town  of  Sandwich,  a  fact  which  shows 
that  he  was  not  then  less  than  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  that 
he  was  born  before  his  father  came  to  this  country.  The  exact 
date  when  he  became  a  permanent  resident,  and  an  inhabitant  of 
the  town  of  Sandwich,  1  am  unable  to  fix  with  certainty.  He  was 
not  of  Sandwich  in  1643,  but  probably  was  as  early  as  March 
1645.  The  Thomas  Dexter  named  as  one  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Sandwich  March  3,  1645-6,  was  probably  the  young  man,  because 
his  father  was  about  that  date  an  inhabitant  of  Lynn.  In  1648, 
he  kept  the  miJl  built  by  his  father  before  the  year  1640.  In  1647, 
he  was  constable  of  the  town  of  Sandwich.  In  1655,  he  was 
commissioned  by  the  Court,  at  the  request  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Sandwich,  Ensign  of  the  company  of  militia.  He  held  the  office 
many  years,  and  was  known  as  Ensign  Dexter,  and  by  this  title 
was  distinguished  fi-om  his  father,  and  his  son  of  the  same  name. 
He  was  often  on  the  grand  and  petty  juries,  was  surveyor  of  high- 
ways, and  held  other  municipal  ofHces.  In  1680,  he  was  licenced 
to  keep  an  ordinary  or  public  house  for  the  entertainment  of 
strangers. 

He  did  not  inherit  the  litigious  spirit  of  his  father,  though  he 
did  inherit  some  of  his  quarrels  respecting  lands  where  "no  fences, 
parted  fields,  noi-  marks,  nor  bounds,  distinguished  acres  of  litig- 
ious grounds."  These,  however,  were  amicably  adjusted  by 
referees,  not  by  expensive  law  suits.  After  1655,  he  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  usages  of  the  time,  entitled  to  the  honor  of  being  styled 
Mister,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  being  a  large  land-holder, 
was  styled  gentleman.  From  what  is  left  on  record  respecting 
him,  he  appears  to  have  been  a  worthy  man  ;  enterprising,  useful, 
a  good  neighbor,  and  a  good  citizen. 

Ensign  Thomas  Dexter  married,  Nov.  8,  1648,  Mary  or 
Elizabeth  Vincent.  The  record  of  the  marriage  is  mutilated,  but 
this  seems  to  be  its  true  reading.  (In  early  times  Mary  and 
Elizabeth  were  considered  synonymous  or  interchangeable.  I  have 
found  several  similar  cases  ;  but  am  unabled  to  give  reason.) 

The  children  of  Ensign  Thomas  Dexter,  born  in  Sandwich, 
were  : 

I.  Mary,  born  Aug.  11,  1649.  She  married  Daniel  Allen  of 
Sandwich  and  removed  to  Swansey,  where  she  had  Elizabeth 
28th  Sept.  1673,  and  Christian  26th  Jan.  1674-5,  and  probably 
others.  After  the  close  of  the  Indian  war  she  returned  to 
Swansey.  Mr.  Savage  and- Mr.  Freeman  both  err  in  saying 
that  Mary  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Dexter,  Senior,  and  that 
she  was  born  in  Barnstable.  The  record  is  perfectly  clear 
and  distinct. 

II.  Elizabeth,  born  Sept.  21,  1651,  and  died  young.  (Mr.  Free- 
man savs,  "said  to  have  been  a  maiden  in  1767.") 


324         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

III.  Thomas.  His  birth  does  not  appear  on  the  record,  probably 
in  1653.  He  died,  without  issue,  in  1679.  He  was  appointed, 
Feb.  9,  1676-7,  joint  administrator  with  Capt.  James  Oliver  of 
Boston,  on  his  grandfather's  estate. 

IV.  John,  born  about  the  year  1656,  resided  in  Sandwich.  He 
married,  Nov.  1682,  Mehitabel,  daughter  of  the  second 
Andrew  Hallett  of  Yarmouth,  and  had  Elizabeth  Nov.  2,  1683  ; 
Thomas,  Aug.  26,  1686  ;  Abigail,  May  26,  1689  ;  John,  Sept. 
11,  1692.  From  Sandwich  he  removed  to  Portsmouth,  E.  I., 
and  was  there  living  24th  June  1717  (Savage.)  Mr.  Free- 
man makes  a  singular  mistake  in  regard  to  Thomas  of  this 
family.  He  says,  page  79,  "Thomas,  born  Aug.  26,  1686, 
who  is  afterwards  called  Jr. ,  whilst  his  uncle  Thomas  is  called 
Senior."  When  this  Thomas  was  born,  his  uncle  Thomas 
had  been  dead  seven  years,  and  his  grandfather  Thomas  died 
before  the  child  was  six  months  old,  and  the  necessity  for  the 
use  of  the  terms  in  not  seen. 

V.  Elizabeth,  born  7th  April  1660.  She  does  not  appear  to  have 
married.  She  was  single  at  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  her 
father's  estate,  Feb.  16,  1686-7.  Her  mother,  who  died 
March  19,  1713-14,  bequeaths  to  Elizabeth  in  her  will  dated 
Aug.  29,  1689,  her  whole  estate.  This  will  was  proved  April 
8, 1714,  and  the  daughter  seems  to  have  then  been  living,  and 
unmarried. 

VI.  Abigail,  June  12,  1663,  married,  Jan.  30,  1684-5,  Jonathan 
Hallett  of  Yarmouth,  had  eight  children,  and  died  Sept.  2, 
1715,  aged  52,  and  is  buried  in  the  old  grave  yard  in 
Yarmouth. 

William  Dexter  was  in  Barnstable  in  1657.  He  probably 
was  a  son  of  Thomas  Dexter,  Senior,  and  came  with  bis  father  to 
Barnstable  about  the  year  1650.  His  farm  was  originally  owned 
by  his  father.  He  removed  to  Rochester  about  the  year  1690, 
where  he  died  in  1694  intestate,  and  his  estate  was  settled  by 
mutual  agreement  between  the  widow  Sarah  and  her  children, 
Stephen,  Phillip,  James,  Thomas,  John,  and  Benjamin  Dexter, 
and  her  daughter  Mary,  wife  of  Moses  Barlow.  James,  Thomas 
and  John,  had  the  Rochester  lauds,  and  Stephen,  Phillip  and 
Benjamin,  the  Barnstable  estate.  In  the  division  of  the  meadows 
in  1694  William  had  3  acres  assigned  him  by  the  committee  of  the 
town,  which  was  reduced  to  two  by  the  arbitrators  in  1697.  Ste- 
phen and  Phillip,  the  only  children  of  William  of  sufficient  age, 
were  assigned  2  acres  each.  In  1703  Phillip  had  removed  to  Fal- 
mouth, and  Stephen  was  the  only  one  of  the  name  who  remained 
in  town.  He  had  48  shares  alloted  to  him  in  the  division  of  the 
common  lands,  considerably  more  than  the  average,  showing  him 
to  be  a  man  of  good  estate.     He  married  Sarah  Vincent  July  1653, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES.         325 

and  his  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  Mary,  Jan.  1654,  married  Moses  Barlow  and  removed  to 
Rochester. 

II.  Stephen,  May  1657,  married  Ann  Saunders. 

III.  Phillip,  Sept.  1659,  removed  to  Falmoath. 

IV.  James,  May  1662,  married  Elizabeth  Tobey,  died  1697. 

V.  Thomas,  July  1665,  married  Sarah  C,  March  1702-3.  Died 
July  31,  1744.     Left  no  issue. 

VI.  John,  Aug.  1668. 

VII.  Benjamin,  Feb.  1670,  removed  to  Rochester,  married  Mary 
Miller  of  Rochester  July  17,  1695.  His  son,  Dea.  Seth, 
was  the  great  grandfather  of  Rev.  Henry  M.  Dexter  of 
Boston. 

Stephen  Dexter,  son  of  William,  born  in  Barnstable  May 
1657,  married,  27th  April,  1696,  Anna  Saunders.  He  resided  on 
the  farm  of  his  grandfather  Thomas  at  Dexter's  Lane,  West 
Barnstable,  and  had, 

I.  Mary,  24th  Aug.  1696,  married  March  5,  1717-18,  Samuel 
Chard. 

II.  A  son,  22d  Dec.  1698,  died  January  following. 

III.  Abigail,  13th  May,  1699. 

IV.  Content,  5th  Feb.  1701,  married  Eben  Landers  of  Roches- 
ter, 1725. 

V.  Anna,  9th  March  1702-3,  married  John  Williams  1725. 

VI.  Sarah,  1st  June,  1705. 

VII.  Stephen,  26th  July  1707,  married  Abigail  Collier  1736. 
VTII.    Mercy,   5th  July   1709.     June  1737,  she  was  living  with 

Jonathan  Crocker,  Senior,  who  gave  her  £5  in  his  will. 

IX.  Miriam,  8th  March,  1712. 

X.  Cornelius,  21st  March,  1713-14.  He  did  not  marry.  With 
his  sister  Molly,  he  lived  in  a  two-story  single  house  on  the 
east  side  of  Dexter's  Lane,  opposite  the  Mill  Pond. 

Stephen  Dexter,  in  his  will  dated  March  17,  1729-30, 
names  his  wife  Ann,  his  son  Stephen,  to  whom  he  gave  his  home- 
stead, son  Cornelius,  and  daughters  Abigail,  Content,  Sarah, 
Mercy  and  Miriam.  Also  grand-daughter  Ann  Williams  and 
grand-children  David  and  Elizabeth  Cheard. 

Philip  Dexter  removed  to  Falmouth,  and  in  his  will,  proved 
June  10,  1741,  names  his  wife  Alice,  sons  Joseph  and  Phillip,  and 
son  Jabez  of  Rochester,  and  five  other  children.  Also  a  son  John 
who  died  1723.     He  owned  a  mill. 

James  Dexter  married  Elizabeth  Tobey  and  removed  to 
Rochester.  He  died  in  1697,  leaving  a  daughter  Elizabeth  and  a 
posthumous  child.     His  widow  married  Nathan  Hamond. 

Mr.  John  Dexter  was  the  last  of  the  name  in  Barnstable. 
(See  Childs.) 


326  GEN»ALOQICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

A  John  Dexter  of  Rochester,  a  blacksmith,  settled  in  Yar- 
mouth. He  owned  the  brick  house  near  the  Congregational 
meeting  house.  He  married  1st,  Bethia  Vincent  in  1748,  and  2d, 
Phillippe  Vincent  In  17.58.  He  had  Hannah  Sept.  7,  1749  ;  Isaac 
Oct.  7,  1751  ;  and  John  June  4,  1759.  He  has  descendants  in 
Nova  Scotia. 


DEAN. 


Eev.  Mr.  Dean  in  his  history  of  Scituate,  states  that  Jonas 
Deane  was  in  that  town  in  1690,  that  he  was  called  Taunton  Dean, 
and  that  he  came  from  Taunton,  in  England.  He  died  in  1697, 
leaving  a  widow  Eunice,  who  married  in  1701,  Dea.  James  Torrey, 
Town  Clerk.  His  children  were  Thomas,  born  Oct.  29, 1691,  and 
Ephraim,  born  May  22,  1695.  Ephraim  married  Ann  and  settled 
in  Provincetown,  and  had  Eunice  Nov.  10,  1725  ;  Thankful  Feb. 
8,  1727-8  ;  Ann  March  4,  1730-31,  and  perhaps  others. 

Thomas  settled  in  Barnstable,  and  was  admitted,  May  23, 
1731,  a  member,  of  the  East  Church.  He  probably  resided  at 
South  Sea.  He  married  Lydia,  and  his  children  born  in  Barn- 
stable were : 

I.  Lydia,  born   July   7,    1728,  married  Joseph  Bearse  Oct.  12, 
1749. 

II.  Thomas,  April  19,  1730,  married  Abigail  Horton. 
ni.  Jonas,  Oct.  27,  1732. 

IV.  Ephraim,  Oct.  17,  1734. 

V.  William,  May  27,  1736. 

VI.  Eunice,  Nov.  4,  1737. 

All  baptized  at  the  East  Church. 

Thomas  Dean,  son  of  Thomas,  married  Abigail  Horton, 
(published  Feb.  29,  1752,)  and  had 

I.  Hannah,  born  Jan.  20,  1753. 

II.  Archelaus,  June  26,  1755 

After  the  latter  date  the  name  disappears  on  the  Barnstable 
records.  There  are  numerous  descendants  of  Thomas  Dean  of 
Barnstable ;  but  they  are  widely  scattered.  Archelaus  Dean 
Atwood,  Esq.,  of  Orrington,  Maine,  is  a  descendant. 


DIMMOGK. 


ELDER   THOMAS    DIMMOCK. 

Elder  Thomas  Dimmock  and  Rev.  Joseph  Hull,  are  the  par- 
ties named  in  the  grant  made  in  1639,  of  the  lands  in  the  town  of 
Barnstable.  A  previous  grant  has  been  made  to  Mr.  Richard 
Collieut  of  Dorchester,  by  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court,  and  sub- 
sequent events  make  it  probable,  if  not  certain,  that  Messrs. 
Dimmock  and  Hull  were  his  associates.  The  date  of  the  first 
grant  is  not  given  ;  but  it  was  made  either  in  the  latter  part  of  1 637, 
or  the  beginning  of  1638.  Soon  after  the  first  grant  was  made 
Mr.  Collieut  and  some  of  his  associates  came  to  Mattakeese, 
surveyed  certain  lands,  and  appropriated  some  of  them  to  his  own 
particular  use ;  but  he  never  became  an  inhabitant  of  the  town, 
and  failing  to  perform  his  part  of  the  contract,  the  grant  to  him 
was  rescinded  and  made  void  ;  but  individual  rights  acquired  by 
virtue  of  the  grant  to  him,  were  not  revoked. 

In  the  winter  of  1637-8  the  Rev.  Stephen  Batchiler  of  Lynn, 
and  a  small  company,  consisting  mostly  of  his  sons,  and  his  sons- 
in-law,  and  their  families,  attempted  to  make  a  settlement  in  the 
north-easterly  part  of  the  town,  at  a  place  yet  known  as  Oldtown  ; 
but  they  remained  only  a  few  months.     (See  Batchiler.) 

Some  of  those  who  came  with  Mr.  Collieut  in  1638,  remained 
and  became  permanent  residents,  for  in  March  1639,  Mr.  Dim- 
mock was  appointed  by  the  Colony  Court  to  exercise  the  Barn- 
stable men  in  their  arms,  proving  that  there  were  English  resi- 
dents in  the  town  at  that  time. 

April  1,  1639,  the  Court  ordered  that  only  such  persons  as 
were  then  at  Mattakeset  should  remain,  and  make  use  of  some 
land,  but  shall  not  divide  any  either  to  themselves  or  others,  nor 
receive  into  the  plantation  any  other  persons,  excepting  those  to 
whom  the  original  grant  was  made,  without  the  special  license  and 
approval  of  the  government. 

This  order  implies,  that  the  English  who  were  in  Barnstable 
April  1,  1639,  were  associates  of  Mr.  Collieut  and  restricts  them 
from  receiving  any  who  were  not  of  that  company. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         329 

May  6,  1639.  "It  is  ordered  by  the  Court,  that  if  Mr.  Collicut 
do  come  in  his  own  person  to  inhabit  at  Mattakeeset  before  the 
General  Court  in  June  next  ensuing  ;  that  then  the  grant  shall  re- 
main firm  unto  them  ;  but,  if  he  fail  to  come  within  the  time  pre- 
fixed, that  then  their  grant  be  made  void,  and  the  lands  be  other- 
wise disposed  of." 

The  language  of  this  order  cannot  be  misunderstood.  The 
Court  had  granted  the  lands  at  Mattakeeset  to  Mr.  Collicut  and 
his  associates  on  the  usual  conditions,  namely,  that  they  should 
"see  to  the  receiving  in  of  such  persons  as  may  be  fit  to  live  to- 
gether there  in  the  fear  of  G-od,  and  obedience  to  our  sovereigne 
lord  the  King,  in  peace  and  love,  as  becometh  Christian  people  ;" 
that  they  should  "faithfully  dispose  of  such  equal  and  fit  portions 
of  lands  unto  them  and  every  of  them,  as  the  several  estates, 
ranks  and  qualities  of  such  persons  as  the  Almighty  in  his  provi- 
dence shall  send  in  amongst  them,  shall   require  ;  to   reserve,    for 

the  disposal  of  the  Court,  at  least acres   of   good   land,   with 

meadow  competent,  in  place  convenient,  and  to  make  returns  to 
the  Court  of  their  doings."  These  conditions  had  not  been  com- 
plied with — a  month's  notice  was  given — Mr.  Collicut  did  not 
come  in  person — and  the  Court  on  the  4th  of  June,  1639,  made 
void  the  grant  to  him  ;  but  not  to  his  associates  who  had  then  set- 
tled in  Barnstable.* 

As  Mr.  Dimmock  was  of  Dorchester  he  was  probably  one  of 
the  original  associates  of  Mr.  Collicut.  Mr.  Hull  and  Mr.  Burs- 
ley  of  Weymouth,  and  the  other  inhabitants  of  Barnstable,  prior 
to  Oct.  21,  1639,  with  a  few  exceptions  hereinafter  named,  be- 
longed to  the  same  company. 

Mattakeeset  was  incorporated  and  became  a  town  called  Barn- 
stable, on  the  4th  of  June  1639,  old  stile,  or  June  14th  new  stile, 
lam  aware  that  the  Eev.  JohnMellen,  Jr.,  in  his  Topographical  de- 
scription of  Barnstable,  published  in  1794  in  the  third  volume  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  collections,  says  :  "There 
is  no  account  to  be  found  of  the  first  settlement  made  in  this 
town.  Probably  there  was  none  made  much  before  its  incorpora- 
tion which  was  Sept.  3,  1639,  O.  S.  As  Mr.  Mellen  says,  there 
was  no  record  of  the  act  of  incorporation  made.  As  early  as  1685 
when  many  of  the  first  settlers  were  living,  Gov.  Hinckley  was 
appointed  a  committee  of  the  town,  to   examine   the   records   and 

*Mr.  Collicut  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  March  4,  1632-3. 
He  was  a  deputy  to  the  General  Court  from  Dorchester  in  1636,  '37  and  '55.  Selectman  in 
1636.  His  business  arrangements  probably  prevented  him  from  coming  to  Barnstable,  as  he 
had  intended.  May  17, 1637,  about  the  time  he  and  his  associates  intended  to  remove,  he 
was  appointed  Commissaiy,  to  make  provisions  for  the  troops  employed  in  the  expedition 
against  the  Pequot  Indians.  In  1638  he  was  appointed  by  the  Court  to  rectify  the  bounds 
between  Dedham  and  Dorchester,  and  in  1641  to  run  the  south  line  of  the  State  adjoining 
Connecticut.  He  was  one  of  the  company  authorized  to  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  was 
much  employed  in  public  business.  He  removed  to  Boston  before  1656.  In  1669  he  was  of 
Falmouth,  now  Portland,  and  in  1672  of  Saco,  from  both  of  which  places  he  was  a  repre- 
sentative to  the  General  Court  in  the  years  named,  He  finally  returned  to  Boston,  where  he 
died  July  7, 1685,  aged  83,  and  was  Iniried  on  Copp's  Hill. 


330  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

ascertain  the  conditions  on  which  the  grant  to  Messrs.  Hull  and 
Dimmock  was  made.  The  result  of  his  investigation  he  placed 
on  record.  He  found  no  record  of  the  grant  or  of  the  act  of  in- 
corporation, but  he  ascertained  that  both  were  made  in  the  year 
1639. 

Notwithstanding  there  is  no  record  of  the  day  on  which  Barn- 
stable was  incorporated  as  one  of  the  towns  of  Plymouth  Colony, 
the  date  can  be  fixed  with  certainty  by  other  evidence.  It  clearly 
appears  by  the  records  that  Barnstable  was  not  an  incorporated 
town  June  3,  1639,  0.  S.  As  has  been  already  stated,  a  certain 
conditional  grant  of  the  lands  had  been  made  to  Mr.  Collicut  and 
his  associates,  preliminary  to  the  organization  of  a  town  govern- 
ment ;  and  under  the  authority  of  that  grant,  about  fifteen  fam- 
ilies had  settled  within  the  limits  of  the  township.  Mr.  Dimmock 
was  authorized,  March  1639,  to  exercise  the  men  in  the  use  of 
arms,  because,  in  a  remote  settlement,  surrounded  by  bands  of 
Indians,  in  whose  friendship  reliance  could  not  be  placed,  a  mili- 
tary organization  was  of  prime  importance. 

The  terms  of  the  Court  order  of  May  6,  imply  that  some  of 
Mr.  Collicut's  associates  had  then  settled  at  Mattakeeset,  but  he 
himself,  it  is  emphatically  stated,  had  not,  and  he  was  allowed  till 
the  3d  of  June,  1639,  to  remove,  and  if  on  that  day  he  had  not 
removed,  the  grant  made  to  him  was  to  be  null  and  void.  He  did 
not  remove,  and  on  the  4th  day  of  June  the  grant  to  Mr.  Collicut 
was  declared  null  and  void,  and  the  grant  transferred  to  Rev. 
Joseph  Hull  and  Elder  Thomas  Dimmock.  Perhaps  the  reason 
for  not  making  a  record  was  this  ;  the  grant  was  a  simple  trans- 
fer from  Mr.  Collicut  as  principal  to  Messrs.  Dimmock  and  Hull 
two  of  his  associates.  As  no  change  had  been  made  in  the 
conditions,  no  record  was  deemed  necessary. 

Beside  the  above,  others  had  settled  within  the  present  territory 
of  the  town  of  Barnstable  prior  to  Jan.  1644,  but  had  removed  at 
that  date.  Rev.  Mr.  Bachiler  and  his  company,  as  above  stated, 
on  lands,  that  prior  to  1642,  were  included  within  the  bounds  of 
Yarmouth.  William  Chase  afterwards  owned  a  portion  of  those 
lands  occupied  by  Mr.  Bachiler,  and  as  he  had  a  garden  and  an 
orchard  thereon,  it  is  probable  that  he  resided  some  little  time  in 
Barnstable  prior  to  1644. 

President  Ezra  Stiles  presumes  that  George  Kendrick,  Thomas 
Lapham,  John  Stockbridge,  and  Simeon  Hoit  or  Hoyte,  removed 
with  Mr.  Lothrop  There  is  some  evidence  that  George  Kendrick 
was  one  of  the  first  who  came  to  Barnstable.  Mr.  Deane  says  he 
left  Scituate  in  1638.  He  is  named  as  of  Barnstable  in  1640,  but 
there  are  reasons  for  doubling  the  accuracy  of  the  date.  If  of 
Barnstable  he  removed  to  Boston  in  1640  or  soon  after.  Mr. 
Deane's  notice  of  Thomas  Lapham  is  imperfect.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  Scituate,  certainly  there  April    24,    I(i36,    and 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.         331 

died  in  that  town  in  1648.  I  find  no  evidence  tiiat  he  was  ever  of 
Barnstable.  Hoit  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  Scituate  April 
19,  163.5,  sold  his  house  there  in  1636  or  soon  after.  About  the 
year  1639  he  removed  to  Winsor,  Conn.  If  of  Barnstable  he  was 
here  very  early.  John  Stockbridge  was  a  wheel  and  millwright, 
and  may  have  resided  in  Barnstable  as  a  workman.  I  find  no 
trace  of  evidence  that  he  was  ever  an  inhabitant.  He  afterwards 
was  of  Boston. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  a  few  other  names  may  be  added, 
servants  of  the  first  settlers,  who  did  not  remain  long  and  were 
never  legal  inhabitants. 

Of  the  forty-five  heads  of  families  who  were  inhabitants  of 
Barnstable  in  Jan.  1643-4,  there  came  from 

Scituate,  26  23 

Duxbury,  2 

Hingham,  2  2 

Yarmouth,  1 

Boston,  3  3 

Weymouth,  1  1 

Charlestown,  1 

England,  9  9 


45  38 

Those  noted  as  from  England  had  probably  resided  in  Boston 
or  Dorchester  a  short  time  previously  to  coming  to  Barnstable. 

In  the  second  column  is  placed  the  number  of  the  families  who 
were  inhabitants  Oct.  21,  1639. 

Thus  far  the  proof  respecting  the  date  of  the  incorporation  of 
Barnstable  has  consisted  of  negations.  June  4,  1639,  O.  8.,  the 
General  Court  met  and  entered  on  its  records  that  Barnstable  was 
one  of  the  towns  within  the  Colony  of  New  Plymouth,  and  ap- 
pointed William  Casely  the  first  constable,  and  he  was  then  sworn 
into  oflice. 

These  quotations  from  the  records  show  conclusively  that  the 
Rev.  Mellen  was  mistaken  in  his  date,  and  equally  as  conclusively 
that  the  town  of  Barnstable  was  incorporated,  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  times,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  June  1639,  new 
style.* 

That  Mr.  Dimmock  was  appointed  in  March,  1639,  "to  exercise 
Barnstable  men  in  their  arms,"  does  not  prove  that  the  town  had 
then  been  incorporated  for,  at  the  same  court,  a   similar   appoint- 

*The  conclusion  of  Mr.  Otis  that  the  incorporation  of  Bamstahle  should  date  from 
June  4,  O.  S.,  (June  14,  N.  S.,)  seems  untenable  Irom  his  own  reasoning.  The  fact  that  a 
constable  was  appointed,  at  the  session  of  the  court  of  June  4,  is  not  sufficient;  this  officer 
was  often  appointed  for  places  that  were  not  at  the  time  recognized  as  towns.  A  place  not 
entitled  to  be  represented  in  the  court  called  not  be  considered  as  fully  incorporated,  and 
Barnstable  was  not  so  represented  until  the  ensuing  December  term.  The  record  of  the 
"Committees  or  Deputies  for  each  town"  in  the  colony,  has  the  following :  "For  Barnstable, 
Mr.  Joseph  Hull,  Mr.  Thomas  Dimmock,  made  in  December  Court,  1639."  This  would 
seem  to  be  conclusive  that  the  incorporation  of  the  town  should  date  from  Dec.  3, 1639, 
when  the  court  met.  S. 


332  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ment  was  made  for  Marshfield,  but  that  town  was  not  incorporated 
till  September  1640,  and  then  as  Rexame. 

No  formal  acts  of  incorporation  were  passed  in  regard  to  anj' 
of  the  towns,  so  that  Barnstable  is  not  an  exception.  A  general 
law  was  passed  from  which  I  have  made  some  extracts.  The 
Secretary  usually  noted  the  time  when  acts'  of  incorporation  were 
passed,  but  the  instrument  itself  was  not  recorded. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Dimmock  is  identified  with  the  early  history 
of  the  town  and  cannot  be  separated.  He  was  the  leading  man 
and  was  in  some  way  connected  with  all  the  acts  of  the  first  settlers. 
On  the  5th  of  January,  1643-4,  Thomas  Hinckley,  Henry  Cobb, 
Isaac  Robinson,  and  Thomas  Lothrop,  drew  up  a  list  of  those  who 
were  then  inhabitants  of  Barnstable,  and  I  infer  from  the  order 
annexed  to  the  same,  that  the  forty-five  named  were  also  house- 
holders. In  making  this  list,  they  commenced  at  the  west  end  of 
the  plantation,  at  Anthony  Annable's,  now  Nathan  Jenkins',  and 
proceeded  eastward,  recording  the  names  of  the  inhabitants  in  the 
order  in  which  they  resided  to  Mr.  Thomas  Dimmock,  whose 
house  stood  a  little  distance  east  of  where  Isaac  Davis'  now 
stands. 

Townsmen  of  Barnstable  Jan.  1643-4. 

1.  Anthony  Annable,  from  Scituate,  1640. 

2.  Abraham  Blush,  Duxbury,  1640. 

3.  Thomas  Shaw,  Hingham,  1639. 

4.  John  Crocker,  Scituate,  1639. 

5.  Dollar  Davis,  Duxbury,  1641-2. 
§.       Henry  Ewell,*  Scituate,  1639. 

7.  William  Betts,  Scituate,  1639. 
"William  Pearse  of  Yarmouth,  1643. 

8.  Robert  Shelley,  Scituate,  1639. 

9.  Thomas  Hatch,  Yarmouth,  1642. 

10.  John  Cooper,  Scituate,  1639. 

11.  Austin  Bearse,  came  over  1638,  of  B.  1639. 

12.  William  Crocker,  Scituate,  1639. 

13.  Henry  Bourne,  Scituate,  1639. 

14.  Henry  Coggin,  Boston,  Spring  1639. 

15.  Lawrence  Litchfield  of  B.,  Spring  1639. 

16.  James  Hamblin,  London,  of  B.,  Spring  of  1639. 

17.  James  Cudworth,  Scituate,  1640. 

18.  Thomas  Hinckley,  Scituate,  1639. 

19.  Samuel  Hinckley, t  Scituate,  8th  July,  1640. 
William  Tilly,  Spring  1639,  removed  to  Boston  1043. 

20.  Isaac  Robinson,  Scituate,  1639. 

*The  town  record  is  Henry  Coxwell,  an  error  of  the  clerk  who  transcribed  the  list.  It 
should  be  Henry  Ewell. 

tSamuel  Hinckley's  name  is  the  46th  on  the  record.  It  should  be  the  18th.  His 
houselot  adjoined  his  son  Thomas  Hinckley's  houselot.  In  1640  he  built  a  bouse  on  the  east 
side  of  CoKgins'  Pond,  in  which  he  resided  until  his  removal  to  West  Barnstable. 


OKNEAL.0G10AL   NOTES   OF   BAEN8TABLE   FAMILIES.         333 

21 .  Samuel  Jackson,  Scituate,  1639. 

22.  Thomas  AUyn, ^  Spring  of  1639. 

Mr.  Joseph  Hull,  Weymouth,  May  1639. 

23.  ,  Mr.  John  Biirsley,  Weymouth,' May  1639. 

24.  Mr.  John, Mayo,  came  over  1638,  of  Biarnstable  1639. 

25.  John  Casley,  Scituate,  Spring  of  1639. 

26.  William  Caseley,  Scituate,  of  B.  Spring  of  1639. 

27.  Robert  Linnett,  Scituate,  1639. 

28.  Thomas  Lothrop,  Scituate,  1639. 

29.  Thomas  Lumbard,  Scituate,  1639. 

30.  Mr.  John  Lothrop,  Scituate,  Oct.  20,  1639. 

31.  John  Hall,  Charlestown,  1641. 

32.  Henry  Rowley,  Scituate,  1639. 

33.  Isa,ac  Wells,  Scituate,  1639. 

34.  John  Smith,  of  Barnstable,  1639. 

35.  George  Lewis,  Scituate,  1639. 

36.  Edward  Fitzrandolphe,  Scituate,  1639. 

37.  Bernard  Lumbard,  Scituate,  1639. 

38.  Roger  Goodspeed,  of  Barnstable,  1639. 

39.  Henry  Cobb,  Scituate,  Oct.  21,  1639. 

40.  Thomas  Huckins,. Boston,  1639. 

41.  John  Scudder,  Boston,  1639. 

42.  Samuel  Mayo,  of  Barnstable,  1639. 

43.  Nathaniel  Bacon,  of  Barnstable,  1639. 

44.  Richard  Foxwell,  from  Scituate,  1639. 

45.  Thomas  Dimmock,  Hingham,  Spring  16S9. 

The  following  were  or  had  been  residents,  but  were  not 
townsmen  in  Jan.  1643-4. 

Samuel  House  returned  to  Scituate.  He  was  of  Barnstable 
in  1641  and  1644. 

John  Oates,  buried  May  8,  1641. 

Samuel  Fuller,  from  Scituate,  had  resided  temporarily  in 
Parnstable ;  but  he  did  not  become  a  townslnan  till  after  Jan. 
1643-4.  His  cousin,  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller,  did  not  settle  in 
Barnstable  till  1652. 

Capt.  Nicholas  Simpkins  was  returned  as  able  to  b'6ar  afrris  in 
Aug.  1643.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Yarrhoiith.  He 
did  not  remain  long  in  Barnstable.  John  Bryant  and  Daniel 
Pryor  are  named  as  residents  in  1641 .  Neither  w61'e'then  of  legal 
age.  In  1643,  Bryant  had  removed  to  Scituate,  and  Pryer  to 
Duxbury.  John  Blower  and  Francis  Crocker  were  residents  in 
1643.  Perhaps  not  of  legal  age.  A  John  Rus.^ell  was  also  of 
Barnstable  in  that  year. 

The  following  also  returned  in  Aug.  1643,  as  able  to  bear 
arms,  were  not  of  legal  age  in  January  1643-4  :  Thomas  Bdurman, 
John  Foxwell,  son  of    Richard,  Thomas   Blossom,  Nicholas   and 


334  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

John  Davis,  sons  of  Dolar,  Samuel,  Joseph,  and  Benjamin 
Lothrop,  sons  of  John,  David  Linnett,  son  of  Robert,  Nathaniel 
Mayo,  son  of  John,  and  Richard  Berry. 

Of  the  26  from  Scituate,  two,  at  least,  were  of  Barnstable  in 
the  Spring  of  1639,  and  three  delayed  removing  till  1640.  Mr. 
Lothrop  and  a  majority  of  his  church  did  not  resolve  to  remove 
till  June,  and  on  the  26th  of  that  month  a  fast  was  held 
"For  the  presence  of  God  in  mercy  to  goe  with  us  to  Mattakeese." 
There  is  no  record  of  the  names  of  those  who  came  in  June. 
Those  who  came,  probably  left  their  families  at  Scituate,  and 
came  by  land,  bringing  with  them  their  horses,  cattle,  farming  and 
other  utensils,  in  order  to  provide  hay  for  their  cattle,  and  shelter 
for  their  families  before  winter. 

A  majority  of  the  earlier  settlers  did  not  come  from  Scituate. 
The  fourteen  last  named  on  the  list  were  in  Barnstable  very  early, 
and  settled  near  the  Unitarian  Meeting-House,  in  the  easterly  part 
of  the  plantation.  These  lands  are  those  named  in  the  record  as 
run  out  by  authority  of  Mr.  Collicot.  Mr.  Dimmock's  Lot  was 
the  most  easterly,  and  in  1654  is  thus  described  on  the  town 
record :  "Imp.  a  grant  of  a  great  lot  to  Mr.  Dimmock,  with 
meadow  adjoining,  at  a  Little  Running  Brook  at  ye  East  End  of 
the  plantation,  toward  Yarmouth,  which  Lands  is  in  the  present 
possession  of  G-eorge  Lewis,  Sen'r,  let  and  farmed  out  to  him  for 
some  certain  years  by  the  said  Mr.  Dimmock."* 

This  description  is  indefinite,  yet  important  facts  are  stated. 
It  was  triangular  in  form  and  contained,  including  upland  and 
meadows,  about  seventy-five  apres.  The  east  corner  bound  stood 
a  little  distance  east  of  the  present  dwelling-house  of  William  W. 
Sturgis,  and  was  bounded  southerly  by  the  county  road,  115  rods 
to  the  range  of  fence  between  the  houses  of  Solomon  Hinckley 
and  Charles  Sturgis,  thence  northerly  across  mill  creek  to  the  old 
common  field,  and  thence  south-easterly  to  the  first  mentioned 
bound,  and  mcluded  a  narrow  strip  of  upland  on  the  north  side  of 
the  mill  creek  meadows.  The  soil  of  the  upland  was  fertile,  and 
the  meadows  easy  of  access,  and  productive.  It  was  the  best 
grazing  farm  in  the  East  Parish,  and  although  lands  and  meadows 
then  bore  only  a  nominal  price,  it  is  not  surprismg  that  Mr.  Dim- 
mock was  enabled  to  rent  his. 


*This  is  called  Mr.  Dimmock's  "great  lot"  yet.  I  think  it  was  not  what  was  generally 
understood  by  the  term  "great  lot"  among  the  first  settlers.  In  subsequent  records  the 
tracts  of  land  situate  between  Mr.  Lothrop's  great  lot  on  the  west,  and  Barnard  Lumbert's 
on  the  east,  (now  Dinunock's  Lane)  and  bounded  north  by  the  County  road,  is  called  "Mr. 
Dimmock's  Great  Lot,"  and  is  now  owned  by  Joshua  Thayer,  Capt.  Pierce,  Wm.  W.  Stur- 
gis, Mr.  Whittemore,  Capt.  Swinerton,  and  the  Heirs  of  Capt.  Franklin  Percival.  This  land, 
m  1689,  was  owned  by  his  son  Ensign  Shubael,  and  the  record  may  refer  to  him,  though  he 
would  not  have  been  entitled  to  a  "great  lot"  only  as  the  representative  of  his  father',  not  in 
his  own  right.  Besides  the  above.  Elder  Thomas,  as  one  of  the  proprietors,  was  entitled  to 
commonage,  to  which  his  son  Shubael  succeeded.  (Commonage.  This  word  is  used  by 
Dr.  Bond  and  others,  to  express  in  one  word  all  the  right  which  the  first  settlers  of  towns 
had  in  the  common  lands  and  meadows,  whether  by  virtue  of  their  rights  as  proprietors,  or 
as  townsmen.) 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAEN8TABLE    FAMILIES.         335 

In  the  sketch  of  the  Bacon  Family,  the  laying  out  of  lots  on 
the  west  of  the  Dimmock  farm  is  described.  The  lots  first  laid 
out  generally  extended  in  length  from  east  to  west,  while  those 
afterwards  laid  out  were  longer  on  their  north  and  south  lines. 

The  Rev.  John  Lothrop's  first  house  stood  near  the  Eldridge 
hotel.  On  the  east  of  this  lot  seven  Scituatei  men  settled,  namely, 
Henry  Rowley,  on  the  same  lot,  Isaac  "Wells  near  the  Court  House, 
George  Lewis,  Sen'r  near  the  Ainsworth  house,  Edward  Fitz- 
randolph  on  the  corner  lot  adjoining  the  Hyannis  road,  Henry 
Cobb  a  little  north  from  the  Unitarian  Meeting  House,  Richard 
Foxwell  near  the  Agricultural  Hall,  and  Bernard  Lumbard  near 
the  mill  where  Dolar  Davis  afterwards  resided. f  The  three  last 
named  came  early,  probably  all  of  the  seven. 

The  other  Scituate  men  who  came  with  Mr.  Lothrop  numbered 
from  12  to  32,  settled  between  the  Court  House  and  the  present 
westerly  bounds  of  the  East  Parish.  Those  who  came  later, 
farther  west.  This  is  a  general  statement ;  there  are  exceptions, 
which  will  be  noted  hereafter. 

A  settlement  was  also  made  very  early  on  the  borders  of 
Coggin's  Pond.  Here  we  find  the  same  peculiarity  in  the  shape  of 
the  original  lots,  their  longer  lines  extended  from  east  to  west ; 
while  m  all  other  parts  of  the  town  except  in  these  two  particular 
localities  the  longer  lines  are  north  and  south.  The  early  settlers 
in  that  neighborhood  were  Henry  Bourne  and  Thomas  Hinckley, 
from  Scituate,  and  Henry  Coggin,  Lawrence  Litchfield,  James 
Hamblin,  and  William  TUly,  probably  associates  of  Mr.  Collicut. 

In  an  inquiry  of  this  kind,  entire  accuracy  is  not  to  be 
expected,  but  these  three  points  in  regard  to  the  settlement  of 
Barnstable  are  clearly  established. 

1st.  In  the  winter  of  1637-8,  Rev.  Stephen  Bachiler,  with  a 
company  consisting  of  himself,  his  sons,  his  sons-in-law,  and  his 
grand-sons,  in  all  making  five  or  six  families,  settled  at  the  north- 
east part  of  the  town.  They  remained  till  the  Spring  of  1638, 
when  they  abandoned  the  attempt  to  form  a  permanent  settlement, 
and  all  removed. 

2d.  In  1638,  or  on  the  year  previous,  the  lands  atMattakeese 
were  granted  to  Mr.  Richard  Collicut  of  Dorchester,  and  his 
associates.  Under  the  authority  of  this  grant,  two  settlements 
were  made,  the  larger  near  the  Unitarian  Meeting  House,  and  the 
other  near  Coggin's  Pond.  In  March,  1639,  there  were  about 
fifteen  families  in  the  two  neighborhoods.  June  14,  1639,  new 
style,  when  the  grant  to  Mr.  Collicut  was  revoked,  about  twenty. 

1 1  do  not  state  this  with  perfect  confidence  of  its  accuracy.  Ilespecting  the  Collicut 
lots ;  there  are  two,  one  laid  to  Barnard  Lumbert,  and  one  to  Samuel  Mayo.  The  one  near 
the  mill,  afterwards  Dolar  Davis',  I  suppose  to  be  Lumbard's,  the  other  including  Major 
IPhinney's  house  lot,  and  the  house  lot  of  Timothy  Reed,  deceased,  I  judge  was  Samuel 
Mayo's.  Both  were  sold  early,  the  latter  was  owned  in  1654  by  the  Widow  Mary  Hallett, 
probably  widow  ot  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  the  schoolmaster. 


336  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

3d.  June  14,  1639,  N.  8.,  Barnstable  was  incorporated  as  a 
town,  and  the  lands  therein  graiited  to  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Dimmoek,  as  a  committee  of  the  townsmen,  and  of  such 
as  should  thereafter  be  regularly  admitted.  In  that  month  feev. 
Mr.  Lothrop  and  a  majority  of  his  church  resolved  to  remove  to 
Barnstable,  and  some  then  came ;  but  a  great  majority  came  by 
water  Oct.  21,  1639,  N.  S.,  making  the  whole  number  of  families 
,then  in  Barnstable  forty-one,  the  full  number  required. 

If  the  names  already  given,  .John  Chipman,  John  Phinney, 
John  Otis,  John  Howland,  Thomas  Ewer,  William  Sergeant,  and 
Edward  Coleman,  who  came  to  Barnstable  a  few  years  latei',  are 
added,  the  list  will  include  the  emigrant  ancestors  of  nineteen 
twentieths  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Barnstable. 
Capt.  John  Dickenson  and  Jas.  Nabor  were  also  early  inhabitants. 
Nearly -.all  the  ofBees  were  conferred  upon  Messrs.  Hull  and 
Dimmoek.  They  were  the  land  committee,  an  office  involving 
arduous  and  responsible  duties,  and  the  exercise  of  a  sound 
judgment  and  discretion.  That  they  performed  their  duties  well, 
the  fact  that  no  appeal  from  their  decisions  was  ever  made  to  the 
Colony  Court,  affords  sufficient  evidence.  They  were  the  duputies 
to  the  Colony  Court,  and  seemed  to  possess  the  entire  confidence 
of  the  people.  J  > 

Mr.  iDimmock  was  also  a  deputy  to  the  Plymouth  Colonv 
Court  in,  1640,  '41,  '42,  '48,  '49,  and  '60.  He  was  admitted  a 
freeman  of  the  Colony  Dec.  3,  1639.  June  2,  1640,  Mr. 
Thomas  Dimmoek  of  Barnstable,  Mr.  John  Crow  of  Yarmouth, 
were  appointed  to  "join  with  Mr.  Edmond  Freeman  of  Sandwich, 
to  hear  and  determine  all  causes  and  controversies  within  the 
three  townships  not :  exceeding  twenty  shillings,  according  to 
the  former  order  of  the  Court."  This  was  the  first  Court  estab- 
lished in  the  County  of  Barnstable.  Mr.  B>eeman  had  been 
elected  an  assistant  in  the  preceeding  March,  and  by  virtue  of  that 
office  was  a  magistrate  or  judge  ;  but  he  was  not  qualified  till  June 
2,  1640,  but  Mr.  Dimmoek  and  Mr.  Crow  were  qualified.  Cases 
involving  larger  sums  were  tried  before  the  Governor  and  assis- 
tants. The  first  court  of  assistants,  or  Supreme  Court,  convened 
in  this  County,  was  held  in  Yarmouth  June  17,  1641.  June  5, 
1644,  Mr.  Dimmoek  and  Mr.  Crow  were  re-appointed  magistrates 

{Mr.  Hull's  popularity  in  Barnstable  soon  waned.  In  1640  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
held  any  office.  May  1, 1641,  he  was  excommunicated  from  the  Barnstable  Church,  for 
joining  a  company  in  Yarmouth  as  their  pastor.  He  was  however  received  again  into 
fellowship  Aug.  10, 1643.  From  Barnstable  ,  he  removed  to  Oyster  Eiver,  Maine,  and  from 
thence  in.  1662  to  the  Isle  of  Shoals  where  he  died  19th  Nov.  1665.  Simple  justice  has  never 
been  done  to  the  memory  of  Eev.  Joseph  ,Hull.    He  came  over  in  1835,  probably  from 

Barnstaple  tn  Devonshire.    He  welcomed  Mr.  Lothrop  and  his  church  to  Barnstable, he 

then  opened  the  doors  of  his  house,  one  of  the  largest  and  best  in  the  plantation,  for  their 
meetings, — he  feasted  them  on  thanksgiving  days,  and  was  untiring  in  his  eiforts  for  their 
temporal  prosperity.  He  is  not  charged  witn  any  immorality,  or  with  holding  any  heretical 
opinions;  yet  he  was  driven  from  the  town,  that  probably  received  its  name,  as  a  mark  of 
respect  to  him.  His  history  is  worthy  to  be  preserved,  and  at  the  proper  time  I  shall 
endeavor  to  do  justice  to  his  memory. 


GKNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF   BAEN8TABLE    FAMILIES.         337 

or  assistants  of  Mr.  Freeman,  who  was  the  chief  justice  of  the 
inferior  court,  and  assistant,  or  associate  justice  of  the  higher 
court. 

Sept.  22,  1642,  Mr.  Dimmock  was  appointed  by  the  Colony 
Court  t©  be  one  of  the  council  of  war.  On  the  10th  of  Oct.  1642, 
he  was  elected  lieutenant§  of  the  company  of  militia  in  Barnstable, 
and  the  Court  approved  of  the  choice  March  3,  1645-6,  the  grand 
jury  presented  him  "for  neglecting  to  exercise  Barnstable  men  in 
arms  ;"  but  the  Court,  after  hearing  the  evidence,  discharged  the 
complaint.  In  July,  1646,  Mr.  Dimmock  was  again  re-elected 
lieutenant,  and  the  choice  was  approved. 

In  1650,  he  was  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  to  confer  witli  a  similar  commission  of  the  Massachusetts 
Colony,  and  decide  respecting  the  title  of  the  lands  at  Shawwamet 
and  Patuxet. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1650,  he  was  ordained  Elder  of  the 
Church  of  Barnstable,  of  which  he  had  been  a  member  from  its 
organization. 

These  extracts  require  no  comment.  They  prove  that  Mr. 
Dimmock  was  held  by  the  colony,  the  town,  and  the  church,  to  be 
a  man  of  integrity  and  ability.  He  lived  at  a  time  when  the 
faults  of  every  man  holding  a  prominent  position  in  society  were 
recorded.  One  complaint  only  was  ever  made  against  him,  and 
that  was  "discharged"  as  unfounded  and  frivolous. 

After  1650  he  does  not  appear  to  have  held  any  public  ofl8ce8, 
and  in  1654  he  had  leased  his  farm,  though  he  continued  to  reside 
in  Barnstable.  He  died  in  1658  or  1659,  and  in  his  nuncopative 
will,  attested  to  by  Anthony  Annable  and  John  Smith,  they  state 
that  "when  he  was  sick  last  summer,  [1658]  he  said,  what  little 
he  had  he  would  give  to  his  wife,  for  the  children  were  hers  as 
well  as  his." 

Few  of  the  first  settlers  lived  a  purer  life  than  Elder  Thomas 
Dimmock.  He  came  over,  not  to  amass  wealth,  or  acquire  honor  ; 
but  that  he  might  worship  his  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
own  conscience ;  and  that  he  and  his  posterity  might  here  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  His  duties  to  his  God, 
to  his  country,  and  to  his  neighbor,  he  never  forgot,  never  know- 
ingly violated.  In  the  tolerant  views  of  his  beloved  pastor,  the 
Rev.  John  Lothrop,  he  entirely  coincided.  If  his  neighbor  was 
an  Ana-Baptist  or  a  Quaker,  he  did  not  judge  him,  because  he 
held,  that  to  be  a  perogative  of  Deity,  which  man  had  no  right  to 
assume. 

A  man  who  holds  to  such  principles,  whose  first  and  only 
inquiry  is  what  does  duty  demand,  and  performs  it,  will  rarely 
stray  far  from  the  Christian  fold.     His  posterity  will  never  ask  to 

§Lieutenant  was  then  the  highest  rank  in  the  local  militia. 


338  GBNBALOG-ICAL    NOTKS    OF    BAKN STABLE    FAMILIES. 

what  sect  he  belonged,  they  will  call  him  blessed,  and  only  regret 
that  their  lives  are  not  like  his. 

In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  Mr.  Dimmock  appears  to  have 
been  of  feeble  health,  and  unable  to  perform  any  act  that  required 
labor  or  care.  It  appears  also,  that  he  was  obliged  to  sell  a  por- 
tion of  his  ample  real  estate,  to  provide  means  for  the  support  of 
himself  and  family,  and  at  his  death  he  gave  the  remainder  to  his 
wife,  in  a  "will"  full  of  meaning  and  characteristic  of  the  man. 

Dimmock  is  an  old  name  in  England,  and  there  are  many 
families  who  bear  it.  It  has  various  spellings,  and  probably  was 
originally  the  same  as  that  of  Dymocke,  the  hereditary  champion 
of  England,  an  office  now  abolished,  who  at  coronations  owed  the 
service  of  Challenge  to  all  competitors  for  the  crown.  In  this 
country  I  find  the  name  written  Dymocke,  Dimmock,  Dimack, 
Dimuck,  Dimicku.  In  the  commission  of  Edward  Dimmock 
engrossed  on  parchment,  three  different  spellings  of  the 
name  occur.  The  family  usually  write  the  name  Dimmock,  but 
many  Dimick,  which  is  more  nearly  in  accordance  with  tlie  pro- 
nunciation than  any  other  spelling.  It  is  probably  a  Welch  or  a 
West  of  England  name,  and  some  facts  stated  by  Burke  in  his 
genealogy  of  the  family  favor  the  family  tradition,  that  Elder 
Thomas  Dimmock's  father  was  Edward,  and  that  he  came  from 
Barnstaple  or  that  vicinity. 

I.  Elder  Thomas  Dimmock  married  Ann  [Hammond  ?]  * 
before  his  removal  to  Barnstable.     His  children  were  : 

2.  I.  Timothy,  baptized  by  Mr.  Lothrop  Jan.  12,  1639-40, 
and  was  the  first  of  the  English  who  died  in  Barnstable,  and 
was  buried  June  17,  1640,  "in  the  lower  syde  of  the  Calves 
Pasture." 

3.  II.  Mehitable,  baptized  April  18,  1642.  She  married 
Richard  Child  of  Watertown,  March  30,  1662,  where  she 
appears  to  have  beeu  a  resident  at  the  time.  She 
died  Aug.  18,  1676,  aged  34.  She  had  1,  Richard, 
March  30,  1663;  2,  Ephraim,  Oct.  9,  1664;  3,  Shubael, 
Dee.  19,  1665,  he  married,  was  afterwards  insane,  and 
froze  to  death  in  the  County  prison ;  4,  Mehitable ;  5, 
Experience,  born  Feb.  26,  1669-70;  6,  Abigail,  born  June 
16,  1672,  married  Joseph  Lothrop,  Esq.,  of  Barnstable;  7, 
Ebenezer,  born  Nov.  10,  1674  ;  8,  Hannah,  twin,  born  Nov. 
10,  1674,  married  Joseph  Blush  of  Barnstable. 

4.  III.  Shubael,  baptized  Sept.  15,  1644,  married  Joanna, 
daughter  of  John  Bmsley,  April  1663. 

*To  attempt  to  gleau  in  a  field  which  has  been  surveyed  by  so  thorough  a  genealogist  as 
Dr.  Bond,  may  seem  presumptuous.  Samuel  House,  Hobert  Linnett,  and  Thomas  Dim- 
mock it  appears  by  the  records  of  Mr.  Lothrop,  were  his  brothers-in-law.  Rev.  Mr. 
Lothrop  iliarried  for  his  second  wife,  Anae,  daughter  of  William  Hammond  of  Watertown; 
Samuel  House  mamed  her  sister  Elizabeth;  Mr.  Lothrop's  son  Thomas  married  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Robert  Lmnell;  William  Hammond  had  tivo  daughters  of  the  name  Anne,  and 
this  would  not  be  a  case  without  a  parallel,  if  both  were  hving  .it  the  same  time,  and  that 
one  mamed  Mr.  Lothrop  and  tlio  other  Mr.  Dimmock. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         339 

The  children  of  Elder  Dimmock  are  not  recorded  on  the 
Barnstable  town,  or  on  the  Plymouth  Colony  records.  The  above 
are  from  the  church  records,  which  are  more  reliable  than  either  of 
the  others.  He  may  have  had  children  before  he  came  to  Barn- 
stable ;  but  it  is  not  probable.  The  widow  Ann  Dimmock  was 
living  in  Oct.  1683.  The  date  of  her  decease  is  not  on  the  town 
or  church  records.     She  probably  died  before  1686. 

4.  Ensign  Shubael  Dimmock,  only  son  of  Elder  Thomas, 
who  lived  to  mature  age,  sustained  the  character  and  reputation  of 
his  father.  In  1669  he  was  a  resident  in  Yarmouth ;  but  did  not 
I'emain  long.  In  Barnstable  he  was  much  employed  in  town  busi- 
ness. He  was  one  of  the  selectmen  in  1686  and  6,  a  deputy  to 
the  Colony  Court  in  the  same  years,  and  again  in  1689  after  the 
expulsion  of  Sir  Edmond  Andros.  He  was  Ensign  of  the  militia 
company,  and  was  called  in  the  records  Ensign  Shubael  Dimmock. 
About  the  year  1693  he  removed  to  Mansfield,  Conn.,  where  he 
was  known  as  Dea.  Dimmock.  He  died  in  that  town  Sunday,  Oct. 
29,  1732,  at  9  o'clock,  in  the  91st  year  of  his  age,  and  his  wife 
Joanna  May  8,  1727,  aged  83  years. 

He  inherited  the  real  estate  of  his  father,  to  which  he  made 
large  additions.  Of  his  place  of  residence  and  business  in  Yar- 
mouth, I  find  no  trace  in  the  records.  In  1686  he  resided  in  the 
fortification  house  which  was  his  father's.  The  house  which  his 
son  Capt.  Thomas  afterwards  resided  in,  was  built  and  owned  by 
him.  it  was  built  176  years  ago,  and  as  it  has  always  been  kept 
in  good  repair,  few  would  mistrust  from  its  appearance  that  it  was 
so  ancient.  It  remained  in  the  family  till  about  1812,  when  it 
was  sold  to  the  father  of  Mr.  Selleck  Hedge,  the  present  owner. 
This  house,  and  the  houses  built  by  Ensign  Dimmock's  sons,  all 
belong  to  the  class  of  buildings  known  as  high  single  houses. 
They  were  of  wood,  and  somewhat  larger,  but  the  style  was  the 
same  as  that  of  Elder  Thomas'.  They  contained  the  same  num- 
ber of  rooms,  fronted  either  due  north  or  due  south,  and  on  clear 
days  the  shadows  of  the  house  were  a  sun  dial  to  the  inmates,  the 
only  time  piece  which  they  could  consult. 

Ensign  Dimmock,  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  April  1663, 
was  only  eighteen  years  and  seven  months  old,  and  his  wife 
Joanua  seventeen  years  and  one  month.  At  her  death,  they  had 
lived  in  the  marriage  state  64  years.  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were  : 

Thomas,  born  April  1664. 
John,  Jan.  1666. 
Timothv,  March  1668. 
Shubael",  Feb.  1673. 
Joseph,  Sept.  1676. 
Mehitabel,  1677. 
Benjamin,  March  1680. 


0. 

i. 

6. 

II. 

7. 

III. 

8. 

IV. 

9. 

V. 

10. 

VI. 

11. 

VII. 

340  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

12.  VIII.     Joanna,  March  1682. 

13.  IX.     Thankful,  Nov.  1684. 

5.  Capt.  Thomas  Dimmoek,  or  Dimmack,  as  he  wrote  his 
name,  son  of  Ensign  Shubael,  was  in  the  military  service  in  the 
eastern  country,  and  was  killed  in  battle  at  Canso,  on  the  9th  of 
Sept.  1697.  He  was  a  gallant  officer,  and  in  the  battle  in  which  he 
lost  his  life  he  would  not  conceal  himself  in  the  thicket  or  shelter 
himself  behind  a  tree,  as  the  other  officers  and  soldiers  under  his 
command  did,  but  stood  out  in  the  open  field,  a  conspicuous  mark 
for  the  deadly  aim  of  the  French,  and  of  the  Indian  warriors. t 

Capt.  Dimmoek  resided  in  the  East  Parish,  and  about  the 
year  1690  bought  the  dwelling-house  of  Henry  Taylor,  which 
stood  on  the  east  of  the  common  field  road,  where  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Gorham  now  resides.  This  he'  sold  to  Nathaniel  Orris  in  1694. 
He  afterwards  owned  and  occupied  his  father's  house,  above 
described.  Though  only  thirty-three  at  his  death,  he  had  acquired 
a  large  estate.  The  real  estate  which  was  his  father's  was  apprised 
at  £110  ;  the  farm  at  West  Barnstable  bought  of  Jonathan  Hatch, 
at  £72  ;  land  bought  of  Thomas  Lumbert,  Sen'r,  Henry  Taylor, 
and  Sergeant  Cobb,  £20  ;  meadow  in  partnership  with  John  Bacon 
and  Samuel  Cobb,  £16  ;  and  meadow  at  Rowley's  Spring,  formerly 
his  father's,  £12.  He  had  a  large  personal  estate,  including  one- 
sixth  of  a  sloop,  shares  in  whale  boats,  &c. 

Capt.  Thomas  Dimmoek  married  Desire  Sturgis.  He  died 
Sept.  9,  1697,  and  she  married  2d,  Col.  John  Thacher,  2d  of  that 
name,  Nov.  10,  1698,  by  whom  she  had  six  children.  She  died 
29th  March,  1749,  in  the  84th  year  of  her  age.  Her  husband 
wrote  some  highly  eulogistic  poetry  on  her  death. }: 

His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

14.  I.  Mehitabel,  born  Oct.  1686.  She  married  Capt.  John 
Davis  Aug.  13,  1705,  and  died  May  1775,  aged  88.  (For 
a  notice  of  her  see  Davis.) 

15.  II.  Temperance,  June  1689,  married  June  2,  1709,  Benja- 
min Freeman  of  Harwich,  and  has  numerous  descendants. 

16.  III.  Edward,  born  5th  July  1692.  (See  account  of  his 
family  below.) 

17.  IV.  Thomas,  born  25th  Dec.  1694.  Of  this  son  I  have 
no  information. 

18.  V.  Desire,  born  Feb.  1696,  married  Job  Gorham  Dec.  4, 
1719,  died  Jan.  28,  1732-3. 


fThis  is  the  tradition  which  has  been  preserved  in  the  neighborhood;  but  I  find  no  men- 
tion of  his  death  in  the  histories  of  the  times  which  I  have  consulted.  It  was  the  last  year 
of  King  "Williams'  war,  and  great  alarm  prevailed  throughout  New  England  that  tlie 
country  would  be  invaded  by  the  French.  Capt.  Dimmoek  was  engaged  in  the  whale 
fishery,  and  he  may  have  been  on  a  whaling  voyage  at  the  time ;  but  the  statement  in  the 
text  is  probably  accurate. 

XI  have  the  original  in  the  hand-writing  of  Col.  Thatcher.  I  preserve  it  not  for  the 
poetry;  but  because  it  is  written  on  the  back  of  a  valuable  historical  document. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMlLlKiS.         341 

6.  John  Dimmock,  or  Dimuck,  as  he  wrote  his  name,  son  of 
Ensign  Shubael,  was  a  farmer  and  resided  in  Barnstable  till 
October  1709,  when  he  exchanged  his  farm  in  Barnstable  contain- 
ing forty  acres  of  upland  and  thirty  of  meadow,  his  liouselot  and 
commonage,  with  Samuel  Sturgis  of  Barnstable,  for  a  farm  on 
Monosmenekecon  Neck,  in  Falmouth,  containing  150  acres  and 
other  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  said  Neck,  and  removed  to  that 
town,  where  he  has  descendants.  His  house  in  Barnstable  is  now 
owned  by  Mr.  Wm.  W.  Sturgis.  He  married,  Nov.  1689,  Eliza- 
beth Lumbert,  and  had  nine  children  born  in  Barnstable,  viz : 

19.  I.     Sarah,  born  Dec.  1690. 

20.  II.     Anna,  or  Hannah,  last  of  Julv  1692. 

21.  III.     Mary,  June  1695. 

22.  IV.  Theophilus,  Sept.  1696,  married  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Hinckley,  Oct.  1,  1722. 

23.  V.     Timothy,  July  1698. 

24.  VI.     Ebenezer,  Feb.  1700. 

25.  VII.     Thankful,  5th  April.  1702. 

26.  VIII.  Elizabeth,  20th  April,  1704,  married  John  Lovell 
1750. 

27.  IX.     David,  baptized  19th  May,  1706. 

7.  Timothy  Dimmock,  son  of  Ensign  Shubael,  removed  to 
Mansfield,  Conn.,  and  from  thence  to  Ashford  where  he  died 
about  the  year  1733.  His  wife  was  named  Abigail.  She  had  six 
children  born  in  Mansfield.  Timothy,  born  June  5,  1703,  is  the 
first  named  on  the  record.  He  had  also  Israel  and  Ebenezer,  the 
latter  born  22d  Nov.  1715,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  Col.  J. 
Dimick  of  Fort  Warren,  Boston  harbor.  He  has  many  descend- 
ants in  Connecticut. 

8.  Shubael  Dimock,  son  of  Ensign  Shubael,  resided  in 
Barnstable.  He  married  Tabitha  Lothrop  May  4,  1699.  She 
died  July  24,  1727,  aged  56  years;  he  died  Dec.  16,  1728,  aged 
55  years'.  Both  are  buried  in  the  ancient  grave  yard  on  the  Old 
Meeting  House  Hill.  His  father,  on  his  removal  to  Mansfield, 
gave  him  a  share  of  his  estate.  His  children,  born  in  Barnstable, 
were — 

28.  I.  Samuel,  born  7th  May,  1702,  married  Hannah  Davis 
1724.  June  1,  1740,  she  was  dismissed  to  the  church  in 
Tolland,  Conn.  She  died  in  Barnstable,  a  widow,  Oct.  13, 
1755  ;  but  the  family  probably  remained  in  Connecticut. 
They  had  seven  children  born  in  Barnstable:  1,  Mehitable, 
April  25, 1722,  Sabbath  ;  2,  Samuel,  Oct.  17, 1726,  Monday  ; 
3,  Hannah,  Nov.  26,  1728,  Tuesday  ;  4,  Shubael,  31st  Janu- 
ary, 1731,  Sabbath  ;  5,  Joseph,  Feb.  19,  1733,  Monday; 
6,  Mehitabel,  29th  Sept.  1735,  Monday ;  7,  Daniel,  May  28, 
1738,  Sabbath  ;  8,  David,  1745.     (Born  in  Connecticut.) 

Samuel    Dimmock   has  numerous   descendants.     He   resided 


342  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

several  years  in  Saybrook,  Conn.  His  widow,  as  above  stated, 
died  ill  Barnstable,  and  it  is  said  that  he  also  died  in  his  native 
town.  His  son  Samuel  died  at  Albany  in  1756  ;  Shubael  went  to 
Mansfield,  and  it  is  said  removed  to  Nova  Scotia,  before  the  Revo- 
lution ;  Joseph  lived  many  years  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  and  died 
in  182.5  at  one  of  his  daughter's  in  Greenville,  N.  Y.,  aged  92. 
Several  of  his  descendants  were  sea  captains  and  lost  at  sea. 
.Joseph  .J.  Dimock,  late  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  Hartford,  is 
a  great  grandson  of  .Joseph.  Daniel,  son  of  Samuel,  lived  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Connecticut.  David  Dimock,  a  son  of  Samuel, 
born  after  his  removal  from  Barnstable,  removed  from  Wethers- 
field to  Montrose,  Penn.,  and  died  there  in  1832,  aged  87. 
Davis,  a  son  of  David,  was  a  Baptist  preacher  of  some  note — a 
man  all  work — baptized  2,000  persons — preached  8,000  sermons — 
a  practicing  physician — acting  county  judge,  &c.  The  descend- 
ants of  David  at  Montrose  are  among  the  most  worthy  and  influ- 
ential in  that  region.  Milo  M.,  a  son,  was  a  member  of  Congress 
in  1852,  Associate  Judge,  &c. 

29.  II.  David,  baptized  11th  June,  1704  Married  Thankful 
Cobb,  October  14,  1746.     (Doubtful.) 

30.  III.     Joanna,  born  24th  Dec.  1708;  died  January,  1709. 

31.  IV.     Mehitable,  born  26th  June,  1711. 

32.  V.     Shubael,  baptized  April,  1706. 

9.  Joseph  Dimmock,  son  of  Ensign  Shubael,  married,  12th 
May,  1699,  Lydia,  daughter  of  Doct.  John  Fuller.  She  learned 
the  trade  of  tailoress,  and  after  the  death  of  her  father,  Stephen 
Skiff,  Esq.,  of  Sandwich,  was  her  guardian.  Her  mother-in-law 
administered  on  the  estate,  and  May  9,  1700  she  acknowledges  the 
receipt  of  £75.  from  her  said  mother,  then  wife  of  Capt.  John 
Lothrop,  in  full  for  her  right  in  her  father's  estate.  Several  mem- 
bers of  this  family  removed  to  Connecticut.  She  died  there 
November  6,  1755,  aged  80.     Children  born  in  Barnstable: 

33.  I.     Thomas,  born  26th  January,  1699-1700. 

84.  II.  Bethiah,  3d  Febuary,  1702.  Married,  1726,  Samuel 
Annable.  Oct.  22,  1751,  dismissed  from  the  Barnstable 
Church  to  the  church  in  Scotland,  Conn. 

35.  III.  Mehitable,  22d  Nov.,  1707,  married  Thomas  Crocker, 
1727,  died  1729. 

36.  IV.  Ensign,  (?)  born  8th  Nov.,  1709,  married  Abigail 
Tobey,  of  Sandwich,  Oct.  19,  1731,  and  had — 1,  Thomas, 
29th  Oct.  1732;  2,  Mehitable,  12th  April  1735;  3,  Joseph, 
12th  July,  1740. 

Joseph  Dimmock  resided  in  the  east  parish.  His  house  stood 
on  the  spot  where  Asa  Young,  Esq.,  now  resides.  It  was  a  two 
story  single  house  like  his  brother's,  father's  and  grandfather's. 
On  his  removal  to  Connecticut  it  wa.s  sold  to  the  Sturgis's,  and 
passed  from  them  into  the  possession  of  Bangs  Young  and  his  son 


GRNEALOQICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  PAMIHES.    343 

Asa.  It  was  taken  down  about  30  years  ago.  "fShuball  Dim- 
mack"  of  Maasfield,  oa  the  6th  of"  March,  1705-G,  "for  the 
natural  affection  he  bears  to  his  son  Joseph  Dimmock,"  conveyed 
to  him  eight  acres  of  land  on  the  west  side  of  his  gi'eat  lot  (now 
Joshua  Thayer's  home  lot)  with  one  acre  more  on  the  north  side 
of  the  road  (now  the  house  lot  of  Asa  Young,  Esq.)  This  laud, 
at  the  time,  was  under  lease  to  Shubael  Dimmock,  Jr.  The  con- 
ditions of  the  deed  were  as  follows:  "That  the  said  Joseph  Dim- 
mock shall  not  make  sale,  or  give  conveyance  of  the  said  given 
and  granted  nine  acres  of  land  from  his  heirs  to  any  stranger  or 
person  whatever,  except  it  bee  to  some  or  one  of  his  brothers 
John  or  Shubael  Dimmock,  or  their  heirs  of  the  race  of  the  Dim- 
mocks,  unless  they  or  either  of  them,  or  theirs,  shall  refuse  upon 
tender  of  sale  of  the  premises  to  give  the  true  and  just  value 
thereof  for  the  time  being,  that  any  other  will  give  in  reality, 
bonejide,  without  deceit,  or  what  it  may  be  valued  at  by  two  indif- 
ferent or  uninterested  persons."  Similar  provisio.ns  I  presume 
were  incorporated  in  the  deeds  to  his  other  sons.  Excepting  one 
small  house  lot,  all  the  lands  of  Ensign  Dimmock  passed  out  of 
the  possession  of  the  Dimmocks  fifty  years  ago,  and  all  the  lands 
of  the  elder  a  century  ago.  As  numerous  as  this  family  was  at 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  is  now  only  one,  a 
maiden  lady,  who  bears  the  name  in  the  town  of  Barnstable. 

37.  V.     Ishabod,  born  8th  March,  1711. 

38.  VI.  Abigail,  born  31st  June,  1714,  married  Thomas  Anna- 
ble  April  1,  1768,  his  third  wife  and  was  the  mother  of 
Abigail  and  Joseph,  the  latter  yet  remembered  bv  the  aged. 

39.  VII.     Pharoh,  2d  Sept.  1717.- 

40.  VIII.  David,  22d  Dec,  1721.  (I  think  this  David  married 
Thankful  Cobb.)  David,  the  son  of  Shubael,  is  named  in 
the  church,  but  not  in  the  town  records,  indicating  that  he 
died  early. 

11.  Benjamin  Dimmock,  son  of  Ensign  Shubael,  removed 
with  his  father  to  Mansfield,  Conn.  Also  his  sisters  Joanna  and 
Thankful ;  but  my  correspondent,  Wm.  L.  Weaver,  Esq.,  to  whom 
1  am  largely  indebted  for  information  respecting  this  and  other 
Connecticut  families,  gives  me  no  particulars  respecting  them. 

16.  Edward  Dimmock,  son  of  Capt.  Thomas,  resided  on  the 
paternal  estate.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  militia  and  his  com- 
mission, jengrossed  on  parchment,  is  preserved  by  his  descendants. 
He  was  captain  of  the  1st  Company,  7th  Mass.  Regiment,  in  the 
expedition  against  LouL-^burg,  liis  commission  bearing  date  Feb. 
15,  1744,  O.  S.     He  married  in  1720  Hannah ,  and  had — 

41.  I.  Anna,  23d  Nov.  1721.  Married  Thomas  Agrey  or 
Egred  March  7,  1749.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  in 
Barnstable  who  made  ship-building  a  business.  Many  who 
afterwards  built  vessels  in  Barnstable  served  their  appren- 


344  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

ticeship  with  him.  He  had  a  son  John  born  in  Barnstable 
.Jan.  2,  1752.  He  removed  to  Maine  where  he  has  descend- 
ants. 

42.  II.     Thomas,  baptized  July  25,  1725,  died  young. 

43.  III.     Edward,  baptized  March  17,  1726,  died  young. 

44.  IV.  Thomas,  born  16th  March,  1727,  married  Elizabeth 
Bacon  Oct.  7,  1755,  and  had  Charles  10th  Dec.  1756,  a 
master  ship  carpenter,  the  father  of  the  late  John  L.  Uim- 
moch:  of  Boston,  and  Col.  Charles  Dimmock  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  and  others;  2,  Hannah,  21st  July,  1758.  In  her  old 
age  she  became  the  fourth  wife  of  Capt.  Job  Chase  of  Har- 
wich ;  3,  John,  16th  June,  1764. 

Children  of  Timothy  Dimmock  and  his  wife  Abigail,  born  in 
Mansfield,  Conn. : 

I.  Timothy,  June  2,  1703. 

II.  John,  Jan.  3,  1704-5,  settled  in  Ashford. 

III.  Shubael,  May  27,  1707. 

IV.  Daniel,  Jan.  28,  1709-10. 

V.  Israel,  Dec.  22,  1710. 

VI.  Ebenezer,  Nov.  22,  1715. 

11.  VII.  Benj.  Dimmock,  son  of  JiUsigD  Shubael,  by  his 
wife  Mary,  had  the  following  children  born  in  Mansfield,  Conn.  : 

I.  Perez,  June  14,  1704,  married  Mary  Bayley  Nov.  5,  1725, 
and  had  a  familv. 

II.  Mehitabel,  June  8,  1706,  died  Dec.  1713. 

III.  Peter,  June  5,  1708,  died  Aug.  1714. 

IV.  Mary,  Sept.  14,  1710. 

V.  Joanna,  June  22,  1713. 

VI.  Shubael,  June  22,  1715. 

VII.  Mehitabel,  Aug.  6,  1719. 

12.  VIII.  Joannah  Dimmock,  daughter  of  Ensign  Shubael, 
married,  Oct.  6,  1709,  at  Windham,  Josiah  Conant,  son  of  P^xoise, 
and  grandson  of  Roger,  a  man  of  note  in  early  times.  She  had 
only  one  child,  Shubael,  born  July  15,  1711.  Shubael  Conant 
was  a  very  prominent  man  in  Mansfield.  He  was  a  judge  of  the 
court,  held  various  town,  county,  and  state  offices,  and  was  one  of 
the  Governor's  Council  of  safety  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

13.  IX.  Thankful  Dimmock,  youngest  daughter  of  Ensign 
Shubael,  married,  June  28,  1706,  Dec.  Edward  Waldo,  of  Wind- 
ham. She  had  ten  children,  and  died  Dec.  13,  1757,  aged  71 
years.  Among  her  living  descendants  are  Rev.  Daniel  Waldo,  a 
grandson,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  aged  one  hundred  years  Sept.  10, 
1862  ;  and  Judge  Loren  P.  Waldo,  late  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Connecticut. 

17.  IV.  Thomas  Dimmock,  son  of  Capt.  Thomas,  removed 
to  Mansfield,  Conn.     He  was  an  Ensign  in  the  King's  service,  and 


OKNEALOGIOAL    MBTES    OF    BARNSTAHLE    FAMILIES.         345 

died  at  Cuba  in  1741.  He  married,  Nov.  9,  1720,  Anna,  daugliter 
of  Hezeldali  Mason,  a  grandson  of  Major  John  Mason,  of  Nor- 
wich, Conn.     His  children  born  in  Mansfield  were : 

I.  Silas,  born ,  died  Dec.  31,  1721. 

II.  A  Son,  Oct.  3,  1722,  died  6th  of  said  month. 

III.  Thomas,  Oct.  25,  1723,  died  Nov.  25,  1726. 

IV.  .lesse,  Feb.  6,  1725-6,  married  Rachel  Kidder,  of   Dudley, 
and  had  a  family. 

V.  Anna,  Feb-  22,  1727-8. 

VI.  Desire,  Jan.   23,  1732-3,  married  Timothy    Dimmock,  of 
Coventry,  and  had  a  family. 

VII.  Lott,  Feb.    14,  1733-4,  married    Hannah   Gusley   and   had 
issue. 

VIII.  Seth,  June  5,  173G,  died  July  14,  1736. 

IX.  Hezekiah,   Dec.    3,   1739,  married   Alice   Ripley    and    had 
issue. 

23.  V.  Timothy  Dimmock,  a  son  of  John,  of  Falmouth, 
removed  to  Mansfield,  and  married  Ann,  daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Bradford,  Aug.   15,  1723,  and  had  a  family  at  Mansfield. 

These  additions  make  the  Dimmock  genealogy  almost  perfect 
down  to  the  fifth  generation.  Very  few  of  the  descendants  of 
Filder  Dimmock  remain  in  Massachusetts.  John,  a  grandson,  has 
a  few  descendants  in  Falmouth.  None  in  the  male  line  remain  in 
Barnstable.  In  Boston  there  are  a  few.  Nearly  all  are  in 
Connecticut,  or  trace  their  descent  from  Connecticut  families. 

The  Great  Lot  of  Elder  Dimmock — Thomas  Lothrop,  aged 
80  years  on  the  4th  of  April,  1701 ,  testified  and  said  that  he  and 
Barnard  Lumbard  were  appointed  land  measurers  of  the  town  of 
Barnstable — that  "we  did  lay  out  the  Great  Lots  twelve  score  pole 
long  from  the  foot  to  the  head  ;  the  lots  that  were  so  laid  out 
were  Mr.  Dimmock's  and  my  father  Lothrop's." 


DIEROR  DYER. 


Of  this  family  I  can  furnisli  little  information.  The  family 
removed  from  Barnstable  early.  William,  the  only  one  of  the 
name  on  the  town  records,  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Henry 
Taylor,  Dec.  1686,  and  had  eight  children  born  in  Barnstable  : 

I.  Lvdia,  30th  March,  1688. 

II.  William,  30th  Oct.  1690. 

III.  Jonathan,  Feb.  1692. 

IV.  Henry,  11th  April,  1093. 

V.  Isabel,  July  1695. 

VI.  Ebenezer,  3d  April,  1697. 

VII.  Samuel,  30tb  Oct.,  1698. 

VIII.  Judah,  April,  1701. 


DUNHAM. 


John  Dunham  of  Barnstable,  born  in  1648,  probably  eldest 
son  of  John,  Jr.,  of  Plymouth,  resided  at  the  Indian  Ponds,  or 
Hamblin's  Plain,  as  the  neighborhood  is  now  generally  called. 
He  died  January  2,  1696-7,  and  in  his  noncupative  will  devises 
his  estate,  apprized  at  £223,13,  to  his  wife  Mary  to  pay  his  debts 
and  bring  up  their  children.  He  married,  1,'  March,  1679-80, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Smith,  and  hail. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTEX    OF    BAKN8TARLE    FAMILIES.         347 

I.  Thomas,  born  25th  Dec.  1680. 

II.  John,  18th  May  1GS2. 

III.  Ebenezei-,  IVtli  April,  1U84. 

IV.  Desire,    10th   Dee.    1685;    married,    March    11,   1712-13, 
Samuel  Stetson,  of  Scituate. 

V.  Elisha,  1st  Sept.  1687  ;  married  Temperance  Stewart,  and 
was  of  Mansfield,  Conn.,  1729. 

VI.  Mercy,  10th   June,  1689  ;    married   Samuel   Stetson,  Dec. 
17,  1724. 

VII.  Benjamin,  20th  June,  1691. 

John  Dunham  was  a  member  of  the  Plymouth  Church,  and 
afterwards  of  the  Barnstable.  He  was  not  an  original  proprietor. 
He  bought  of  Thomas  Bowman,  Jr.,  who  removed  to  Falmouth, 
Feb.  18,  1685,  three  acres  of  land  at  the  Herring  Brook  was  laid 
out  to  him,  bounded  east  by  Goodspeed's  old  cart  way  that  goeth 
from  Ebenezer  Goodspeed's  house  to  the  place  where  the  old 
house  of  the  said  Goodspeed  was  by  the  salt  marsh ;  south  and 
west  by  the  cove  and  river,  and  north  by  the  commons.  On  the 
10th  of  April,  1689,  30  acres  which  had  been  granted  to  him 
several  years  previous  was  laid  out  to  him  at  Oysterhead  river,  65 
rods  square,  bounded  westerly  by  Herring  River,  southerly  by 
John  Leede,  Senr's,  marsh,  easterly  by  John  Goodspeed's  cart 
way,  and  north  by  the  commons. 


DICKENSON. 


Capt.  John  Dickenson  married,  lOth  July,  1651,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Mr.  John  Howland  of  Plymouth,  and  widow  of 
Ephraim  Hicks.  She  married  Hicks  13th  Sept.  1649,  and  he  died 
three  mouths  after.  He  bought  the  lot  which  I  presume  was 
originally  Rev.  John  Smith's,  containing  8  acres,  bounded  west  by 
the  lot  of  Isaac  Wells,  and  easterly  by  George  Lewis.  The  new 
Court  House  stands  near  the  western  boundary  of  his  lot.  In 
1654,  he  had  sold  this  lot  to  Isaac  Wells,  and  had  removed  from 
Barnstable. 

In  1653,  he  was  master  of    the  Desire,  of  Barnstable,  owned 


348  UEJSEALOGIOAL    MOTKiS    OF    UA11M8TAB1.K    KAhMIMKn. 

by  C'apt.  Samuel  Mayo,  Capt.  Wm.  Paddy,  and  John  Barnes,  and 
was  employed  to  transport  the  goods  of  Rev.  Wm.  Leverich,  of 
Sandwich, 'to  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island.  In  Ilempsted  harbor  his 
vessel  was  seized  by  Capt.  Thomas  Baxter,  who  had  received  a 
commission  from  the  Assembly  of  Providence  plantation.  The 
matter  was  immediately  investigated  by  the  commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies.  The  Assembly  of  '^Providence  disapproved  of 
the  act  of  Baxter,  stating  that  he  had  no  authority  to  seize  the 
Desire,  and  that  his  commission  authorized  him  to  seize  Dutch, 
and  not  vessels  belonging  to  citizens  of  the  United  Colonies. 


DUN, OR  DUNN. 


.John  Dun  came  to  Barnstable  about  the  year  1720.  His 
house  stood  on  the  hill  at  head,  or  south  end  of  Straiglit  Way, 
and  his  farm  is  yet  known  as  Dun's  field.  He  died  .July  21,  ITo.'i, 
aged  70,  and  his  wife  Experience  Aug.  17,  1746,  aged  .50.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  East  Church,  and  his  children,  Dorothy, 
Mary,  and  Elizabeth,  were  baptized  April  17,  1726;  John  and 
Martha,  April  24,  1726;  Thomas,  Oct.  1.5,  1727,  and  another 
Thomas  Sept.  29,  1734. 

Dorothy  married  in  1743,  Josiah  Smith,  tlien  a  resident  in 
Plymouth;  Elizabeth  was  published  in  174,5,  to  Thomas  Thomas, 
of  Cambridge;  but  July  26,  1748,  married  Benjamin  Casely. 

He  has  no  male  descendants  ni  Barnstable,  and  I  have  no 
information  relative  to  his  earlv  iiistorv. 


DOWNS. 


Respecting  this  family  I  have  little  information.  In  1725 
there  were  three  of  the  name  in  Yarmouth,  William,  Edward  and 
Samuel,  and  they  married  a  trio  of  sisters  named  Baxter,  daugh- 
ters of  Temperance,  the  wife  of  Hon.  Shubael  Baxter.  Of  the 
paternity  of  Mrs.  Baxter,  and  how  it  happened  that  she  had  three 
daughters  of  the  name  of  Baxter,  before  her  last  marriage,  I  am 
unable  to  explain. 

William  Downs,  of  Yarmouth,  married,  June,  1726,  Eliza- 
beth Baxter,  and  had  Elizabeth  Aug.  1,  1727;  Desire,  Dec.  10, 
1728  ;  Barnabas,  Aug.  8,  1730  ;  Thankful,  Sept.  22,  1732-;  Mary, 
April  12,  1734;  Jabez,  March  23,  1735-6;  A  daughter,  Oct.  29, 
1737,  died  7  days  after;  Sarah,  Dec.  15,  1738  ;  William,  Dec.  5, 
1740  ;  Isaac,  April  5,  1742  ;  Lydia,  Jan.  20,  1743-4  ;  and  Benja- 
min, Nov.  20,  1749. 

Edward  Downs,  of  Yarmouth,  married  in  1728,  Mary  Baxter, 
and  had  Jerusha,  4th  Aug.  1729 ;  Bethia,  8th  June,  1734 ; 
Thomas,  27th  Oct.  1735  ;  Robert,  6th  March,  1736-7  ;  Betty,  3d 
Nov.  1739. 

Samuel  Downs  married,  Feb.  25,  1730-1,  Temperance  Baxter. 
He  removed  to  Barnstable  owned  and  kept  the  public  house  known 
in  subsequent  times  as  Lydia  Sturgis'  tavern.*  He  died  in  1748, 
and  his  wife  Temperance  administered  on  his  estate  July  6,  1748, 


*  In  the  notice  of  Cornelius  Crocker,  Senr,  1  state  that  the  Sturgis  Tavern  was  built  by 
Samuel  Downs  in  1686.  [This  statement  was  omitted  by  the  Editor  in  this  reprint,  it  being 
obviously  iueon'ect.]  This  information  I  obtained  from  the  late  Cornelius  Crocker,  who 
said  he  had  deeds  and  papers  to  substantiate  his  statement.  These  papers  cannot  now  be 
found.  lie  was  mistaken.  If  the  house  was  built  in  1686,  it  was  not  built  by  Samuel 
Downs,  because  he  had  not  then  seen  liis  first  birthday.  If  built  by  him,  it  was  probably 
built  in  1731.  Its  architecture  does  not  indicate  that  it  was  built  so  early  as  1684.  The 
tradition  is,  that  it  was  built  the  same  year  that  the  Court  House  was.  The  first  County 
Court  in  Barnstable  was  held  on  the  third  I'uesday  of  June,  1686.  It  was  a  meeting  to 
organize — no  actions  were  tried.  Neither  the  Court  House  nor  the  Sturgis  tavern  had  been 
constructed  April  1686.  The  Court  House  was  probably  built  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1686. 

In  the  same  article  I  0ve  a  wrong  .location  of  Otis  Loring's  blacksmith's  shop.  It 
stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  road,  about  half  way  ft'om  the  Sturgis  to  the  Loriug  tavern, 
on  the  spot  where  the  shop  recently  occupied  by  Isaac  Chipman  now  stands.  The  black- 
smith's shop  opposite  the  Lorin^  tavern,  was  built  by  Isaac  Lothrop  about  the  year  1788. 


350  (JKNKALOGICAL    NOT?:S    OF    BAKNSTAHI.E    FAMILIES. 

whic-h  was  apprized  tit  £050.  The  description  of  tiie  house  at 
that  time  shows  that  the  only  alteration  since  made  is  the  "L"  on 
the  east  end.  Soon  after  this  dale,  she  married  Nathaniel  Howes, 
of  Harwich,  who  resided  near  the  Herring  River,  and  was  an 
"inn  holder." 

The  children  of  Samuel  Downs  were  Nathaniel,  Shubael,  Bax- 
ter, .Jonathan,  Hannah,  who  married  a  Gage,  Temperance,  who 
married  a  Kelley,  and  Jane  who  married  a  Hall ;  all  living  Feb. 
24,  1773. 

Barnabas  Downs,  son  of  William,  born  in  Yarmouth,  Aug.  8, 
1730,  resided  in  Barnstable.  His  farm  was  on  the  east  side  of 
Dimmock's  lane.  It  was  on  the  south  of  the  great  lot  of  Barnabas 
Lumbert.  His  house,  a  small  one  story  building,  stood  near  the 
woodland.  His  farm  contained  about  thirty  acres  of  cleared  land 
and  would  not  now  sell  for  more  than  $100,  yet  he  kept  thereon  a 
large  stock  of  cattle,  one  or  more  horses,  and  a  large  flock  of 
sheep,  and  raised  an  abundance  of  grain  and  vegetables  for  the 
supply  of  his  large  family.  His  sheep  and  young  cattle  ran  at 
large  in  the  summer,  and  his  hay  he  procured  from  the  salt  mead- 
ows at  Sandy  Neck.  He  was  one  of  that  class  of  small  farmers 
which  at  that  time  comprised  more  than  half  of  the  rural  popula- 
tion of  Barnstable — hard  working,  industrious  men,  who  lived 
comfortable,  and  brought  up  their  families  respectably,  on  means 
which  would  now  be  considered  totally  inadequate.  Barnabas 
Downs  lived  on  the  produce  of  his  own  lands.  His  clothing  was 
manufactured  in  his  own  house.  With  the  blacksmith,  the  shoe- 
maker, and  the  carpenter,  he  exchanged  labor  for  labor.  The  few 
groceries  he  wanted,  he  obtained  by  exchanging  his  surplus  pro- 
duce with  the  trader,  or  by  the  sale  of  onions  in  Boston.  He  had 
very  little  money,  and  he  needed  but  little.  He  was  the  most  in- 
dependent of  men.  Six  days  he  laboi'ed  and  did  all  his  work,  and 
the  seventh  was  a  day  of  rest. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  East  Church  in  Barnstable,  July 
4,  1779,  and  regularly  attended  all  its  meetings  and  ordinances. 
As  certain  as  the  Sabbath  came,  Mr.  Downs  would  be  seen  riding 
on  horseback  to  meeting,  with  his  wife  seated  on  a  pillion  behind 
him.  Everybody  then  attended  meeting  on  the  Sabbath,  and  if 
they  were  no  better  men  and  women  in  consequence,  they  certain- 
ly were  no  worse. 

He  married  four  wives  ;  1st,  Mercy  Lumbert,  Sept.  20,  1753, 
by  whom  he  had  three  children;  2d,  Mary  Cobb,  Sept.  23,  1759, 
by  whom  he  had  eight  children,  she  died  April  1780  ;  3d,  Eliza- 
beth Sturgis,  who  died  Feb.  1772  ;  4th,  widow  Sarah  Spencer,  Oct. 
7,  1792.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Case,  and  taught  a 
small  school  while  a  widow  at  her  home.  Whitney  had  not  then 
invented  the  cotton  gin,  and  cotton  was  then  sold  with  the  seeds, 
which  iiad  to  be  picked  out  by  hand.     Mrs.  Spencer,  to  keep  her 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAIiN8TAHLE    FAMILIES.         351 

pupils  quiet,  gave  eacli  a  small  bunch  of  cotton  to  piclr  duriug 
school  hours.  He  died  April  18,  1620,  in  the  90th  year  of  his 
age.f 

His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 
I.  James,  born  May  12,  1754,  married  Joanna  Bacon,  resided  in 
Barnstable  and  had  a  family.  He  was  more  distinguished  for 
his  wit  than  sound  judgment.  Many  anecdotes  of  him  are  re- 
lated. One  day  when  at  work  for  Col.  James  Otis,  the  men 
sent  him  at  eleven  o'clock  for  their  usual  mug  of  beer.  James 
was  sent  to  the  cellar  ;  but  a  barrel  of  rum  standing  near,  he 
tilled  the  tankard  with  the  stronger  liquor.  On  his  return,  he 
saw  Col.  Otis  with  the  workmen,  and  to  avoid  detection,  he 
contrived  to  stumble  down  and  spill  the  liquor.  Col.  Otis, 
who  had  watched  his  motions,  called  to  him  and  said,  "Jim, 
br,ing  me  that  tankard."  He  obeyed.  Col.  Otis,  smelling  the 
vessel,  discovered  the  trick.  Instead  of  reproving  him,  he 
ordered  him  to  go  and  fill  the  tankard  again  from  the  same 
barrel,  and  be  more  careful  in  returning.  James  did  not 
stumble  on  his  return. 

Shubael  Gorham  and  his  wife  Desire,  were  his  neighbors, 
and  he  delighted  in  cracking  his  jokes  at  their  expense. 
n.  Barnabas,  born  Oct.  2,  1756.  He  served  three  campaigns  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Afterwards  he  shipped  on  board  tlie 
private  armed  schooner  Bunker  Hill,  Capt.  Isaac  Cobb.  Six 
days  after  leaving  port,  the  schooner  was  taken  by  the  P^ng- 
lish  brig  Hope,  Capt.  Brown,  and  carried  to  Halifax.  After 
his  return  he  shipped  in  Boston,  on  board  the  private  armed 
brig  Gen.  Arnold,  Capt.  James  Magee,  wrecked  in  Plymouth 
harbor,  Dec.  27,  1778.  He  published  an  auto-biography — a 
pamphlet  of  about  a  dozen  pages — printed  by  John  B.  Downs, 
a  son  of  Prince.  Many  copies  were  sold  ;  it  is  now  extremely 
rare — only  one  copy  was  found  after  much  inquiry.  If  none 
had  been  found,  little  information  would  have  been  lost.  He 
furnishes  few  facts,  and  his  narrative  of  the  shipwreck  is 
meagre  and  unsatisfactory. 

I  have  often  heard  Mr.  Downs  relate  the  particulars  of  the 
shipwreck  in  plain  and  simple  words  ;  but  with  a  pathos  and  feel- 
ing that  would  draw  tears  from  the  eyes  of  the  most  obdurate. 
Nearly  half  a  century  has  passed  since  he  told  his  simple  story  of 
the  horrid  sufferings  endured  by  that  ill-fated  crew,  yet  few  of  the 
circumstances  have  faded  from  memory.  It  is  from  my  recollec- 
tion of  his  conversations,  from  the  published  statements  of  Capt. 
Magee,    and  the  narrative  of    Cornelius  Merchant,  Esq.,  that  I 

t  He  was  carried  as  was  the  uniform  custom  at  that  time,  on  a  bier  from  his  house  to  the 
grave,  a  liistance  ot  nearly  two  miles.  I  was  one  of  the  six  carriers.  He  weighed  over  200 
pounds  when  he  died,  and  I  shall  never  forget  his  funeral,  for  my  bones  aclie,  even  now, 
when  I  think  of  that  long  tramp  with  at  least  75  pounds  on  one  shoulder.  In  those  days,  it 
would  have  boon  deemed  a  sacrilege  to  have  carried  a  corpse  to  the  grave  in  a  hearse. 


352  G14NKALOG1CAL    NOTKS    OF    BAliNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

have  compiled  the  following  account  of  the  shipwreck  ;  not  from 
"The  Life  of  Barnabas  Downs,  Jr."  : 

The  Gen.  Arnold  was  a  new  vessel,  mounted  20  guns,  with  u 
crew  of  105  men  and  boys.  Of  these  twelve  were  from  Barn- 
stable, namely,  Mr.  John" Russell,  captain  of  the  marines,  Barna- 
bas Lothrop,"jr.,  Daniel  Hall,  Thomas  Casely,  Ebenezer  Bacon, 
Jesse  Garrett,  John  Berry,  Barnabas  Howes,  Stephen  Bacon, 
Jonathan  Lothrop,  Barnabas  Downs,  Jr.,  and  Boston  Crocker,  a 
negro  servant  of  Joseph  Crocker.  In  the  Boston  Gazette  of  Jan. 
4,  1779,  Barnabas  Lothrop,  Jr.,  is  included  in  the  list  of  surviv- 
ors. It  appears  that  he  was  alive  when  taken  from  the  wreck, 
but  died  on  his  way  or  soon  after  reaching  tlie  shore.  Barnabas 
Downs,  Jr.,  was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  twelve  from  the  East 
Parish  in  Barnstable 

The  Gen.  Arnold,  Capt.  James  Magee,  sailed  from  Nantasket 
Roads,  Boston,  on  Thursday,  Dec.  24,  1778,  in  company  with  the 
privateer  sloop  Revenge,  Capt.  Barrow,. mounting  ten  guns.  In 
the  Bay  they  encountered  a  violent  north-east  storm.  Its  severity 
is  perhaps  unparalled  in  the  annals  of  New  England.  This  is  the 
unanimous  verdict  of  those  who  lived  at  that  time,  and  even  to 
this  day  the  aged  remark  respecting  a  very  violent  storm,  "it  is 
almost  as  severe  as  the  Magee  storm."  The  Revenge  being  in 
good  sailing  trim  weathered  Cape  Cod,  and  afterwards  arrived  at 
the  West  Indies. 

Capt.  Magee  was  unable  to  weather  the  Race.  On  Friday, 
Dec.  25,  the  gale  having  subsided,  at  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
he  anchored  off  Plymouth.  Having  no  pilot,  he  did  not  judge  it 
prudent  to  run  into  the  harbor. 

In  the  course  of  the  night  the  gale  increased  in  violence,  and 
on  the  morning  of  Saturda}',  Dec.  26,  Capt.  Magee  says,  it  was 
"the  severest  of  all  storms," — a  strong  expression,  yet  the  testi- 
mony of  many  witnesses  justifies  its  use. 

Capt.  Magee  was  a  good  sailor.  In  the  hour  of  difficulty  and 
danger  he  was  calm,  hopeful,  self-reliant.  Without  these  quali- 
ties, the  most  experience  and  energetic  often  fail.  The  sixteen 
main  deck  guns  were  lowered  into  the  hold,  the  topmasts  were 
struck,  the  sails  snugly  furled,  long  scopes  given  to  the  cables, 
and  all  those  other  little  precautions  which  will  suggest  themselves 
to  the  mind  of  a  sailor,  were  taken  to  prevent  tiae  brig  from 
dragging  her  anchors.  All  these  precautions  did  not  prevent  her 
from  dragging.  She  drove  towards  the  shore  and  struck  on 
White  Flat,  a  shoal  in  Plymouth  harbor. 

While  preparing  to  cut  away  the  masts  to  prevent  rolling  and 
bilging,  a  disturbance  occurred  among  some  of  the  sailors  who 
had  become  intoxicated.  By  the  prudent  management  of  the 
officers,  order  was  again  re-established. 

The  brig  rolled  and  tlmmped  violently  on   tlie  flat,  and  in  the 


GRNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN3TABLE    FAMILIES.         353 

course  of  Saturday  af.te.rnoon  bilged  and  filled  witji  water.  Up  to 
this  time  the  officers  and  crew  had  found  shelter  in  the  cabin  and 
forecastle,  and  none  had  then  perished.  The  water  was  nearly 
on  a  level  with, the  main  deck,  tlie  tide  was  rising,  and  no  shelter 
could  be  obtained  below.  Tlie  high  quarter  deck  was  the  only 
place  that  afforded  the  least  prospect  of  safety.  A  sail  was 
extended  from  the  topsail  boom  on  the  larbord  side,  to  the  star- 
bord  quarter  rail,  and  a  partial  protection  fropa  the  storm  was 
obtained.  More  crowded  under  the  sail  than  could  stand  without 
jostling  against  each  other,  and  many  were  thrown  on  the  deck. 

It  was  now  Saturday  afternoon.  The  storm  raged  with 
fearful  intensity,  the  snow  fell  thick  and  fast,  smothering  the  men, 
darkening  the  air,  and  rendering  objects  at  a  little  distance 
invisible.  The  waves  dashed  ifuriously  against  the  vessel  and  fell 
in  frozen  spray  on  the  ill-fated ,  mariners.  The  brig  rolled  and 
thumped  so  violently  that  none  could  stand  without  support. 

The  authority  of  j;he  officers  had  ceased. — each  one  sought,  as 
best  he  could,  his  own  safety.  Some  of  the  sailors  had  not  only 
drank  to  excess,  but  to  keep  their  feet  from  freezing,  had  filled 
their  boots  with,  rum,  and  thpy  were  among  the  first  to  yield 
to  despair. 

Capt.  John  Russell,  of  Barnstable^  was  the  first  who  perished. 
He  was  large,  stout,  courageous,  and  capable  of  much  physical 
endurance.  He  was  thirty-one  years  of  age,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  while  exhorting  the  men  not  to  despair,  telhng  them  the 
vessel  was  new  and  strong,  and  would  hold  together,  he  slipped, 
fell  heavily  to  the  deck,  sinking  to  rise  no  more. 

"Thinking:  o*er  al]  the  bitterness  of  death, 
Mix'd  with  the  tender  anguish  nature  sliootp 
Through  the  wrung  bosom  ot  the  dying  man, 
His  wife,  his  children,  and  liis  friciids  unseen." 

Mr.  William  Russell,  the  first  lieutenant,  had  carefully 
watched  the  flow  of  the  tide,  about' sunset  announced  tlie  welcome 
intelligence  that  the  tide  was  on  the  ebb.  This  gave  courage  to 
the  survivors,  for  their  only  hope  of  relief  -depended  on  the  fall  of 
the  tide.  The  water  was  then  ankle  deep' on  the  main  deck,  and 
if  it  had  continued  to  rise  the  vessel  would  have  broken  up,  and 
all  would  have  been  lost; 

At  nine  o'dock  on  Saturday  evening  the  tide  had  receded,  the 
wreck  lay  motionless  on  the  flat,  and  no  frozen  spray  fell  on 
the  deck. 

Towards  Sunday  morning,  Dec;  27,  the  wind  veered  to  the 
northwest,  and  the  cold  increased.  The  morning  sun  rose  in  a 
clear  sky,  the  wind  had  abated  ;  but  the  cold  was  intense.  At  this 
time  thirty  had  perished  ;  some  had  been  smothered  by  the  snow, 
others  were  frozen,  and  a  few  had  been  washed  off  the  deck  and 
drowned. 

Early  on  Sunday  forenoon  three  men,  Abel  Willis,  of  Rock 
Island,  David    Dunham,  of    Falmouth,  and   John   Robinson,  an 


354         GENEAIX»6ICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Irish  sailor,  neither  much  frozen,  volunteered  to  attempt  to  obtain 
assistance.  They  took  the  yawl,  which  had  caught  under  the 
larbord  gang-board,  and  proceeded  to  the  ice,  which  commenced 
about  ten  rods  from  the  brig,  and  thence  travelled  to  a  small 
schooner,  laying  in  the  ice  about  half  a  mile  to  the  southward, 
belonging  to  Duxbury,  and  then  recently  from  Boston,  with  three 
or  four  men  and  a  lady  on  board.  When  tliese  men  reached  the 
schooner,  the  living  on  boai-d  the  wreck  were  elated  with  the 
prospect  of  immediate  relief.     The  men  did  not  return. 

Before  leaving  the  wreck  these  men  had  made  a  solemn 
promise  that  if  they  reached  the  schooner  they  would  procure 
assistance  and  return.  They  did  neither.  The  survivors  watched 
with  eager  eyes — they  saw  no  movement  on  board  the  schooner — 
their  boat  was  gone,  and  no  one  could  now  reach  the  ice. 

Every  effort  was  now  made  to  convince  the  inhabitants  on 
shore  that  some  were  yet  alive  on  the  wreck.  Capt.  Magee  tied  a 
handkerchief  to  a  staff,  which  he  waived,  and  at  the  same  time  all 
the  survivors  simultaneously  made  a  loud  wail,  hoping  that  the 
sound  might  reach  the  shore. 

The  people  of  Plymouth  for  some  hours  previously,  had  been 
aware  of  their  situation,  and  made  every  exertion  in  their  power, 
but  in  vain,  to  reach  the  wreck,  and  afford  relief.  The  harbor 
was  filled  with  loose  cakes  of  ice,  over  and  through  which  they 
found  it  impossible  to  force  a  boat. 

With  the  setting  sun  on  Sunday  night,  the  last  ray  of  hope 
of  relief  faded  away  and  perished — some  yielding  to  despair,  and 
laid  down  to  rise  no  more — stout  youths  who  had  been  playmates 
in  their  native  village,  embraced  and  clasped  in  each  other's  arms, 
quietly  yielded  up  their  spirits  to  God — middle  aged  men  carried 
in  their  arms  boys  placed  in  their  care,  till  death  relieved  them  of 
the  burden.  To  the  few  yet  remaining  who  did  not  yield  to 
despair,  another  long  and  dreadful  night  was  approaching,  with  no 
hope  of  relief  till  after  the  rising  of  Monday  morning's  sun. 
Wet,  faint  with  hunger,  benumbed  with  cold,  and  frost  bitten — 
the  thermometer  at  zero — a  tattered  sail,  and  the  bleached, 
stiffened  corpses  of  half  their  late  companions  piled  around,  was 
their  only  protection  from  the  piercing  wind  and  cutting  frost. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  stoutest  heart  might  quail. 
Capt.  Magee  was  heard  to  lisp  only  one  word  of  complaint — he 
never  despaired  — he  cheered  and  encouraged  his  men  to  persevere. 
Sunday  night  was  clear,  and  he  knew  that  with  the  thermometer  at 
zero  none  could  survive  if  they  sat  still  on  the  deck. 

A  piercing  northwest  wind  rendered  their  sufferings  intense, 
and  to  pass  away  that  long  and  dreadful  night,  various  expedients 
were  resorted  to.  Unable  to  stand  and  keep  in  motion  all  the 
time,  they  sat  down  in  circles,  and  with  their  legs  crossed  over  one 
another,  by   constant   friction,  strove   to    keep   their  feet  from 


GRNEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         355 

freezing.  None  would  have  survived  if  our  master  spirit  had  not 
been  there  to  cheer  them  by  his  words,  and  encourage  them  by 
his  example. 

Monday  morning  at  last  dawned  on  the  sufferers  —  it  was 
serene  and  beautiful  —  but  its  light  revealed  to  the  survivors  the 
sad  havoc  which  death  had  made  on  that  dreary  night.  The 
quarter-deck  was  covered  with  the  dead  and  the  dying — blanched 
and  frozen  bodies  were  lying  in  every  position — some  as  they  had 
expired — others  piled  in  heaps  to  give  more  room  for  the  living, 
or  a  breast-work  to  protect  them  from  the  piercing  wind  that  was 
seizing  on  their  vitals. 

Late  on  Monday  forenoon,  Dec.  28,  relief  came.  Early  in  the 
morning  the  .shore  was  thronged  with  people  —  some  were  collect- 
ing materials,  and  others  were  building  a  causeway,  from  one  cake 
of  ice  to  another,  and  thus  a  pathway  was  made  to  the  wreck. 

To  relieve  the  living  was  their  first  care,  and  to  distinguish 
between  some  of  them  and  the  dead,  was  not  easy.  Barnabas 
Downs,  .Jr.,  lay  on  the  deck  motionless  and  apparently  dead — ^yet 
living  and  perfectly  conscious.  He  heard  the  conversation  — they 
had  passed  by  him  as  dead.  He  exerted  all  his  remaining  strength 
to  move,  and  exhibit  some  sign  of  vitality.  He  moved  his  eye- 
lids, which  fortunately  was  noticed,  and  he  was  carried  to  the 
shore  —  revived  and  soon  after  was  able  to  speak. 

Of  the  105  who  sailed  from  Boston  on  the  Thursday  preceed- 
ing,  only  33  were  then  living.  Of  these,  nine  died  before  the  end 
of  nine  days  ;  eight  were  invalids  ever  after,  and  sixteen  entirely 
recovered.  Capt.  Magee  and  Mr.  "William  Russell  lived  twenty 
years,  Barnabas  Downs,  Jr.,  thirty-nine  years,  and  Cornelius 
Marchant,  Esq.,  the  last  survivor,  died  Oct.  1,  1838,  aged  75 
years.  He  was  only  15  when  he  shipped,  and  during  the  storm  of 
Saturday  and  Saturday  night  he  stood  at  the  tafel  rail,  with 
nothing  to  protect  him  from  its  violence. 

The  people  of  Plymouth,  remarks  Capt.  Magee,  with  "that 
tenderness  and  social  sympathy  which  does  honor  to  human 
nature,"  then  opened  their  houses,  received  the  survivors  as  they 
would  a  brother  or  a  father,  watched  over  them,  and  administered 
to  their  wants  everything  which  necessity  demanded  or  kindness 
could  suggest. 

The  seventy-two  dead,  frozen  in  every  variety  of  form,  were 
laid  in  Mill  river  to  thaw  before  the  rights  of  sepulchre  were  per- 
formed. The  bodies  were  af  terwa,rds  put  into  coffins,  and  removed 
to  the  Court  House  where  funeral  services  were  performed. 

So  solemn  and  affecting  a  spectacle  is  rarely  witnessed. 
Around  that  ancient  hall  seventy-two  dead  were  aiTanged.  Their 
friends  were  far  away ;  yet  real  mourners  were  there,  the  people  of 
old  Plymouth  attended  (a  mass.  The  profound  solemnity  of  the 
scene  choked  the  utterance  of    the   officiating   clergyman  —  the 


356  GKNEALOtHCAL    NOTES    OK    BAKNiSTABLE    KAMILIKS. 

congregation  sympathized  with  him  in  feeling — the  deep  silence 
which  pervaded  the  hall  was  only  broken  by  the  half  suppressed 
sobs  of  the  audience.  Silence  is  more  eloquent  than  words  —  it 
drew  tears  from  every  eye,  and  its  teachings  were  not  soon 
forgotten. 

Capt.  John  Russell  and  Mr.  Daniel  Hall,  of  Barnstable,  and 
perhaps  one  or  two  others  were  interred  in  separate  graves. 
About  seventy  were  committed  to  one  common  grave,  and  no 
stone  marked  the  place  of  their  sepulchre  till  1862,  wlien  a 
generous  son  of  old  Plymouth  erected  at  his  own  expense,  a  beau- 
tiful granite  monument  to  their  memory. 

The  deep  snow  had  blocked  the  roads  rendering  them  impassa- 
ble, and  it  was  several  days  before  the  intelligence  of  the  disaster 
reached  Barnstable.  Mr.  Barnabas  Downs,  Mr.  Oris  Bacon  and 
others,  who  had  friends  on  board  the  Gen.  Arnold,  immediately 
proceeded  to  Plymouth.  Of  the  twelve  who  went  from  Barnstable 
they  found  only  Barnabas  Downs,  Jr.,  living.  Barnabas  Lothrop 
was  living  when  the  Plymotheans  reached  the  wreck ;  but  he 
soon  died. 

Mr.  John  Thacher  brought  Mr.  Downs  from  Plymouth.  No 
carriage*  set  on  springs  was  then  owned  in  Barnstable,  and  if 
there  had  been  one,  the  deep  snow  with  which  the  roads  between 
Sandwich  and  Plymouth  were  blocked,  would  have  prevented  its 
use.  Mr.  Thaoher  constructed  an  ambulance  which  at  this  day 
would  excite  much  curiosity.  He  took  two  long  slender  poles;  at 
one  end  a  horse  was  harnessed  as  into  the  shafts  of  a  carriage,  and 
at  the  other,  another;  horse  was  harnessed,  only  in  the  reverse  of 
the  usual  position,  both  heading  the  same  way,  with  a  space  of 
about  ten  feet  between  them.  That  space  was  covered  with  a 
netting,  which  hung  down  like  a  hammock  between  the  poles.  On 
this  a  feather-bed  and  bedding  were  laid,  and  in  which  Mr.  Downs 
was  placed.  Mr.  Thacher  rode  on  the  head  horse,  and  thus 
brought  the  patient  to  his  father's  house. 

On  the  sea  coast,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  there  are  "moon 
cursers,"  that  is  men  who  hold  that  it  is  no  sin  to  steal  from  a 
shipwrecked  mariner.  To  the  everlasting  honor  of  the  Plymouth- 
eans,  they  had  not  forgotten  the  rigid  morality  taught  by  their 
Pilgrim  fathers  —  there  were  no  "moon  cursers"  there.  Capt. 
Magee,  the  friends  of  the  deceased  who  went  from  Barnstable, 
and  the  Vineyard,  bear  one  testimony — every  article  recovered 
from  the  wreck  was  carefully  preserved,  and  returned  to  its  right- 
ful owner  or  to  his  heirs. 

The  history  of  Plymouth  will  be  studied  as  long  as  man 
exists,  and  the  two  facts  we  have  named  will  ever  be  bright  jewels 


*Dr.  Bourne  had  a  chilise  at  that  time,  tlie  only  one  then  o\™ed  in  Barnstable  and  said 
to  have  been  tlie  first  in  tomi.  Doct.  Hersey  liad  a  chair,  or  snlkey,  whether  as'  carlv  a  s 
this  date,  T  am  unable  to  say.  ^ 


OENKALOGlCAt,    NOTEy    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         357 

in  her  diadem,  namely,  the  noble,  generous  hospitality  which  her  sons 
and  daughters  extended  to  the  shipwrecked  mariners  of  the  Gen. 
Arnold,  and  second,  the  scrupulous  honesty  they  displayed  in  re- 
storing every  article  found,  however  small  in  value,  to  its  rightful 
owner. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Downs  was  taken  on  shore  sensation  and 
speech  were  restored.  While  lying  on  the  deck  he  could  see  and 
hear — was  perfectly  conscious  of  his  situation — suffered  no  pain — 
but  could  not  move  a  limb — and  if  left,  would  have  died  without 
a  struggle.  With  the  return  of  feeling,  his  pains  became  most 
excruciating.  He  always  said  that  he  suffered  far  more  during 
the  time  in  which  he  partook  of  the  hospitality  of  Plymouth 
friends,  than  he  did  while  on  the  wreck. 

Mr.  Downs  lost  his  feet.  The  toes  and  heel  of  each  were 
frozen,  and  the  flesh  sloughed  off  leaving  stumps  which  did  not 
heal  over  till  a  few  months  before  his  death.  He  used  crutches, 
and  ever  after  walked  on  his  knees. 

He  married,  Nov.  23,  1784,  Sarah  Hamblin,  and  had  a 
family,  several  of  whom  yet  survive.  He  died  in  the  summer  of 
1817.  That  year  a  young  physician  had  opened  an  office  in  Barn- 
stable, and  desirous  of  performing  some  cure  that  would  give  him 
a  name  and  reputation,  said  to  Mr.  Downs,  "I  can  cure  your 
feet."  He  did  so.  Mr.  Downs  immediately  after  became  very 
fleshy,  and  at  sunset  on  the  day  of  his  death  remarked  to  a 
neighbor  that  he  never  felt  so  well  in  his  life,  and  exhibited  his 
arms  and  legs  to  show  how  fleshy  and  strong  he  was.  Two  hours 
after  he  died.  Dissolution  commenced  immediately,  and  he  had 
to  be  buried  the  next  forenoon. 

Barnabas  Downs,  Jr.,  resided  in  the  ancient  Lumbert  house, 
on  the  high  ground  south  of  Lumbert's  pond.  He  was  honest 
and  industrious,  and  though  he  went  about  on  his  knees,  he 
worked  in  his  garden  in  pleasant  weather,  cut  up  his  wood,  and 
did  many  jobs  about  his  house.  In  the  winter,  and  during  un- 
pleasant weather  he  coopered  for  his  neighbors.  He  also  cast 
spoons,  ink  stands,  and  other  small  articles,  in  pewter  or  lead,  a 
business  in  which  he  exhibited  some  skill. 

He  rode  to  meeting  on  the  Sabbath  on  horseback,  and  few 
can  now  be  found  who  can  mount  or  dismount  quicker  than  he 
did.  He  and  his  wife  were  admitted  to  the  East  Church  Oct.  10, 
1804,  and  his  children,  James  Magee,  Timothy,  Catherine,  Tem- 
perance, and  Ruth  Hamblin,  were  then  baptized. 

He  was  a  pious  man,  and  being  considered  a  worthy  object  of 
charity,  a  collection  was  annually  taken  up  for  his  benefit  by  the 
church.  The  benevolent  often  remembered  him,  and  though  he 
had  but  few  of  this  world's  goods,  he  lived  comfortably  and  re- 
spectably. His  wife  was  a  pattern  of  neatness.  Neither  a 
paint-brush  nor  a  carpet  was  ever  seen  in  her  house,  yet  frequent 


358  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAXiNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

washings  had  polished  the  walls,  and  the  floors  were  as  white  as 
sand  scouring  could  make  them. 

The   other  children   of  Barnabas  Downs,    Sen'r,   were :     3, 

Prince,  born   Dec.    5,    17.58,    married Bacon;    4,  Mercy, 

born  Oct.  8,  1765,  lived  to  old  age  unmarried  ;  .5,  Eachell,  Sept. 
7,  1766,  married  Shubael  Hamblin,  Jr.,  2.5th  Nov.  1787;  6, 
Mary,  born  April  11,  1767,  married  Henry  Cobb  ;  7,  Elizabeth, 
July'^25,  1768,  married  Stephen  Bearse  Nov.  29,  1790  ;  8,  David, 
born  Dec.  20,  1769,  married  Rebecca  Hallett,  died  at  sea;  9, 
Samuel,  June  7,  1771,  married  Lucy  Childs  May  2,  1797;  10, 
Edward,  Sept.  13,  1773;  11,  Abigail,  Oct.  7,  1778,  married 
Lewis  Cobb,  Aug.  30,  1804.     He  is  living — she  died  recently. 


NOTE.— The  date   nl'  tlic  deixtli  of  Bamiibiis  Downs,  printed  neiir  the  top  of  page   351, 
as  the  reader  has  doubtless  concluded,  should  read  1820  instead  of  1620. 


EASTERBROOKS. 


The  Easterbrooks  families  of  Barnstable  are  descendants  of 
Capt.  John  Easterbrooljs,  a  native  of  Ireland,  probably  one  of 
the  Scotch  Irish.  The  progenitors  of  the  families  of  this  name  at 
Concord  and  Swanzey,  came  from  Enfield,  in  Middlesex  County, 
England,  about  the  year  1660. 

Capt.  Easterbrooks  married  Aug.  23,  1749,  Abigail  Gorham. 
He  was  a  sea-captain — a  man  of  good  sense,  and  sound  judg- 
ment. He  resided  on  the  estate  which  was  the  homestead  of  his 
father-in-law,  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  eastern  lane  to  the  In- 
dian lands.  His  wife  died  in  1794,  aged  65,  and  he  July  2,  1802, 
aged  75.     His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  Rachell,  Aug.  10,  1750. 

II.  Gorham,  Julv  7,  1756. 

III.  Elizabeth,  July  2,  1759. 

IV.  Samuel,  Jan.  28,  1765. 

V.  .John.     (His  birth  is  not  on  the  town,  nor  is  his  baptism  on 
the  church  records. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         359 

VI.       Joseph,  baptized  March  27,  1768. 

Capt.  John  Easterbrooks,  Jr.,  was  for  many  years  captain  of 
the  Liberty,  a  packet  from  Barnstable  to  Boston.' 


EWELL 


Henry  ICwell  was  from  Sandwich,  in  the  County  of  Kent. 
He  was  a  shoemaker,  came  over  in  the  ship  Hercules,  Capt.  John 
Witherley,  in  March  1634-5.  He  settled  in  Scituate,  and  was  a 
member  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  church.  In  1637  he  volunteered  and 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Pequod  war.  He  was  a  freeman  in  1638, 
and  in  1639  removed  to  Barnstable,  and  about  1 646  returned  to 
Scituate,  where  he  died  in  1681.  He  married,  Nov.  23,  1638, 
Sarah  Annable,  daughter  of  Anthony  Annable.  His  children 
were:  John,  born  in  Barnstable  1639-40;  Ebenezer,  1643,  and 
Sarah  1645 ;  and  Hannah,  born  in  Scituate  1649 ;  Gersham, 
1650;  Bethia,  1653;  lehabod,  1659;  Deborah,  1663,  and 
Eunice.     Sarah  ISwell,  widow  of  Henry,  died  1687. 

Henry  Ewell's  house  and  barn,  in  Scituate,  valued  at  £10, 
was  burnt  by  the  Indians  in  1676.  His  eldest  son  John,  lived  in 
Boston,  and  died  at  Newbury  1686.  Ichabod  lived  on  the  pater- 
nal estate,  and  Gershom  at  "Cold  Spring,"  Scituate.  None  of 
the  name  of  Ewell  now  reside  in  Barnstable. 

He  resided  at  West  Barnstable,  near  Mr.  Annable's.  On 
the  town  records  his  name  is  recorded  as  Henry  Coxswell — a 
blundei'  of  the  town  clerk. 


EWER. 


This  name  on  the  early  Barnstable  records  is  written  Eiire, 
on  the  Colonj'  records  it  is  written  Ure,  Eue,  Ewe,  and  Ewer. 
A  Henry  Eue  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Sandwich.  Dec.  4, 
1638,  a  warrant  was  directed  to  James  Skiff,  ordering  him  to  re- 
carry  Henry  Eue  and  his  wife  and  their  goods,  to  the  place  where 
he  brought  them.  This  warrant  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
executed,  for  in  1640  he  was  an  inhabitant  of  Sandwich  and  had 
a  share  assigned  to  him  in  the  division  of  the  common  meadows. 
Mr.  Freeman's  statement  that  he  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Ewer 
family  of  Sandwich,  requires  confirmation  ;  because  after  1640 
his  name  disappears  on  the  records. 

In  1648,  there  was  a  John  Eue  at  Hartford  ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  was  connected  with  the  Ewers  of  Massachusetts 
and  Plymouth. 

"Thomas  Ewer,  aged  40,  a  tailor,  embarked  aboard  the  ship 
James,  Jo.  May,  at  London,  June  19,  1635,  for  New  England, 
with  his  wife  Sarah,  aged  28,  and  two  children,  Elizabeth,  aged  4 
years,  and  Thomas,  aged  1  1-2  years.  He  had  at  least  two  older 
children,  not  named  in  tiie  Custom  House  recoi'ds,  who  came  over 
subsequently,  perhaps  with  their  grandfather  in  1638. 

1.  Thomas  Ewer  married  vSarah,  daughter  of  Mr.  Robert 
Linnell,*  probably  in  London  where  he  resided.  It  does. not  ap- 
pear that  he  had  any  children  born  in  this  country.  His  children 
were : 

2.  I.     Sarah,    born   April     1627,    married,   June    18,     1645, 
Thomas  Blossom,  of  Barnstable. 

3.  II.     Henry,  born    April  1629,  married  Mary ,  he    died 

in  1652,  and  it  is  not  known  that  he  left  issue.     His  widow 
became  the  second  wife  of  John  Jenkins  2d  Feb.  1652-3. 

4.  III.     Elizabeth,  born    1631,    died  in  Barnstable,    and    was 
buried  9th  April  1641. 

5.  IV.     Thomas,  born  1633,  married  Hannah,  ,  and  died 

in  Barnstable  in  1667,  aged  34. 

Thomas  Ewer  settled  in  Charlestown,  where  he  acquired 
some   notoriety   as  a  politician.     In    1637   Lord    Ley  brought   a 

*Mi-.  Savage  anil  otliers  say  William  Lamed,  Limiett  or  Linnell,  I  find  written  Larnett; 
easily  transformed  into  Lamed.  William  and  Robert  are  unlike,  yet  I  leel  eonfident  that  I 
am  riarlit. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TA1JLE    FAMILIES.         361 

charge  against  bim  for  using  language  disrespectful  to  the 
King,  and  afterwards  he  was  prosecuted  as  one  of  the  friends 
and  supporters  of  Wheelwright ;  but  he  recanted  his  opinions, 
proving  himself  not  to  be  so  firm  a  man  as  his  son  Thomas. 

He  died  in  Charleston  in  1638,  and  his  widow  Sarah  mar- 
ried, Dec.  11,  1639,  Thomas  Lothrop.  Her  family  removed  with 
her  to  Barnstable. 

5.  Respecting  the  family  of  Thomas  Ewer,  2d,  little  is 
known.  He  removed  to  Sandwich  early.  In  1659  he  had  a 
family  and  resided  near  Spring  Hill.  He  was  a  Quaker,  and  for 
refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  for  attending  Quaker 
meetings,  was  fined  £20,10,  which  with  expenses  amounted  to 
£25,8.  In  payment  the  Marshall  seized  a  debt  due  him  from 
Richard  Chadwell  for  labor,  £7,13 

In  money  taken  out  of  his  house,  6,17 

Clothing,  new  cloth,  with  other  goods  particularly 

named,  10,18 


£25,8 

From  the  new  cloth  taken  (fonr  yards  of  Kersey)  George 
Barlow,  the  Marshall,  had  a  coat  made,  and  which  he  wore  at 
Court.  Ewer,  seeing  him  have  it  on,  asked  the  Magistrates, 
"  Whether  they  owned  George  Barlow  in  wearing  his  cloth."  To 
this  question  Gov.  Prence  replied  :  "That  if  he  could  prove  that 
George  Barlow  had  wronged  him,  he  might  seek  his  satisfaction." 
For  this  question  he  was  sentenced  "to  be  laid  neck  and  heels 
together."  Which,  says  Bishop,  was  the  injustice  he  received  at 
their  hands. 

The.  Court  records  give  a  different  reasion  of  the  matter. 
He  was  sentenced  to  lye  neck  and  heels  together  during  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  Court,  "for  his  tumultuous  and  seditious  carriages  and 
speeches  in  Court."  The  Magistrates  being  informed  that  he  was 
an  infirm  man,  and  was  troubled  with  a  rupture,  the  sentence  was 
not  executed. 

Bishop  is  usually  accurate,  but  in  this  case  he  omits  a  mate- 
rial fact  and  leaves  a  wrong  impression  on  the  mind  of  his  reader. 
He  adds  that  Ewer's  axe,  with  which  he  wrought,  worth  three 
shillings,  was  taken  for  a  tax  of  ten  pence  to  the  country,  and 
that  at  another  time,  half  a  bushel  of  grain,  out  of  his  bag  at  the 
mill,  for  a  similar  tax,  for  the  same  amount. 

These  were  assessments  legally  made  to  pay  the  current  ex- 
penses of  the  Colony.  Ewer  was  abundantly  able  to  pay,  he  re- 
sisted the  execution  of  a  law,  to  which  no  constitutional  objection 
was  made,  and  if  his  axe  or  his  grain  was  taken  to  pay,  neither 
he  nor  his  apologist,  Mr.  Bishop,  had  a  right  to  complain. 

The  Quakers  had  right  and  justice  on  their  side,  when  they 
refused  to  pay  fines  imposed  for  not  taking  the  oath  of  fidelity,  or 


862       ge^eaJmOGical  notes  of  baiumstabjle  families. 

for  atteoding,  meetings  of  their  own  society  ;  but  when  they  re- 
fused to.- pay  their  proportion  of  the  public  expenses,  they  were 
clearly  .  in  the  wrong,  and  tliose  of  their,  number  who  resisted, 
were  not  only  guilty  of  doing  wrong  to  their  country,  but  to  their 
religious  associates ;  because  by  thus  resisting  they  prejudiced 
their  claim  for  sympathy  as  sufferers  for  conscience  sake. 

In  1658  Thomas  Ewer  and  most  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  in  Sandwich  were  disfranchised  and  ordered 
to  leave, the, town.  ,  Ewer  continued  to  reside  there  till  1660.  -In 
1661  he  is  spoken  of  as  of  Barnstable.  In  that  year  he  bought  a 
part  of  the  farm  and  meadows  on  the  west  of  the  Crocker  land, 
then  owned  by  Mr.  Dimmock,  originally  laid  out,  I  think,  to 
Thomas, Hatch.  This,  small  farm  his  descendants  have  continued 
to, own  till  recently. 

The  goods  seized  by  the  Marshall  were  such  as  a  tailor 
usually,  keeps,  and  I  infer  from  this  that  he  learned  the  trade  of 
his  (father.  He  died  in  1667,  aged  34,  leaving  a  widow  Hannah 
and  a  family  of  children.  I  find  no  record  of  their  names. 
Thomas  Lothrop,  the  father-in-law  of  the  deceased,  and  Shubael 
Linnell,  his  uncle,  were  appointed  guardians  of  the  children. 
,;,  .  ;Thomas.E,wer,  3d,  afterwards  owned  the  Ewer  farm,  and  the 
facts  and  oircumstauces  above  stated  make  it  probable,  if  not  cer- 
tain, that  he  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Ewer,  2d,  and  his  wife  Han- 
nah. ,,  ; 

,  6.  Thomas  Ewer,  3d,  probably  son  of  Thomas,  Sd,  married 
three  wives.  He  married  his  first  wife  about  the  year  1682  ;  she 
died  in  a  few  j^ears,  and  he  married,  in  1689,  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  the  first  John  Lovell,  and  for  his  third  wife  he  married,  Sept. 
18,  1712,  Wid.  Sarah  Warren.,,  , 

Children  born  m  Barnstable. 
Thomas,  Dqc.  1683,  (  ?)  died  young. 
Thomas,  Jan.  1686. 
Shubael,  ,169,0. 
John,  Feb.  1692. 

Mehitabel,  Oct.  1694,  (?)  died  same  year. 
Nathaniel, , Nov,  1695,  (?)  baptized  Deo.  9,  1694. 

Jonathan,  July  1696. 
.     Hezekiah,  Sept.  1697. 
Mehetab.el,  baptized  Dec  11,  1698. 
Thankful,  Nov.  1701. 
Abiga,il,  baptized  (April  7,  1706. 
Thomas  Ewer,  3d,  died  June.  1722,  leaving   a  widow  Sarah, 
and  three  socs^;, Thomas,  John,  and  Nathaniel,   whom  he  exhorts 
in  his  will,  ',)to  live  in  the  fear  of  G-od,  and  love  one  another,  and 
cary   dutifully    to   their    Honored    Mother."     Only   three  of    his 
eleven  children  appear  to  have  been  then  living.  '^  His  real  estate 
was  apprized  at  ,£74,  and  his  personal  estate  at  £83.     In  1684  his 


7. 

I.  /: 

8. 

II. 

9. 

III. 

10. 

IV. 

v., ,. 

11. 

;    VI. 

12. 

VII. 

13. 

VIII 

14. 

IX. 

15. 

X. 

16. 

XI. 

GENEAEOGIOAL,' NOTES   OF   BAIINSTABLE  •  FAMILIES.         363 

dwelling  house  was  on  th-einortli  side  of  the  road,  Ip  the  appriz- 
al  of  his  estate  his  home  lot  is  described  as  f out  acres- of  upland 
on'  the  south  of  the' road.  He  owned  the  ipea/dow  >  Ivhich  his 
fatherboughtin  I661.  •:       '     ■,.-..:-.■  ,-\-/i      l.c  'i  •    ; 

8.  ThomasEwer,  4th,  born  Jan.  r686..  He  iscalled  a"cord- 
wainer"  or  shoemaker-^  and  died  insolvent  in  1-761.  He  imarried, 
June  10,  1718,  Reliance  Tobey,  of  Sandwich^  and  had, 

17.  I.  John,  born  April  28,  1719v  *'a  cordwainer"  or  shoe- 
maker. He  died  1782.  He  had  1,  Ebenezer,^  20th  Dec. 
1741,  died  young  ;  2,  John,  25th  Dec:  1744,  dUd  young; 
3,.  David,  15th  April,  1747  ;  4,  Jonathan,  7th'  June,  1754  ; 
5,  Reliaiice,  16th' June,  1756^  6;  .Ebenezer,:  Sist  Dec. 
1758;  and  7,  Johflj  31st  Oct.  1763.        -■ '  .      ■      '    '      ' 

18.  II.  Mary,  born  Oct.  7,  1721,  married  Lazarous  Lovell 
May  29,  1760,-  died.  April  5,  181-,3,  aged  91- 

19.  HI.     Sarah,  IVIarch  l,.l'^23-4,  di§d  young.,-,  . 

26,,,.  IV.;  Tliomas,  Oct.  3,  _172'6',  married;,  in, 1719,  Lydia  Har- 
■low  of  Plymouth,  where  he  removed  and  had,  .1>  Thomas, 
, Feb.  22,  1750  ;  2,  Eleazer,  Aug.  2,6,,,i742  ;.  (he  ;  married 
Abigail  Lothrop  and  had  Isaac,  Barnabas^  Ansel,  and 
4,bigail,  He,  bought  th^, estate  of,  schoolmaster  Joseph 
Lewis,  in  the  East  Parish— he  w^s,,^,,  ta>ni?,^r(:a,nd  shoe- 
maker, and  died  young.')  After  bis  retiirri  to  i,]8;S,rn stable 
Thomas  bad  3,, Ansel,  Sept.  9,  1753',  ,cUeciiyour!igj,4,  Seth, 
July  5,  1755;  .5,  Lydia,  Sept.  16,  1758;  and  6,  Ansel 
again,  Sept.  21,  1760.  ,    ;        ,       ,.   ,  ,.;       ji;  ,:  ■; 

21.  V.  Seth,  born  March  14,  1729,.married,  1782,'^4lizab6th 
Rich,  of  Truro.  : 

22.  VI.  Sarah,  born  Feb.  23,  l,7,3j2,  married  ,  Elisha  Hoimes 
of  Plymouth,  1749.,,  ■    '        ,  '  ,^     ,     ,',     ;',;",,,     ■ 

23.  VII.     Sylvanus,  born  March  18,  1741-2. 

9.  Shubael  Ewer,  son  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Ewer,  bap- 
tized Sept.  21,  1<)90,  resided  at  West  Barnstable.  He  married 
June  14,  1714  Rebecca  Conant  of  Bridgewater.  He  died  Aug.  6, 
1715,  leaving  an  estate  apprized  at  £152,  a  widow  Rebecca,  and 
one  daughter. 

24.  I.  Rebecca,  born  27th  April,  1755.  She  married,  June 
27,  1734,  Thomas  Winslow  of  Rochester. 

10.  John  Ewer,  son  of  Thomas,  3d,  married  July  5,  1716, 
Elizabeth  Lurabard.  He  died  in  1723,  leaving  sons  Shubael, 
Josepli,  {non  compos  mentis,  whose  estate  in  1744  was  apprized  at 
£262,15,)  Benjamin,  and  daughter  Elizabeth,  all  minors.  He  in- 
herited tlie  old  homestead,  and  built  a  house  on  the  land  on  the 
south  of  the  road.  He  gave  to  his  widow  all  the  eight  acres  of 
land  on  tlie  south  of  the  road.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable 
were  : 

25.  I.     Shubael,    (father    of    Lazarus,     and   grandfather    of 


364  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Joseph  Ewer,  of  East  Sandwich.) 

26.  II.     Joseph,  (now  compos  mentis.) 

27.  III.  Benjamin,  born  1721,  married  Hannah  Lawrence  of 
Hog  Pond  village,  in  Sandwich,  and  removed  to  that  town. 

His  children  were  Marv,  who  married Jenny  ;  Peleg, 

(father  of  Benjamin,  East  Sandwich,)  ;  Nancy,  who  mar- 
ried Peter  Smith,  of  Newbern,  recently  deceased  ;  HannaJi 

married  Jones ;     and   Elizabeth    married  

Lawrence. 

28.  IV.     Elizabeth. 

11.  Nathianiel  Ewer,  son  of  Thomas,  3d,  born,  the  record 
says,  1695  ;  but  having  been  baptized  Dec.  9,  1694,  he  was  prob- 
ably born  that  year.  He  married,  Nov.  8,  1723,  Mary  Stewart  of 
Sandwich. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

29.  I.  Silas,  27th  Nov.  1724,  married  Lydia  Garrett  of  Sand- 
wich, 1746,  and  had  Mehitabel  May  1,  1747;  Abigail, 
March  2,  1748;  Susannah,  Dec.  5,  1750;  Silas,  Aug.  10, 
1752;  Elizabeth,  Dec.  14,  1754;  and  Prince  Feb.  5, 
1757. 

30.  II.  Nathaniel,  17th  April,  1726,  married  Drusilla  Co- 
bell  of  Chatham,  and  resided,  as  I  am  informed,  at  Nan- 
tucket some  part  of  his  life.  Isaac  Ewer,  who  recently 
died  at  Osterville,  nearly  a  hundred  years  of  age,  was  his 
son. 

31.  III.     Desire,  born  26th  Nov.  1727. 

32.  IV.  Gamaliel,  19th  June,  1733,  married  Martha  Fuller 
1753. 

33.  V.  Mary,  7th  Aug.  1737,  married,  Oct.  26,  1757, 
Thomas  Churchill  of  Plymouth. 


FOXWELL 


RICHARD  FOXWELL. 

Two  men  of  the  name  of  Richard  Foxwell,  of  about  the  same 
age,  came  to  New  England  about  the  year  1630.  Mr.  Deane  was 
perhaps  not  aware  there  were  two  of  the  name,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  he  has  confounded  them,  because  he  supposed  both 
Richards  were  the  same  person. 

Richard,  who  settled  in  that  part  of  Maine  then  known  as 
Greorgiance,  was  born  in  1604  and  was  probably  the  younger 
man.  He  came  over  as  early  as  1631,  went  home,  as  our  ances- 
tors called  England  for  many  years,  in  1632,  and  returned  in 
r633.  He  was  of  Scarborough  in  1636,  where  he  married,  in 
1636,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Capt.  Richard  Bonython,  one  of  the 
patentees  of  G-eorgianee.  His  sons  were  Richard,  John  and 
Philip,  and  he  had  five  daughters.  He  died  in  1677,  aged  73. 
[Folsom.] 

The  other  Richard  Foxwell  probably  came  over  in  the  fleet 
with  Gov.  Winthrop.  He  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Colony  Oct.  19,  1630,  and  was  sworn  on  the  8th  of  May 
following.  On  his  removal  to  the  Plymouth  Colony  his  name  was 
entered  on  the  list  of  those  who  had  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity  ; 
but  in  1657  he  was  required  to  take  that  oath,  though  he  had  pre- 
viously taken  the  freeman's  oath  in  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Deane  says  he  came  from  the  County  of  Kent,  in  Eng- 
land. There  is  some  evidence  that  he  was  a  resident  in  the  city 
of  London  at  the  time  he  embarked  for  New  England;  His  son 
John  was  born  as  early  as  1627,  a  fact  which  proves  that  he  mar- 
ried in  England.  Whether  his  wife  died  before  he  left,  or  came 
over  with  him,  is  not  known. 

From  1631  to  1634  he  is  not  named  in  the  records.  Mr. 
Savage  intimates  that  during  this  period  he  may  have  gone  home 
and  returned ;  if  so,  it  affords  another  curious  parallism  in  the 
history  of  the  two  Richard  Foxwells.     He  probably  removed  from 


366  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAUNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Boston,  in  1631,  to  Scituate,  where  there  was  a  small  settlement 
of  men  whom  he  had  known  in  his  native  land.  In  1634  he  was 
of  Scituate.  His  bouse,  in  the  spring  of  1635,  is  described  as 
being  on  Kent  street,  the  fourth  on  the  south  of  Meeting  House 
lane,  and  as  the  eleventh  built  in  that  town.  This  house  he  sold 
to  Henry  Bourne,  and  in  1637  built  on  his  houselot,  numbered  50 
on  Mr.  Lothrop's  list. 

In  the  spring  of  1639  he  removed  to  Barnstable,  and  built  a 
house  on  his  lot  near  where  the  Hall  of  the  Agricultural  Society 
now  stands.  No  record  was  made  of  his  lands  till  1662,  when  he 
owned  only  eight  acres,  four  on  each  side  of  the  road.  His  lot 
was  one  of  those  laid  by  the  authority  of  Mr.  Collicut,  and  origi- 
nally probably  included  the  twelve  acres  owned  by  Nicholas  Da- 
vis. This  would  make  his  lot  correspond  in  shape  with  the  other 
lots  laid  out  at  the  same  time.  If  I  am  right  in  this,  his  homelot 
contained  sixteen  acres,  and  was  bounded  west  by  the  homelot  of 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  north  partly  by  the  swamp  (then  town's  com- 
mons) and  the  lands  of  Dolar  Davis,  east  by  the  Dimmock  farm, 
and  south  by  the  highway.  His  lot  on  the  south  side  of  the  road 
contained  four  acres,  and  was  bounded  north  by  the  highway, 
east  by  Elder  Cobb's  great  lot,  south  by  the  commons,  and  west 
by  Nathaniel  Bacon's  land. 

He  set  out  an  orchard,  as  all  the  first  settlers  did.  A  seed- 
ling raised  by  him,  and  known  as  the  Foxwell  apple,  is  yet  culti- 
vated. 

I  have  seen  it  stated  that  he  was  a  trader.  Whatever  ma^ 
have  been  His  employment,  it  is  certain  that  he  was  very  poor  at 
liis  death  in  1668,  for  his  sons-in-law  refused  to  act  as  executors 
to  his  will. 

He  is  not  named  as  the  holder  of  any  office  ;  but  as  private 
citizen  he  was  a  good  neighbor,  an  honest  man,  and  and  exem- 
plary member  of  the  christian  church. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  Church 
liaving  joined  at  its  organization  at  Scituate  on  the  8th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1634-5.  The  expression  used  in  regard  to  the  first  members, 
"so  many  of  us  as  had  been  in  covenant  before,"  evidently  implies 
that  they  had  been  members  of  his  church  in  London.  After  his 
removal  to  Barnstable  he  continued  to  be  a  member  in  good  stand- 
ing till  his  death. 

He  married,  as  already  stated,  his  first 'wife  in  England,  and  his 
sou  John  probablj'  came  over  with  him.     In  1634  he  married  Ann 
Shelly,   who  came  over  that  year.     His  children  so  far  as  known 
were  : 
I.     John,  born  in  England   as  early  as  1627.     He  is  named  in 

1640  in  connection   with  John   Makefleld,  and  as  having  two 

lambs  in  his   possession.     In  Aug.    1643,  his  name   is  on  the 

list  of  those  able   to  bear  arms,  and  in  Oct.  1645,  was  one  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         367 

the  soldiers  from  Barnstable  in  tlie  Narraganset  expedition. 
In  subsequent  records,  the  land  where  James  Otis  now  re- 
sides is  called  John  Foxwell's  house  lot,  from  which  it  may 
be  inferred  tliat  he  owned  a  house.  It  does  not  appear 
that  he  married  and  had  a  family.  He  died  in  Barnstable, 
and  was  buried  Sept.  21,  1646. 

II.  Mary,  born  in  Scituate  17th  Aug.  1635,  married,  Jan.  8, 
1654,  Hugh  Cole,  Sen'r,  of  Plymouth,  and  was  afterwards  of 
Swansea.  His  children  were  James,  born  3  or  (8)  Nov. 
1655  ;  Hugh,  8  or  (15)  March  1658  ;  John,  15  or  (16)  May 
1660 ;  Martha,  14  or  (16)  April  1662 ;  Anna,  14th  Oct. 
1G64;  Ruth,  8  or  (17)  Jan.  1666;  and  Joseph,  15th  May 
1668. 

III.  Martha,  born  in  Scituate  24th  March,  1638,  married  Samuel 
Bacon  9th  May  1669,  and  had  Samuel  9th  March  1659-60, 
and  Martha  Jan.  6,  1661. 

IV.  Ruth,  born  in  Barnstable  25th  March  1641. 

If  the  Barnstable  and  Colony  Records  are  reliable,  Mary  and 
Martha  Foxwell  were  born  in  Barnstable,  showing  that  the  town 
was  settled  in  1635.  Both  records  are  erroneous.  I  have  fol- 
lowed the  church  records.  In  the  Barnstable  records  there  is  an 
error  of  ten  years  in  the  marriage  and  births  of  the  children  of 
Samuel  Bacon. 


FITZRANDOLPHE. 


EDWARD     FITZRANDOLPHE. 

Mr.  Lothrop  says,  "the  young  Master  Fitzrandolphe"  built 
in  1636,  the  38th  house  constructed  in  Scituate.  Having  provided 
himself  with  a  home  he  married,  May  10,  1637,  Elizabeth,* 
daughter  of  Dea.  Thomas  Blossom  of  the  Leyden  and  Plymouth 
churches.  He  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  Scituate  May  14, 
1637,  and  his  wife  joined  at  Barnstable  Aug.  27,  1643. 

He  sold  his  house  in  that  town  to  Dea.  Richard  Sealis,  and 
removed  in  the  spring  of  1639  to  Barnstable,  and  built  a  house  on 
his  lot  containing  eight  acres,  bounded  east  by  the  road  to  Hyan- 
nis,  which  separated  it  from  the  homelot  of  Eoger  Goodspeed, 
and  land  probably  then  afterwards  town  commons,  and  on  the 
west  by  the  homelot  of  George  Lewis.  This  land  is  now  owned 
by  the  heirs  of  Anna  Childs,  Dea.  John  Munroe  and  others.  He 
also  owned  a  garden  spot  and  two  acres  of  meadow  on  the  north 
of  the  County  road,  now  owned  by  Capt.  Foster,  Ebenezer  Bacon, 
Esq.,  and  others,  two  lots  in  the  Old  Common  Field,  one  of  two, 
and  the  other  of  three  acres,  and  ninety-two  rods  in  the  Calves 
.Pasture.  This  property  he  sold  June  2,  1649,  to  Elder  John 
Chipman,  by  a  deed  witnessed  by  William  Casely,  Henry  Cobb 
and  Richard  Church. f  This  deed  is  recorded  in  the  Colony  rec- 
ords, and  is  printed  in  the  12th  volume  of  the  records,  pages  180 
and    181.     I  have  in  my  possession  another  deed  of  the  same 

*Iii  my  notice  of  the  Blossom  family  I  inadvertantly  omitted  to  name  this  daughter  of 
Dea.  Thomas  Blossom. 

JRichard  Chureh,  bom  in  1608,  was  a  carpenter,  and  only  a  temporary  resident  in  Barn- 
stable. He  probably  came  to  Massachusetts  in  the  fleet  with  Gov.  Winthrop  in  1630.  He 
removed  from  Weymouth  to  Plymouth,  and  was  admitted  a  freeman  4th  (Jet.  1632.  He 
sold  his  estate  in  Plymouth  in  1649,  stopped  in  Barnstable  some  little  time,  was  at  Charles- 
town  in  1643,  and  finally  set  down  at  Hinghara,  and  died  at  Dedliam  in  1648.  lie  maiTied 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  Wai-ren,  and  had  Joseph;  Benjamin  1639,  (the  renowned 
soldier)  Richard,  Caleb,  Nathaniel,  Huniah  1646,  Abigail,  Charles,  Deborah  1657,  and  per- 
haps Mary,  The  dwelling  house  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Church  was  at  Fall  River,  and  was 
taken  down  not  many  years  s^ncc.  It  stood  near  the  present  dwelling  house  of  Col.  Rich- 
ard Bordeu. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         369 

property,  in  the  hand  writing  of  Gov.  Hinckley,  acknowledged 
before  him  Aug.  13,  1669,  and  witnessed  by  his  wife  Mary  Hinck- 
ley and  Peter  Blossom.  In  this  deed  it  is  stated  that  the  property 
was  sold  to  John  Chipman  in  1649.  Why  two  deeds  of  the  same 
property  were  given,  I  am  unable  to  explain. 

Soon  after  1649,  John  Chipman  sold  this  lot  to  John  Davis, 
and  Jan.  14,  1658,  the  latter  sold  six  acres  thereof  to  Samuel 
Norman,  reserving  two  acres  at  the  north  end  on  which  his  house 
then  stood.  Feb.  26,  1665,  Norman  reconveyed  this  land  to 
Davis,  with  his  house  thereon.  The  portion  owned  by  Norman,  is 
now  known  as  Norman's  Hill. 

In  1649,  Edward  Fitzrandolphe  removed  to  his  farm  in  West 
Barnstable,  "a  double  great  lot,"  containing  120  acres  of  upland, 
bounded  north  by  the  meadows,  east  by  the  Bursley  farm,  south 
by  the  commons,  and  west  by  the  lands  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter. 
On  the  north  he  had  twenty-three  acres  of  salt  meadow,  bound 
west  by  the  lands  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter,  on  the  north  bounded 
partly  by  the  marsh  of  William  Dexter,  partly  by  the  common 
meadows,  and  partly  by  the  "Committees  Creek,  so  called,"  east 
by  the  upland  of  Mr.  John  Bursley,  and  south  by  his  own  land. 
This  tract  is  now  known  as  the  Bodfish  and  Smith  farms.  In 
1669  he  and  several  families  from  the  Cape  removed  to  New 
Jersey.  In  Oct.  1683  his  widow  was  living  at  New  Piscataqua, 
New  Jersey. 

He  is  called  in  deeds  a  yeoman,  or  farmer,  and  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  employed  in  any  official  station.  He  had  re- 
ceived a  good  education  for  those  times,  and  as  Mr.  Lothrop 
styles  him  "Master"  he  probably  belonged  to  a  good  family.  He 
came  probably  from  the  west  of  England. 

His  farm  at  West  Barnstable  he  sold  partly  to  John  Crocker, 
Sen'r,  partly  to  Abraham  Blush,  who  afterwards  sold  to  Crocker, 
and  the  eastern  portion  to  Rev.  John  Smith,  whose  descendants 
still  enjoy  it. 

His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

I.  Nathaniel,   baptized  Aug.   9,   1640,   buried  at  Barnstable 
Dec.  10,  1640. 

II.  Nathaniel,  baptized  May  15,  1642,  married  Nov.  1662, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Joseph  Holway,  or  Holloway,  of  Sand- 
wich, and  had  1,  John,  1st  Feb.  1662-3 ;  and  2,  Isaac,  7th 
Dec.  1664.  No  other  children  recorded.  He  probably  re- 
moved with  bis  father  in  1669. 

III.  Mary,  baptized  Oct.  6,  1644,  died  young. 

IV.  Hannah,  baptized  April  23,  1648.  The  town  record  says, 
"born  April  1949,"  an  error.  She  married  6th  Nov.  1668, 
Jasper  Taylor. 

V.  Mary,  baptized  June  2,  1650,  (town  record,  "last  of  May 


370  OJiNKALOOlCAt,    NOTJfiS    OF    JiAliNiSTAJJt.J';    KAMIL.1ES. 

1651,"  an  erroi,)  mafried,  15th  Jan.  1668-9,  Samuel  Hinck- 
ley. 

VI.  John,  Jan.  2,  1652.     (If  not  the  same  as  the  following  he 
died  young.) 

VII.  John,  born  7th  Oct.  1653,  (town  records.) 

VIII.  Joseph,  born  1st  March  1656,  (town  records.) 

IX.  Thomas,  born  16th  Aug.  1654,  (town  records.) 

X.  Hope,  born  2d  April,  1661,  (town  records.) 


FULLER. 


Samuel  Fuller,  son  of  Edward  and  Ann  Fuller,  came  over  in 
the  Mayflower,  in  1620.  His  parents  died  soon  after  they  came 
came  on  shore,*  and  he  resided  at  Plymouth  with  his  uncle  Sam- 
uel, the  first  physician  who  came  to  settle  in  our  country.  He 
had  throe  shares  at  the  division  of  lands  in  1624,  Mr.  Savage 
presumes  out  of  respect  to  his  father  and  mother.  He  was  execu- 
tor of  his  uncle's  will  in  1633,  and  was  a  freeman  of  the  Colony 
in  1634.  From  Plymouth  he  removed  to  Scituate,  where  he  mar- 
ried, April  8,  1635,  Jane,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Lothrop.  Nov. 
7,  1636,  he  joined  the  church  at  Scituate,  having  a  letter  of  dis- 
mission from  the  Plymouth  church,  of  which  he  had  been  a  mem- 
ber. He  built,  in  1636,  the  fifteenth  house  in  Scituate,  on  Green- 
field, the  first  lot  abuting  on  Kent  street.  He  had  twenty  acres 
of  land  on  the  east  of  Bellhouse  Neck,  in  that  town.  Mr.  Deane 
calls  him  "a  man  of  Kent,"  from  which  country  many  of  the  first 
settlers  in  Barnstable  came. 

Samuel  Fuller,  as  appears  by  the  church  records,  was  in 
Barnstable  as  early  as  1641,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was 
inhabitant  of  the  town  till  after  the  1st  of  Januarj'  1644.  His 
brother,  Capt.  Matthew,  the  earliest  regular  physician  in  Barn- 
stable, came  a  few  years  later.  They  bought  of  Secunke,  Indian, 
Scorton  or  Sandy  Neck,  that  is,  so  much  of  it  as  lies  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  town  of  Barnstable.  The  arable  land  in  the 
purchase  was  set  off  to  the  Fullers,  the  remainder,  including  the 
meadows,  was  reserved  as  town's  commons  and  afterwards  divid- 
ed. 

Samuel  Fuller  also  bought  meadow  of  his  brother  Matthew 
that  was  Major  John  Freeman's,  and  meadow  of  Samuel  House, 
and  owned  land  on  Scorton  Hill.     He  had  a  good  estate  for  those 

*This  ifc  the  expression  used  by  Gov.  Bradford,  who  knew  the  parties.  Mr.  Z.  Eddy 
says  the  "Wid.  Ann  Fuller  died  in  Barnstable  in  1663,  aged  79  years.  I  find  no  corrobora- 
tion of  the  latter  statouirut. 


372  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

da^is.        His   personal   estate    is     apprized   iu    his    inventory    at 
£116,5,09. 

He  lived  in  the  north-west  angle  of  the  town,  in  a  secluded 
spot,  where  travellers  or  others  had  seldom  occasion  to  pass.  He 
was  very  little  engaged  in  public  business.  He  was  constable  at 
Scituate  in  1641,  and  his  name  occasionally  appears  as  a  jury- 
man, and  on  committees  to  settle  difficulties  that  arose  with  the 
Indians,  and  was  one  of  the  58  purchasers,  as  that  company  was 
called. 

Samuel  and  Matthew  Fuller,  though  brothers,  and  living  near 
each  other  in  a  retired  spot,  and  owning  property  together,  were 
as  unlike  as  two  men  can  well  be.  Samuel  was  eminently  pious, 
and  retired  in  his  habits  ;  Matthew,  though  nominally  a  Puritan, 
was  not  a  religious  man ;  but  was  ambitious,  and  courted  official 
distinction.  In  one  instance  he  recanted  an  opinion  deliberately 
expressed,  in  order  to  secure  the  patronage  of  the  majority. 
Samuel  committed  no  acts  that  he  had  to  recant — he  was  an  honest 
man,  a  good  neighbor,  and  a  christian,  and  his  posterity  will  ever 
honor  him. 

He  died  in  Barnstable  Oct.  31,  1683.  He  was  the  only  one 
of  the  passengers  in  the  Mayflower  who  settled  permanently  in 
Barnstable.  Of  the  102  who  arrived  in  that  ship  at  Province- 
town  in  1620,  51  died,  or  just  one  half,  in  a  few  months.  Of  the 
remaining  51,  or  Old  Stock,  as  G-ov.  Bradford  calls  the  first  com- 
pany, 31  were  living  in  1650  ;  12  in  1679,  of  whom  Samuel  Ful- 
ler was  one  ;  three  in  1690,  namely.  Resolved  White,  Mary  Cush- 
man,  daughter  of  Mr.  Allerton,  and  John  Cook,  son  of  Francis 
Cook,  and  in  1698,  seventy-eight  years  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Mayflower,  two  passengers  who  came  over  in  her  were  living, 
namely,  Mary  Cushman  and  John  Cook.f 

1.  Samuel  Fuller,  son  of  Edward,  married  at  Mr.  Cud- 
worth's,  in  Scituate,  by  Capt.  Miles  Standisb,  April  8,  1635, 
Jane,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Lothrop. 

Children  born  in  Scituate. 

2.  I.     Hannah,    married   Nicholas   Bonham   Jan.    1,   1658-9, 

(see  Bonham.) 

3.  II.     Samuel,   baptized   Feb.    11,    1637-8,    married   Anna, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller,  (see  account  below.) 

4.  III.     Elizabeth,  married Taylor. 

5.  IV.     Sarah,   baptized  in  Barnstable  Aug.    1,   1641,    died 
young. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

6.  V.     Mary,  baptized  June  16,  1644,  married  Nov.  18,  1674, 

fBefore  writinR  the  genealogies  of  the  Fullers,  I  intended  to  have  examined  the  Sand- 
wich records  and  the  Probate  records  with  more  care  than  I  have.  I  delayed  writing  till 
the  printer's  hoy  was  at  my  elbow,  asking  for  copy,  and  the  result  is  I  have  very  little  be- 
side that  which  I  furnished  Mr.  Savage  for  his  Genealogical  Dictionary.  Some  facts  that  I 
have,  I  omit,  not  knowing  tlie  right  places  in  the  series. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         373 

Joseph  Williams,  son  of  John  of  Haverhill.  He  was  born 
April  18,  1647,  had  Sarah  17th  Nov.  1675;  Marv,  29th 
Nov.  1677;  John,  17th  Feb.  1680;  Hannah,  30th  Sept. 
1683. 

7.  VI.  Thomas  born,  says  the  town  record,  May  18,  1650, 
probably  ou  the  day  of  his  baptism.  May  18,  1651.  He  is 
not  named  in  his  father's  will,  and  perhaps  died  young. 

8.  VII.     Sarah,  born  Dec.  14,  1654,  married  — - — —  Crow. 

9.  VIII.  John,  called  Little  John,  or  John,  Jr.,  to  distin- 
guish him  from  John,  son  of  Capt.  Matthew. 

10.  IX.     A  child,  Feb.  8,  1658,  died  15  days  after. 

Gov.  Bradford  in  his  history  states  that  in  1650  Samuel  Ful- 
ler had  four  or  more  children.  He  had  Hannah,  Samuel,  Eliza- 
beth, and  Mary,  four;  if  Thomas  was  born  in  1660,  five.  In  his 
will  dated  29th  Oct.  1683,  he  names  oldest  son  Samuel,  son  John, 
daughters  Elizabeth  Taylor,  Hannah  Bonham,  Mary  Williams, 
and  Sarah  Crow,  two  sons  and  four  daughters  then  living.  He 
died  Oct.  31,  1683,  and  was  one  of  the  last  survivors  of  those 
who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower.  His  wife  not  being  named  in 
his  will  had  probably  died  previously. 

3.  Samuel  Fuller,  son  of  Samuel,  born  Feb.  1637-8,  mar- 
ried Anna,  daughter  of  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller.  There  is  no 
record  of  his  family  on  the  Barnstable  records.  An  inventory  of 
his  estate  was  taken  at  his  house  in  Barnstable  Dec.  29,  1691.  It 
appears  that  he  had  then  been  dead  some  little  time,  and  that  his 
widow  had  then  recently  deceased,  and  her  estate  was  settled  by 
mutual  agreement  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month.  All  the  heirs 
sign  with  their  mark,  showing  that  they  had  received  no  benefit 
from  the  schools  established  in  the  distant  parts  of  the  town.  It 
is  presumed  that  they  were  then  all  of  legal  age.  The  names  oc- 
cur in  the  following  order  on  the  agreement. 

11.  I.     Matthew,  married  Patience  Young  25th  Feb.  1692-3. 

12.  II.     Barnabas,    married    Elizabeth    Young    25th     Feb. 
1680-1. 

13.  III.     Joseph,  married  Thankful  Blossom. 

14.  IV.     Benjamin. 

15.  V.     Desire. 

16.  VI.     Sarah. 

9.  John  Fuller,  born  about  the  year  1655,  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Samuel,  Sen'r.  He  resided  on  the  paternal  estate  at  Scor- 
ton  till  1689,  when  he  removed,  with  several  other  families  from 
that  vicinity,  to  East  Haddam,  Conn.  On  the  30th  of  October, 
1688,  "Mehitabel,  the  wife  of  Little  John  Fuller,"  was  admitted 
to  the  Barnstable  Church,  and  her  sons  Samuel,  Thomas  and 
Shubael,  were  baptized,  and  on  the  19th  of  May,  1689,  her 
daughter  Thankful  was  baptized.     Here  occurs  a  gap  in  the  fam- 

EREATA.    In  Ewer  family.    The  late  Isaac  Ewer,  of  OstervlUe,  was  son  of  Setli. 
Kicliard  Churrli  at  Charlestomi  16B3,  died  1668. 


374  GKNEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    I^AMILIES. 

ilv  register,  for  her  next  son  John  is  recorded  as  born  Nov.  10. 
1697,  at  East  Haddam.  During  the  interval  he  probably  had 
Deborah  and  others. 

Children  of  Little  John  Fuller  and  his  wife  born  in  Barnsta- 
ble : 

17.  I.     Samuel,  baptized  Oct.  1688. 

18.  II.     Thomas, 
ly.         Til.     Shubael. 

20.  IV.     Thankful,  baptized  May  19,  1689. 

At  East  Hadam,  Conn. 

21.  V.     John,  Nov.  10,  1697. 

22.  VI.     Joseph,  March  1,  1699-1700. 

25.  VII.     Benjamin,  Oct.  20,  1701. 

26.  VIII.     Mehitabel,  April  16,  1706. 

Thomas  Fuller  of  this  family  had  by  his  wife  Elizabeth,  born 
at  East  Haddam.  Ebenezer,  1715;  Thomas,  1717;  Nathan, 
1719;  Hannah,  1720;  Jabez,  1722;  Jonathan,  1725.  John 
Fuller,  Jr.,  married  May  10,  1721,  Mary  Rowley  alias  Mary 
Cornwell,  and  had  at  East  Haddam,  Mary,  1722  ;  Esther,  1724; 
John,  1727;  William,  1730;  Mehitabel,  1732;  Andrew,  1734; 
Sarah,  1737.  Shubael  Fuller  married  10th  7th  mo.  1708,  Hannah 
Crocker,  of  Barnstable,  and  had  at  East  Haddam,  Lydia,  1709; 
Ephraim,  1711;  Thankful,  1713;  Zerviah,  1716;  Hannah,  1718; 
Shubael,  1721;  Jonathan,  1724;  and  Eachell,  1727. 

11.  Matthew  Fuller,  son  of  Samuel,  and  grandson  of 
Samuel,  Sen'r,  married  25th  Feb.  1692-3,  Patience  Young,  proba- 
bly daughter  of  George  of  Scituate,  and  had  children  born  in 
Barnstable,  namely  : 

23.  I.     Anna,  Nov.  1693,  married  Eeuben  Blush,  Oct.  1717. 

24.  II.     Jonathan,    Oct.    1696,    married   Eebecca   Perry,    of 
Sandwich,  March  3,  1718. 

25.  III.     Content,  19th  Feb.  1698-9. 

26.  IV.     Jean,  1704,  died  1708. 

27.  V.     David,  Feb.  1706-7. 

28.  VI.     Young,  1708. 

29.  VII.     Cornelius,  1710. 

This  family  probably  removed  soon  after  1710. 

12.  Barnabas  Fuller,  brother  of  the  preceding,  married  25th 
Feb.  1680-1,  Elizabeth  Young. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

30.  I.     Samuel,  Nov.  1681,  married  twice. 

31.  II.     Isaac,  Aug.  1684,  married  Jerusha  Lovell. 

32.  III.     Hannah,  Sept.  1688. 

33.  IV.     Ebenezer,  April  1699,  married  Martha  Jones. 

34.  V.     Josiah,   Feb.    1709    married   Ann   Rowley,    of    Fal- 
mouth. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         375 

13.  Joseph  Fuller,  brother  of  the  preceding,  married 
Thankful  Blossom,  and  had, 

35.  I.  Remember,  26th  May,  1701,  married  Jabez  Qrocker, 
May  27,  1755. 

36.  II.     Seth,  5th  Sept.  1705,  died  Jan.  7,  1732-3. 

37.  III.     Thankful,  4th  Aug.  1708,  died  July  3,  1728. 

14.  Benjamin  Fuller,  brother  of  the  preceding,  married  and 
had, 

38.  I.     Temperance,  7th  March,  1702. 

39.  II.  Hannah,  20th  May,  1704.  I  think  she  married  Rev. 
Joseph  Bourne  July  25,  1743. 

40.  III.  John,  25th  Dec.  1706,  married  Mariah  Nye,  March 
7,  1728-9.  ^ 

41.  IV.  James,  1st  May,  1711,  married  Temperance  Phin- 
ney. 

30.  Samuel  Fuller,  son  of  Barnabas,  married  first  Ruth 
Crocker,  and  Dec.  20th  1727,  Lydia  Lovell,  probably  widow  of 
Andrew. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

42.  I.     Sarah,  April  16,  1719. 

43.  II.     Barnabas,  April  1,  1721. 

44.  III.  Eleazer,  Feb.  9,  1722-3,  married  Elizabeth  Hatch 
1756. 

By  his  second  wife. 

45.  IV.         Joshua,  Oct.  3,  1727. 

46.  V.  Elizabeth,  Jan.  24,  1728-9,  married  Nathaniel  Good- 
speed  and  removed  to  Vasselboro',  Maine. 

47.  VI.     Rebekah,  April  3,  1731. 

48.  VII.     Lot,  Sept.  18,  1733. 
This  family  removed  to  Rochester. 

31.  Isaac  Fuller,  brother  of  the  preceding,  married  July  9, 
1719,  Jerusha  Lovell. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

49.  I.  Eli,  April  11,  1720,  married  1746,  Mercy  Rogers,  of 
Harwich,  and  had,  1,  Martha,  Nov.  17,  1747;  2,  Jede- 
diah,  March  28,  1749  ;  3,  David,  June  21,  1751  ;  4,  Wil- 
liam, Sept.  28,  1753  ;  and  5,  Jerusha,  May  2,  1756. 

50.  II.  Mehitabel,  March  10,  1722-3,  married  Thomas  Ames 
Oct.  30,  1740. 

51.  III.  Jerusha,  Jan.  19,  1725-6,  married  John  Green,  of 
Falmouth. 

52.  IV.  Zaccheus,  Oct.  16,  1727,  married  Sarah  Jones,  Feb. 
22,  1752. 

53.  V.  Charity,  Dec.  11,  1729,  married  Silas  Lovell  Aug.  7, 
1760. 

54.  VI.  Isaac,  Sept.  9,  1731,  married  Susan  Wardsworth,  of 
Pembroke. 


376  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

55.  VII.     Seth,  May  29,  1734. 

56.  VIII.     Hannah,  April  9,  1736. 

3S.  Ebenezer  Fuller,  brother  of  the  preceding,  married 
Martha  Jones,  and  had, 

57.  I.     David,  born  Feb.  6,  1725. 
68.         II.     Jonathan,  April  9,  1729. 

59.  III.     Daniel,   Sept.    16,   1731,  married  Martha   Phinney 
Nov.  1,  1753. 

60.  IV.     John,  June  3,  1734. 

61.  V.     William,  Sept.  27,  1737. 

62.  VI.     Jean,  Jan.  12,  1739. 

Matthew  Fuller  was  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  Old 
Colony — and  his  name  is  inseparably  connected  with  her  annals. 
I  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  ability  to  write  his  biography — to 
recount  in  detail  the  various  services  which  he  rendered  to  the 
country.  He  was  an  able  man  ;  but  he  had  his  faults,  which  I 
shall  not,  in  this  sketch,  attempt  to  palliate  or  conceal. 

He  was  the  son  of  Edward  and  Anne,  and  brother  of 
Samuel,  who  came  over  in  1620,  in  the  Mayflower.  His  parents 
died  soon  after  their  arrival  at  Plymouth.  Samuel  went  to  reside 
with  his  uncle,  and  Matthew  remained  with  his  friends  in  Eng- 
land till  about  the  year  1640,  when  he  came  over.  Though  he 
was  then  nearly  thirty  years  of  age,  probably  a  married  man  and 
a  parent,  yet  he  was  accounted  to  be  "one  of  the  first  born 
of  the  Colony,"  and  had  lands  assigned  in  virtue  of  his  right  of 
primo-geniture.  Edward  and  Anne  Fuller  had  no  child  born  in 
this  country  to  claim  the  lands  granted  to  "the  first  born ;"  and  in 
all  such  cases  the  right  was  transferred  to  the  eldest  child  of  the 
same  parents,  though  born  in  the  mother  country. 

Little  is  known  of  his  early  history.  This  is  to  be  regretted  ; 
because  we  delight  to  trace  the  successive  steps  by  which  an  or- 
phan boy  became  eminent.  It  is  not  known  whether  he  studied 
medicine  before  or  after  he  came  over,  or  whether  he  was  then  a 
married  man  and  a  parent.  The  best  authorities  give  the  year 
1640,  as  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Plymouth.  The  earliest  "date 
I  find  is  April  5,  1642  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  he  had  been  in  the 
country  some  little  time,  probably  two  years.  If  he  did  not 
come  before  1640,  he  was  certainly  a  married  man  and  a  parent, 
because  his  daughter  Mary  was  born  as  early  as  1635. 

In  1642  he  had  ten  acres  of  land  assigned  to  him  near  Thurs- 
ton Clark's,  in  Plymouth,  and  as  this  is  the  first  grant  made  to 
him  the  presumption  is  that  he  had  not  then  been  long  in  the 
country.  The  same  year  he  was  a  juryman,  and  propounded  to 
be  a  freeman  of  the  Colony  ;  but  was  not  sworn  and  admitted  till 
June  7,  1663. 

In  1643  a  "military  discipline"  was  established  by  the  Colony 
Court,   embracing  the  towns  of  Plymouth,  Duxbury  and  Marsh- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         377 

field.  Miles  Standish  was  chosen  Captain  ;  Nathaniel  Thomas, 
Lieutenant ;  Nathaniel  Souther,  Clerk ;  and  Matthew  Fuller  and 
Samuel  Nash,  Sergeants. 

To  be  a  sergeant  in  a  militia  was  then  an  office  of  honor,  and 
conferred  distinction  on  the  holder. 

When  the  company  met,  the  exercises  were  always  begun  and  ! 
ended  with  prayer,  and  at  the^ annual  election  of  officers,  on  the 
first  of  September,  an  occasional  sermon  was  preached.  None 
but  freeman  of  honest  and  good  report,  approved  by  the  officers, 
and  by  a  majority  of  the  company,  were  admitted.  Servants 
were  not  admitted,  neither  were  freeman  who  were  not  of  honest 
and  good  report.  ,No  conversation  was  allowed  while  the  com- 
pany was  on  parade  and  the  most  exact  discipline  was  exacted. 
For  absence,  without  a  sufficient  excuse,  a  fine  of  two  shillings 
was  imposed,  and  if  not  paid  in  a  month,  the  delinquent  party 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  company,  the  fine  was 
exacted,  and  his  name  was  stricken  from  the  roll  of  the  company. 

For  each  defect  in  arms  or  equipments  a  fine  of  six  pence 
was  imposed,  and  if  any  one  was  defective  for  six  consecutive 
months,  his  name  was  also  stricken  from  the  roll  of  the  company. 

The  arms  and  equipments  required  of  each  was  a  musket  or 
piece  approved;  a  sword;  a  rest;  and  a  bandilier.  Only  16 
pikes  were  required,  namely,  8  for  Plymouth,  6  for  Duxburv,  and 
2  for  Marshfield. 

All  the  officers  of  the  company  were  forever  after  to  be 
known  by  their  titles  ;  each  member  paid  six  pence  a  quarter  for 
the  use  of  the  company ;  and  at  the  decease  of  a  member,  the 
company  assembled  with  their  arms,  and  he  was  buried  as 
a  soldier. 

No  person  propounded  for  a  member  could  be  received  on  the 
day  he  was  nominated  ;  and  before  admission,  he  was  required  to 
take  the  oath  of  fidelity.  The  fifteenth  rule  of  the  company 
required  "That  all  postures  of  pike  and  muskett,  motions,  ranks, 
and  files,  &c.,  messengers,  skirmishes,  seiges,  batteries,  watches, 
sentinels,  &c.,  be  always  performed  to  true  military  discipline." 

This  company  was  established  on  the  same  principle  as  the 
ancient  and  honorable  artillery  company  of  Boston,  which  has 
maintained  its  organization  to  the  present  time. 

The  freemen  of  Sandwich,  Barnstable,  and  Yarmouth,  "pro- 
vided they  be  men  of  honest  and  good  report,"  were  granted  by 
the  Court  liberty  to  form  a  similar  company  ;  but  I  do  not  learn 
that  they  accepted  the  privilege.  In  each  town  there  was  a 
military  company,  which  included  all  between  the  ages  of  16  and 
60,  "able  to  bear  arms."  The  "military  discipline"  was  not 
intended  to  supercede  the  ordinary  trainings.  It  was  intended  as 
an  honorable  association  of  the  freemen,  for  instruction  in  the  art 
of  war. 


378  GKNEALOGICAL    NOTKS    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

The  date  of  his  removal  to  Barnstable  is  uncertain.  Sept.  3, 
1652,  the  Court  approved  his  election  as  Lieutenant  of  the  militia 
company  in  Barnstable.  In  1653  he  was  deputy  from  Barnstable 
to  the  Colony  Court,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  had  been  a  resident 
for  three  or  four  years. 

June  20,  1654,  he  was  appointed  Lieutenant  under  Capt. 
Miles  Standish  of  the  company  of  fifty  men,  the  quota  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony,  in  thp  proposed  expedition  against  the  Dutch 
Colony  at  Manhattoes,  now  New  York.  The  men  were  ordered 
to  rendezvous  at  Sandwich  June  29,  and  to  embark  from  Mano- 
mett  in  the  bark  Adventer,  belonging  to  Capt.  Samuel  Mayo,  of 
Barnstable,  and  join  the  force  of  the  other  colonies  at  the  place 
appointed.  On  the  23d  of  June,  the  news  of  the  conclusion  of 
peace  between  England  and  Holland  was  received,  and  the  pre- 
parations for  the  expedition  ceased.  Peace  had  long  been  desired 
by  the  colonies ;  they  were  opposed  to  the  war,  but  were  most 
loyal  subjects.  The  order  to  raise  the  men,  furnish  ammunition, 
stores  and  transportation  was  received  June  6,  and  all  the  prepar- 
ations had  to  be  made  before  the  30th.  When  the  news  of  peace 
was  received,  all  the  preparations  had  been  made,  and  if  the  war 
had  continued,  the  Plymouth  Colony  troops  would  have  embarked 
from  Manomett  on  the  day  appointed. 

Oct.  2,  1658,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  council  of  war,  and 
in  1671  its  chairman,  and  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  Colony, 
and  the  same  year,  Lieutenant  of  the  forces  to  be  sent  against  the 
Saconet  Indians.  Dec.  17,  1673,  he  was  appointed  Surgeon 
General  of  the  colony  troops,  and  also  of  the  Massachusetts,  if 
that  Colony  approved.  In  1675,  he  was  allowed  4  shillings  a  day 
for  his  services  as  Surgeon  General,  and  for  "other  good  services 
performed  in  behalf  of  the  country."  In  addition  to  his  duties  as 
Surgeon  General,  he  served  as  a  captain  of  the  Plymouth  forces 
during  King  Phillip's  war.  To  trace  his  history  during  this 
interesting  period  belongs  to  the  writers  of  general  history. 

In  the  Quaker  controversy,  Capt.  Fuller  took  a  noble  stand 
in  favor  of  religious  toleration  ;  but  he  was  independent,  and  said 
many  things  that  he  had  better  have  left  unsaid.  Acting  under 
strong  feelings  of  excitement,  and  indignant  at  the  course  pursued 
by  a  majority  of  the  Court,  he  made  statements  that  a  discreet 
man  would  not  have  made,  thus  doing  injury  to  the  cause  he 
would  aid. 

At  the  October  Court,  in  1658,  he  was  presented  by  the  grand 
inquest  of  the  Colony  for  saying,  "The  law  enacted  about  minis- 
ter's maintenance,  was  a  wicked  and  devilish  law,  and  that  the 
devil  sat  at  the  stone  when  it  was  enacted."  That  he  had  uttered 
these  words  he  admitted,  and  he  submitted  himself,  without  trial, 
to  the  judgment  of  the  magistrates,  who  fined  him  50  shillings. 
He  charged  Gov.  Hinckley  with   having  oflScially  certified  that  a 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.         379 

matter  was  true  which  he  knew  to  be  false.  Gov.  Hinckley  com- 
menced an  action  against  him  for  defamation.  Capt.  Fuller  made 
a  public  acknowledgment  of  his  fault  and  Gov.  Hinckley  discon- 
tinued the  action. 

Though  Capt.  Fuller  was  undoubtedly  right,  in  regard  to  the 
abstract  questions,  underlying  the  Quaker  controversy,  yet  the 
bitter  language  in  which  he  expressed  his  opinions  was  wholly 
unjustifiable,  more  especially  when  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  were  uttered  are  taken  into  consideration.  Capt.  Fuller  held 
a  high  social  position  in  the  Colony.  So  did  the  members  of  the 
Court,  whose  motives  he  so  bitterly  impugned.  To  the  honor  of 
the  latter,  it  will  ever  be  remembered,  that  at  the  same  term  where 
the  grand  jury  indicted  Capt.  Fuller  for  speaking  reproachfully  of 
the  members  of  the  Court,  those  slandered  members,  disregarding 
their  private  grievances,  and  looking  only  to  the  interests  of  the 
country,  did,  at  the  very  same  term  of  the  Court,  elect  Capt. 
Fuller  one  of  the  Council  of  War ;  and,  notwithstanding  he 
continued  to  utter  vituperative  language  against  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  government,  the  Court  continued  to  confer  on  him 
offices  of  honor  and  trust — returning  good  for  evil.  Men  do  not 
always  thus  heap  coals  of  fire  on  their  enemy's  heads.  The 
members  of  the  Court  knew  Capt.  Fuller  tb  be  a  honorable  man, 
and  that  however  indiscreet  he  might  be  in  words,  he  would  per- 
form his  whole  duty  to  his  country. 

In  private  life,  and  in  his  business  relations,  he  exhibited  a 
litigious  spirit  which  is  not  commendable.  He  was  often  involved 
in  law-suits  with  his  neighbors  which  a  more  discreet  man  would 
have  settled  without  an  appeal  to  the  courts. 

These  details,  however,  enable  us  to  form  a  just  estimate  of 
his  character.  That  he  was  a  man  of  sound  judgement,  of  good 
understanding,  and  faithful  in  the  performance  of  all  his  duties, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt.  In  politics  he  was  liberal,  and  in  his 
religious  opinions  tolerant ;  but  unfortunately  for  his  reputation, 
he  was  very  indiscreet.  This  weakness  in  his  character  seems  to 
have  been  so  manifest,  so  well  known  to  all,  that  his  injudicious 
speeches  were  disregarded,  and  he  was  duly  honored  for  the  many 
good  services  which  he  rendered  to  his  country. 

Capt.  Fuller  was  the  first  regular  physician  who  settled  in 
Barnstable.*  That  he  was  a  man  of  some  skill  and  ability  in  his 
profession  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  was  appointed  Surgeon 
General  of  the  forces  of  Plymouth  and  of  Massachusetts  in  1673. 
His  official  duties  required  that  he  should  be  often  absent  from 
home,  therefore  his  practice  in  Barnstable  and  Sandwich  was 
necessarily   interrupted,   and   not  of    that    continuous   character 

*  The  early  ministers  were  usually  practicing  physicians,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Lothrop,  Mr. 
John  Smith,  and  Mr.  William  Seargant,  of  Barnstable,  were  not,  I  presume,  exceptions  to 
the  general  rule. 


380  GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    EAliNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

necessary  for  the  success  of  a  local  physician.     His  son  John  and 
one  or  more  of  his  grand-sons  were  physicians. 

The  farms  of  Capt.  Fuller  and  his  brother  Samuel  were  on 
Scoi'ton  Neck,  at  the  north-west  angle  of  the  town.  Soon  after 
the  settlement,  the  town  bought  of  Secunke  Indian,  Scorton  Neck. 
The  arable  land  at  the  west  end  thereof  was  assigned  to  the 
Fullers.  The  town  of  Sandwich  bought  the  west  end  of  the  neck, 
so  that  the  western  boundary  of  the  Fullers'  land  was  the  line 
between  the  two  towns.  Some  difficulty  arose  respecting  this 
boundary  which  was  not  finally  settled  till  1680,  after  the  death  of 
Capt.  P'uller.  The  difficulty  originated  in  an  order  of  the  Colony 
Court,  dated  Oct.  30,  1672,  fixing  the  boundary  line  farther  west 
than  the  Committee  of  Sandwich  was  willing  to  concede,  thus 
giving  a  considerable  tract  of  good  land  to  the  Fullers.  Suits 
were  brought  by  each  party,  which  were  finally  withdrawn,  and 
on  the  30th  of  June,  1680,  the  matter  was  settled  by  agreement, 
the  Fullers  relinquislied  the  lands  they  had  obtained  by  authority 
of  the  Court  Order  of  Oct.  30,  1672,  and  the  town  of  Sandwich 
conceeded  to  the  Fullers  certain  rights  of  way  and  the  privilege 
of  cutting  fencing  stuff  within  the  bounds  of  Sandwich. 

Capt.  Fuller,  by  virtue  of  liis  right  as  one  "of  the  first  born 
of  the  Colony,"  and  for  the  eminent  services  which  he  had  rendered 
the  country,  had  lands  granted  him  at  Suckinesset,  now  Falmouth, 
and  in  "the  Major's  purchase"  at  Middleboro. 

Capt.  Fuller  died  in  Barnstable  in  1678.  His  will  is  dated 
July  20,  1678,  and  was  proved  Oct.  30th  following.  He  names 
his  wife  Frances  ;  his  grand-son  Shubael,  son  of  Ralph  Jones  ;  his 
son  John,  to  whom  he  bequeathed  one-half  of  his  real  estate ; 
his  grand-children  Thomas,  Jabez,  Timothy,  Matthias  and  Samuel, 
children  of  his  eldest  son  Samuel  Fuller,  deceased,  to  whom  he 
bequeathed  the  other  half  of  his  estate  ;  and  Bethia  wife  of  John 
Fuller.  To  daughter  Mary,  wife  of  Ralph  Jones,  he  gave  £10  ; 
to  daughter  Anne  Fuller,  "now  wife  of  Samuel  Fuller,"  .£10  ;  to 
daughter  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Moses  Rowley,  £10  ;  he  also  names 
Sarah  Rowley,  daughter  of  Elizabeth  Rowley  ;  Jedediah  Jones, 
son  of  Ralph ;  Mary  Fuller,  late  wife  of  his  son  Samuel ;  also 
Robert  Marshall,  the  Scotchman ;  and  Jasper  Taylor.  He  ap- 
pointed his  wife  Francis  executrix.  Witnesses  of  his  will :  Lieut. 
Joseph  Lothrop  and  John  Hawes.  His  estate  was  apprised  at 
£667,04,06,  a  very  large  estate  in  those  times.  Among  the  items 
in  the  inventory  is  the  following  :  "Pearls,  precious  stones,  and 
Diamonds,  at  a  guess,  £200."  I 

tin  connection  with  tliis  box  of  jewels  a  marvoUous  story  is  told.  Soon  after  Capt. 
Fuller  s  death  it  was  missing.  Robert,  the  Scotch  servant,  was  ehavfied  with  having  stolen 
It.  There  was  no  proof  against  him— he  was  simply  suspected.  This  charge  so  affected 
him,  that  he  took  no  food,  and  finally  died  of  grief  and  staiwation.  He  was  buried  in  a 
grove  of  wood,  on  the  north-eastern  declivity  of  Scorton  Hill.  He  died  in  the  winter  when 
a  deep  snow  laid  on  the  ground.    The  neighbors  carried  his  body  to  this  place— the  deep 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         381 

All  that  is  known  respecting  the  relationship  of  the  two 
Fuller  families  is  this  :  in  the  settlement  of  the  disputed  boundary 
line,  with  the  town  of  Sandwich,  Dr.  John  Fuller,  son  of  Matthew, 
calls  Samuel  Fuller,  Sen'r,  his  uncle,  consequently  Matthew  and 
Samuel,  Sen'r,  were  brothers,  and  sons  of  Edward,  and  nephews 
of  Dr.  Samuel,  of  Plymouth.  Matthew  must  have  been  born  in 
England  as  early  as  1610,  and  his  older  children  were  probably 
born  there.  No  record  exists  of  their  births  or  baptisms  in  this 
country.  This  fact,  though  not  conclusive,  indicates  that  they 
were  born  in  England.  All  that  is  known  of  his  family  is 
obtained  from  his  will,  of  which  an  abstract  has  been  given.  His 
wife,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  Frances,  whether  first  or 
second  is  not  known,  and  whether  he  had  other  children  than 
those  named  in  his  will  is  also  not  known.  He  calls  Samuel  his 
eldest  son,  and  the  order  of  the  births  of  his  children  evidently  is 
not  that  given  in  his  will. 

Children  of  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller. 

2.  I.     Mary,  married   Ralph   Jones   April   17,  1655,  and   has 
many  descendants. 

3.  11.     Elizabeth,  married  Moses  Rowley,  April  22,  1652,  and 
has  many  descendants. 

4.  III.     Samuel,  (see  account  of  his  family  below.) 

5.  IV.     .John,  (see  account  of  his  family  below.) 

6.  V.     Anne,  married  Samuel,  son  of  Samuel  Fuller,  Sen'r. 

4.  Samuel  Fuller,  son  of  Capt.  Matthew,  was  a  lieutenant 
in  the  Plymouth  Colony  forces  in  King  Phillip's  war,  and  was 
killed  at  Rehobeth,  March  25,  1676.  In  1670  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Colony  Committee  appointed  to  view  the  injury  done  to  the 
Indians,  by  the  cattle  of  the  English,  and  assess  damages.  His 
name  also  occurs  as  a  town  officer.  His  wife  was  Mary.  I  find 
no  record  of  the  births  or  baptisms  of  his  children.  In  his  will 
he  names  all  his  children  excepting  Samuel,  who  was  born  after 
the  death  of  the  father. 

Children  of  Samuel  Fuller,  son  of  Matthew. 

7.  1.     Thomas,  (see  account  below.) 

8.  II.     Jabez,  (see  account  below.) 

9.  III.     Timothy.     Removed  to  East  Haddam. 

10.  IV.  Matthew,  died  unmarried  1697.  In  his  will  dated 
Boston,  Aug.  7,  1696,  proved  May  22,  1697,  he  gives  to  his 
brother  Timothy,  of    Haddam,  his  half    of    the   land   and 

snow  preventinpr  them  from  proceeding  farther,  and  there  he  was  buried.  Capt.  Oliver 
Chase  has  recently  placed  two  stones,  one  at  the  head  and  the  other  at  the  foot  of  poor 
Richard's  grave.  For  nearly  two  centuries  the  plow  has  not  desecrated  his  grave,  and  we 
hope  no  sacreligious  hands  will  hereafter  remove  the  simple  monuments  now  erected  to  his 
memoiy.  To  this  day  his  grave  is  pointed  out,  and  some  timourous  people  dare  not  pass  it 
after  nightfall.  Many  fearful  stories  are  told  of  the  appearance  of  the  Scotchman's  ghost; 
and  for  years  many  a  way wai  d  child  was  frightened  into  obedience  by  threatening  to  call 
the  Scotchman's  ghost,  to  aid  the  authority  of  the  weak  mother. 


382  UKNEALOOIOAL    NOTKS    OF    BAKN8TABLK    FAMIXilES. 

meadow  in  Middleborough,  given  him  by  his  grandfather 
Matthew  Fuller.  All  the  rest  of  his  estate,  both  real  and 
personal,  he  bequeathed  to  his  honored  mother,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  for  her  comfortable  subsistence  during  her  natural 
life,  and  whatsoever  she  shall  die  possessed  of,  without  any 
alienation  shall  be  disposed  equally  amongst  the  rest  of  my 
brothers  and  sisters. 

11.  V.  Anne,  born  1679,  married  Joseph  Smith  2yth  April, 
1689. 

12.  VI.     Abigail. 

13.  VII.     Samuel,  born  1676  (post  humeus.) 

5.  Dr.  John  Fuller,  son  of  Matthew,  resided  on  the  paternal 
estate  at  Scorton  Neck.  He  was  a  physician  of  some  note  in  his 
day.     He   died   in    1691.     He   married   two   wives:    1st,  Bethia 

,  and  second,  Hannah  ,  of    Boston,   who   survived 

him    and   married,  Dec.  9,  1695,  Capt.   John   Lothrop,  of    Barn- 
stable. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

14.  I.  Lydia,  born  1675,  married  12th  May  1699,  Joseph 
Dimmock.     She  died  in  Connecticut  Nov.  6,  1755,  aged  80. 

15.  II.  Bethia,  Dec.  1687,  married  Feb.  20,  1706,  Barnabas 
Lothrop. 

16.  III.     John,  Oct.  1689,  (see  account  below.) 

17.  IV.     Reliance,  8th  Sept.  1691,  married  John  Prince  (?). 

7.  Capt.  Thomas  Fuller,  son  of  Samuel,  married  29th  Dec. 
1680,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Capt.  Joseph  Lothrop. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

18.  I.     Hannah,  17th  Nov.  1681. 

19.  II.  Joseph,  12th  July  1683,  married  Feb.  9,  1708-9, 
Joanna  Crocker,  (see  account  below.) 

20.  III.  Mary,  born  Aug.  1685,  married  Wm.  Green  Sept.  1, 
1731. 

21.  IV.  Benjamin,  born  Aug.  1690.  He  was  Lieutenant,  and 
called  junior.  He  married  25th  March  1714,  Rebecca 
Bodfish.  She  died  10th  March  1727-8,  and  he  married  Feb. 
20,  1729-30,  Mary  Fuller.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable 
were:  1,  Mary,  July  15,  1714;  2,  Lydia,  March  23,  1716, 
married  Dec.  2,  1742,  John  Percival ;  3,  Thomas,  June  1-8, 
1718,  (see  account  below)  ;  4,  Elizabeth,  Sept.  30,  1720;. 
5,  Benjamin,  Oct.  28,  1723;  6,  Abigail,  Nov.  29,  1725, 
died  1726  ;  7,  Joseph,  Oct.  18,  1730,  died  1732  ;  8,  Thankful, 
April  26,  1733,  married  April  23,  1757,  Samuel  Gilbert,  of 
Conn. ;  9,  Rebecca,  June  1,  1735,  Timothy  Jones  paid 
attention  to  her  twenty  years,  but  did  not  marry.  She 
removed   with   her   brother  Seth  to  Kennebec;    10,    Seth, 


GENKALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BABNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         383 

March  14,  1736-7,  married  Deliverance  Jonea  Oct,  15,  1757. 

22.  V.  Elizabeth,  3d  Sept.  1692,  married  Oct,  31,  1726,  Isaac 
Crocker,  of  East  Haddam- 

23.  VI.  Samuel,  12th  April  1694,  married  Malatiah  Bodflsh 
June  20,  1725-6,  and  had  :  1,  Abijah,  Dec,  29,  1726,  mar- 
ried Hester  Auold  Aug.  7,  1746,  and  had  a  family;  2,  still 
born  child  Dec.  7,  1728 ;  3  and  4,  a  sou  who  died  *ged  4 
weeks,  and  Abigail  June  26,  1730. 

24.  VII.  Abigail,  9th  Jan.  1695-6,  married  Oct.  25,  1721, 
Jacob  Chipman. 

25.  VIII.     John,  baptized  April  19,  1696. 

8.  Jabez  Fuller,  son  of  Samuel,  and  grandson  of  Matthew, 
resided  in  Barnstable.     Children  : 

26.  I.     Samuel,  23d  Feb.  1687. 

27.  II.     Jonathan,  10th  March  1692. 

28.  III.  Mercy,  1st  April,  1696,  married  March  17,  1719-20, 
James  Bearse  (?). 

29.  IV.  Lois,  23d  Sept.  1704,  married  Thomas  Foster  Nov. 
25,  1725. 

30.  V.     Ebenezer,  20  Feb.  1708. 

31.  VI.     Mary. 

9.  Timothy  Fuller,  son  of  Samuel,  removed  to  Ea«t  Haddam 
and  by  wife  Sarah  had  : 

32.  I.     Timothy,  Aug.  29,  1695. 

33.  II.     Mary,  Dec.  19,  1697, 

34.  III.     Matthias,  March  24,  1700. 
36.     IV.     Sarah,  Aug.  7,  1702. 

36.  V.     Abigail,  July  5,  1704. 

16.  Lieut,  John  Fuller  married  16th  June  1710,  Thankful 
Gorham.  He  died  July  20,  1732,  aged  42.  He  is  buried  at  West 
Barnstable,  and  on  his  grave-stone  it  is  recorded,  "He  was  son  of 
Doct.  John  Fuller." 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

37.  I.  Hannah,  1st  April  1711,  married  Mr,  Matthias  Smith 
Sept.  3,  1730. 

38.  II.  John,  3d  Aug.  1714,  married  Temperance  <jorham 
Oct.  29,  1741,  and  had :  1,  Desire,  Aug.  1,  1742  ;  2,  John, 
.June  23,  1744;  3,  Edward,  Dec,  28,  1746;  4,  Francis, 
March  10,  1749 ;  5,  Job,  Nov.  25,  1751, 

39.  III.  Mary,  1st  Sept.  17L5,  married  Seth  Lothrop  Aug,  11, 
1733, 

40.  IV.  Bethia,  1st  Sept,  1715,  married  Joseph  Bursley  Dec. 
20,  1739. 

41.  V,  Nathaniel,  10th  Dec,  1716,  married  Abigail  Hinckley 
Feb.  22,  1739.  Capt.  Nathaniel  Fuller,  first  of  Sandwich, 
afterwards   of    Barnstable,  was  in    the   French   war.     He 


384         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    B^AMILIES. 

brought  home  the  Small  Pox,  and  his  wife  and  daughters 
Thankful  and  Abigail  died  of  that  disease,  and  are  buried 
on  Scorton  Neck.  He  had  a  daughter  Hannah  who  re- 
covered, and  afterwards  married  Matthias  Smith ;  and 
Lydia,  who  married  Lazarus  Ewer.  He  also  had  a  sou 
Lieut.  Joseph,  born  1758,  died  Aug.  16,  1805,  who  married 
Tabitha,  daughter  of  Josiah  Jones  ;  he  was  an  officer  in  the 
Revolutionary  war ;  and  Nathaniel,  who  married  Ruhama, 
daughter  of'  Samuel  Jones.  Capt.  Nathaniel  married  a 
second  wife.  I  find  no  record  of  his  family.  Capt. 
Nathaniel  Fuller  owned  the  west  part  of  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Mr.  B.  Blossom  on  Scorton  Neck,  containing 
about  35  acres.  His  house  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the 
old  way  leading  to  Sandy  Neck,  and  nearly  opposite  Ben 
Blossom's  house.  In  1783  he  sold  his  farm  on  Scorton 
Neck  to  Edward  Wing,  and  removed  to  a  house  just  within 
the  boundaries  of  Barnstable,  on  the  east  of  the  causeway 
leading  to  the  Neck.  It  was  taken  down  about  53  years 
ago.  The  new  road  passes  over  the  spot  on  which  it  stood. 
After  the  death  of  his  second  wife  he  resided  with  his 
daughter  Hannah  Smith,  and  died  at  her  house.  "Capt. 
Nat,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  stern  in  his  manner, 
and  very  decided  in  the  expression  of  his  opinions.  He  was 
not  an  industrious  man,  and  therefore  not  prosperous  in 
business. 

42.      VI.     Thankful,     19    Sept.     1718,    called    junior,    married 
Oct.    25,    1739,    Nathan  Russel,  Jr.,  of  Middleboro'. 
19.     Joseph  Fuller,  Jr.,  son  of    Thomas,  married  9th  Feb. 

1708-9,  Joanna  Crocker.     She  died  April  13,  1766,  aged  76. 
Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

42.  I.     Rebekah,  29th  Dec.  1709,  died  July  30  1732. 

43.  II.     Bethia,  2d  March  1712,  died  July  1,  1737. 

44.  III.  Temperance,  24th  April  1717,  married  Joseph  Blos- 
som, Jr.  March  30,  1737. 

45.  IV.     Timotliy,  3d  April  1719. 

46.  V.  Matthias,  6th  Sept.  1723.  He  married  in  1755  Lydia 
Blossom,  and  resided  in  a  very  ancient  house  situated  on  the 
east  side  of  Scorton  Hill. 

47.  VI.     Batheheba,  10th  Aug.  1726. 

48.  VII.  Lemuel,  10th  Feb.  1732,  married  Abigail  Jones,  and 
resided  at  Marston's  Mills,  and  had,  1,  Joseph,  Jan.  30, 
1761;  2,  Benjamin,  Sept.  18,  1763;  3,  Samuel,  Nov.  27, 
1765,  also  Timothy  and  Hannah. 

Thomas  Fuller,  son  of  Benjamin,  Jr.,  and  grandson  of  Capt. 

Thomas,  married  Elizabeth .     Children  :   1,  Elizabeth,  Jan, 

21,  1743  ;    2,  Thomas,  Aug.  14,  1745  ;    3,  Jacob,  March  6,  1746  ; 
and  4,  Hannah,  April  2,  1749. 


FREEMAN, 


This  is  not  a  Barnstable  name.  It  is  a  common  name  in  the 
County,  and  several  families  of  the  name  were  early  of  Barn- 
stable. Two  of  the  name  came  to  thif  County.  Edmund  of 
Lynn,  who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Sandwich,  and  Samuel 
of  Watertown,  who  settled  in  Eastham. 

Edmund  was  a  prominent  man  of  good  business  habits, 
liberal  in  polities,  and  tolerant  in  his  religious  opinions.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Sandwich  church — the  most  bigoted  and  intoler- 
ant in  the  Colony — yet  he  did  not  imbibe  the  persecuting  spirit 
which  has  condemned  to  everlasting  infamy  many  of  his  brethen. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  neighbors  and  associates,  he  was 
affable  and  obliging,  and  to  his  kindred  and  intimate  friends,  he 
was  ever  kind  and  affectionate.  He  rested  from  his  labors  at 
Sandwich  in  1682,  at  the  i"ipe  old  age  of  92  years.  His  wife  died 
Feb.  14,  1676,  aged  76.  She  was  buried  on  a  rising  ground  on 
his  own  farm.  He  was  then  86,  and  had  lived  59  years  in  the 
married  state.  Some  little  time  after  her  decease  he  summoned 
together  his  sons  and  his  grandsons,  they  placed  a  large  flat  rock 
resembling  a  pillion,  over  the  grave  of  the  wife.  He  then  placed 
another,  resembling  in  shape  a  saddle,  beside  it ;  and  addressing 
his  sons,  he  said  :  "when  I  die,  place  my  body  under  that  stone, 
your  mother  and  I  have  travelled  many  long  years  together  in  this 
world,  and  I  desire  that  our  bodies  rest  here  till  the  resurrection, 
and  I  charge  you  to  keep  this  spot  sacred,  and  that  you  enjoin  it 
upon  your  children  and  your  children's  children,  that  they  never 
desecrate  this  spot." . 

A  substantial  wall  was  built  around  these  simple  but  sugges- 
tive monuments,  and  his  descendants  to  this  day  with  pious  hands 
protect  them  from  desecration.  Many  of  them  regard  this  spot  as 
their  Mecca,  which  it  is  their  duty  to  visit  at  least  once  in  their 
lives. 

Children  of  Edmund  and  Elizabeth  Freeman. 

For  the  reason  stated  in  a  note,  I  have  not  carefully  examined 


386  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIKS. 

the  records  of  this  family.  The  entries  at  the  Londou  Custom 
are  uot  entirely  reliable.  In  one  place  it  is  stated  that  he  was 
34  in  1635,  and  in  another  45  years  of  age.  I  have  assumed  the 
latter  to  be  accurate,  because  it  is  not  probable  that  he  married  at 
16.  His  son  John  was  born  in  1622.  The  Custom  House  records 
say  in  1626,  also  in  1627.  The  family  came  over  in  1635  in  the 
ship  Abigail,  Capt.  Hackwell. 

Born  in  England. 

I.  '    Alice,  1618,  married  24th  Nov.  1639,  Dea.  Wm.  Paddy. 

II.  Edmund,  1620,  married  and  had  a  family. 

III.  John,  1622. 

IV.  Elizabeth,  1623,  married  John  Ellis. 

V.  Cycellia,  1631,  probably  his  daughter,  died  young. 

VI.  Mary,  probably  born  in  this  County,  married  Edward  Perry. 
Major  John  Freeman,  a  son  of  Edmund,  born  in  England  in 

1622,  was  a  more  distinguished  man  than  his  father.  He  removed 
to  Eastham,  and  married  13th  Feb.  1650,  Mercy,  daughter  of 
Gov.  Thomas  Prence.  He  lived  to  a  venerable  old  age,  and  in 
the  ancient  graveyard  in  that  town  are  monuments  wrought  in  the 
mother  country  to  his,  and  his  wife's  memory.  His  wife  died  first, 
and  on  her  curiously  wrought  gravestone  a  heart  is  depicted  within 
which  her  epitaph  is  engraved  in  small  capital  letters. 

HERE  LYES 

BURIED  YE  BODY 

OF  MARCY  FREEMAN 

WIFE  TO  MAJOR 

FREEMAN  AGED 

80  YEARS  DEC'D 

SEPT.  28TH 

1711. 

HERE  LYES  THE 
BODY  OF  MAJOR 
JOHN  FREEMAN 
DEC'd  OCTOBER  YE 
28th  1719 
IN  YE   98th  year 

OF    HIS     AGE 

Samuel  Freeman,  of  Watertown,  settled  in  Eastham,  and  has 
many  descendants.  His  mother  married  Gov.  Prence,  and  there 
is  no  known  connection  between  the  families  of  Edmund  and 
Samuel. 

The  earliest  family  in  Barnstable  was  that  of  Nathaniel,  who 
married  Oct.  1723,  Mercy,  daughter  of  Mr.  James  Paine,  and  a 
grand-daughter  of  Col.  John  Thaeher,  of  Yarmouth.  He  died 
Dec.  2,  1727.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were:  1,  Bethia, 
July  4,  1725  ;  2,  James,  Oct.  11,  1726  ;  and  3,  Nathaniel,  March 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTA15LE    FAMILIES.         387 

30th,  1728,  died  17th  April,  1728. 

Stephen  Freeman  married,  Oct.  22,  1736,  Hannah  Jenkins, 
and  had  a  daughter  Zerviah  born  Sept.  24,  1737. 

David  Freeman,  from  Connecticut,  married  in  1766,  Abigail 
Davis,  and  had  a  son  Thomas  Davis  born  March  25,  1757.  He 
died  soon  after  his  marriage,  and  his  wife  was  the  Widow  Freeman 
who  figured  so  conspicuously  in  the  "Crocker  Quarrels."  * 

Dr.  Nathaniel  Freeman,  better  known  as  Col.  Freeman,  was 
some  time  a  resident  in  Barnstable.  During  the  Revolutionary 
period,  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  among  the  patriots  of  his 
time.  In  character  he  was  the  counterpart  of  his  ancestor,  a  man 
of  talent,  very  decided  in  his  opinions,  and  impetuous  in  action. 
Like  all  men  of  such  a  temperament,  he  made  many  enemies. 
The  tories  denounced  him,  in  the  bitterest  of  bitter  terms.  These 
denunciations  never  affected  his  reputation  as  a  man  or  a  patriot, 
but  other  causes  did.  He  was  not  a  meek  man — he  would  not 
tolerate  the  least  opposition,  consequently  made  many  personal 
enemies — and  among  the  aged  who  knew  him,  few  speak  in  his 
praise. 

He  held  many  offices — he  was  a  busy  man — some  of  his 
duties  he  had  not  time  to  perform  f  well — this  his  personal  enemies 
noted ;  but  with  all  his  faults,  he  was  a  useful  man  and  the 
services  he  did  his  country  are  appreciated. 

*As  a  full  genealogy  of  the  family  is  in  print,  it  wiU  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  repeat  it. 

fSee  Probate  Records.    The  poorest  writing  and  worse  spelling  therein,  occurs  during 
the  time  he  was  Register. 


FOSTER. 


For  many  of  the  facts  contained  in  this  article,  I  am  indebted 
to  Lucius  E.  Paige,  Esq.,  of  Cambridge.  Foster  is  not  a  Barn- 
stable name,  though  there  were  a  few  here  early. 

1.  Thomas  Foster,  of  Weymouth,  had  three  sons  : 

1.  Thomas,  born  18th  Aug.  1640,  whom  I  suppose  to  have  been 
the  Dr.  Thomas  Foster  who  died  in  Cambridge  28th  Oct. 
1679,  aged  89  years. 

2.  John,  born  7th  Oct.  1642,  whom  I  suppose  to  have  been  the 
Dea.  John  Foster  named  below ;  but  of  this  I  have  no 
absolute  proof. 

3.  Increase. 

2.  Dea.  John  Foster  settled  early  inMarshfleld,  and  married 
Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Joanna  Chillingsworth,  by  whom 
he  had  ten  children.  His  wife  Mary  died  25th  Sept.  1702.  He 
then  married  Sarah  Thomas,  who  died  26th  May,  1731,  aged  85. 
Dea.  Foster  died  13th  June  1732,  aged  90,  according  to  the  record 
make  by  his  son  Thomas,  (who  was  Town  Clerk,)  or  91,  accord- 
ing to  the  inscription  on  his  head  stone,  standing  in  the  Winslow 
burying-ground.  But  if  he  was  son  of  Thomas  of  Weymouth,  he 
lacked  a  few  months  of  90  years. 

The  children  of  Dea.  John  and  Mary  Foster  were  : 

1.  Elizabeth,  born  24th  Sept.   1664,  married  William   Carver 

(the  centenarian)  18th  Jan.  1682-3,  and  died  in  June  1715. 

2.  John,  born  12th  Oct.  1666,  married  Hannah  Stetson  of 
Scituate,  resided  in  Plvmouth,  was  deacon,  and  died  24th 
Dec.  1741. 

3.  Josiah,  born  7th  June  1669,  resided  in  Pembroke. 

4.  Marv,  born  13th  Sept.  1671,  married  John  Hatch,  died  in 
Marshfield  3d  April  1750. 

5.  Joseph,  born  about  1674,  resided  in  Barnstable  and  Sand- 
wich, (see  below.) 

6.  Sarah,  born  about  1677,  died  unmarried  7th  April  1702. 


GKNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         389 

7.  Chillingsworth,  born   11th  June   1680,  resided  in  Harwich, 

(see  below.) 

8.  James,  born  22d  May,  1683,  died  21st  July,  1683. 

9.  Thomas,  born  1686,  resided  in  Marshfleld,  Deacon,  Town 
Clerk,  &c.,  died  6th  Feb.  1758,  aged  72,  married  Lois  Ful- 
ler Nov.  25,  1725,  had  Gersham  at  B.  Sept.  23,  1733. 

10.     Deborah,  born  1691,  died  unmarried  4th  Nov.  1732,  aged  41. 

Chillingsworth  Foster,  son  of  Dea.  John  and  Mary,  resided 
in  Harwich,  of  which  town  he  was  many  years  Representative  in 
the  General  Court.  His  first  wife  was  Mercy,  (I  have  not  been 
able  to  ascertain  her  family  name)  by  whom  he  had  seven  children. 
She  died  7th  July  1720,  and  he  married  2d,  Widow  Susanna  Sears 
Aug.  10,  1721,  who  died  Dec.  7,  1730,  by  whom  he  had  four 
children.  He  died  about  1764,  but  the  precise  date  I  have  not 
learned. 

The  children  of  Chillingsworth  Foster  were  : 

1.  James,  born  Monday,  Jan.  21,  1704-5,  resided  in  Rochester, 
married  Lydia,  daughter  of  Edward  Winslow,  Esq.,  10th 
July  1729.  He  was  deacon  _&c.  In  very  advanced  age 
(over  70)  he  went  to  reside  with  a  son  at  Athol,  where  he 
died. 

2.  Chillingsworth,  born  Thursday,  25th  Dec.  1707, -resided  at 
Harwich,  many  years  Representative.  He  married  Mercy, 
daughter  of  Fldward  Winslow,  Esq.,  of  Rochester,  10th 
Oct.  1730.  She  died,  and  he  married  2d  Ruth  Sears  of 
Harwich,  7th  Dee.  1731.  His  children  were  1,  Thankful, 
born  in  Harwich  June  14,  1733  ;  2,  Mercy,  born  in  Barn- 
stable May  2,  1735  ;  3,  Chillingsworth,  born  in  Barnstable 
July  17,1737;  4,  JVTehitabel,  born  in  Harwich  April  18, 
1746  ;  5,  Sarah,  born  in  H.  Nov.  25,  1747. 

3.  Marv,  born  Thursday,  5th  Jan.  1709-10,  married  David 
Paddock  of  Yarmouth,  12th  Oct.  1727. 

4.  Thomas,  born  Saturday,  15th  March,  1711-12,  married  Mary 
Hopkins,  of  Harwich,  11th  July  1734,  and  had  1,  Joseph, 
March  27,  1735;  2,  Thomas,  June  22,1736;  3,  James, 
Feb.  18,  1737-8;  4,  Mary,  July  18,  1740. 

5.  Nathan,  born  Friday,  10th  June,  1715,  married  Sarah 
Lincoln,  of  Harwich,  14th  June  1739. 

6.  Isaac,  horn  Tuesday,"  17th  June,  1718,  married  Hannah 
Sears,  of  Harwich,  2d  Nov.  1738,  and  had,  1,  Isaac,  May 
29,  1739  ;  2,  Samuel,  May,  31,  1741  ;  3,  David,  March  24, 
1742-3;  4,  Lemuel,  Feb.  24,  1724;  5,  Seth,  March  1747; 
6,  Hannah,  March   4,  1749  ;  7,  Nathaniel,  April  8,  1751. 

7.  Mercy,  born  Wednesday,  30th  March  1720,  and  died  28th 
Aug.- 1720. 

8.  Mercy,  born  Sunday,  29th  July  1722. 


390  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

9.     Nathaniel,  born  Saturday,  17th  April  1725. 

10.  Jerusha,  born  Saturday,  9th  Dec.  1727. 

11.  A  son,  still  born,  March  1729-30. 

Joseph  Foster,  son  of  John,  married  Raehell  Bassett,  of 
Sandwich.     Children  born  in  Barnstable  and  Sandwich. 

1.  Mary,  1st   Sept.   1697,  at   S.,  married    Moses   Swift,  of  S., 
Dec'.  24,  1719. 

2.  Joseph,  19th  Sept.  1698,  at  B. 

3.  Benjamin,  16th   Nov.   1699,   at  B.,  married  Dee.  31,  1724, 
Mai-ia  Tobey,  at  Sandwich. 

4.  William,  31st  March  1702. 

5.  Thankful,  3d   Nov.    1703,  married   Sept.  25,  1725,  Nathan 
Tobev. 

6.  John,"'l2th  April  1705. 

7.  Nathan,  3d  Jan.  1707-8. 

8.  Abigail,  27th  Feb.  1708-9,  married  May  15,  1735,  Zaccheus 
Swift. 

9.  Deborah,  18th   Jan.  1710-11,   married  May   10,  1733,  Isaac 
Freeman. 

10.  Ebenezer,  10th  May,  1713. 

11.  Solomon,  4th  Sept.  1714. 

12.  Raehell,  30th   Oct.    1716,  married   Dec.  10,  1743,  Jonathan 
Churchill. 

13.  Sarah,  23d  Sept.  1721,  married  Nov.  11,  1742,  Nathan  Nfe. 

14.  Solomon. 

Nathan  Foster  resided  in  th€  Timothy  Crocker  house  at  West 
Barnstable.  He  was  a  hair  dresser  and  wig  maker  by  trade,  and 
died  aged.  He  married,  1st,  Mary  Lothrop  May  21,  1753;  2d, 
Mercy  Smith  1766.     Children  born  in  Barnstable : 

1.  Abigail,  Sept.  24,  1756. 

2.  John  Bursley,  June  11,  1758. 

3.  Mary,  Oct.  4,  1765.  (?) 

4.  James,  Feb.  8,  1767- 

5.  Mary,  March  7,  1768. 

6.  Thomas,  March  4,  1771. 

7.  Nathan,  March  19,  1773. 

8.  Abigail,  Jan.  4,  1775. 

9.  Joseph,  July  16,  1776. 

10.  John,  July  15,  1778. 

11.  Abigail,  May  6,  1780. 

12.  Elizabeth,  Feb.  16,  1783. 


GOODSPEED. 


Roger  Groodspeefl ,  the  ancestor  of  all  of  the  name  in  this  County, 
came  to  Barnstable  in  the  spring  of  1639.  His  houselot  has  been 
a  fruitful  theme  for  controversy,  from  the  first  settlement  to  the 
present  day,  and  I  shall,  therefore,  state  with  some  particularity, 
the  facts  that  I  have  collected  in  regard  to  it. 

Mr.  Collicut's  records,  as  stated  in  a  previous  article,  were 
accidentally  lost  at  a  fire  in  Plymouth.  All  that  is  known  respect- 
ing the  lands  laid  out  under  his  authority,  is  obtained  from  a  few 
ancient  deeds,  and  the  boundai'ies  of  a  portion  of  the  original  lots, 
placed  on  record  by  the  owners  thereof  in  1654.  Goodspeed,  at 
that  date,  had  sold  and  relinquished  his  title,  it  therefore  does  not 
appear  on  the  town  records.  From  the  boundaries  of  the  adjoin- 
ing lots,  it  appears  that  it  was  bounded  north  by  Elder  Henry 
Cobb's  lot,  east  partly  by  Nathaniel  Bacon's  lot,  and  partly  by 
•John  Scudder's,  south  by  the  land  of  John  Davis',  originally 
Samuel  Lothrop's  lot ;  west  by  the  lot  of  Edward  Fitzrandolphe, 
from  which  it  was  separated  by  the  Hyannis  road,  and  a  line 
nearly  corresponding  with  the  new  Mill  "Way  laid  out  in  1665,  and 
contained  about  eight  acres,  not  including  the  swamp.  It  was 
divided  into  nearly  two  equal  portions  by  a  deep  gully,  through 
which  the  County  road  now  passes.  At  that  time  this  gully  was 
narrow,  with  steep,  precipitous  banks,  and  impassible  for  teams. 
Within  the  memory  of  persons  now  living  it  was  so  narrow  in 
some  places  that  two  teams  could  not  pass.* 

On  the  north  of  this  gully,  the  land  was  rocky  and  uneven, 
and  of  little  value  for  cultivation,  and  in  1653,  had  been  surren- 
dered to  the  town  as  common  lands.  On  the  south  of  the  gully 
the  land  was  better.  On  the  south  and  west,  that  is,  on  that 
portion  now  inclosed  by  the  Hyannis  road  and  Bow  Lane,  there 

*Mra.  Susannah  CoblD,  who,  when  young,  lived  in  the  neighl>orhood,  stated  that  on  a 
Sabbath,  during  the  services,  slie  saw  a  deer  leap  across  this  gully,  at  a  point  a  little  west  of 
where  the  Custom  House  now  stands. 


392  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OE    BARNSTABLE    EAMILIES. 

was  a  dense  swamp,  (called  Lewis'  Swamp)  j  which  remained 
more  than  a  century  in  its  natural  state.  This  swamp,  in  1653, 
had  been  surrendered  as  town's  commons.  On  the  east,  including 
a  strip  on  the  north,  by  the  edge  of  the  gully,  there  were  about 
two  acres  of  good  land,  which  was  the  only  part  cultivated  by 
Goodspeed.  On  the  south  of  Lewis'  swamp  there  was  a  strip  of 
land  laid  out  corresponding  in  location  with  the  southern  part  of 
Bow  lane,  called  in  the  records  "Goodspeed's  Out-Let,"  and 
subsequently  "the  Widow  Hallett's  Set-Off."  Tliis  name  seems 
to  indicate  that  at  the  time  Goodspeed  resided  on  this  lot,  he  had 
no  "Out-Let"  on  the  north.  "Goodspeed's  Out-Let"  extended 
further  east  than  at  the  present  time,  certainly  to  Josiah  Hallett's 
house,  and  probably  to  Taylor's  Lane. 

Meeting  House  Hill  was  called  by  the  first  settlers  Goodspeed's 
Hill;  from  1G60  to  1725  Cobb's  Hill,  and  since  by  its  present 
name.  A  stream  of  water  from  Lewis'  swamp  ran  across  the 
County  or  King's  road,  and  down  the  "New  Mill  Way"  between 
the  hill,  and  the  lot  now  owned  by  Ebenezer  Bacon,  Esq.,  and 
emptied  into  a  swamp  in  front  of  the  dwelling-house  of  David 
Bursley,  Esq.,  and  which  was  in  1683,  purchased  by  the  town  for 
a  common  watering  place.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill,  in  front  of 
Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  there  was  a  foot  bridge  across  the  stream, 
constructed  of  a  single  log  20  feet  long,  and  two  feet  in  diameter, 
hewn  flat  on  the  upper  side. 

In  1650,  the  traveller  with  a  team  coming  from  the  west  could 
not  turn  down  either  of  the  roads  now  leading  to  the  dwelling- 
house  of  David  Bursley,  Esq.,  because  there  was  a  pond  and  a 
swamp  that  extended  across  both  ways  to  the  margin  of  the  hill. 
He  could  not  drive  up  the  precipitous  sides  of  Goodspeed's  Hill, 
nor  through  the  jagged  gully  where  the  road  now  passes,  nor 
through  the  north  end  of  Bow  Lane,  because  there  was  no  road- 
way there.  He  had  to  pass  up  the  Hyannis  road  to  the  present 
residence  of  Mr.  James  S.  Lothrop,  thence  through  Goodspeed's 
Out-Let  to  the  lot  of  John  Scudder,  and  up  the  hill  to  the  spot 
where  the  Patriot  Office  now  stands,  thence  continue  easterly 
across  Scudder's  and  Lewis'  lots  to  Taylor's  Lane.  * 

The  inhabitants  residing  west  of  the  Hill  were  subject  to  the 


t  At  a  Town  meeting  lield  in  Barnstable  Oct.  26,  1769, 

'"^Voted,  Tliat  Messrs.  Jolin  Lewis  and  Geo.  Lewis  (sons  of  Lieut.  James)  be  allowed  to 
fence  a  piece  of  swamp  tliat  belonf^ed  to  the  town,  s'aid  swamp  being  adjoined  to  their 
swamp  by  their  malt  house,  and  they  and  their  assigns  to  improve  it  forever,  provided  tliut 
they  do  not  encroach  upon  tlie  King's  road,  nor  the  lane  leading  into  the  woods,  and  make 
a  sufficient  drain  to  carry  oif  the  water." — [Town  Records  Book  3,  page  34. 

The  bushes  in  this  swamp  were  very  thick.  Mr.  George  Lewis  lost  a  fat  hog  therein, 
which  he  had  stuck  and  left  for  dead.  It  ran  into  the  swamp  and  there  died,  and  thougii 
careful  search  was  made,  it  could  nob  be  found.  When  first  ploughed,  a  lar^e  deposit  of 
arrow  heads  were  turned  up.  They  were  all  made  of  white  quartz,  and  were  afterwards 
sent  by  Mr.  Mullen  as  a  present  to  some  ol  his  friends,  connected  witli  Cambridge  College. 

*This  paper,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  written  in  1862,  and  applied  to  the  lodalities  as 
then  occupied. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 


893 


same  inconvenience.  In  going  to  the  mill  or  to  their  planting 
grounds  in  the  Common  Field,  they  went  by  the  circuitous  route  I 
have  described.  Lieut.  James  Lewis'  house,  which  is  now  stand- 
ing, was  built  about  two  centuries  ago.  About  the  time  that  that 
house  was  built,  the  road  on  the  north  of  Lewis'  Swamp  was 
cleared,  and  thus  the  distance  was  shortened. 

I  have  heretofore  supposed  that  there  were  three  original 
allotments  between  Goodspeed's  lot  and  Taylor's  Lane,  though  I 
was  unable  to  give  the  names  of  the  owners  of  only  two.  On  a 
more  careful  examination  of  deeds  and  the  records,  1  think  it  is 
evident  there  were  only  two  original  allotments,  yet  three  house 
lots,  John  Scudder's  being  divided  into  two  by  the  road  called 
Goodspeed's  Out-Let. 

The  following  diagram  exhibits  the  relative  position  of  the 
lots.  The  situations  of  buildings  to  which  reference  is  made,  are 
indicated  by  figures : 

9 


Lewis's 

20 

o 

Swamp. 

o 

<Ln            H- ' 

16 

Co 

Goodspeed's  lot. 

"w 

c^ 

C6 

a 

.-a                          b« 

03 

>— 1 

OS 

^ 

Scudder. 

a 

ii^ 

Lewis. 

6 

^ 

•^  Goodspeed's 
"          Lot 

g! 

"^  on  Common 

Or 

S 

M 

to 

o 
a 

N.  Bacon's  Lot. 

00 

1. 

Odd  Fellows'  Hall. 

2. 

School  House. 

3. 

Meeting  House. 

4. 

Pound. 

.5. 

Old  Parsonage. 

6. 

New  Mill  Wav. 

7. 

Old  Mill  Way. 

8. 

Bacon  House. 

9. 

Hvannis  Road. 

10. 

Old  Malt  House. 

11. 

Custom  House. 

12. 

Patriot  Office. 

13. 

Major  Phinney's  house 

394  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

14.  Timothy  Reed,  deceased,  house. 

15.  Ancient  Lewis  house. 

16.  Eben  Bacon's  house. 

17.  Goodspeed  House  Lot. 

18.  James  S.  Lothrop's  house. 

19.  Hallett  House. 

20.  Bow  Lane. 

In  1654  the  Widow  Mary  Hallett  owned  the  Scudder  and 
Goodspeed  lots.  March  31,  1659,  she  conveyed  by  a  deed  of 
gift  to  her  son-in-law,  John  Haddeway,  her  dwelling  house  and 
the  north  part  of  the  Scudder  lot,  and  that  part  of  the  Goodspeed 
lot  on  the  north  of  Goodspeed's  Out-Let.  Dec.  14,  1661,  Josiah 
Hallett,  a  son  of  the  Widow  Mary,  sold  to  John  Haddeway  for 
£10  sterling  the  southerly  part  of  the  Scudder  lot  containing  eight 
acres,  bounded  westerly  by  the  lands  of  John  Davis,  south  by 
John  Haddeway,  east  by  James  Lewis,  and  south  by  the  wood 
lots,  with  his  dwelling-house  standing  thereon. 

These  boundaries  are  detinite  and  clear,  but  the  boundaries  in 
Mrs.  Hallett's  deed  are  unintelligible  to  the  modern  reader.  JShe 
conveys  the  land  known  as  Goodspeed's  Hill ;  but  what  portion  of 
it  does  not  clearly  appear,  probably  that  part  where  the  Custom 
House  now  stands. 

In  the  year  1664  the  legal  title  to  Meeting  House  Hill,  con- 
taining about  five  acres,  and  to  Lewis'  Swamp  was  held  by  the 
town  of  Barnstable.  It  is  probable  that  prior  to  1654  Roger 
Goodspeed  had  surrendered  his  title,  or  to  use  the  form  of  expres- 
sion adopted  by  our  ancestors,  had  "laid  down  to  commons" 
Meeting  House  Hill  and  Lewis'  Swamp,  and  had  received  in  ex- 
change other  lands — a  common  mode  of  doing  business  in  early 
times.  A  certificate  of  the  boundaries  of  the  land  "taken  up," 
signed  by  the  land  committee,  was  held  to  be  a  sufficient  title. 
No  circumlocution  was  used,  no  good  paper  and  ink  wasted. 

One  acre  of  this  land  was  granted  to  Henry  Cobb  in  1665 — 
the  deep  bottom  on  the  north  of  the  Meeting  House.  This  grant 
is  in  the  usual  form,  short  and  comprehensive ;  and  it  would  not 
be  amiss  for  some  modern  conveyancers  to  study  it. 

"22  May,  1665,  Granted  that  Henry  Cobb  shall  have  an 
acre  of  ground,  adjoining  to  his  land  above  the  gate,  between  that 
and  the  pond,  in  lieu  of  some  damage  that  he  hath  or  shall  receive 
by  the  highway  running  over  or  between  his  land  from  the  gate  to 
Thomas  Huekins."  [Records,  vol.  1,  page  46. 

Aug.  15,  1683,  the  town  purchased  of  John  Davis  about  half 
an  acre  of  swampy  land  on  the  west  side  of  Cobb's  Hill,  for  a 
public  watering  place.  In  a  short  time  a  large  quantity  of  sand, 
brought  down  by  the  rains  from  the  roads  and  hill  sides,  filled  up 
the  watering  place,  and  it  was  sold  to  Ehenezer  Lewis,  and  is  now 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         395 

owned  by  Ebenezer  Bacon.     The  deed  is  from  the  land  committee 
in  the  usual  form,  as  follows  : 

"November  the  13,  1717.  Bargained  with  and  laid  out  to 
Lieut.  Ebenezer  Lewis  a  small  gore  of  land  by  the  highways,  and 
is  bounded  by  the  ways,  viz  :  on  the  south  by  the  highway,  or 
County  Eoad  ;  easterly  by  the  way  that  goeth  down  by  the  brook  ; 
on  the  west  by  the  way  that  goeth  by  Benjamin  Davis'  land  or 
fence,  down  to  Lieut.  Nathaniel  Bacon's,  until  it  meeteth  with 
the  other  way,  last  before  mention — not  to  infringe  on  any  former 
grant,  for  which  he  remits  two  shares  and  a  half — two  of  them 
in  the  right  of  Jedediah  Jones,  and  half  a  share  in  the  right  of 
Thomas  Blossom.  *  DANIEL  PARKEE,' 

JOSEPH   LOTHROP. 
Lieut.  Lewis  being  one  of   the  committee,  did  not  sign  the 
grant  made  to  himself. 

In  1717  the  new  Meeting  House  was  built  on  Cobb's  Hill,  by 
proprietors  who  purchased  the  land.  The  conditions  of  the  sale 
are  recorded  as  follows  :  There  is  no  date.  The  authority  to  lay 
out  land  for  public  uses  and  setting  Meetmg  Houses  were  vested 
in  the  land  committee  by  a  vote  of  the  proprietors,  dated  April 
15,  1715.     The  following  was  laid  out  in  1717  : 

"Bargained  with  and  set  out  to  Mr.  John  Bacon,  Lieut.  John 
Thar^her,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  Lewis,  Samuel  Cob,  Joseph  Davis, 
James  Gorham,  Thomas  Lothrop,  George  Lewis,  Lieut.  Nathaniel 
Bacon,  Samuel  Lewis,  Samuel  Sturgis,  and  Nathaniel  Lumbert, 
Jabez  and  Sylvanus  Gorham,  a  piece  of  land  lying  on  Cob's  Hill, 
bounded  northerly  by  said  Nathaniel  Bacon's  land  and  partly  by 
Samuel  Bacon's  land,  to  a  stake  by  the  fence ;  thence  set  to  a 
Rock  and  soe  to  another  Rock  at  the  S.  W.  corner ;  and  from 
thence  sets  easterly  to  Samuel  Bacon's  land,  soe  as  to  include  the 
land  on  which  the  pound  stands,  not  to  remove  said  pound  unless 
all  parties  concerned  doe  agree  to  it,  for  which  they  remitt  fifty 
shares  and  a  quarter  in  this  division,  that  is  to  say, 

John  Bacon,  four  and  a  quarter,  4  1-4 

Thomas  Lothrop,  5 

•loseph  Davis,  5 

Samuel  Cob,  4 

George  Lewis,  3 

James  Gorham,  3 

Lieut.  Jonathan  Thacher,  3 

Lieut.  Ebenezer  Lewis,  3 

Samuel  Sturgis,  5 

*  In  the  tliii'd  or  last  division,  the  common  lands  were  divided  into  6000  shares — 28 
shares  made  a  40  acre  lot — but  some  of  the  lots  were  smaller,  and  some  much  larger.  In 
the  first  division,  6000  shares,  43  made  a  lot,  in  the  second  6000  shares,  42,— and  in  the  Sandy 
Neck  lots  100  shares  made  a  lot.  The  lots  were  all  apprized  at  the  same  sum,  and  pre- 
sumed to  be  of  equal  value.  If  the  land  was  poor,  more  acres  were  put  into  a  lot — if  valu- 
able, a  less  number.  These  shares  were  an  article  of  trafic,  and  transferred  from  one  to 
another. 


396  GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BAKNISTAULE    FAMILIES. 

Nathaniel  Lumbert,  3 

Samuel  Lewis,  3 

Lieut.  Nathaniel  Bacon,  5 

Jabez  Gorham,  ^ 

Sylvanus  Gorham,  2 

The  boundaries  given  in  this  grant  are  indefinite ;  but  are 
well  known.  They  included  all  the  land  on  the  north  of  the  car- 
riage way  that  runs  east  and  west  immediately  in  front  of  the 
Meeting  House.  The  East  Parish  still  owns  this  land,  excepting 
the  part  east  of  the  pound,  where  the  parsonage  house  stood,  that 
has  been  sold.  The  Parish  owns  the  land  where  the  pound  stands  ; 
but  it  cannot  be  removed  without  the  consent  of  the  town,  and  of 
the  parties  who  are  bound  to  maintain  it. 

Tlie  Meeting  House  was  built  by  twenty-four  proprietors  in 
1717-18,  and  sold  Jan.  25,  1718-19,' to  the  East  Precinct  in  the 
town  of  Barnstable,  for  the  sum  of  £450  in  money.  In  the  deed 
of  conveyance,  no  land  is  named,  but  the  parish  immediately  took 
possession,  and  have  improved  the  land  to  this  day,  which  is  a 
sufficient  title. 

After  the  above  grant  was  made  by  the  committee  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  town,  the  remainder  of  the  land  on  Cobb's  Hill 
was  reserved  for  public  use,  and  recorded  as  follows : 

"A  piece  of  laud  of  about  three  acres  lying  on  Cobb's  Hill, 
laid  out  for  public  uses  pursuant  to  the  vote  of  the  proprietors  ; 
bounded  as  followeth  :  southerly  by  the  highway  ;  westerly  by 
the  brook  and  way  round  to  Lieut.  Nathaniel  Bacon's,  thence  by 
his  land  to  the  piece  laid  out  to  John  Bacon  and  others,  to  Samuel 
Bacon's,  and  easterly  by  it  to  the  highway." 

These  boundaries  are  not  clearly  stated  but  are  well  known. 
The  three  acres  includes  all  the  land  bounded  southerly  by  the 
present  County  road  ;  westerly  by  the  branch  of  Mill  Way  that 
passes  on  the  east  of  the  store  of  Ebenezer  Bacon,  till  it  joins  the 
western  branch  of  that  way,  thence  by  that  branch  till  it  joins  the 
eastern  branch,  thence  south-easterly  by  that  way  to  the  top  of 
Meeting  House  Hill,  and  thence  east  by  the  carriage  way  in  front 
of  the  Meeting  House,  to  the  County  road,  at  a  point  in  front  of 
Major  Phinney's  barn.  To  a  small  portion  of  this  land  the  town 
has  partially  alienated  its  title.  About  the  year  1800  the  town 
granted  to  Fraternal  Lodge  a  small  lot  of  land  on  the  east  of  the 
school  house  in  the  third  district,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
hall  thereon.* 

*I  have  been  pel-bap's  unnecessarily  particular  and  tedious  in  ray  description  and  history 
of  Roger  (joodspeed's  original  house  lots.  I  have  done  so,  in  order  that  1  might  be  instrii- 
mental  in  settling  the  questions  that  have  arisen  relative  to  the  maintainance  of  the  pound, 
and  the  improvement  of  the  pound  meadows.  They  can  be  settled  equitably  without  an 
appeal  to  the  Courts.    These  points  I  think  are  cleaiuy  established. 

The  East  Parish  though  the  owner  of  the  soil  on  which  the  pound  stands,  has  no  right 
to  remove  it  without  the  consent  of  the  town,  and  of  the  present  holders  of  the  pound 
meadows. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         397 

Before  the  year  1653,  Roger  Goodspeed  removed  from  Good- 
speed's  Hill  to  the  Indian  village  of  Mistick  or  Misteake,  now 
known  by  the  more  modern  and  perhaps  more  euphoneous  name  of 
Marston's  Mills.  I' think  he  was  the  first  of  the  whites  who 
settled  in  that  part  of  the  town. 

His  six  acre  houselot  then  was  bounded  southerly  by  the  land 
of  the  Indian  Sachem  Paup-mun-nucks^t  ^"d  westerly  by  Oyster 
River.  On  the  north  of  this  lot  he  owned  a  neck  of  land  con- 
taining sixteen  acres.  In  1665  he  bought  forty  acres  of  land  ad- 
joining the  Oyster  River  and  the  Indian  pond  of  Thomas  Allyn. 
In  1667  the  town  granted  him  sixteen  acres  adjoining  his  house- 
lot.  He  also  owned  meadows  in  that  vicinity.  In  1659  he  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  of  Dea.  John  Cooper  at  the  east  of  Coo- 
per's Pond. 

April  6,  1678,  he  conveyed  all  his  lands  and  meadows  at 
South  Sea  to  his  sons  John  and  Ebenezer,  excepting  six  acres,  on 
the  condition  that  they  support  him  and  his  wife  Alice  during 
their  natural  lives.  This  instrument  is  on  record,  and  is  very 
carefully  drawn.     It  is  signed  with  his  mark. 

He  joined  the  church  in  Barnstable  July  28,  1644,  his  wife 
Alice  having  joined  on  31  of  the  preceding  December.  He  was 
admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony  June  5,  1651,  and  was  on  the 
grand  jury  that  year.  He  was  a  farmer  or  planter,  and  had  en- 
joyed no  advantages  for  obtaining  an  education.  He  appears  to 
have  been  an  exemplary  member  of  the  Christian  church,  and  to 
have  lived,  except  on  one  occasion,  a  quiet  and  inoffensive  life. 
In  1672,  at  the  Meeting  House  in  Barnstable,  he  charged  John 
Jenkins  with  having  stolen  his  kid  and  lying  ;  but  like  an  honest 

The  town  of  Barnstable  has  no  right  to  remove  the  pound,  without  the  assent  of  the 
holders  of  said  meadow.  If  the  town  should  order  its  removal  without  such  assent  the 
latter  would  be  relieved  from  all  obligation  to  maintain  a  pound  in  another  place,  and  could 
not  be  dispossessed  of  said  meadows. 

June  1, 1688.  l^e  grass  that  grows  on  the  Pound  Meadows  was  granted  to  James 
Lewis  and  Nathaniel  Bacon,  for  so  long  a  time  as  they  shall  maintain  a  pound  for  the  town's 
use  and  no  longer.  The  meadows  were  not  granted,  only  the  right  to  cut  the  "common 
thatch,  goose  grass  or  sedge  that  grows  upon  them.*'  This  is  a  nice  distinction  but  the 
language  used  shows  the  intention  of  the  parties.  Lewis  and  Bacon  admitted  four  others 
as  pai*tners  and  the  meadows  were  divided  into  six  lots,  and  the  maintenance  of  certain 
portions  of  the  pound  fence  was  assi^ed  to  each  lot.  In  1778  some  of  the  partners 
neglected  to  put  up  their  particular  portion  of  the  fence  and  the  town  was  indicted.  That 
matter  was  settled,  the  partners  found  that  they  were  oblij?ed  to  put  up  the  fence,  and  did 
so.  Recently  they  have  again  neglected  to  keep  the  fence  in  repair  and  the  town  has  taken 
possession  of  the  meadows.  This  the  town  had  an  undoubted  right  to  do ;  but  a  question 
arises  whether  or  not  those  partners  who  have  maintained  their  particular  portions  of  the 
fence  can  be  deprived  of  the  use  of  the  meadows.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  said  that  the 
fjirant  was  made  as  a  whole,  that  the  division  was  a  subsequent  arrangement  not  binding  on 
the  town. 

The  latter  is  the  common  sense  view  of  the  question.  A  quadrangular  piece  of  land 
fenced  on  three  sides  ie  not  a  "pound  for  the  town's  use."  Either  of  the  partners  had  the 
same  right  that  the  town  had.  He  could  have  put  up  the  fence  and  claimed  the  delin- 
quent's share  of  the  meadow. 

t  Paup-mun-nueks  WAfi-  the  Sachem  of  Masapee,  now  called  Marshpee,  the  easterly  part 
of  Sandwich  and  the  westerly  and  central  parts  of  Barnstable.  He  ever  lived  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  whites:  For  several  years  this  ancient  and  once  powerful  sagamore  resided 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Roger  Goodspeed. 


398  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

man,  after  due  consideration,  he  acknowledged  that  he  "had  no 
just  cause,  soe  to  say,  and  -was  sorry  for  soe  saying,  and  desired 
Mr.  Jenkins  to  pass  it  by." 

He  died  in  1685,  and  his  wife  Alice  in  1689.  In  her  will 
dated  Jan.  10,  1688,  and  proved  Sept.  4,  1689,  she  names  her 
son  John  whom  she  cuts  off  with  a  shilling ;  her  daughter  Ruth 
Davis,  to  whom  she  gives  40  shillings,  a  brass  kettle,  and  half 
her  wearing  apparel ;  to  her  daughter  Elizabeth,  then  unmarried, 
£20,  and  the  other  half  of  her  wearing  apparel ;  to  her  daughter- 
in-law  Lydia,  wife  of  her  son  Ebenezer,  one  colt  and  one  gown ; 
to  her  grandson  Benjamin,  son  of  Ebenezer,  1  colt ;  and  to  her 
son  Ebenezer,  her  dwelling-house,  and  all  her  other  estate. 
Roger  Goodspeed  left  no  will.  He  divided  his  large  landed  es- 
tate to  his  children  by  deeds,  and  the  agreement  above  referred  to 
executed  during  his  lifetime.  He  married  Alice  Layton  Dec.  1, 
1641.     Children  born  in  Barnstable  : 

2.  I.     Nathaniel,  6th  October,  1642,  (see  below.) 

3.  II.     John,  June  1645,  (see  below.) 

4.  III.  Mary,  July  1647,  married,  14th  Dec.  1664,  Samuel 
Hinckley. 

5.  IV.     Benjamin,  6th  Mav,  1649,  (see  below.) 

6.  V.  Ruth,  10th  April, "^1652,  married,  2d  Feb.  1674-5, 
John  Davis,  Jr. 

7.  VI.     Ebenezer,  Dec.  1655,  (see  below.) 

8.  VII.     Elizabeth,  1st  May,  1658,  (unmarried  1688.) 

1.  Nathaniel  Goodspeed,  son  of  Roger,  married  Nov.  1666, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Bursley.  He  died  June,  1670, 
and  his  widow  married  Oct.  1675,  Increase  Clap.  He  had  two 
children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  : 

9.  I.     Mary,  born  18th  Feb.  1667-8. 

10.  II.  Nathaniel,  probably.  Another  child  beside  Mary  is 
mentioned  in  the  settlement  of  the  father's  estate. 
Nathaniel  Goodspeed  is  also  named  several  times  on  the 
town  records.  After  1703  his  name  disappears,  and  a 
Nathaniel  Goodspeed,  who  married  Sarah,  appears  at 
Rochester,  and  had  a  family  born  from  1706  to  1713. 

2.  John  Goodspeed,  son  of  Roger,  resided  at  Mistick.  He 
died  in  1719,  aged  74,  and  names  in  his  will  his  wife  Experience, 
sons  John  and  Benjamin  ;  daughters  Mary,  Rose  and  Bathsheba, 
grand-daughter  Ruth,  daughter  of  his  son  Samuel,  deceased.  He 
left  a  large  estate.  He  married  9th  Jan.  1668,  Experience  Hol- 
way,  and  had : 

11.  I.     Mary  or  Mercy,  18  Feb.  1669. 

12.  II.  Samuel,  23d  June,  1670,  died  before  his  father.  He 
married,  and  had  a  daughter  Ruth  living  in  1719. 

13.  III.     John,  1st  June,  1673,  (see  below.) 

14.  IV.     Experience,  14th  Sept.  1676,  not  living  in  1718. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         399 

15.  V.     Benjamin,  31st  March,  1679,  (see  below.) 

16.  VI.  Rose,  20th  Feb.  1680-1,  married,  July  10,  1700, 
Isaac  Jennings,  of  Sandwich.     Died  Dee.  21,' 1721. 

17.  VII.     Bathsheba,  17th  Feb.  1683. 

5.  Benjamin  Goodspeed,  son  of  Roger,  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  John  Davis,  and  had, 

18.  I.  Mary,  10th  Jan.  1677,  married  7th  Jan.  1702,  Icha- 
bod  Hinckley.  She  died  Oct.  1,  1719.  Benjamin  Good- 
speed  died  early  and  his  widow  married  Ensign  John 
Hinckley  Nov.  24,  1697. 

7.  Pibenezer  Goodspeed,  son  of  Roger,  lived  to  a  great  age. 
He  resided  at  Mistick,  and  owned  a  large  real  estate.  Jan.  23, 
1740,  he  conveyed  one-half  of  his  real  estate  to  his  son  Roger. 
Dec.  30,  1746,  being  then  91  years  of  age,  he  conveyed  to  his 
son  Moses  the  other  half  of  his  real  estate,  in  consideration  of  an 
obligation  from  his  son  to  maintain  him  ten  years,  or  till  101 
years  of  age.  His  signature  to  this  deed  is  a  very  good  one, 
written  thus,  "Eben — Good — speed."  In  a  deed  dated  Feb.  22, 
1725-6,  he  names  his  sons  Moses,  Benjamin  and  Roger. 

He  was  the  youngest  son,  and  appears  to  have  been,  con- 
trary to  the  usuages  of  those  days,  the  favorite  son.  He  was 
better  educated  than  any  of  the  family.  Though  his  father,  in 
1678,  conveyed  the  bulk  of  his  estate  in  equal  proportions  to  John 
and  Ebenezer,  something  appears  to  have  occurred  that  alienated 
the  affections  of  the  parents  from  John.  The  latter  accumulated 
a  large  estate,  and  was  probably  an  avaricious  man — and  having 
his  father's  estate  legally  secured  to  him  he  forgot,  as  is  too  often 
the  case  in  such  circumstances,  the  duties  he  owed  in  love,  in 
honor  and  in  common  justice,  to  his  confiding  parents.  Such  in- 
stances are  not  rare,  and  they  teach  a  lesson  that  parents  should 
never  forget. 

Ebenezer  left  no  will.  Not  profiting  by  the  example  of  his 
brother  John,  he  conveyed  all  his  estate  to  his  children  in  his  life- 
time, including  the  ancient  homestead  of  his  father  at  Mistick,  be- 
queathed to  him  in  his  mother's  will. 

Ebenezer  Goodspeed  married  Feb.  15,  1677,  Lydia  Crowell 
of  Yarmouth.  According  to  the  records  she  was  his  only  wife. 
May,  1694,  Lydia,  wife  of  Ebenezer  Goodspeed,  was  a  member 
of  the  Barnstable  Church,  and  her  daughter  Patience  was  bap- 
tized, and  subsequently  in  regular  course  her  other  children. 
When  she  was  admitted  to  the  church  does  not  appear,  and  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  record  of  the  baptisms  of  the  older  children 
indicates  that  Lydia,  the  mother  of  Patience,  and  the  subsequent 
children  was  not  the  first  wife.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable, 
were : 

19.  I.     Benjamin,  31st  Oct.  1678,  (see  below.) 

20.  II.     Son,  21st  Jan    1679-80,  died  Dec.  20,  1689. 


400  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

21.  III.     Mehitabel,  4th  Sept.  1681,  married  Samuel  Howes 
18th  Dee.  1705. 

22.  IV.     Alice,  30th   June,   1683,   married  Benjamin  Shelly 
8th  Aug.  1705. 

23.  V.     Ebenezer,  10th  Sept.  1685,  (see  below.) 

24.  VI.     Mary,  2d  Aug.  1687. 

25.  VII.     Susannah,   7th  Nov.  1689,  married  Samuel  White 
May  14,  1719. 

26.  VIII.     Patience,   1st  June,   1692,  married  Joseph  Hatch 
or  Hallett  of  Dighton,  May  12,  1718. 

27.  IX.     Ruth,  12th  July,  1694. 

28.  X.     Lydia,   141h  Oct.    1696,  married  Benjamin  Marston 
April  26,  1716. 

29.  XI.     Roger,  14th  Oct.  1698,  (see  belyw.) 

30.  XII.     Reliance,   18th  Sept.   1701,  married  Thomas  Phin- 
ney,  Jr.,  March  18,  1726. 

31.  XIII.     Moses,  24th  Nov.  1704,  (see  below.) 

12.  Samuel  Goodspeed,    son   of    John,    married , 

died  before  the  vear  1718,  leaving  one  child. 

32.  I.     Ruth. 

13.  John  Goodspeed,  son  of  John,  born  in  Barnstable  June 
1,  1673,  died  in  1721.  He  inherited  the  homestead  of  his  father, 
whom  he  survived  only  two  years.  He  bought  of  John  Green,  of 
Boston,  attorney  of  his  brother  Samuel  Green,  the  dwelling-house 
and  lands  of  the  latter.  They  were  sons  of  James  Green,  of 
Barnstable,  and  the  estate  was  probably  that  of  his  father's.  The 
real  estate  of  John  Goodspeed  was  apprized  at  £709,  and  his 
personal  estate  at  £640,79,  a  large  estate  in  those  times.  In  his 
inventory  his  carpenter's  tools  are  apprized,  and  I  infer  from  that 
entry  that  he  was  a  mechanic.  He  also  owned  a  "whale-boat  and 
tacklin,"  indicating  that  he  was  interested  in  the  shore  whale 
fishery,  a  business  in  which  many  of  the  people  of  Barnstable  at 
that  time  were  engaged.  He  had  also  four  hives  of  bees,  which 
were  kept  by  many  of  our  ancestors. 

His  house  was  well  furnished,  and  among  other  articles  of 
elegance  and  luxury,  a  looking-glass  is  named,  a  very  rare  article 
of  household  furniture  at  that  date. 

His  will  was  drawn  up  by  Dr.  John  Russell  and  is  without  a 
date,  and  the  names  of  his  children  are  not  mentioned.  To  his 
sons,  {Samuel,  Cornelius  and  John)  he  bequeathed  all  his  landed 
estate  and  houses,  to  be  equally  divided  among  them.  To  each 
of  his  daughters  (probably  Elizabeth,  Temperance  and  Experi- 
ence) he  devised  £60  in  money,  "a  good  feather-bed  and  furni- 
ture." By  "furniture"  is  meant  the  bedstead,  bolsters,  pillows, 
quilts,  &c.,  not  what  is  now  understood  by  the  term.  To  his 
wife's  daughter  Ann  he  gave  £6,  and  to  her  daughter  Content  £5, 
and  a  good  feather-bed  and  furniture.     If  his  personal  estate  was 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         401 

insufflcient  to  pay  the  legacies,  he  ordered  the  Green  estate  to  be 
sold  to  make  up  the  deflcieaey.  He  gave  the  improvement  of  all 
his  estate,  during  her  widowhood,  to  his  wife  Remember,  who, 
with  his  brother  Benjamin,  were  appointed  joint  executors. 

"John  Goodspeed,  ye  son  of  John  Goodspeed,  and  Remem- 
ber Buck,  were  married"  the  16th  of  Feb.  1697-8."  She  was  of 
Sandwich,  a  widow  of  a  grandson  of  Cornet  John  Buck,  of  Hing- 
Iiam  and  Scituate,  who  in  his  will  dated  that  year  gives  legacies 
"to  all  my  grand-children  living  at  Yarmouth  and  Sandwich." 
She  had  two  daughters,  Ann  and  Content,  by  her  first  husband. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

33.  I.     Elizabeth,   10th  Dec.  1698,  married   Edward  Dilling- 
ham, Jr.,  of  Sandwich,  Oct.  10,  1723. 

34.  II.     Temperance,    17th   Feb.    1699-1700,    married    John 
Trowbridge  July  27,  1717. 

35.  III.     Samuel,  17th  March,  1701,  married  Rebecca 

-,  and   had  nine  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  : 


1,  Temperance,  May  20,  1725;  2,  John,  Aug.  31,  1728; 
3,  Eunice,  April  6,  1731  ;  4,  Ann,  24th  April,  1734;  5, 
Abigail,  July  11,  1736;  6,  Remember,  May  18,  1739;  7, 
Samuel,  March  1,  1741;  8,  Abner,  June  17,  1743;  9, 
Anthony,  April  18,  1746. 

36.  IV.  Cornelius,  2d  Feb.  1703-4,  married  Mary  Lovell, 
Jr.,  Feb.  19,  1745,  and  had  Cornelius  1747. 

37.  V.  John,*  1 6th  Nov.  1708,  married  June  15,  1732,  Re- 
becca Goodspeed;  children:  1,  Susannah,  April  22,  1736, 
married  Nathan  Thomas  1757;  2,  Lydia,  Jan.  21,  1738; 
3,  Philemon,  April  25,  1742  ;  4,  John,  Nov.  15,  1745. 

38.  VI.  Experience,  24th  June,  1710,  married  Cornelius  An- 
nable  1729. 

39.  VII.     A  daughter,  4th  April  1712. 

15.  Benjamin  Goodspeed,  son  of  John,  born  31st  March, 
1679,  was  one  year  younger  than  Benjamin,  son  of  Ebenezer, 
and  is  called  junior  on  the  records.  He  died  in  1733,  and  in  his 
will  gives  all  his  estate  to  his  wife  Susannah  during  her  widow- 
hood ;  to  his  son  Joseph,  after  the  termination  of  said  widow- 
hood, his  homestead,  woodlol,  &c.  To  his  son  John  his  landing 
place  and  marsh  north  of  Tracy's  brook ;  and  to  his  son  Timothy 
a  lot  of  land  called  Barley  Hill,  meadow  east  of  Tracy's  brook, 
&c.  ;  all  his  right  to  Sandy  Neck  to  his  three  sons  equally ;  to 
daughter  Mary  £60  and  a  good  feather  bed  and  furniture ;  and  to 

*He  resided  near  Shubael's  Pond,  Harablin's  Plainfi,  and  was  called  "Pewter  John"  to 
distinguish  him  from  another  John  Goodspeed,  called  "Silver  John."  His  father  and 
grandfather  were  men  of  wealth.  The  children  and  the  grandchildren  of  the  avaricious 
are  generally  wanting  in  energy  of  character  and  therefore  thriftless.  If  the  children  are 
born  before  the  parent  accumulates  his  wealth,  they  usually  acquire  habits  of  industry  and 
frugality  in  early  life,  which  they  retain,  and  therefore  do  not  waste  the  wealth  which  they 
inherit.  It  is  very  rare  that  grandchildren  are  benefited  by  the  wealth  of  the  grandparent, 
without  it  is  secured  to  them  bv  deeds  of  trust. 


402  OKNKALOGIOAL,    NOTKS    OF    BAKNSTABLK    FAMILIES. 

liis  daughter  Mercy  a  like  amount.  The  nmount  of  his  inventory 
was  £1,170,  and  the  provisions  of  his  will  are  similar  to  those  of 
his  brother  John's.  He  signed  his  name  to  his  will  with  a  mark, 
not  certain  evidence  that  he  could  not  write  when  younger.  He 
married  Susannah  Allen,  March  1710. 

His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were : 

40.  I.  Joseph,  Jan.  1,1711,  married  June  28,  1739,  Abigail 
Smith,  and  had  :  1,  Benjamin,  Feb.  8,  1739,  married  Su- 
sannah Smith  1766;  2,  William,  July  17,  1741,  married 
Mary  Meigs  of  Sandwich,  March  25,  1762;  3,  Josiah, 
April  24,  1744,  married  Jemima  Blossom.  April  20,  1762; 
4,  Abigail,  Dec.  16,1746;  5,  Timothy,  April  22,1749; 
6,    Ann,  17.o2;  and    7,  Joseph,  Feb.  26,  1756. 

41.  II.  Marv,  Oct.  12,  1713,  married  Benjamin  Bursley,  Feb. 
2,  1744.  " 

42.  III.  Marcy,  Sept.  26,  1715,  married  Isaac  Jones  Jr., 
1751. 

43.  IV.     Timothy,  married  Ann  Smith  1747. 

44.  V.  John.  His  birth  is  not  recorded  on  the  town  records. 
He  resided  at  Mystic  during  his  minority,  where  he  learned 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  He  sought  in  marriage  the  hand 
of  Miss  Mercy  Dursley  of  West  Barnstable,  who,  in  addi- 
tion to  her  personal  charms,  had,  like  "Mistress  Mary  Ford, 
large  expectancies."  In  1 754  she  consented  to  marry,  and 
the  bans  were  published  according  to  the  customs  of  the 
times.  A  difficulty  arose.  John  insisted  that  their  resi- 
dence should  be  at  Mystic,  Mercy  that  it  should  be  on  her 
farm  at  Great  Marshes.  After  four  years  spent  in  diplo- 
macy, the  difficulty  was  happily  terminated,  by  an  agreement 
that  their  home  should  be  at  Great  Marshes,  and  they  were 
sccordingly  married  on  the  29th  of  May,  1757. 

He  resided  in  the  large  mansion  house  since  known  as  the 
residence  of  Dr.  Whitman.  In  the  French  war  next  pre- 
ceeding  the  Revolution,  he  shipped  as  carpenter  on  board  of 
a  privateer.  A  Spanish  vessel  was  taken  and  brought  into 
port,  having  a  large  amount  in  silver  dollars  and  silver  bul- 
lion in  bars  on  board.  The  Captain  and  owners  of  the  priva- 
teer succeeded  in  having  the  vessel  and  cargo  condemned  as 
French  property,  and  it  has  always  been  currently  reported 
that  the  Captain  offered  to  each  sailor,  for  his  share  of  the 
prize  money,  as  much  silver  as  he  could  carry  from  the  end 
of  Long  Wharf  to  the  head  of  King,  now  State  street,  Bos- 
ton, on  the  condition,  that  if  he  stopped  to  rest  by  the  way 
he  forfeited  the  whole.  Goodspeed,  as  carpenter,  had  two 
shares.  The  exact  amount  which  he  received  is  not  known, 
probably  not  over  $5000.  At  the  sale  of  the  prize,  and  tier 
«        effects,  he  bought  a  boat.     His  connections  reported  that  he 


GRNKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         403 

found  a  large  sum  in  silver  hid  under  the  ceiling.  This 
story  is  doubtful.  Why  should  money  be  concealed  in  a 
boat,  where  the  chances  for  loss  were  greater  than  in  the 
vessel. 

Five  thousand  dollars  in  specie  was  a  large  sum  for  a  Barn- 
stable man  to  hold  in  those  days,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  amount  should  be  reported  to  be  much  larger.  Ex- 
cepting Goodspeed,  and  one  other,  all  the  rest  soon  spent 
their  shares  in  riotous  living.  Goodspeed  was  frugal  in  his 
expenses,  and  cautious  in  business.  A  portion  of  his  silver 
he  loaned  at  high  rates,  interest  and  principal  payable  in 
Spanish  milled  dollars  ;  the  remainder  he  carefully  hoarded, 
and  much  of  it  was  inherited  by  his  daughter,  whose  chil- 
dren spent  it,  having  no  reverence  for  antiquity,  or  love  of 
hoarding. 

Of  the  many  stories  told  of  "Silver  John  Goodspeed"  it  is 
diffleult  to  separate  the  true  from  the  false  or  highly  exagger- 
ated. His  biography  would  be  interesting,  and  teach  some 
useful  lessons.  His  early  life  of  trial,  his  eccentric  court- 
ship, and  his  adventures  as  a  privateersman  or  buccaneer, 
have  a  romantic  intei'est.  In  after  life,  he  devoted  all  his 
energies  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 
He  had  an  only  child,  Mercy,  baptized  Aug.  7,  1763.  She 
inherited  all  her  father's  and  her  mother's  wealth,  and  from 
early  childhood  was  educated  in  the  belief  that  ''man's  chief 
end  is  to  gather  up  riches."  She  married  Dr.  Jonas  Whit- 
man, a  man  not  unlike  in  Character  to  "Silver  John."  She 
had  two  daughters  and  several  sons,  among  whom  Silver 
John's  great  wealth  was  divided  ;  but  it  soon  took  to  itself 
wings  and  flew  away, — and  is  now  enjoyed  by  the  children 
and  grand-children  of  his  poor  neighbors.  "Silver  John's" 
wealth  was  a  curse  to  his  posterity. 

19.  Benjamin  Goodspeed,  son  of  Ebenezer,  born  31st  Oct. 
1678,  resided  in  Barnstable,  where  he  died  in  1750,  aged  72.  In 
his  will,  which  he  signs  with  his  mark,  he  devises  half  the  im- 
provement of  his  estate  to  his  wife  Hope ;  to  son  Jabez,  10  shil- 
lings Old  Tenor  (22  1-2  cents)  ;  to  son  Jonathan,  10  shillings  Old 
Tenor  ;  to  his  daughter  Patience,  one-half  his  indoor  moveables  ; 
and  to  his  son  James,  all  his  real  estate,  wearing  apparel,  cattle, 
&c.,  &c.  ■ 

He  married  in  1 707  Hope,  daughter  of  Benjamin  -Lumhact, 
and  had  seven  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  : 
45.  I.  Jabez,  26th  Jan.  1707-8,  married  Reliance  Tobey,  of 
Sandwich,  1733,  and  had:  1,  Jabez,  July  31,  1737,  married 
Margaret  Bassett  Aug.  6,  1761  ;  2,  Jane,  March  21,  1739; 
3,  Heman,  Sept.  4,  1743;  4,  Benjamin,  May  26,  1745;  by 
his  2d  wife,   Elizabeth  Adams,  5,  Elisha,  baptized  Jan.   31«j. 


404  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

1753;  6,  Sarah,  baptized  April  2,  1755;  7,  Solomon,  bap- 
tized April  25,  1762. 

46.  II.     Jane,  7th  Sept.  1709,  probably  died  young. 

47.  III.  James,  June  1711,  married  Elizabeth  Fuller  Nov.  13, 
1739,  and  had  1,  Martha,  July  31,  1741,  married  Samuel 
Wiuslow  of  Hardwick,  June  12,  1760  ;  2,  Mary,  June  14, 
1743,  married  Timothy  Hinckley  1766;  3,  David,  Aug.  20, 
1745;  4,  Hannah,  March  14,  1757;  5,  Desire,  baptized 
July  21,  1751;  6,  Abner,  baptized  July  7,1754;  (Church 
records  say  daughter  of  Reuben,  probably  a  mistake)  7, 
Temperance,  Sept.  5,  1756  ;  and  8,  Temperance,  July  19, 
1759. 

48.  IV.     David,  13th  Nov.  1713. 

49.  V.     Nathan,  7th  Oct.  1715,  died  April  29,  1723. 

50.  VI.  Patience,  25th  March  1718,  married  Eben.  Cannon 
July  30,  1752. 

51.  VII.     Jonathan,  23d  April  1720. 

23.  Ebenezer  Goodspeed,  son  of  Ebenezer,  born  Sept.  10, 
1685,  married  Nov.  7,  1711,  Mary  Stacy.  He  was  called  junior, 
and  his  son  Ebenezer  third.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable 
were : 

52.  I.  Rebecca,  Oct.  28,  1714,  married  John  Goodspeed  June 
18,  1732. 

53.  II.  Ebenezer,  Feb.  7,  1715-16,  married  Sept.  29,  1736, 
Rebecca  Bodfish,  and  had  eight  children  born  in  Barnstable  : 
1,  Thankful,  March  10,  1736-7,  married  Oct.  20,  1757,  Jo- 
seph Nye,  Jr.,  of  Sandwich;  2,  Martha,  Feb.  7,  1738-9  ;  3, 
Edward,  June  5,  1741  ;  4,  Joseph,  Oct.  15,  1743,  married 
Hannah  Bodfish  1766;  5,  Rufus,  Jan.  15,  1749-50;  6, 
Silas,  Jan.  27,  1751-2;  7,  Hannah,  Aug.  9,  1755;  8,  Eliza- 
beth, Feb.  7,  1757 ;  and  9,  Mary,  May  29,  1759. 

54.  III.  Mary,  Aug.  2,  1721,  married  John  Blush,  Nov.  17, 
1739. 

29.  Roger  Goodspeed,  son  of  Ebenezer,  married  Hannah 
Phinney  Oct.  6,  1720.  His  father,  Jan.  23,  1740,  conveyed  to 
hira  by  deed  one-half  of  his  real  estate  in  Barnstable.  It  after- 
wards was  the  property  of  the  heirs  of  his  brother  Moses. 

Children  of  Roger  Goodspeed  born  in  Barnstable  : 

55.  I.  Thomas,  Oct.  27,  1721.  (A  Thomas  Goodspeed,  whose 
wife  was  Puella,  resided  at  Hyannis.) 

56.  II.  Isaac,  Sept.  23,  1723,  married  Ann  Jenkins  Oct.  17, 
1754,  and  had  :  1,  Sarah,  Oct.  25,  1755  ;  2,  Isaac,  April  29, 
1758  ;  3,  Hannah,  May  17,  1760  ;  4,  Luther,  Nov.  1,  1762  ; 
5  and  6,  Elijah  and  Daniel,  twins,  Jan.  17,  1765  ;  7,  Heman, 
Feb.  14,  1767  ;  and  8,  Charles,  July  20,  1769. 

57.  111.     Ruth,  baptised  1725  ;  she  probably  died  young. 

58.  IV.     Sarah,  born  Dec.   5,   1827,    married   George  Conant, 


QKNKALOGIGAL    NOTKS    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         405 

June  20,  1753,  died  March  14,  1754,  aged  27. 

59.  V.     Abigail,  baptized  July  26,  1730,  probably   died  young. 

60.  VI.  Elizabeth,  born  Nov.  14,  1731,  married  Jedediah 
Winslow  of  Rochester,  Nov.  7,  1751. 

61.  VII.  Joseph,  Sept.  17,  1736,  married  Sarah  Adama,  Jr., 
June  29,  1756. 

62.  VIII.     Hannah,  baptized  July  25,  1742. 

31.  Moses  Goodspeed,  thirteenth  child  of  Ebenezer,  and 
grandson  of  Roger,  inherited  the  homestead  of  his  ancestor,  and 
by  purchases  made  by  him  and  his  son  Seth,  the  latter  became 
the  owner  of  all  the  lands  that  were  his  ancestors,  and  it  is  now 
the  property  of  Henry  Goodspeed,  a  son  of  Seth,  and  now  a 
volunteer  in  the  army  of  the  United  States.  Moses  Goodspeed 
married  March  30,  1726,  Hannah  Allen.  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable  are  all  named  in  liis  will  dated  March  1,  1774,  and 
were  : 

63.  I.  Nathaniel,  March  18,  1727,  married  Elizabeth  Fuller  of 
Rochester,  in  1755.  He  sold  to  his  brother  Seth,  his  share 
in  his  father's  estate  and  removed  to  Vassalboro',  Maine. 

64.  II.  Seth,  Feb.  2,  1728-9,  married  March  15,  1753,  Abi- 
gail Linnel.  He  resided  on  the  ancient  Goodspeed  farm 
which  became  his  by  inheritance  or  purchase.  He  devised 
the  farm  to  his  son  Allen,  and  the  latter  to  the  present 
owner,  Henry  Goodspeed.  Seth  Goodspeed  died  March  26, 
1810,  aged  82,  and  his  wife  July  7,  1805,  aged  75.  His 
children  were:  1,  Anna,  born  Sept.  29,  1753,  who  died  un- 
married Feb.  15,  1821  ;  2,  Temperance,  Nov.  7,  1755,  mar- 
ried  Davis;    3,  Patience,   Oct.     10,   1755,     married 

Benjamin  Lumbard ;  4,  Abigail,  April  4,  1760,  marrieci 
Solomon  Bodfish  ;  5,  Hannah,  Sept.  19,  1762,  married  Peter 
Blossom;  6,  Eunice,  Oct.  5,  1764,  married  Prince  Hinck- 
ley; 7,  Olive,  Sept.  21,  1766,  married  John  Marston,  died 
Nov.  21,  1814;  8,  Allen,  Jan.  5,  1769,  married  and  had  a 
family,  died  Jan.  7,  1831;  9,  Sophia,  June  13,  1771,  mar- 
ried Lot  Scudder;  and  10,  Temperance,  Jan.  14,  1774, 
married  .Tames  Crosbv. 


GILPIN. 


ANTHONY  GILPIN. 

Anthony  Gilpin's  name  occasionally  appears  as  a  land  holder 
in  Barnstable.  He  died  in  March  1655,  at  the  house  of  George 
Lewis,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  left  a  family.  His  will  was 
proved  June  5,  1655.  He  gave  all  his  estate  in  trust  to  Nathaniel 
Bacon,  for  the  benefit  of  his  kinsman,  William  Hodges  of  Darn- 
ton,  in  Yorkshire,  England,  and  his  five  sisters.  There  are  sev- 
eral papers  on  the  record,  filed  by  Mr.  Bacon,  respecting  the  es- 
tate ;  but  I  have  mislaid  niv  abstract  of  them. 


GILBERT. 


SAJIUEL  GILBERT. 

Samuel  Gilbert  from  Connecticut,  married  April  2.3,  1758, 
Thankful  Fuller  and  had  : 

I.  Seth,  born  Feb.  4,  17511. 

II.  Abigail,  Jan.  1762. 

III.  Benjamin,  June  21,  1764. 

Respecting  this  family  I  have  no  additional  information.  In 
1778  a  Samuel  Gilbert,  Jr.,  a  physician  and  surgeon,  died  in 
Barnstable.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  had  some  mercantile 
business  with  parties  in  the  West  Indies.  He  left  a  small  estate 
apprized  at  £32, 1(!  shs.  lawful  raonev.     £1.'?7,19  in  currency. 


GORHAM. 


C'apt.  John  Gorhaiii  is  the  ancestor  of  the  numerous  families 
of  the  name  of  Gorham  in  New  England,  in  the  British  Prov- 
inces, in  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  and  other  states  in  the  Union. 
His  descent  is  traced  from  the  DeGorran  of  La  Tanniere,  near 
Gorram,  in  Maine,  on  the  borders  of  Brittany.  Several  of  the 
family  removed  to  England  in  the  eleventh  century,  during  the 
reign  of  William  the  Conquerer.  In  England  many  of  the  name 
were  men  of  learning,  wealth  and  influence.  The  immediate  an- 
cestors of  Capt.  John  were  not  men  of  note.  His  father  Ralph 
and  his  grandfather  James  resided  at  Benefleld  in  Northampton- 
shire, where  John  was  baptized  January  28,  1620-1.  James  Gor- 
ham of  Benefleld,  was  born  in  1550,  married  in  1572,  Agnes  Ber- 
nington,  and  died  1576.  Ralph,  born  in  1575,  came  with  his 
family  to  New  England,  and  was  in  Plymouth  in  1637.  On  the 
2d  of  October  in  that  year,  "Lands  to  erect  a  house  upon  are 
granted  to  Ralph  Goarame,  of  some  part  of  the  waste  grounds 
about  Edmund  Bumpas  or  Philip  Delanoys  house." 

Of  Ralph  Gorham  or  his  family  little  is  known.  Only  the 
birth  of  his  son  John  is  recorded  either  at  Benefleld  or  at  Plym- 
outh. He  probably  had  other  children,  evidently  a  son  Ralph, 
born  in  England,  for  he  is  called,  Mai'ch  4,  1638-9,  "the  elder," 
showing  that  there  were  then  two  persons  of  that  name  in  Plym- 
outh.* He  is  named  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  Records  June  4, 
1639,  and  April  5,  1642,  and  thereafter  his  name  disappears.  At 
the  latter  date  he  was  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  and,  if  he  was 
living  in  1643,  his  name  would  not  be  enrolled  on  the  list  taken  in 
August  that  year,  of  all  between  16  and  60  that  were  able  to  bear 
arms  in  the  Colony.  Ralph,  the  vounger's  name,  is  not  on  that 
list. 

It  is  probalile  that  Ralph  Gorham  died  about  the  year  1643, 
leaving  no  widow,  and  an  only  child  John  who  inherited  his  prop- 
erty.    This  is  inferred  from  tiie  fact  that  no  settlement  of  his  es- 

*20th  Juno,  1635,  Thomas  Gorham,  agpd  19,  and  John  Gorham,  aged  18  3'ears,   were 

passengers  in  the  Phillip,  Richard   Morgan  master,  from Ijound  to  Virginia. 

New  England  was  sometimes  called  North  Virginia.    A  Mrs.  Kathrine   (lorham  presented 
a  petition  to  the  Assemhly  of  Rhode  Island  1680. 


408  GKNEALOGICAL    NOTKS    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

tate  appears  on  the  records — none  was  required  if  he  had  only 
one  heir,  and  he  of  legal  age.  During  the  seventeenth  century, 
besides  John  and  his  descendants,  no  other  person  of  the  name  of 
Gorham  is  mentioned  as  a  resident  in  the  Colony. 

Of  the  earJy  life  of  John,  little  is  known.  He  had  a  good 
common  school  education,  was  brought  up  iu  the  Puritan  faitli, 
and  during  life  was  a  consistent  and  exemplary  Christian.!  He 
probably  served  an  apprenticeship  with  a  tanner  and  currier  of 
leather,' working  at  that  business  in  the  winter,  and  pursuing  some 
other  calling  in  the  summer.  At  the  first  settlement  of  the 
country  very  few  mechanics  were  employed  at  their  trades  during 
the  year.  All  had  lands  assigned  to  them,  and  in  the  summer 
season  labored  mure  or  less  on  their  farms.  Even  the  governors 
and  their  assistants  had  farms,  which  they  tilled  with  their  own 
hands. 

At  an  early  age  he  had  to  rely  on  himself, — a  young  man,  in 
a  strange  land,  with  no  family  connections  to  sustain  him,  and 
little  wealth  to  aid  him  in  the  pursuit  of  the  business  of  life. 
However,  he  was  an  honest  boy,  and  he  grew  up  an  honest  man, 
and  his  descendants  have  inherited,  not  only  his  good  name,  but 
generally  this  trait  of  his  character.  I 

In  1643,  he  being  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  married  De- 
sii-e  Howland,  one  of  the  first  born  at  Plymouth,  a  young  woman 
who  had  also  been  educated  in  the  Puritan  faith,  and  who,  during 
her  long  life  was  a  pattern  of  good  works,  a  kind  hearted  woman,' 
and  a  Christian  in  name  and  spirit.  §  She  was  a  daughter  of 
John,  and  a  giand-daughter  of  John  Tilley,  both  of  whom  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower. 

In  1046  he  removed  from  Plymouth  to  Marshfield,  and  in 
1648  was  chosen  constable  of  that  town.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  propounded  to  become  a  freeman  of  the  Colony,  and  June  4, 
16.50,  was  admitted.  In  1651  he  was  a  member  of  the  Grand  In- 
quest of  the  Colony. 

Ill  1652  he  removed  to  Yarmouth,  and  purchased  the  house- 
lot  on  the  north  County  road,   adjoining  to  the  bounds  of  Barn- 

t  March  5,1655,  John  Gorham  was  presented  for  "uuseamly  carriage  toward  Blanch 
Hull  at  iinseasonabie  time  being  in  the  ni^ht."  She  was  then  the  wife  of  Trustrum  Hull  of 
Barnstable,  and  after .vards  the  second  wile  of  Capt.  Wm.  Hedge  of  Yarmouth.  She  was  a 
bad  woman,  being  frequently  envolved  in  broils  and  difficulties.  Capt.  Hedge,  in  his  will, 
cut  her  off  with  "a  shilling,"  and  gives  as  a  reason  that  "she  had  proved  false  to  him." 
John  Gorham  was  fined  40  shillings,  Blanch  50  shillings — a  poor  speculation  for  Mrs.  Hull. 

X  In  examining  the  history  of  hundreds  of  his  descendants,  I  have  not  yet  found  one  of 
the  name  who  was  convicted  of  crime.  A  few  families  of  the  name  have  run  out,  the  chil- 
dren partaking  largely  of  the  character  of  their  mother's  families. 

§  Sometimes  a  trifling  incident  alfords  an  excellent  and  suggestive  illustration  of  char- 
acter. A  beautiful  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  (xorham  is  tound  in  the  will  of  her  old 
servant  Totoo.  His  dying  request  was,  "Burj^  me  as  near  as  you  can  to  the  feet  of  my  mis- 
tress." There  is  true  poetic  feeling  in  the  simple  words  of  the  dying  servant.  Tliey  are 
suggestive  of  a  thousand  acts  of  kindness  that  had  lived  in  his  memoiy  during  the'eight 
years  that  his  mistress  had  been  dead, — and  he  craved  no 'higher  felicity  in  the  spirit  world 
ihan  to  be  allowoii  to  dwell  near  her  whom  he  served  on  earth. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES.         409 

stable.  About  the  same  time  he  purchased  a  part  of  the  Hallett 
Farm,  containing  100  acres  of  planting  land,  adjoining  Ms  house- 
lot,  and  situate  mostly  within  the  then  boundaries  of  the  town  of 
Barnstable.  [Thomas  Starr  owned  the  nortliwest  houselot  in 
Yarmouth.  This  he  sold  to  Andrew  Hallett,  Senior,  in  1639. 
This  house  was  afterwards  John  G-orham's.]  This  farm  was 
granted  to  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett  in  the  spring  of  1639,  and  the 
boundaries  of  the  same  entered  on  the  Plymouth  Colony  Records 
Sept.  3,  1639,  as  follows : 

"It  is  granted  by  the  Court,  that  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett  shall 
have  his  greate  lott  of  two  hundred  acres  at  Yarmouth,  80  pole  in 
breadth,  at  the  first  beginning  at  the  head  of  the  cove  [Stony 
Cove]  from  the  marked  tree,  and  to  bear  up  that  breadth  fourty 
pole  in  length,  and  afterwards  to  be  enlarged  in  breadth  in  the 
ranging  of  yt  towards  the  other  end  wch  was  afterwards  layed 
forth  in  form  following,  viz  :  from  the  sd  tree  on  the  east  sid  upon 
a  southerly  lin  40  pole  [following  the  bounds  between  Yarmouth 
aad  Barnstable  to  the  County  road]  and  then  enlarged  in  breadth 
towards  the  east  20  pole,  and  extending  in  length  60  pole  [to  the 
stable  on  the  west  of  the  Yarmouth  R.  R.  Depot]  and  from  thence 
in  breadth  38  pole,  [to  the  new  Hyannis  Road]  and  from  thence 
extends  still  in  length  100  pole  beyond  a  great  pond  [Long  Pond] 
to  the  end  thereof  ;  [the  S.  E.  corner  is  a  rock  marked  F,  called 
the  Farm  Rock  in  the  town  records]  and  on  the  north  and  north- 
west side  from  the  said  tre,  80  pole  in  breadth,  [to  the  Mill  Road] 
and  in  length,  first  40  pole,  [to  the  County  road]  and  then  en- 
larged to  the  westward  60  pole  in  breadth  [by  the  County  road  to 
Thomas  Lumbart's  great  lot]  and  thence  extending  itself  160 
pole,, and  the  south  side  thereof  upon  a  straight  line  188  pole." 

The  distance  between  the  ancient  monuments  yet  remaining 
is  greater  than  given  in  the  record.  It  was  customary  to  allow 
for  ponds  and  swamps  and  not  include  them  in  the  admeasure- 
ment. He  also  owned  the  land  on  the  north  of  the  Hallett  Farm, 
between  Stoney  Cove  and  the  Mill  Road,  and  the  seventeen  acres 
of  meadow  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  Cove,  (more  or  less) 
and  ten  acres  at  Stony  Cove  Neck  laid  out  to  Mr.  Hallett. 

His  farm  contained  very  little  waste  land .  That  on  the  north 
side  of  the  County  road,  excepting  a  few  gravelly  hills,  near  the 
bounds  of  Yarmouth,  is  a  strong  loam  soil  and  good  grass  land  ; 
and  that  on  the  south  is  a  sandy  loam,  of  easy  cultivation  and 
adapted  to  corn  and  rye.  Taken  as  a  whole,  this  farm  is  not  so 
fertile  as  it  was  formerly.  The  light  soils  on  the  south  have  been 
exhausted  by  repeated  crops,  without  returning  sufficient  manure  ; 
but  the  loam  and  clay  soils  on  the  north,  yet  retain  their  ancient 
fertility.  There  were  few  better  farms  in  the  Colony  than  Capt. 
Gorham's — it  was  well  watered,  convenient  to  the  meadows,  and 
contained  soils  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  a  great  variety  of 
crops. 


410  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

He  also  owned  the  G-rist  Mill  known  as  Hallett's  Mill,  and 
the  landijig  place,  or  wharf,  near  the  same.  The  grist  mill 
named  in  the  early  town  records  (1647)  was  situate  farther  south 
than  the  present  mill.  The  ancient  dam,  built  by  the  first 
settlers,  only  enclosed  the  southern  part  of  the  present  mill  pond, 
then  appropriately  named  Stone  Cove.  The  northern  portion  of 
the  mill  pond  was  then  a  tract  of  salt  meadow  which  has  gradu- 
ally worn  away,  since  the  erection  of  the  present  dam. 

The  tannery  of  Capt.  Gorham  was  a  short  distance  southerly 
from  the  present  mill,  on  the  west  of  the  pond,  and  northerly 
from  the  site  of  the  ancient  grist  mill. 

He  was  deputy  from  Yarmouth  to  the  Plymouth  Colony 
Court  at  the  special  session  April  6,  1653,  and  the  following  year 
he  was  chosen  surveyor  of  highways  in  the  town  of  Yarmouth. 

At  the  Court  held  June  1,  1663,  "Liberty  was  graunted 
unto  John  Gorham  to  looke  out  some  land  for  accomodation,  and 
to  make  report  thereof  to  the  Court,  that  soe  a  competency  may 
be  granted  to  him."  He  selected  a  tract  of  one  hundred  acres  at 
Papasquash  Neck,  in  Swansea,  which  was  granted  to  him  in  July, 
1669,  and  in  July,  1672,  Mr.  Constant  Southworth,  Mr.  James 
Brown,  and  Mr.  John  Gorham,  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
purchase  the  same  of  the  Indians.  July  13,  1677,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  good  service  that  Capt.  Gorham  had  performed  for  the 
country  in  the  war  in  which  he  lost  his  life,  the  Court  confirmed  to 
his  heirs  and  successors  forever  the  100  acres  of  land  at  Papas- 
quash  Neck.  , 

In  1673  and  1674,  he  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  Select- 
men of  the  town  of  Barnstable,  and  in  the  former  year  received 
the  appointment  of  lieutenant  of  the  Plymouth  forces  in,  the 
Dutch  war. 

June  17,  1675,  Gen.  Benjamin  Church  arrived  at  Plymouth, 
and  confirmed  former  reports  of  the  conduct  of  King  Philip. 
The  next  Sunday,  June  20,  Philip's  men  made  an  attack  on  Swan- 
zey,  and  rifled  a  few  houses.  Forthwith  a  post  was  sent  to 
Plymouth  for  aid,  who  arrived  at  break  of  day  June  21.  Infor- 
mation was  sent  to  Boston,  and  aid  solicited  ;  orders  were  issued 
to  all  the  Captains  of  all  the  companies  in  the  Colony  to  march 
without  delay.  Thursday,  June  24,  was  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  by  appointment,  throughout  the  Colony.  The  names  of 
the  soldiers  who  went  from  Barnstable  are  not  recorded.  Mr. 
John  Gorham,  it  appears  by  the  Yarmouth  records,  wis  captain  of 
the  militia  company.and  a  resident  in  that  town.  June  24,  1675, 
Capt.  Gorham  and  twenty-nine  from  Yarmouth,  whose  names  ap- 
pear on  record,  "took  their  first  march"  for  Mount  Hope.  These 
were  mounted  men.  It  is  not  so  stated  in  the  records  ;  but  such 
clearly  appears :  £9  were  paid  for  nine  horses  lost,  £10  for  the 
hire  of  horses,  and  £11,15  10  for  the  loss  of  saddles  and  bridles. 

Barnstable  and  the  other  towns  in  the  Count v  also  furnished 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         411 

their  quotas.  This  appears  in  the  division  of  the  lands,  in  Gor- 
ham,  Maine,  granted  to  those  soldiers  or  their  heirs,  in  considera- 
tion of  their  service  in  King  Philip's  War.  The  Plymouth  forces 
were  commanded  by  Major  Cudworth,  and  were  at  Swanzey  June 
28,  and  were  joined  by  the  troops  of  Massachusetts. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  theatre  of  the  war  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut.  Capt.  G-orham  and  his 
company  marched  into  Massachusetts.  He  arrived  after  the  total 
defeat  of  Capt.  Lothrop  at  Sugar  Loaf  Hill,  in  which  Capt.  L. 
lost  the  greater  part  of  his  force,  consisting  of  eighty  picked  men, 
"the  flower  of  Essex."  The  following  letter  written  by  Capt. 
Gorham,  is  copied  from  the  original  in  the  Secretary  of  State's 
office  in  Boston.  It  has  never  been  published  and  will  be  inter- 
esting to  his  descendants  : 

[From  the  original  in  the  Secretary's  office.] 

Mendum,  October  th  1  :  1675 

Much  Honoeed  :  My  service  with  all  due  respects  humbly 
presented  to  yourself  and  unto  the  rest  of  the  Council  hoping  of 
your  healths.  I  have  made  bold  to  trouble  you  with  these  few 
lines  to  give  your  honors  an  account  of  our  progress  in  your  juris- 
diction. According  unto  your  honors  order  and  determination  I 
arrived  at  Mendum  with  fifty  men,  and  the  next  day  Lieutenant 
Upham  arrived  with  thirty-eight  men,  and  the  day  following  we 
joined  our  forces  together  and  marched  in  pursuit  to  find  our  ene- 
my, but  God  hath  been  pleased  to  deny  us  any  opportunity  there- 
in ; — though  with  much  labor  and  travel  we  had  endeavored  to 
find  them  out,  which  Lieut.  Upham  hath  given  you  a  more  particu- 
lar account.  Our  soldiers  being  much  worn  but  having  been  in 
the  field  this  fourteen  weeks'  and  little  hopes  of  finding  the  ene- 
my, we  are  this  day  returning  toward  our  General,  but  as  for  my 
own  part,  I  shall  be  ready  to  serve  God  and  the  country  in  this 
just  war,  so  long  as  I  have  life  and  health,  not  else  to  trouble 
vou,  I  rest  yours  to  serve  in  what  I  am  able. 

JOHN  GORRUN. 

Oct.  4,  1675,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Court,  captain  of  the 
second  company  of  the  Plymouth  forces  in  King  Philip's  war. 
Mr.  Jonathan  Sparrow,  of  Eastham,  was  lieutenant.  Capts. 
Bradford  and  Gorham  were  ordered  by  the  council  of  war,  to  ren- 
dezvous their  men  at  Plymouth  Dec.  7,  Taunton  Dee.  8,  Reho- 
beth  Dec.  9,  and  at  Providence  Dec.  10. 

Capt.  Gorham  and  his  company  were  in  the  sanguinary  bat- 
tle at  the  Swamp  Fort,  in  the  Narraganset  country,  fought  Dec. 
19,  1675.  That  battle  was  decisive  in  its  results,  it  not  only 
crushed  the  power  of  the  Narragansetts ;  but  it  destroyed  the 
hope  of  King  Philip  and  his  alies,  of  exterminating  the  white  race 
in  New  England.  The  forces  of  the  United  Colonies  had  assem- 
bled on  the  18th  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  Swamp  Fort.  The 
weather  was  cold  and  severe,  the  forces  had  to  remain  in  an  open 


412  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

field,  "with  no  other  covering  than  a  cold  and  moist  fleece  of 
snow."  At  the  dawn  of  day  the  next  morning  they  started  on 
their  weary  march,  sinking  ancle  deep  at  every  step  in  the  snow. 
At  one  o'cloclv  they  arrived  at  the  Fort.  It  was  built  on  an  is- 
land, containing  five  or  six  acres,  in  the. swamp,  surrounded  with 
a  thick  hedge  and  strengthened  with  palisades.  There  were  two 
entrances,  one  "over  a  long  tree  upon  a  place  of  water  ;  the  other 
at  an  angle  of  the  fort,  over  a  huge  tree,  which  rested  on  its 
branches,  just  as  it  had  fallen,  the  trunk  being  raised  five  or  six 
feet  from  the  ground.  The  latter  was  judged  to  be  the  only  ac- 
cessible entrance.  Opposite  the  fallen  tree  there  was  an  open 
space  within  the  Fort,  defended  in  front  by  a  log  house,  and  flank- 
ers on  each  side.  In  these  the  Indian  sharpshooters  were  posted, 
and  to  attempt  to  cross  over  on  the  fallen  tree  was  almost  certain 
death.  A  part  of  the  Massachusetts  troops  made  the  first  at- 
tempt. Capt.  Johnson  was  killed  on  the  tree,  Capt.  Davenport, 
who  followed,  met  with  the  same  fate  after  entering  the  Fort,  and 
a  large  number  of  soldiers  were  wounded  or  slain  by  the  galling 
shots  of  the  Indians.  A  soldier  named  John  Raymond,  of  Mid- 
dleboro',  was  the  first  to  enter  the  Fort. 

After  three  or  four  hours  of  hard  fighting,  the  English  suc- 
ceeded in  taking  the  Fort.  Hubbard  estimates  that  the  Indians 
"lost  seven  hundred  fighting  men,  besides  three  hundred  that  died 
of  their  wounds.  The  number  of  old  men,  women  and  children, 
that  perished  either  by  fire  or  were  starved  with  hunger  and  cold, 
none  of  them  could  tell."  There  were  about  eighty  of  the  Eng- 
lish slain,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  wounded  that  recovered  after. 
Sergeant  Nathaniel  Hall,  of  the  Yarmouth  troops,  and  John  Bar- 
ker of  the  Barnstable,  were  wounded.  I  believe  none  from  either 
town  were  killed.  Capt.  Gorham  never  recovered  from  the  cold 
and  fatigue  to  which  he  was  exposed  in  this  expedition.  He  was 
seized  with  a  fever  and  died  at  Swansea  where  he  was  buried  Feb. 
5,  1675-6.  Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley  was  commissary  general  of  the 
forces,  and  his  daughter  Reliance,  born  Dec.  15,  was  so  named 
because  the  mother  relied  that  God  would  protect  the  father  in  the 
perils  to  which  he  was  exposed. 

In  the  second  expedition  to  Narraganset,  Yarmouth  furnished 
fourteen  men  under  Capt.  Gorham.  The  proportion  furnished  by 
Barnstable  was  probably  about  the  same  number.  No  record  of 
their  names  has  been  preserved.  The  third  expedition  was  com- 
manded by  Capt.  Howes  of  Yarmouth,  and  the  fourth  by  Capt. 
Pierce  of  Scituate.  The  latter  were  in  the  bloody  battle  at  Reho- 
beth,  March  26,  1776.  Of  the  nine  who  went  from  Yarmouth, 
five  were  killed:  John  Matthews,  John  Gage,  William  Gage, 
Henry  Gage  and  Henry  Gold.  Five  from  Sandwich  were  slain  : 
Benjamin  Nye,  Daniel  Bessey,  Caleb  Blake,  Job  Gibbs  and 
Stephen  Wing.  Barnstable  six:  Lieut.  Samuel  Fuller,  John 
Lewis,  Eleazer  Clapp,  Samuel  Linnell,  Samuel  Childs  and  Samuel 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         413 

Bourman.     Eastham  four :  Joseph  Nessfleld,  Joha  Walker,  John 
M.  [torn  off]    [Newman's  Letter.] 

Capt.  Gorham  was  fifty-four  years  of  age  at  his  death.  On 
the  7th  of  March  following,  letters  of  administration  were  granted 
by  the  Court  to  his  widow,  Mrs.  Desire  Gorham,  and  to  his  sons 
Ja,mes  and  John  to  settle  his  estate.  At  the  same  Court  Mr. 
Hinckley,  Mr.  Chipman,  and  Mr.  Huckens,  were  appointed  guar- 
dians of  the  children  then  not  of  age. 

Mrs.  Gorham  died  Oct.  13,  1683.  Capt.  Gorham,  it  ap- 
pears, was  an  inhabitant  of  Yarmouth  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  his  widow  continued  to  reside  there,  though  she  died  at  her 
son's  house  in  Barnstable.  Her  estate  was  settled  on  the  5th  of 
March  following.  All  her  children  were  then  living  except  Eliza- 
beth. 

[The  Gorham  Genealogy  I  wrote  several  years  since  in  the 
form  recommended  in  the  Genealogical  Register.  The  columns  of 
a  newspaper  are  too  narrow  to  set  it  economically  in  that  form, 
and  I  have  therefore  been  under  the  necessity  of  transcribing  it. 
The  personal  notices  are  in  the  form  of  notes.  That  peculiarity  I 
retain.] 

Capt.  John  Gorham,  the  ancestor  of  the  family,  was  born  at 
Benefleld,  in  Northamptonshire,  England,  and  was  baptized  Janu- 
ary 28,  16-20-1.  In  the  Benefield  churchyard,  no  monuments  of 
the  Gorham  family  are  found,  which  indicates  that  the  family  had 
not  long  resided  at  Benefield.  Monuments  to  the  memory  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  Freeman  and  other  families  who  came  to  New 
England  are  there  found.  The  names  of  his  father  Ralph  and  his 
grandfather  James  appear  in  the  parish  register,  showing  that  the 
family  for  one  or  two  generations  had  been  residents  at  Benefield. 
Capt.  Gorham  married  in  1643,  Desire,  daughter  of  Mr.  John 
Howland  of  Plymouth.  He  died  as  above  stated,  in  the  service 
of  his  country,  and  was  buried  at  Swansey  Feb.  5,  1675-6.  His 
widow  survived  him  and  died  in  Barnstable  Oct.  13,  1683. 

Children  of  Capt.  John  Gorham  and  his  wife  Desire  (How- 
land)  Gorham. 

2.  1.     Desire,  born  in  Plymouth  April  2,  1644. 

3.  II.     Temperance,  born  in  Marshfleld  May  5,  1646. 

4.  III.     Elizabeth,  born  in  Marshfield  April  2,  1648. 

5.  IV.     James,  born  in  Marshfield  April  28,  1650. 

6.  V.     John,  born  in  Marshfield,  Feb.  20,  1651-2. 

7.  VI.     Joseph,  born  in  Yarmouth  Feb.  16,  1653-4. 

8.  Vll.     Jabez,  born  in  Barnstable  Aug.  3,  1656. 

9.  Vlll.     Mercey,  born  in  Barnstable  Jan.  20,  1658. 

10.  IX.     Lydia,  born  in  Barnstable  Nov.  16,  1661. 

11.  X.     Hannah,  born  in  Barnstable  Nov.  28,  1663. 

12.  XI.     Shubael,  born  in  Barnstable  Oct.  21,  1667. 


414  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLB    FAMILIES. 

2.  Desire  Gorham  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Gorham,  *  mar- 
ried Oct.  7,  16G1,  Capt.  John  Hawes  of  Yarmouth.  He  was- a 
son  of  Mr.  Edmond  Hawes,  called  a  cutler,  who  came  from  Lon- 
don in  1635.  She  resided  in  Yarmouth,  and  died  in  that  town 
June  30,  1700,  aged  56  years.  She  has  a  numerous  posterity. 
All  of  the  name  of  Hawes  in  this  County  are  her  descendants. 

3.  Temperance  Gorham  married  for  her  first  husband  Ed- 
ward Sturgis  of  Yarmouth,  by  whom  she  had  Joseph,  Samuel. 
James,  Desire  and  Edward.  He  died  Dec.  8,  1678,  and  she  mar- 
ried Jan.  16,  1679-10,  Mr.  Thomas  Baxter,  by  whom  she  had 
John,  Thomas  and  Shubael.  Edward  Sturgis  resided  near  the 
first  meeting-house  in  Yarmouth.  He  left  a  large  estate,  which 
was  divided  among  his  children  when  they  became  of  legal  age. 
Mr.  Thomas  Baxter  is  called  in  the  records  "a  bricklayer."  He 
was  a  soldier  in  Capt.  Gorham's  company  in  the  first  expedition, 
where  he  lost  the  use  of  one  of  his  hands  by  a  wound.  He  re- 
sided after  his  marriage  at  South  Sea,  now  West  Yarmouth,  and 
then  recently  settled.  Unable  to  work  at  his  trade,  he  devoted 
himself  to  study,  and  was  much  employed  in  public  business.  In 
partnership  with  his  brother-in-law  Shubael,  and  his  sons,  he  built 
the  fulling  mill  on  the  western  Swan  Pond  river,  and  the  grist 
mill  known  as  Baxter's  Mill,  though  some  poetical  genius  of  the 
day,  gave  the  whole  credit  to  his  sons. 

"The  Baxter  boys,  they  built  a  mill. 
Sometimes  it  went,  sometimes  stood  still ; 
And  when  it  went,  it  made  no  noise. 
Because  'twas  built  by  Baxter's  boys." 
She  died  March  12,   1714-15,  in  the  67th  year  of  her  age. 
Her  descendants  are  numerous,  and  among  them  are  many  men  of 
literary  and   political  distinction.     All  of  the  name  of  Baxter  in 
this  County  are  her  descendants. 

4.  Elizabeth  Gorham  married  and  had  a  family.  At  the 
settlement  of  her  mother's  estate  in  1684  she  was  a  widow. 

5.  James  Gorham,  eldest  son  of  Capt.  John  Gorham,  was  a 
farmer,  and  often  employed  in  public  business.  In  the  division  of 
his  father's  homestead,  he  had  the  north  westerly  and  central  por- 
tions, on  which  he  built  a  large  and  elegant  mansion  house.  It 
stood  on  the  spot  where  Mr.  Warren  Marston's  house  now  stands 
and  was  taken  down  about  twenty  years  since.  It  appears  by  the 
schedule  of  the  division  of  the  common  lands  made  in  1703,  that 
he  was  then  the  richest  man  in  the  town  of  Barnstable.  He  mar- 
ried Hannah,  daughter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Huckins,  of  Barnstable. 
He  died  in  1707,  aged  57,  and  his  widow  13th  Feb.  1727,  aged  74 
years 

*rreeman,  page  273,  says  she  married  Samuel  Hinckley.  He  is  mistaken.  The  Barn- 
stable and  the  Yarmouth  records  give  the  facts  as  I  have  stated  them.  Samuel  Hinckley, 
the  second  of  the  name,  married  14  Dec.  1664,  Mary  Goodspeed,  she  died  20  Dec.  1666,  and 
he  married  15  Jan.  1668-9,  Mary  Fitzrandolphe.  He  also  says  that  Mercy  (rorham  "mar- 
ried 2d,  Geo.  Dennison."  I  find  no  authority  for  this  statement.  If  Geo.  Dennison  was  her 
second  husband,  her  first  marriage  must  have  been  consumated  in  very  early  life. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         415 

6.  Lieut.  Col.  Joha  Gorham  was  brought  up  and  worked  at 
the  trade  of  his  father.  His  tannery  was  a  short  distance  south- 
westerly from  Hallett's  Grist  Mill,  then  owned  by  the  Gorhams. 
He  was  a  man  of  wealth,  ranking  next  to  liis  brother  James  in 
the  town  of  Barnstable.  He  inherited  the  northeasterly  portion 
of  his  father's  homestead,  with  his  father's  dwelling-house  there- 
on. In  1686  it  is  represented  as  being  the  most  easterly  in  the 
town  of  Barnstable.  It  stood  where  Miss  Abigail  T.  Gorham's 
house  now  stands,  and  was  enlarged  over  a  century  ago.  He  was 
a.  man  of  influence,  much  respected,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  almost  constantly  employed  in  the  public  service.  He  was 
with  his  father  in  King  Philip's  war.  June  5,  1690,  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  captain  in  the  unfortunate  Canada  expedition,  and  sub- 
sequently Lieut.  Col.  of  the  militia.  He  was  a  man  of  sound 
judgment  and  of  good  business  capacity.  He  was  much  em- 
ployed as  conveyancer,  in  writing  wills  and  in  drawing  up  public 
documents.  He  married  Feb.  16,  1674,  Mary,  daughter  of  Mr. 
John  Otis.  He  died  Dec.  9,  1716,  in  the  65th  year  of  his  age. 
His  tomb  is  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Unitarian  Meeting 
House  in  Barnstable.  It  is  covered  with  a  slab  of  gray  sand 
stone,  and  the  inscription  is  now  hardly  legible. 

7.  Ensign  Joseph  Gorham,  son  of  Capt.  John  Gorham,  was 
a  shoe  maker,  and  not  much  engaged  in  public  business.  In  the 
division  of  his  father's  estate  he  had  the  south-west  forty  acres  of 
the  old  Hallett  Farm.  It  was  bounded  easterly  by  the  land  of  his. 
brother  James,  southerly  by  the  commons,  westerly  by  the  land  of 
Caleb  Lumbard,  and  northerly  by  the  highway.  This  tract  of 
land,  with  five  acres  of  meadow  at  Stony  Cove,  he  exchanged 
March  18,  1680-1,  with  Joseph  Benjamin,  of  Yarmouth,  for  19 
1-2  acres  of  upland  and  six  acres  of  meadow  and  appurtenances 
at  Clark's  Neck,  *  and  removed  to  Yarmouth.  In  1683  he  was 
exempted  by  the  Colony  Court  from  serving  as  a  common  soldier 
in  the  militia,  because  he  had  formerly  served  in  the  ofHce  of  en- 
sign at  Barnstable.  He  died  July  9,  1726,  aged  72,  and  was 
buried  in  the  old  burying  ground  in  Yarmouth. 

8.  Jabez  Gorham,  son  of  Capt.  John  Gorham,  is  the  ances- 
tor of  the  Gorham  families  in  Rhode  Island.  From  an  entry  in 
Colony  records,  1  infer  that  be  went  to  Rhode  Island  when  a  lad, 
and  was  there  in  the  time  of  King  Philip's  war.  May  5,  1677, 
the  following  record  was  made  by  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court : 
"In  reference  unto  the  cure  of  Jabez  Gorham  who  was  wounded 
in  the  late  wars,  the  Court  doth  apprehend,  that  in  case  it  be  not 
paid  by  some  of  Rhode  Island  concerned  in  it,  that  they  judge  the 
charge  of  said  cure  should  be  defrayed  out  of  the  general  estate 
of  Captaine  John  Gorham,  deceased,  both  lands  and  moveables." 

After  his  recovery  he  returned  to  Yarmouth,  and  it  appears 

♦Clai'k's  Neck  is  in  the  northerly  part  of  Yarmouth,  west  of  the  Alms  House.    It  was 
successively  called  Gorham's,  Matthews'  aiKl  Hawes'  neck. 


416  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

probable  that  he  resided  with  his  mother,  in  the  house  which  Capt. 
Gorham  bought  when  he  first  came  to  Yarmouth.  His  name  ap- 
pears on  the  list  of  the  townsmen  of  Yarmouth  1679.  In  1680 
he  was  constable,  was  on  the  grand  inquest  of  the  Colony  in 
1683,  and  that  year  took  the  freeman's  oath.  His  oldest  child, 
Hannah,  was  born  in  Yarmouth  23d  Dec.  1677,  and  probably  his 
sons  Samuel  and  Jabez  were  also  born  in  that  town.  He  was  at 
Plymouth  at  the  settlement  of  his  mother's  estate  in  March, 
1683-4.  These  disconnected  facts  show  that  he  resided  in  Yar- 
mouth till  after  the  decease  of  his  mother,  and  that  soon  after 
that  event  he  removed  to  Bristol,  R.  I.  Mr.  John  Gorham,  of 
Providence,  a  descendant,  has  carefully  collected  a  genealogy  of 
this  branch  of  the  family,  which  he  intends  to  publish. 

9.  Lydia  Gorham  married  Col.  John  Thacher  of  Yarmouth, 
Jan.  1,  1683-4.  (Freeman  says  Jan.  2,  1633-4 — 28  years  before 
her  birth.)  An  amusing  story  is  told  respecting  his  courtship  and 
marriage.  The  first  wife  of  Col.  Thacher  was  Rebecca,  daughter 
of  Josiah  Winslow  of  Marshfield,  and  niece  of  Gov.  Edward. 
He  was  married  Nov.  6,  1(561,  and  some  little  time  after  his  re- 
turn to  Yarmouth  he  and  the  bride  called  at  Capt.  Gorham's. 
Lydia  was  then  an  infant  only  a  few  months  old.  Col.  Thacher 
taking  the  babe  in  his  hands,  presented  it  to  his  wife,  and  said  in 
a  sportive  manner,  "allow  me  to  introduce  you  to  my  second 
wife."  Mrs.  Thacher  took  the  babe  and  kissed  it.  July  15, 
1683,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Thacher,  wife  of  Col.  Thacher,  died,  and 
"many  lamentable  verses"  he  wrote  on  the  occasion.  Before  the 
ink  was  dry  with  which  he  penned  the  elegies,  he  thought  of  Miss 
Lydia  who  was  then  twenty-two  and  unmarried.  Common  de- 
cency required  that  he  should  wait  three  months  before  proposing 
to  marry  her  ;  but  passing  the  house  of  the  widow  Gorham  one 
evening,  he  saw  his  son  Peter's  horse  hitched  at  the  door.  Mis- 
trusting that  Miss  Lydia  was  the  object  of  his  visit.  Col.  Thacher 
on  the  morrow  privately  asked  his  son  if  he  thought  of  marrying 
Miss  Lydia.  The  young  man  blushed,  and  frankly  admitted  that 
to  be  the  object  of  his  visit.  "Now,"  said  the  Colonel,  "if  you 
will  agree  to  discontinue  your  visits,  I  will  give  you  my  black 
oxen."  Peter  accepted  the  oxen,  and  the  Colonel  married  Miss 
Lydia  5  months  and  16  days  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife, 
whom  he  had  so  deeply  lamented,  and  in  most  dolorous  rhymes. 
Mrs.  Lydia  Thacher  survived  her  husband.  She  died  Aug.  2, 
1744,  aged  82  years. 

11.  Hannah  Gorham  was  living  March  5,  1683-4  ;  but  Iflnd 
no  subsequent  information  respecting  her. 

12.  Shubael  Gorham,  youngest  son  of  Capt.  John  Gorham, 
was  intended  for  one  of  the  learned  professions,  but  he  fell  short, 
and  instead  of  spending  his  minority  at  College,  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship with  a  carpenter.  After  the  death  of  his  mother  his 
brother  .James  was  appointed  his  .guardian.     In  1696  he  married 


GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OP   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         417 

Puella  Hussey,  of  Nantucket,  and  removed  to  South  Sea.  His 
house  built  that  year,  f  near  the  landing  at  Hyannis  Port,  is  a 
large  two  story  building,  kept  by  him  as  a  tavern,  and  subsequent- 
ly by  Eleazer  Scudder  and  Benjamin  Haddaway.  June  8,  1706, 
he  entered  into  an  agreement  with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Thomas 
Baxter,  and  his  nephew,  John  Baxter,  "whaler,"  to  build  a  full- 
ing-mill on  the  Western  Swan  Pond  River,  in  Yarmouth,  which 
they  afterwards  owned  in  partnership.  The  stream  on  which  the 
mill  is  built  is  now  called  Parker's  river,  and  the  old  dam  is  about 
a  mile  north  of  the  bridge  over  that  stream,  on  the  County  road 
through  West  Yarmouth.  Nov.  7,  1710,  John  Baxter,  "whaler," 
sold  for  £31,  lawful  money,  to  his  "unkell  Shubael  Gorham  of  ye 
town  of  Barnstable,  carpenter,"  his  quarter  part  of  said  niill.  J 
He  had  previously.  May  22,  1708,  sold  to  his  uncle  Shubaelfor 
£21,  in  silver  money,  another  quarter  of  the  mill. 

April  17,  1749,  Shubael  Gorham  deeded  to  the  town  of  Barn- 
stable a  road  through  his  land  from  the  old  landing  place,  "begin- 
ning at  the  shore  against  a  noted  §  great  rock,"  thence  northerly  to 
the  land  of  Mr.  John  Bearse,  and  the  road  leading  to  the  School 
Lot.  It  passed  on  the  west  side  of  a  swamp,  or  pond,  and  on  the 
east  side  of  land  leased  to  his  son-in-law,  James  Lovell,  Jr. 

Shubael  Gorham  did  not  possess  the  commanding  talents,  and 
energy  of  character,  which  distinguished  his  elder  brothers ;  yet 
he  was  a  man  of  good  business  capacity,  honest,  industrious,  and 
frugal.     He  died  in  1750,  in  the  83d  year  of  his  age. 

5.     IV.     James  Gorham,  son  of  Capt.   John  Gorham,   born 
in  Marshfield  April  28,  1650,  married  Feb.  24,  1673-4,   Hannah, 
daughter  of  Mr.   Thomas  Huokins,   of  Barnstable.    'He  died  in 
1707,  aged  57,  and  his  widow  Feb.  13,  1727-8,  aged  74  years. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 
Desire,  9th  Feb.  1674-6. 
James,  6th  March,  1676-7. 
Experience,  23d  July,  1678. 
John,  2d  Aug.  1680. 
Mehetabel,  28th  April,  1683. 
Thomas,  16th  Dec.  1684. 
Mercy,  22d  Nov.  1686,  died  June  12,  1680. 
.     Joseph,  25th  March,  1689. 
Jabez,:6th  March,  1690-1. 

■  fin  1696  leave  was  granted' to  "Mr.  Shubael  Gorham  to  cut  and  caiTy  out  of  town's 
commons  piiie  timber  tobuildhis  house." — [Yarmouth  Records. 

t  The  contract  for  building  the  fulling-mill  is- in  the  handwriting  of  Col.  John  Thacher, 
and  the  deed  -from  which  the  extract  is  made,  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Lieut.  Col.  John 
Gorham.  These  papers  have  an  historical  interest,  showing  when,  where,  and  by  whom  the 
first  fulling  mill  was  built  in  Yarmouth.  They  also  show  the  relationship  between  the  Gor- 
hams  and  the  Bajctera,,  which  otherwise  it  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  trace. 

§  This  "Great  EoCkV  was  removed,  and  used  in  the  construction  of  the  Breakwater,  and 
I  would  suggest  to  the  town  authorities  that  a  monument  be  put  up  at  the  termination  of  the 
road,  on  the  shore.  , 


13. 

I.     ] 

14. 

II. 

15. 

III. 

16. 

IV. 

17. 

V. 

18. 

VI. 

19. 

VII. 

20. 

VIII 

21. 

IX. 

418         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

22.  X.     Sylvanus,  13th  Oct.  1693. 

23.  XI.     Ebenezer,  14tli  Feb.  1695-6. 

Mr.  James  Gorham  in  his  will  dated  Nov.  4,  1707,  proved 
Jan.  7,  1707-8  names  his  seven  sons  who  were  all  then  living,  and 
his  three  daughters  Desire  Sturges,  Experience  Lothrop,  and  Me- 
hetabel  Gorham. 

13.  Desire  Gorham  married  one  of  the  Sturgis  family.  I 
have  not  investigated  her  history. 

14.  James  Gorham  resided  in  Barnstable.  He  married 
Mary  Joyce  of  Yarmouth,  (See  Chipman)  and  died  Sept.  10, 
1718,  aged  41.  A  widow  Mary  Gorham  died  in  Barnstable,  June 
28,  1778,  aged  92,  according  to  the  church  records.  If  Mary, 
widow  of  James,  she  was  98, — if  Mary,  widow  of  Col.  Shubael, 
90. 

15.  Experience  Gorham  married  23d  April,  1697,  Thomas 
Lothrop,  son  of  Capt.  Joseph,  and  grandson  of  Rev.  John.  She 
was  the  mother  of  fourteen  children,  and  died  in  Barnstable  Dec. 
23,  1733. 

16.  John  Gorham  married  Ann  Brown,  24th  Feb.  1705-6. 
He  resided  at  West  Yarmouth,  where  he  died  in  1729,  aged  49 
years. 

17.  Mehetabel  Gorham,  "daughter  of  James  Gorham,  de- 
ceased," was  admitted  to  the  Barnstable  Church  Jan.  15,  1714-5. 
She  married  May  12,  1715,  John  Oldham,  and  was  dismissed  to 
the  Church  at  Scituate. 

18.  Thomas  Gorham  was  a  blacksmith  and  resided  in  Barn- 
stable. In  early  times  there  was  a  blacksmith's  shop  on  the  west 
side  of  Marston's  Lane,  nearly  opposite  his  father's  house. 
There  was  also  an  ancient  house  on  the  old  road  near  the  present 
railroad  crossing.  As  both  were  on  the  land  of  his  father,  the 
presumption  is  that  these  were  the  house  and  shop  of  Thomas 
Gorham.     He  died  insolvent  in  1771,  at  the  advanced  age  of  87. 

20.  Joseph  Gorham,  the  records  inform  us,  was  "non  com- 
pos mentis"  during  a  considerable  portion  of  his  life.  From  the 
facts  stated  I  should  infer  that  he  was  temporarily  insane,  not  a 
person  of  weak  mind.  His  brother  Ebenezer  was  his  guardian 
for  27  years  previous  to  1760.  In  1747  he  made  a  will  giving  all 
his  property,  including  his  share  in  his  brother  Sylvanus'  estate, 
to  his  brother  Ebenezer.  He  died  in  1762,  and  this  will  was  pre- 
sented for  probate  Jan.  4,  1763,  and  was  objected  to  by  Seth 
Lothrop  and  the  other  heirs-at-law.  The  will  was  finally  estab- 
lished in  the  Supreme  Court  to  which  it  was  removed  by  appeal, 
and  Ebenezer  inherited  his  estate. 

21  Jabez  Gorham,  it  appears,  lived  unmarried  till  58,  and 
Nov.  15,  1749,  married  Mary  Burbank  of  Plymouth.  I  do  not 
find  that  he  had  any  children. 

22.  Sylvanus  Gorham  died  before  1747,  leaving  no  issue. 
His  estate  was  divided  among  his  brothers  and  sisters. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         419 

23.  Ebenezer  Gorham,  the  youngest  son  of  James,  resided 
when  a  young  man  at  Seituate.  Nov.  1,  1725,  he  was  dismissed 
from  the  south  church  in  that  town,  to  the  east  church  in  Barnsta- 
ble. Sept.  22,  1727,  he  married  Temperance  Hawes,  daughter  of 
Dea.  Joseph  of  Yarmouth.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  his  house  stood 
where  Sylvanus  Gorham's  now  stands.  It  was  a  large,  two  story 
building,  very  ancient  and  may  have  been  Joseph  Hallett's,  who 
had  a  house  very  early  on  the  same  land.  She  died  Feb.  21, 
1767,  in  the  62d  year  of  her  age.  He  died  Nov.  16,  1776,  in  the 
83d  year  of  his  age.  Both  have  monuments  in  the  old  graveyard 
near  the  Unitarian  Meeting  House. 

James  Gorham  was  the  richest  man  in  Barnstable.  His  chil- 
dren inherited  that  wealth ;  but  they  did  not  inherit  the  art  of 
keeping  it.  Excepting  Ebenezer,  who  appears  to  have  been 
brought  up  under  different  influences,  they  all  died  poor,  some  of 
them  insolvent.  The  poor  boy  who  saves  his  little  earnings  forms 
a  habit  of  frugality,  which  he  carries  with  him  through  life ;  the 
child  of  the  wealthy  does  not  feel  the  necessity  of  saving,  and  he 
spends  the  little  s.ums  which  his  friends  give  him  in  toys,  or  in 
vain  amusements,  and  thus  forms  a  habit  which  in  its  ultimate, 
leads  to  poverty.  In  a  free  country,  where  the  institution  of  sla- 
very is  not  tolerated,  and  where  the  estates  of  deceased  intestate 
persons  are  divided  equally  to  all  the  children,  these  causes  are  in 
constant  operation,  changing  the  relative  position  of  families 
every  two  or  three  generations.  I  have  had  in  these  articles,  fre- 
quent occasion  to  say  that  "the  wealth  of  the  parent  was  a  curse 
to  his  posterity."  Physiological  reasons  afford  a  sufficient  expla- 
nation. The  boy  who  is  brought  up  in  ease  and  affluence,  whose 
every  want  is  provided  for,  when  he  becomes  a  man  is  often  lack- 
ing in  energy  of  character, — he  has  not  been  taught  to  be  self-re- 
liant, the  great  secret  of  success  in  life,  in  consequence,  the  son 
of  his  poor  neighbor,  who  has  been  taught  to  be  frugal  and  indus- 
trious, and  above  all,  to  believe  that  he  must  rely  on  himself,  out- 
strips the  other  in  ttie  race  of  life,  and  in  old  age,  they  find  that 
their  relative  positions  in  society  have  been  reversed.  This  is 
generally,  not  universally  true ;  for  some  wealthy  parents  teach 
their  children  to  be  frugal,  industrious  and  self-reliant,  and  they 
thereby  escape  the  perils  to  which  they  would  otherwise  be  ex- 
posed. Such  boys  make  distinguished  men — they  start  from  a 
higher  stand-point — rhave  the  advantage  of  a  good  education — and 
of  friends  who  are  able  to  assist  them. 

Lieut.  Col.  John  Gorham,  the  brother  of  James,  was  his 
neighbor.  As  has  been  stated,  he  ranked  next  to  his  brother  in 
point  of  wealth,  both  had  large  families,  and  both  had  the  same 
facilities  to  educate  their  children  ;  but  no  two  families  in  Barn- 
stable were  more  unlike.  John  was  a  mechanic  and  a  military 
man,  he  had  traveled  more  and  had  seen  more  of  the  world  than 
James.     The  old  school  philosophers  tell  us  the  difference  is  to  be 


420    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

attributed  to  innate  ideas  in  his  mind,  and  modern  phrenologists 
say  the  same  in  a  different  form,  that  is,  that  the  character  depends 
entirely  on  the  size  and  form  of  the  brain.  Locke,  in  his  essay  on 
the  human  understanding,  demonstrates  that  there  are  no  innate 
ideas  in  the  mind,  and  his  followers  usually  maintain  that, 
"'Tis  education  forms  the  common  mind, 
Just  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's  inclined." 

This  couplet  inculcates  a  sound  philosophy,  because  in  compar- 
ing the  human  mind  to  the  vegetable  growth,  it  admits  innate 
differences,  and  that  education  does  not  eradiate  or  destroy  them, 
only  modifies  them.  Franklin,  in  one  of  his  poetical  essays,  com- 
pares the  infant  mind  to  white  paper,  on  which  you  may  write  any 
character  you  may  desire,  but  in  this  case  the  paper  may  be  of 
different  qualities,  and  though  the  same  things  be  written,  the  re- 
sults will  be  widely  different.  It  is  also  a  common  saying,  that 
"he  that  is  born  to  be  drowned,  will  never  be  hung."  The  doc- 
trine here  inculcated,  savors  too  strongly  of  the  fatalism  taught 
by  Mahomet,  and  of  the  predestination  creed  of  some  of  the  most 
ultra  advocates  of  election  and  reprobation,  -to  be  generally  as- 
sented to.  It  is  also  said  "that  the  poet  is  born,  not  made." 
This  remark,  if  applied  to  Shakespeare  and  Burns,  would  require 
some  modification  ;  and  would  perhaps  have  to  be  reversed  if  ap- 
plied to  Pope  or  Bryant. 

However  men  may  differ  on  these  points,  the  science  of 
genealogy  teaches  these  truths,  that  home  influences  affect  the 
character  of  the  child  more  than  all  that  is  taught  by  the  church 
or  in  the  schools ;  »nd  that  as  a  person  advances  in  age,  he  be- 
comes less  and  less  qualified  to  have  the  management  of  children. 
It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the  grandmother  always  spoils  her  pet 
child,  and  that  children  brought  up  by  maiden  aunts,  rarely  pros- 
per in  life. 

Mr.  Deane,  in  his  history  of  Scituate,  justly  remarks,  that 
"nature  is  wonderfully  impartial  in  the  distribution  of  intel- 
lectual talents  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  the  fixed  order  of  Providence, 
that  families,  in  this  respect,  should  flourish  and  decline;  nay, 
often,  that, an  individual,  should  spring  forth  into  eminence,  whose 
origin  was  as  obscure  as  that  of  the  spark  which,  by  the  collision 
of  steel  and  adamant,  is  struck  out  of  darkness." 

6.  Lieut.  Col.  John  Gorham  married  Feb.  24,  1674-5, 
Mercy,  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Otis. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

24.  I.     John,  18th  Jan.  1675-6,  died  April  1,  1679. 

25.  II.  Temperance,  2d  Aug.  1678. 

26.  III.     Mary,  18th  Sept.  1680. 

27.  IV.     Stephen,  23d  June,  1683. 

28.  V.     Shubael,  2d  Sept.  1686. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         421 

29.  VI.     John,   28th  Sept.  1688.     Some  of  these  dates  are  not 
correct. 

30.  VII.     Thankful,  15th  Feb.  1690-1. 
81.     VIII.     Job,  30th  Aug.  1692. 

32.     IX.     Mercy,  Dec.  1695. 

Lieut.  Col.  Gorham  died  Dee.  9,  1716,  if  I  rightly  decypher 
the  inscription  on  his  tomb.  His  will  is  dated  Nov.  18, 1716,  and 
was  proved  on  the  7th  of  January  following.  To  John  he  gave 
the  farm  he  bought  of  James  Hamblin ;  to  Shubael,  lands  at 
Stony  Cove,  and  land  where  his  house  then  stood,  to  Stephen 
lands  adjoining  Shubael's,  and  to  Job  the  home  farm.  His  wife 
and  sons  Stephen  and  Shubael  executors.  His  personal  estate 
was  apprized  at  £322,  and  his  real  estate  at  £2000  lawful  money. 

His  widow  died  April  1,  1733,  and  in  her  will,  dated  Nov.  7, 
1727,  proved  April  20,  1733,  she  names  her  sons  Stephen,  John 
Job  and  Shubael,  and  her  daughters  Temperance  Clap,  Mary 
Hinckley,  Thankful  Fuller,  and  Mercy  Bourne,  and  John,  son  of 
her  son  John. 

During  the  French  and  Indian  wars,  from  1689  to  1704,  five 
expeditions  were  fitted  out  to  operate  against  the  enemy  in  the 
eastern  country,  under  the  command  of  the  renowned  Col.  Benja- 
min Church.  Connected  with  these  expeditions,  there  was  a 
"whale-boat  fleet,"  manned  by  whalemen,  sailors  and  friendly  In- 
dians. In  most,  if  not  all  these  expeditions,  the  "whale-boat 
fleet"  was  under  the  direction  and  command  of  Blr.  John  Gor- 
ham, who,  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  expeditions,  was  commissioned 
a  Lieut.  Col.,  was  second  in  command,  and  in  case  of  accident 
was  named  as  Col.  Church's  successor.  Without  this  fleet,  all  the 
expeditions  would  have  proved  abortive.  The  French  and  In- 
dians, excepting  at  a  few  prominent  points,  had  established  their 
headquarters  at  places  where  the  transports  could  not  approach 
suflSciently  near  to  be  of  service,  and  to  have  marched  the  troops 
to  the  attack  through  the  wilderness,  would  have  exposed  them  to 
almost  certain  destruction. 

Col.  Church  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Dudley,  dated  Feb.  5, 
1703-4,  advises  the  Governor  to  provide  for  the  expedition,  "Four 
and  forty  or  fifty  good  whaleboats,  well  fitted  with  five  good  oars 
and  twelve  or  fifteen  good  paddles  to  every  boat.  And  upon  the 
wale  of  each  boat,  five  pieces  of  strong  leather  be  fastened  on 
each  side  to  slip  five  small  ash  bars  through  :  that  so,  whenever 
they  land  the  men  may  step  overboard,  and  slip  in  said  bars 
across,  and  take  up  said  boat  that  she  may  not  be  hurt  against  the 
rocks." 

In  such  a  fleet  four  or  five  hundred  men  could  be  transported 
up  the  shallow  bays  and  i-ivers,  with  their  guns  and  ammunition, 
and  provision,  for  several  days  consumption.  At  night,  or  in 
stormy  weather,  the  boats  were  taken  on  shore,  turned  ovei',  and 
served  as  tents  for  the  soldiers.     In  each  boat  two   brass  kettles. 


422         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

and  other  conveniences  for  cooking  and  rendering  the  men  com- 
fortable, were  carried. 

Lieut,  Col.  Gorham  ranked  as  a  Captain  in  the  Canada  Ex- 
pedition under  Major  Walley,  in  1690.  In  that  expedition  he  had 
the  command  of  the  "whaleboat  fleet"  without  which  it  would 
have  proved  still  more  disastrous.  In  the  second  and  third  expe- 
ditions of  Col.  Church  he  is  not  named  in  the  authorities  I  have 
consulted ;  yet  from  an  expression  in  one  of  his  letters  I  infer 
that  he  was.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth  he  was  second  in  command, 
and  performed  mosteflicient  and  valuable  services  for  his  country. 
Col.  Gorham's  biography  would  be  a  work  of  brilliant  interest ; 
but  I  have  not  space  to  devote  to  the  details. 

The  details  of  these  expeditions  are  exceedingly  interesting. 
Many  men  from  the  Cape  were  engaged  in  them.  In  the  winter 
of  1703-4  Col.  Church  visited  every  town  in  the  County,  and  en- 
listed a  large  number  for  his  fifth  expedition.  Many  of  the  offi- 
cers were  Cape  men.  In  1689  Col.  William  Eassett  of  Sandwich, 
and  Nathaniel  Hall,  son  of  John,  of  Barnstable,  served  as  Cap- 
tains in  the  eastern  country.  In  1690  Major  John  Walley,  son  of 
Mr.  Walley  of  Barnstable,  was  commander  of  the  Canada  expe- 
dition. Sept.  9,  1697,  the  gallant  Capt.  Thomas  Dimmock  of 
Barnstable,  was  slain  at  the  head  of  his  company,  in  a  severe  en- 
gagement with  the  French  and  Indians  ;  and  in  the  last  expedi- 
tion Caleb  Williamson,  of  Barnstable,  was  Captain  of  the  Plym- 
outh forces.  Other  Barnstable  men  bore  less  conspicuous  ;  but  not 
less  honorable  parts  in  these  contests.  For  years  after  these  old 
sailors  and  soldiers,  seated  in  then-  round-about-chairs,  within 
their  capacious  chimney-corners,  would  relate  to  the  young  the 
story  of  their  adventures  in  the  "Old  French  Wars,"  and  some  of 
their  descendants  yet  preserve  them  in  remembrance. 

25.  Temperance  Gorham  married  Dec.  24,  1696,  Dea. 
Stephen  Clap,  of  Scituate.  a  nephew  of  Eleazer  of  Barnstable. 

Thomas,  son  of  Dea.  Stephen  and  Temperance,  born  in  1703, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  1722,  was  one  of  the  distinguished 
men  of  his  time.  He  was  ordained  at  Windham,  Conn.,  1726. 
President  of  Yale  College  from  1740  to  1764,  when  he  resigned 
and  died  on  the  following  year  while  on  a  visit  to  Scituate.  Presi- 
dent Stiles,  his  successor,  says,  "he  studied  the  higher  branches 
of  Mathematics,  was  one  of  the  first  philosophers  America  has 
produced,  and  equalled  by  no  man,  excepting  the  most  learned 
Professor  Winthrop."  President  Clap  was  also  the  most  power- 
ful opponent  that  Whitefield  found  in  New  England.  (See  Dean's 
Scituate,  page  235.) 

26.  Mary  Gorham  married  Sept.  21,  1699,  Joseph  Hinck- 
ley, of  West  Barnstable,  and  had  ten  children.  Her  youngest 
son  Isaac  was  a  distinguished  man  and  an  ardent  patriot  during 
the  Revolution.  He  died  Dec.  1802,  aged  83.  Joseph  Hinckley 
inherited  the  mansion-honse  of  his  ancestor    .Samuel,  which  is  vet 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         423 

standing,   though  it  is  not  probable  that  much  of    the  original 
structure  now  remains. 

27.  Stephen  Gorham,  born  June  23,  1683,  was  a  man  of 
some  note ;  but  I  am  unable  to  trace  his  history.  He  married 
Dec.  25,  1703,  Elizabeth  Gardner,  of  Nantucket.  Her  mother 
was  Mary  Starbuck,  the  first  white  child  born  on  Nantucket.  He 
had  twelve  children,  all  born  in  Barnstable,  but  the  record  of  their 
children  born  previous  to  1715  I  do  not  find.  He  removed  to 
Nantucket,  and  perhaps  resided  some  time  in  Charlestown.  His 
son  Nathaniel's  family,  of  Charlestown,  was  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished in  the  State. 

28.  Col.  Shubael  Gorham  was  a  man  of  enterprise — a  man 
who  persevered  in  whatever  he  undertook,  till  he  failed  or  suc- 
ceeded. His  name  frequently  occurs  on  the  parish,  town  and  state 
records,  showing  that  he  was  a  man  that  was  esteemed  by  those 
who  knew  him.  The  great  act  of  his  life,  that  for  which  he  will 
ever  be  remembered,  is  the  active  and  efficient  part  which  he  took  • 
in  obtaining  the  grants  made  by  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts, 
to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Narraganset  or  King  Phillip's 
War,  or  to  their  lawful  representatives. 

The  earliest  grant  made  to  the  Narraganset  soldiers  is  dated 
May  27,  1685,  of  a  township  eight  miles  square  in  the  Nipmay 
country.  This  grant  was  made  to  persons  resident  in  Lynn,  Read- 
ing, Beverly  and  Hingham.  This,  Mr.  Pierce,  *  the  historian  of 
Gorham,  thinks  was  never  located. 

Dec.  14,  1727,  two  tracts  of  land  six  miles  square  were 
granted,  and  April  26,  1733,  this  grant  was  enlarged,  giving  a 
township  equal  to  six  miles  square  to  each  120  persons  whose 
claims  should  be  established  within  four  months.  It  was  found 
that  the  whole  number  was  840.  Seven  townships  were  granted 
in  the  province  of  Maine  called  Narraganset  No.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6 
and  7.  The  latter  was  assigned  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  who 
served  with  Capt.  John  Gorham,  and  a  few  others,  and  was  after- 
wards incorporated  as  the  town  of  "Gorham,"  but  was  generally 
known  as  "Gorhamtown." 

By  an  order  "In  Council,"  dated  Feb.  2,  1736,  Shubael  Gor- 
ham, Esq.,  was  empowered  to  assemble  the  grantees  of  the  town- 
ship. In  this  order  a  curious  mistake  occturs.  It  is  stated  that 
the  grant  was  made  "to  the  soldiers  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
John  Gorham,  in  the  Canada  expedition  in  1690."  Capt.  .lohn 
Gorham  of  the  Canada  expedition  was  the  father  of  Col.  Shu- 
bael ;  the  grant  was  made  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  served 
under  his  grandfather  in  the  Narraganset  war.  By  an  order  dated 
July  5,  1736,  this  mistake  was  corrected.  Col.  Gorham  was  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  for  Narraganset  No.  7,  and  the  efflci- 

*I  am  mucli  indebted  to  Josiah  Pierce,  Esq.,  for  mucli  valuable  information  respecting 
the  emigrants  from  Bai-nstable  to  G-orham.  I  regret  that  I  did  not  send  him  copies  of 
papers  in  mv  possession,  that  would  hare  been  usem!  to  him. 


424         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ent  man  in  promoting  in  its  settlement,  and  Capt.  John  Pliinney, 
of  Barnstable,  was  the  father  of  the  colonists. 

Col.  Gorham  spent  much  time  and  money  in  promoting  the 
settlement  of  Gorhamtown.  He  bouglit  the  shares  of  many  who 
did  not  desire  to  emigrate,  and  his  speculations  in  wild  lands 
proved  unfortunate.  Buying  such  lands,  is  like  buying  lottery 
tickets,  a  few  get  prizes.  Col.  Gorham  was  not  one  of  the  iucky 
ones.  He  died  insolvent  in  1746,  his  own  children  being  his  prin- 
cipal creditors'.  * 

29.  John  Gorham,  Esq.,  3d  of  the  name,  was  an  active,  in- 
telligent man.  His  father  bought  for  him  the  estate  of  James 
Hamblin,  on  the  east  of  Coggin's  Pond,  and  adjoining  to  the  es- 
tate of  Gov.  Hinckley,  on  which  he  built  a  large  and  elegant 
mansion  house,  which  was  taken  down  about  forty  years  since. 
He  was  a  merchant  and  was  engaged  in  the  cod  and  whale  fisher- 
ies,  in  the  coasting  trade,   and  in  the  West  Indian  trade.     He 

'built  the  wharf  at  Calves  Pasture  point,  known  as  Gorham's 
wharf,  and  now  owned  by  N.  &  D.  Scudder.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  eligible  places  for  business  in  Barnstable,  and  for  many 
years  was  the  center  of  trade.  During  nearly  half  a  century  he 
was -the  most  active  and  successful  business  man  in  Barnstable, 
and  to  give  details  would  be  to  write  the  commercial  histoj-y  of  the 
town  during  that  period. 

He  married  Oct.  21,  1712,  Prudence,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Crocker,  of  West  Barnstable,  and  had  fourteen  children.  He 
died  in  1770,  aged  82,  and  his  widow  in  1778,  aged  86. 

30.  Thankful  Gorham  married  June  16,  1710,  Lieut.  John 
Fuller,  a  son  of  Dr.  John,  and  a  grandson  of  Capt.  Matthew. 
STie  resided  on  Scorton  Neck. 

31.  Job  Gorham  inherited  the  dwelling-house  built  by  his 
grandfather,  and  the  lands  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  and  the 
same  are  yet  owned  by  his  descendants.  Job  Gorham  about  the 
year  1745,  took  down  the  old  mansion  and  built  the  one  now 
standing  on  the  same  spbt.  A  part  of  the  materials  of  the  old 
house  were  used  in  the  construction  of  the  present.  He  married 
Dec.  4,  1719,  Desire  Dimmock,  and  second.  Widow  Bethia  Free- 
man, of  Fairfield,  Conn.     He  died  in  1762. 

32.  Mercy  Gorham,  the  youngest  daughter,  was  a  woman  of 
rare  accomplishments.  She  married  Hon.  Sylvauus  Bourne,  and 
a  notice  of  her  has  already  been  published.      (See  Bourne.) 

7-6.     Joseph    Gorham,  only  son  of  Capt.  John,   recorded  as 

born  in  Yarmouth,  married  Sarah in  1678.     His  children 

are  all  recorded  as  born   in  Yarmouth  ;  but  as  he  resided  in  Barn- 
stable till   1681,   it  is  probable  that  his  oldest  child  was  born   in 

*Shubael  Grorham  was  Col.  of  the  7th  Mass.  B^iment  in  the  Louisburg  Expedition ; 
commission  dated  Feb.  2, 1744.  He  was  also  Captfin  of  the  First  company.  John  Gorham 
Lieut.  Col.  and  Captain  of  the  Second  company;  com.  dated  Feb.  20,  1744.  S. 


that  town. 

33. 

I.     i 

34. 

II. 

35. 

III. 

36. 

IV. 

37. 

V. 

38. 

VI. 

39. 

VII. 

40. 

VIII 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         425 


Children. 
Sarah,  16th  Jan.  1678-9. 
Joseph,  15th  April,  1681. 
Samuel,  Oct.  1682. 
John,  28th  Feb.  1 683-4. 
Desire,  April  1685. 
Isaac,  Oct.  1687. 

Hezeldah,  Aug.  1689. 
.  Josiah,  7th  Sept.  1692. 
Joseph  Gorhain,  in  his  will  dated  July  27,  1723,  proved  20th 
July,  1726,  names  his  wife  Sarah,  sons  Josephand  Josiah,  daugh- 
ter Desire  Baxter,  grand-daughter  Sarah  Sears,  daughter  of  my 
daughter  Sarah  Howes,  deceased ;  also  grand-children  Thomas, 
Eben,  and  Elizabeth  Howes. 

The  Widow  Sarah  Gorham,  in  her  will  dated  1st  May,  1728, 
proved  3d  Feb.  1738-9,  names  sons  Joseph  and  Josiah,  daughter 
Desire  Baxter,  and  grand-children  Rebecca,  (Josiah's  daughter  by 
his  first  wife)  Thomas  and  Eben.  Howes,  Sarah  Sears  and  Eliza- 
beth Crosby. 

His  sons  Samuel,  John,  Isaac  and  Hezekiah,  died  young, 
leaving  no  issue.  Isaac  and  Hezekiah  in  1714,  and  their  father 
administered  on  their  estates. 

33.  Sarah  Gorham  married  April  24,  1699,  Flben.  Howes, 
son  of  Jeremiah,  and  grandson  of  Thomas,  by  whom  she  had 
Thomas  and  Sarah,  twins,  Jan.  22,  1699-10,  Elizabeth  Sept.  28, 
1701,  a  son  July  6,  1704,  died  in  infancy,  and  Ebenezer  Sept.  8, 
1705,  and  the  mother  died  the  day  following. 

34.  Respecting  Joseph  Gorham,   the  younger,   I  have  little 

information.       He  married    Sarah ,   and    had   c'hildren 

Mary  and  George  in  Yarmouth. 

40.     Josiah  Gorham  had  three  wives  :  1st,  Sarah , 

whom  he  probably  married  in  Rhode  Island ;  2,  Priscilla  Sears, 

March  11,   1721-2,  and  3,   Mary .     He  died  April  3, 

1775,  aged  82  years. 

8-7.     Jabez   Gorham  married  twice  :  1st,   Hannah , 

the  mother  of  his  ten  children.  Hannah  and  Samuel,  and  per- 
haps Jabez,  were  born  in  Yarmouth,  the  others  in  Bristol,  R.  I. 
He  was  88  years  of  age  when  he  married  bis  seeftnd  wife  Mary 
Maxwell,  if  the  date  of  the  marriage  which  I  have  is  reliable. 
Its  accuracy  may  well  be  doubted.  Respecting  the  descendants 
of  Jabez,  and  they  are  a  host,  I  do  not  propose  to  inquire.  His 
children  were : 

41.  I.     Hannah,   23d   Dec.    1677,   drowned  in  a  tub   of  water 
1682. 

42.  II.     Samuel,  1682,  died  1735. 

43.  III.     Jabez,  1684,  died  1734. 


426         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OE    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

4i.  IV.     Shubael,  1686,  died  1734,  no  issue. 

45.  V.     Isaac,  1689. 

46.  VI.     John,  1690,  died  1717,  no  issue. 

47.  VII.     Josepli,  1692,  died  without  issue. 

48.  VIII.     Hannah,  1694. 

49.  IX.     Benjamin,  1695. 

50.  X.     Thomas,  1701. 

12-11.  Shubael  Gorham,  youngest  son  of  Capt.  John  Gor- 
ham,  married  in  1696,  Puella,  daughter  of  Stephen  Hussey,  of 
Nantucket. 

Children  horn,  in  Barnstable. 

51.  I.     George,  29th  Jan.  1696-7. 

52.  II.     Abigail,  31st  March,  1699. 

53.  III.     Lydia,  14th  May,  1701. 

54.  IV.     Hannah,  28th  July,  1703. 

55.  V.     Theodale,  18th  July,  1705. 

56.  VI.     Daniel,  24th  Sept.  1708. 

57.  Vn.     Desire,  26th  Sept.  1710. 

58.  VIII.     Euth,  7th  May,  1713. 

59.  IX.     Deborah. 

Shubael  Gorham  in  his  will  dated  23d  Sept.  1748,  proved 
Aug.  7,  1750,  says  he  is  "advanced  in  years,"  and  gives  all  his 
real  estate  to  his  son  George  and  allows  him  to  retain  whatever  he 
owes  him  or  his  wife.  He  gives  his  personal  estate  to  his  seven 
daughters,  to  be  equally  divided  to  them.  His  personal  estate 
was  apprized  at  £99,10  8  ;  his  real  at  £266,13  4. 

61.  Respecting  George  Gorham  I  find  nothing  on  the  rec- 
ords. 

52.  Abigail  Gorham  married  Oct.  25,  1716,  James  Lovell, 
Jr.  She  resided  at  Hyannis  Port,  and  died  June  28,  1778,  aged 
79  years. 

53.  Lydia  Gorham  married  Sept.  8,  1720,  Joseph  Worth,  of 
Nantucket.  *  The  records  say  they  were  then  both  of  Nantucket. 
They  had  eight  sons  and  four  daughters,  who  lived  and  married. 
They  have  many  descendants  at  Nantucket,  in  New  York,  Indi- 
ana, and  other  states.  She  died  March  1,  1763,  aged  62  years. 
Her  son  Daniel,  with  six  in  his  family,  removed  to  North  Carolina 
in  1771. 

54.  Hannah  Gorham  married  Oct.  24,  1726,  William  Mann- 
ing, and  Dec.  21,  1732,  Wm.  Stubbs,  of  Nantucket.  She  died 
16th  8  mo.,  1751,  at  Nantucket. 

55.  Theodate  married  2d  Nov.  1729,  Francis  Coffin,  and 
second,  Reuben  Gardner.  She  died  6th  April,  1787,  aged  81 
years,  leaving  numerous  descendants. 

56.  Daniel  Gorham  belonged  to  the  society  of  friends,   and 

*I  am  indebted  to  William  C.  Folger,  Esq.,  for  information  respecting  the  Grorhams 
who  removed  to  Nantucket. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         427 

in  1734  his  tax  for  the  support  of  the  miaistry  in  the  East  Parish 
was  remitted  for  that  reason.  He  was  a  mariner  and  died  in  1745 
of  the  small-pox  in  London.  His  will  is  dated  Jan.  24,  1740, 
and  was  proved  Jan.  19,  1746.  He  appoints  his  "affianced 
brother"  James  Lovell,  Jr.,  executor,  and  divides  his  estate  into 
eleven  shares,  giving  his  brother  George,  1,  his  sister  Abigail,  1, 
Lydia  2,  Hannah  1,  Theodate  1,  Desire  3,  Euth  1,  and  Deborah 
1 .  He  owned  four  rights  in  Gorham-town  Amount  of  estate 
£2,960,16,1,  old  tenor. 

Ereatdm. — In  last  No.  John  Hale  should  be  John  Hall. 

5T.  Desire  Gorham  married  Sept.  2,  1728,  Zachariah  Gard- 
ner, (or  Bunker)  of  Nantucket,  and  had  seven  sons  and  two 
daughters.  She  died  at  Nantucket  5th  11  month,  1801,  aged  91 
years. 

58.  Ruth  Gorham  married  Jan.  12,  1731-2,  by  Shubael  Bax- 
ter, Esq.,  to  Dr.  Cornelius  Bennet  from  Middleboro'.  Her  son 
Cornelius  was  born  in  Barnstable  Sept.  30,  1732.     Her  other  chil-  i 

dren  were  Theodate  who  married Miller ;    Christina, 

who  married  Samuel  Russell ;  William ;  Thomas ;  and  perhaps 
others. 

59.  Deborah  Gorham  married  Dec.  11,  1735,  Beriah  Fitch 
of  Nantucket,  and  had  four  sons  and  five  daughters.  Their  son 
Jonathan  Gorham  Fitch,  born  Sept.  13,  1740,  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  child  on  Nantucket  having  a  double,  or  two  christian 
names.  Beriah  and  Jonathan  were  worthy  men.  Some  of  their 
descendants  reside  in  Baltimore. 

As  nearly  all  the  daughters  of  Shubael  Gorham  married  at 
Nantucket,  it  is  probable  that  during  some  portion  of  his  life  he 
resided  there.  However,  his  wife  had  many  relatives  at  Nan- 
tucket and  his  daughters  probably  visited  there,  and  as  he  keptthe 
public  house  where  travellers  from  that  island  stopped,  he  per- 
haps did  not  remove  from  Hyannis  Port. 
Third  Generation. 

It  would  require  a  volume  to  give  as  many  particulars,  as  I 
have  thus  far,  relative  to  each  member  of  the  succeeding  genera- 
tions of  the  Gorhams,  and  I  am  therefore  under  the  necessity  of 
condensing  my  materials  into  the  smallest  space,  and  give  little 
beside  names  and  dates. 

14-2.     James  Gorham,   Jr.,  son  of  James,  married  Sept.  29, 
1707,  Mary,  daughter  of  Heosea  Joyce,  of  Yarmouth.     He  died 
Sept.   10,   1718,   aged  41.     His  widow  survived  him.     A  widow 
Mary  Gorham  died  in  Barnstable  June  28,  1778. 
Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

60.  I.     Thankful,  25th  May,  1711. 

61.  II.     Isaac,  baptized  April  17,  1715. 

62.  III.     Hezekiah,  baptized  April  17,  1715. 

63.  IV.     James,  baptized  May  12,  1717. 


428         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

64.     V.     Mary,  baptized  July  19,  1719. 

The  will  of  James  Gorham,  Jr.,  is  dated  Sept.  10,  1717, 
proved  Nov.  5,  1718.  He  names  his  wife  Mary  and  sons  Isaac, 
Hezekiah  and  James,  and  daughter  Thankful.  His  daughter  Mary 
was  born  after  his  death,  therefore  not  named.  He  describes  land 
in  the  Common  Field,  bounded  by  the  land  of  his  uncle  Shubael. 
Executors,  his  wife  Mary,  her  brother  Thomas  Joyce,  and  Joseph 
Davis.  All  the  land  on  the  north  of  the  road,  in  the  north- 
easterly part  of  the  town,  was  then  called  the  "Common  Field." 
His  uncle  Shubael's  house  is  yet  standing,  and  was  owned  by  the 
late  Job  C.  Davis.  James  Gorham,  Jr.'s  land,  I  presume,  was  on 
the  west. 

60.  Thankful  Gorham  married  May  16,  1701,  Thomas 
Hawes,  of  Yarmouth.  She  had  four  children  and  died  in  that 
town. 

61.  Capt.  Isaac  Gorham  married  Jan.  24,  1738,  Hannah 
Hallett,  of  Yarmouth.  She  died  Aug.  19,  1741,  aged  24,  and  he 
married  Sept.  2,  1742,  Mary  Cobb,  daughter  of  Gerfehom.  He 
died  in  Scotland  Jan.  1753,  and  his  widow  married  James  Church- 
ill Feb.  3,  1756-7.  His  children  by  his  first  wife  were  Mary,  who 
married  Feb.  8,  1759,  Elisha  Hedge  of  Yarmouth,  and  Thankful 
who  married  John  Hall  of  Yarmouth.  By  his  second  wife  he  had 
1,  'Edward,  baptized  Sept.  11,  1743,  who  probably  died  young, 
not  being  named  in  his  father's  will ;  2,  James,  baptized  Aug.  4, 
1745,  married  Widow  Mary  Baker,  had  no  issue  ;  3,  Sarah,  bap- 
tized June  19,  1748,  and  4,  Hannah,  baptized  June  17,  1750. 
He  was  also  the  reputed  father  of  Isaac  Gorham,  son  of  Remember 
Backhouse,  born  Aug.  19,  1746. 

62.  Capt.  Hezekiah  Gorham,  twin  brother  of  Isaac,  was  a 
sea  captain.  He  married  Widow  Anna  Davis  May  12,  1746.  In 
her  will  dated  March  2,  1702,  she  names  her  sous  James  and 
Jonathan  and  her  son  Josiah  Davis  of  Gorham,  in  the  County  of 
Cumberland,  daughters  Anna,  wife  of  Sylvanus  Gorham,  and 
Susan,  wife  of  Gorliam  Easterbrooks.  Also  her  dwelling-house 
and  her  part  of  the  Grist  Mill,  which  as  before  mentioned  origi- 
nally belonged  to  the  Gorhams.  I  infer  from  her  will  that  she 
was  the  widow  of  John  Davis,  Jr.,  whom  she  married  March  25, 
1736,  and  had  Josiah,  John  and  Martha,  baptized  in  the  I^ast 
Church  April  25,  1742.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  James  Allen, 
and  was  connected  by  marriage  with  some  of  the  most  influential 
and  respectable  families  in  the  Colony.  Capt.  Hezekiah  Gorham 
died  Oct.  2,  1778,  aged  "about  60  years."  His  children  born  in 
Barnstable,  1,  .lames,  baptized  Feb.  22,  1746-7  ;  2,  Anna,  July 
17,  1748;  3,  Lemuel,  May -5,  1751,  died  young;  4,  Jonathan, 
Feb.  4,  1753;  5,  Susan,  April  21,  1754;  and  Isaac  April  13, 
1760. 

James  of  this  family  married  Rachel  Easterbrooks ;  Anna 
married  Sylvanus  Gorham  and  had  a  large  family  ;  Susan  married 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         429 

Gorham  Easterbrooks  July  18,  1782  ;  aad  Isaac  died  at  sea,  leav- 
ing no  issue.  Jonathan  married  Mary  Davis.  He  resided  at 
first  on  the  Mill  Road,  in  the  house  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of 
Ezekiel  Hall,  afterwards  in  a  house  in  the  fields,  on  the  south  of 
the  County  road.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
army,  and  after  his  death  his  family  removed  to  Nantucket.  The 
children  of  Jonathan  Grorham  were,  1,  Susan,  born  Sept.  1786  ; 
2,  Davis,  12th  Sept.  1790;  3  and  4,  Polly  and  Josiah,  twins, 
Jan.  1793;  5,  Edward,  24th  Aug.  1795;  and  6,  Isaiah,  1802. 
The  children  of  this  family  married  at  Nantucket,  excepting  the 
youngest,  who  died  unmarried.  Josiah  was  a  wealthy  manu- 
facturer of  oil  at  Edgartown,  and  now  resides  at  N.  Jonathan 
has  many  descendants  at  N.  and  in  California. 

63.  James  Gorham,  son  of  James  Gorham,  Jr.,  baptized 
May  12,  1717,  was  a  mariner,  died  in  1742,  leaving  no  issue.  He 
was  published  Nov.  11,  1738,  to  Mary  Hallett,  Jr.,  of  Yarmouth ; 
but  I  find  no  record  of  his  marriage.  In  his  will  dated  19th 
March,  1738-9,  he  gives  all  his  estate,  apprized  at  £145,14  6,  to 
his  brother  Hezekiah. 

64.  Mary  Gorham  was  a  singular  woman.  She  was  known 
as  Mrs.  "Slicker,"  and  her  children  were  called  "Slickers."  She 
was  plausible  in  her  address,  and  polite  in  her  manners.  Nothing 
seemed  to  vex  her.  She  had  a  ready  excuse  for  all  her  delinquin- 
cies,  and  like  some  lawyers,  had  the  peculiar  faculty  of  making 
the  worst  appear  as  the  better  reason.  She  was  no  advocate  for 
celibacy,  and  held  that  it  was  no  breach  of  etiquette  for  ladies  to 
make  proposals  for  marriage.  She  married  Jan.  26,  1738-9, 
Thomas  Hedge  of  Yarmouth,  of  just  her  own  age,  19.  He  was 
only  son  of  Thomas,  a  son  of  Elisha,  and  grandson  of  Capt. 
William  Hedge,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Y.  Her  children 
were:  1,  Mary,  born  1740,  died  young ;  2,  Thomas,  1742,  died 
young;  3,  Hannah,  1743,  married  Barnabas  Hedge,  of  Plymouth ; 
4,  Mary,  1743,  married  Joshua  Gray;  5,  Sarah,  1748,  married 
Edward  Hallett;  6,  Thankful,  1751',  married  William  Thacher ; 
7,  Thomas,  who  has  descendants  ;  and  8,  James,  1758,  drowned 
aged  three  yeai-s. 

Mr.  Thomas  Hedge  died  June  9,  1764,  aged  45,  and  his 
widow  married  Mr.  Thomas  Hallett,  of  Yarmouth.  His  fourth 
and  her  second  marriage.  He  died  April  10,  1772,  aged  81  years, 
leaving  no  issue,  and  his  widow  married  for  her  third  husband 
Capt.  Benjamin  Lothrop,  of  Kingston.  After  the  death  of  Capt. 
Lothrop  she  returned  to  Y.,  where  she  died  June  3,  1795,  aged  75 
years. 

16-4.  John  Gorham,  born  Aug.  2,  1680,  a  son  of  James, 
married  Feb.  14,  1705-6,  Ann  Brown.  His  children  born  in  Yar- 
mouth were : 

65.  I.     Mattliew,  born  18th  Dec.  1706. 

66.  IT.     Mercy,  20th  Aug.  1708. 


430         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

67.  III.  Desire,  20th  Aug.  1710. 

68.  IV.  Rose,  19th  March,  1711-12. 

69.  V.  Elizabeth,  27th  June,  1714. 

70.  VI.  Ann,  12th  Jan.  1716-17. 

His  will  is  dated  20th  July,  1729,  proved  Nov.  3  following, 
showing  that  he  died  that  year.  He  names  his  wife  Ann,  son 
Matthias,  and  daughters  Mercy,  wife  of  Ebenezer  Crowell ;  De- 
sire, who  married  Thomas  Hallett,  Aug.  19,  1750;  Rose,  who 
married  Ephraim  Crowell ;  Elizabeth,  and  Ann  who  married  Wil- 
liam Taylor  Sept.  17,  1741.  Matthias,  his  only  son,  married 
Nov.  1,  "1733,  Mary  Davis,  and  had  born  in  Yarmouth,  1,  Lydia, 
Jan.  13,  1734-5;  2,  Elizabeth,  Dec.  28,  1737;  3,  Mehitabel, 
Jan.  26,  1739-40  ;  4,  Ann,  Jan.  1,  1741-2  ;  5,  John,  March  26, 
1744;  6,  Mary,  May  16,  1746;  and  7,  Matthias,  Dec.  17,  1743. 
John  and  Matthias  married  and  have  descendants. 

18-6.  Thomas  Gorham,  born  16th  Dec.  1684,  a  son  of 
James,  resided  in  Barnstable.  He  was  a  blacksmith.  He  mar- 
ried in  1707,  Rachell  Trott  of  Nantucket,  and  had  : 

71.  I.     Benjamin,  8th  Sept.  1708. 

72.  II.     Reuben,  10th  Dee.  1709. 

73.  III.     Priscilla,  18th  Dec.  1711. 

74.  IV.     Samuel,  18th  Dec.  1713. 

75.  V.     Peter,  19th  Dec.  1715. 

76.  VI.     Paul,  6th  Jan.  1717-18. 

77.  VII.     Abraham,  10th  July  1720. 

78.  VIII.     James,  23d  June,  1723. 

79.  IX.     Gershom,  22d  June,  1725. 

80.  X.     Abigail,  13th  May,  1729. 

In  his  will  dated  in  1758,  and  proved  Dee.  3,  1771,  he  names 
his  daughter  Abigail  Easterbrooks,  to  whom  he  gives  half  his 
lands  and  his  dwelling-house,  and  to  his  son  Benjamin  the  other 
half.  He  also  names  his  daughter  Priscilla  Folger.  His  children 
did  not  realize  anything  from  his  estate  for  he  died  insolvent,  pay- 
ing his  creditors  15  sh.  6d.  in  the  £. 

As  he  names  in  1758  only  Benjamin,  Priscilla  and  Abigail, 
the  presumption  is  that  his  other  children  were  then  dead.  Peter 
is  named  as  a  whaleman  in  1733. 

71.  Benjamin  Gorham  married  Sarah  Cobb  of  Yarmouth,  Oct. 
23,  1739,  and  had  Samuel  born  Sept.  2,  1740.  No  other  children 
are  named  on  the  Barnstable  records.  He  was  drowned  in  the 
Mill  Pond  in  1771.  There  were  five  Benjamin  Gorham's  in  Barn- 
stable at  the  same  time,  and  all  residents  in  the  East  Parish,  and 
of  necessity  had  to  be  distinguished  by  nicknames,  namely  : 

1.  Benjamin,   son  of  Thomas,   born  Sept.  8,    1708,  died   1771, 
was  called  "Moderate  Ben." 

2.  Benjamin,   son  of  John,    born  June   18,  1715,   died  in    1784, 
was  called  "Old  Fiddler." 

3.  Benjamin,   son  of    Shubael,   born  June  4,    1726,  was  called 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         431 

Captain.     He  removed  early. 

4.  Benjamin,  son  of  Benjamin,  born  March  26,  1746,  was  called 
"Young  Fiddler." 

5.  Benjamin,    son   of  David,    born   Feb.   23,    1747,  was  called 
"Turkey  Foot." 

73.  Priscilla  Gorham  married  Eliphar  Folger  of  Nantucket. 
She  died  28th  of  the  5th  mo.,  1801,  aged  90  years. 

80.  Abigail  Gorham  married  Aug.  28",  1749,  Capt.  John 
Easterbrooks.     She  died  July  2,  1802,  aged  73. 

23-11.  Ebenezer  Gorham,  born  14th  Feb.  1695-6,  was  the 
youngest  son  of  James  Gorham.  He  married  Temperance  Hawes 
of  Yarmouth,  Sept.  22,  1727.  She  died  Feb.  21,  1767,  in  the 
62d  year  of  her  age  ;  he  died  Nov.  16,  1776,  in  the  83d  year  of 
his  age. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

81.  I.     Ebenezer,  7th  Aug.  1729,  baptized  Aug.  24,  1729. 

82.  II.     Prince,  14th  March,  1730-1,  baptized  Mav  21,  1721. 

83.  III.     Hannah,   16th   April,    1733,  baptized  April  8,   1733. 

(?) 

84.  IV.     Mary,  16th  June,  1735,  baptized  June  19,  1735. 

85.  V.     Sarah,  baptized  May  22,  1737. 

86.  VI.     Thankful,  baptized  April  22,  1739. 

87.  VII.     Sarah,  baptized  April  19,  1741. 

88.  VIII.     Temperance,  baptized  May  20,  1744. 

89.  IX.     Sylvanus,  baptized  July  17,  1746. 

The  will  of  Ebenezer  Gorham,  of  Barnstable,  yeoman,  is 
dated  16th  May,  1772,  and  the  codicil  thereto  26th  Dec.  1775, 
proved  6th  Dec.  1776.  He  says  he  is  "advanced  in  years," 
names  his  grand-daughter  Desire,  eldest  daughter  of  his  daughter 
Hannah,  deceased,  his  daughters  Mary  Davis,  Thankful  Davis, 
and  Temperance  Sturgis ;  his  sons  Ebenezer,  Prince  and  Sylva- 
nus. He  says  his  "son  Ebenezer  has  been  missing  some  consid- 
erable time,"  speaks  of  the  four  sons  of  Lot  Hall,  deceased,  for 
whom  his  son  Ebenezer  was  guardian,  and  names  his  grand- 
daughter Hannah,  only  daughter  of  his  daughter-in-law  Hannah. 
In  the  codicil  to  his  will,  he  says,  "at  the  time  of  making  my 
will  it  was  uncertain  whether  my  son  Ebenezer  was  then  living." 
He  gave  half  of  his  house  *  to  Sylvanus,  and  with  the  exception 
of  legacies  to  his  other  children,  all  the  rest  of  his  estate  to  his 
sons  Prince  and  Sylvanus. 

81.  Ebenezer  Gorham,  son  of  Ebenezer,  married,  and  was 
lost  at  sea  about  the  year  1772.     He  built  the  house  in  Barnstable 

*  Ebenezer  Gorham'a  house  stood  near  the  location  of  Joseph  Hallett's,  and  1  have 
supposed  they  were  the  same ;  but  on  further  investigation  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  built  by  one  of  the  Gorhams  about  the  year  1686,  at  the  time  the  Gorhams'  made 
strenuous  efforts  to  have  the  Court  House  located  on  their  land.  The  architecture  was  not 
ancient.  It  had  four  rooms  on  the  lower  floor,  and  four  chambers,  and  was  built  for  a  pub- 
lie  bouse.  It  had  two  chambers,  the  more  ancient  had  only  one  in  the  center.  I  am  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  that  it  was  built  by  .Tames  Gorham,  Sen'r. 


432         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

now  owned  by  Mr.  Ezekiel  Thacher.  He  married  Dec.  21,  1752, 
Marv  Thacher  ;  in  1764,  Hope  Carver  of  Plymouth,  and  July  16, 
1767,  Hannah,  widow  of  Lot  Hall,  of  Yarmouth.  He  was  guar- 
dian to  Daniel,  f  Lot,  Urian  and  William  Hall,  minor  children  of 
Lot  Hall,  deceased.  His  widow  Hannah  administered  on  his  es- 
tate in  1773,  which  was  rendered  insolvent.  Dividend  5  sh.  2d. 
in  the  £.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  had  more  than  one  child, 
Hannah,  and  that  by  his  third  wife. 

82.  Capt.  Prince  Gorham  was  a  sea  captain,  and  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  his  life  was  insane.  He  built  on  the  Gorham  farm  the 
house  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  Ansel  Hallett,  deceased,  stand- 
ing on  the  County  road  near  the  lane  to  the  mill.  He  married 
April  22,  1756,  Abigail  Gorham,  who  died  Aug.  3,  1765,  aged 
aged  34  ;  and  second,  Nov.  15,  1767,  Desire  Clap  of  Barnstable. 
She  died  Aug.  20,  1813,  aged  72  years.  His  children  were:  1, 
Sarah,  born  June  27, 1762,  married  Nov.  15,  1778,  Wm.  H.  Jack- 
son, of  Plymouth  ;  2,  Abigail,  born  May  15,  1669,  mai-ried  May 
18,  1790,  Isaac  Davis,  and  second,  Samuel  Holmes  of  Plymouth. 
After  the  death  of  her  second  husband  she  resided  in  Boston, 
where  she  kept  a  store.  3,  Prince,  born  Sept.  8,  1775,  died,  leav- 
ing no  issue,  at  his  sister  Abigail's  house  in  Boston ;  4,  Eunice, 
born  Aug.  25,  1777,  married  a  Capt.  Shaw,  of  Providence,  R.  I., 
went  on  a  voyage  to  Maderia  with  him,  and  on  her  return  died  at 
her  sister's  house  in  Boston ;  5,  Stephei;i,  born  July  28,  1779,  was 
lost  at  sea.     He  left  no  family. 

83.  Hannah  Gorham  married  Thomas  Gorham  May  16, 
1764,  and  had  seven  children.     She  died  April  5,  1765,  aged  32. 

84.  Mary  Gorham  married  Dec.  22,  1757,  Samuel  Davis. 

85.  Sarah  Gorham,  both  daughters  of  this-  name  died 
young. 

86.  Thankful  Gorham  married  May  3,  1759,  Josiah  Davis, 
son  of  John,  Jr.,  and  removed  to  Gorham,  Me. 

88.  Temperance  Gorham  married  Feb.  7,  1765,  Jonathan 
Sturgis,  a  brother  or  Eben  of  Barnstable,  and  removed  to  Gorham. 

t  Daniel  Hall  married  Oct.  31,  1776,  Mehitabel,  daughter  of  John  Gorham,  Eaq.  He 
was  a  lieut.  with  Capt.  Magee,  and  was  one  of  those  who  perished  Dec.  27, 1778,  and  was 
buried  in  Plymouth. 

Lot  removed  to  West  Minister,  in  "Vermont.  He  married  Mary  Homer,  of  Boston,  a 
daughter  of  Benjamin,  Jr.,  of  Yarmouth.  He  was  an  associate-justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Vermont.  His  son  Lot  was  a  distinguished  lawyer  at  Ti'dy,  N.  Y.,  and  his  grand- 
son Edward  H.  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1851. 

Of  Urian  I  have  no  information.  William  is  deserving  of  note  for  his  eccentricities. 
About  the  year  1798,  he  established  himself  in  Boston  as  gi'ocer  and  ship  chandler.  He 
did  a  large  business,  lived  fast,  and  about  1806  failed  for  a  large  amount.  Afterwards  he 
entertained  the  visionary  project  of  connecting  Nobscusset  Pond,  by  a  ship  canal  with  the 
deep  water  of  the  Bay.  North  Dennis  was  to  be  a  city,  and  the  rival  of  Boston  in  trade, 
He  planned  the  streets  of  the  new  city,  and  selected  a  site  for  the  Custom  House  on  the 
northern  declivity  of  Scargo  Hill.  To  obtain  an  appropriation  for  the  purpose  he  for  sev- 
eral years  was  a  loby  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  and  continually  harrased 
the  members  to  obtain  a  legislative  report  in  favor  of  his  project,  and  failing  in  his  efforts, 
he  visited  Washington  several  times,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  thi?t  he  was  unsuc- 
cessful. He  died  in  the  Alms  House,  in  Boston,  in  which  city  ihe  had  obtained  a  legal  resi- 
dence. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         433 

89.  Sylvanus  Gorham,  born  in  1746,  was  the  youngest  son 
of  Ebenezer,  who  was  the  youngest  son  of  James,  son  of  John, 
the  emigrant  ancestor  of  this  family.  The  children  of  Sylvanus 
are  of  the  fifth  generation,  and  three  of  them  are  now  (1864) 
living,  namely,  Sylvanus,  aged  nearly  83,  John,  75,  and  Haunah, 
wife  of  Nathaniel  Gorham,  70.  In  my  researches  I  have  found 
no  parallel  case,  and  doubt  whether  there  is  another  in  New  Eng- 
land. 

Sylvanus  Gorham  owned  a  large  real  estate,  and  was  a  hard 
working  farmer.  He  resided  in  the  ancient  house  that  was  his 
father's,  described  in  a  note.  He  married  in  1764,  Anna  Gorham. 
He  died  in  1805,  aged  58,  and  his  widow  in  1811,  aged  73.  His 
children  born  in  Barnstable,  were:  1,  Solomon,  29th  Sept.  1769, 
died  at  sea,  leaving  a  widow  in  Boston,  no  children  ;  2,  Allyn, 
19th  May,  1771,  married  Nabby  Baxter,  he  was  connected  with 
the  Navy  Yard,  New  Orleans,  several  years,  died  in  New  York, 
has  a  daughter  living  ;  3,  Ebenezer,  10th  May,  1773;  4,  Isaiah, 
13th  April,  1775  ;  he  and  Eben.  lost  at  sea — neither  married  ;  5, 
Clarrisa,  12th  May,  1777,  married  Isaiah  Matthews  Dec.  1,  1796  ; 
6,  Tempe,  29th  March,  1779,  married  July  21,  1805,  Samuel 
Gray;  7,  Svlvanus,  born  4th  April,  1781,  now  living,  married 
Lydia  Hallett ;  8,  Betsey,  12fh  March,  1783,  died  1800;  9, 
Sally,  17th  March,  1785,  married  Josiah  Lewis;  10,  Isaac,  3d 
April,  1787,  married,  died  away  from  home,  his  wife  and  child 
died  nearly  at  the  same  time  ;  11,  John,  28th  March,  1789,  now 
living,  married  Lydia  Cobb  April  12,  1804;  12,  Ezekiel,  16th 
June,  1791,  married  during  the  last  war,  sailed  from  Hyannis 
with  Chas.  Easterbrooks,  and  was  not  afterwards  heard  from ; 
and  13,  Hannah,  26th  Nov.  1793,  now  living. 

(27-4).  Stephen  Gorham,  born  23d  June,  1683,  son  of  John 
and  grandson  of  Capt.  John,  married  Dec.  25,  1703,  Elizabeth 
Gardner,  of  Nantucket.  She  was  a  daughter  of  James  Gardner, 
son  of  Richard,  Sen'r.  Her  mother  was  Mary  Starbuck,  born 
March  30,  1663,  being  the  first  white  child  born  on  Nantucket. 

.  Respecting  Mr.  Stephen  Gorham,  I  have  very  little  informa- 
tion. He  owned  a  part  of  the  old  Gorham  farm  and  probably  re- 
sided thereon  in  the- early  part  of  his  life.  His  twelve  children 
were  all  born  in  Barnstable.  The  record  of  the  births  of  his 
children  born  previous  to  1715  I  do  not  find,  though  the  record  is 
referred  .to  in  a  subsequent  volume.  His  wife  died  July  22,  1763. 
From  Barnstable  I  think  he  removed  to  Nantucket,  and  from 
thence  to  Charlestown,  Mass.  ;  but  am  not  entirely  certain. 
Children  : 

90.  I.     Mary. 

91.  II.     Susannah. 

92.  III.     Sarah. 

93.  IV.     Nathaniel,  1709. 

94.  V.     Lvdia. 


434         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

95.  VI.     Barnabas,  20th  March,  1715. 

96.  VII.     Zaceheus,  20th  April,  1717. 

97.  VIII.     Elizabeth,  6th  July,  1718. 

98.  IX.     Eunice,  20th  March,  1 720. 

99.  X.     Stephen,  20th  Feb.  1722. 

100.  XI.     Josiah,  2d  June,  1723. 

101.  XII.     Lois,  6th  Nov.  1727. 

90.  Mary  Gorham  married  Andrew  Gardner  of  Nantucket, 
and  had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  lived  to  be  married. 

91.  Susannah  Gorham  married  1st,  Daniel  Paddock,  who 
was  lost  at  sea  in  1743;  2d,  Jonathan  Folger,  his  third  wife. 
She  died  July  12,  1777.  When  very  aged  she  taught,  at  Nan- 
tucket, a  school  for  young  children. 

92.  Sarah  Gorham  married  Daniel  Hussey  of  Nantucket, 
and  had  seven  children.  He  died  in  England  1st  6  mo.  1760. 
She  died  at  N.  18  7  rao.,  1748. 

93.  Capt.  Nathaniel  Gorham,  born  in  1709,  resided  in 
Charlestown.  He  died  early,  but  his  widow  (Mary  Soley)  was 
living  in  Boston  in  1796.  His  children  were:  Nathaniel,  born 
27th  May,  1738;  John,  Harvard  College  1759,  died  early;  Ste- 
phen, and  probably  others.  Nathaniel,  the  son,  was  a  distinguished 
man.  He  died  June  11,  1796.  ^^fter  being  fitted  for  admission 
to  the  University,  he  went  an  apprentice  to  Mr.  Nathaniel  CofHn 
of  New  London,  Conn.  He  finally  settled  in  Charlestown,  and  in 
1763  married  Rebecca,  oldest  daughter  of  Caleb  Call,  Esq.  He 
was  a  representative  from  Charlestown  when  the  Revolutionary 
troubles  began,  and  he  took  a  decided  stand  among  the  Patriots 
and  was  forced  effectually  to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  town  of 
Lunenburg,  with  his  wife  and  seven  small  children,  and  stripped 
of  all  his  property.  In  1778  he  was  representative  from  that 
town,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  War,  and  was  constantly  em- 
ployed in  the  most  important  trusts.  In  1785  be  was  chosen 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  a  delegate  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  in  1787  was  a  member  of  the  Consti- 
tutional Convention. 

His  son,  Hon.  Benjamin  Gorham,  member  of  Congress,  &c., 
&c.,  died  Sept.  27,  1855,  aged  80. 

Stephen  Gorham,  son  of  the  first  Nathaniel,  married  Mary 
White.  His  son  John,  born  in  Boston  24th  Feb.  1783,  Harvard 
College  1801,  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  John  Warren.  He  con- 
tinued his  studies  in  London,  Edinburg  and  Paris.  In  1809  he 
was  appointed  to  the  professorship  of  Chemistry  in  Harvard  Col- 
lege, and  in  1816  was  Erving  Professor.  He  published  a  work  on 
Chemistry  in  two  volumes  octavo.  He  died  27th  March.  1829, 
aged  46.  (For  additional  information  respecting  this  branch  of 
the  family,  see  General  Register  1853,  1854,  and  1856.) 

94.  Lydia  Gorham  was  the  first  wife  of  William  Swain, 
.Tr.,  of  Nantucket.     She  died  Mav  1765. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         435 

97.  Elizabeth  Gorham  married  David  Bunker  of  Nantucket, 
who  was  lost  at  sea  in  1755. 

98.  Eunice  Gorham  died  13th  July,  1790,  aged  70. 

100.  Josiah  Gorham  lived  at  Nantucket  several  years,  and 
was  a  captain  in  the  whaling  business.  In  1756  he  was  in  a  whal- 
ing sloop,  and  with  five  other  vessels,  was  taken  by  the  French 
and  carried  to  France.  After  his  release  he  removed  to  Eastern, 
Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.  He  owned  a  good  farm  in  that  town,  and 
died  in  1803,  aged  90.  His  wife  Deborah  was  received  29th  7 
mo.  1765,  a  member  of  the  Friends  Meeting  at  Nantucket,  and 
renewed  her  connection  27th  8  mo.  1773.  He  obtained  the  good 
will  of  the  Indians  resident  in  Washington  County,  and  they  did 
no  injury  to  him  or  his  family  during  the  Revolution.  Several 
battles  during  that  war  was  fought  near  his  residence. 

101.  Lois  Gorham  married  Jonathan  Macy  of  Nantucket. 
She  was  a  very  worthy  woman,  and  her  descendants  are  numerous 
at  Nantucket,  in  New  York  State,  Virginia  and  California.  Jo- 
siah Macy  of  New  York,  is  her  grandson  and  has  been  a  very 
active  and  enterprising  sea  captain  and  merchant. 

(28-6.)  Col.  Shubael  Gorham,  son  of  Lieut.  Col.  John, 
born  Sept.  1686,  married  his  cousin  Mary,  daughter  of  Col.  John 
Thaeher  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  in  1746,  and  his  widow  Mary 
was  probably  the  Widow  Mary  Gorham  who  died  June  28,  ,1778, 
aged  89. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 
John,  12th  Dec.  1709. 
David,  6th  April,  1712. 
Mary,  7th  Feb.  1714. 
William,  6th  May,  1716. 
Lydia,  28th  June,  1718. 
Hannah,  22d  May,  1720,  died  young. 
Hannah,  1st  May,  1721.  '  • 

.     Shubael,  27th  June,  1723. 
Joseph,  29th  May,  1725.  ^ 

Benjamin,  5th  June,  1726. 
Col.  Shubael  Gorham  had  no  estate  to  dispose  of  by  his  will. 
At  his  death  he  was  hopelessly  insolvent.  James  Lovell,  Jr.,  was 
appointed  Aug.  16,  1746,  to  administer  on  his  estate.  The  inven- 
tory is  dated  Dec.  11,  1746,  and  his  personal  estate  is  apprised  in 
Old  Tenor  at  479,18,6 

and  his  real  estate  at  2,365 


102. 

I.     J 

103. 

II. 

104. 

III. 

105. 

IV. 

106. 

V.   : 

107. 

VI. 

108. 

VII. 

109. 

VIII 

110. 

IX. 

HI. 

X. 

2,844,18,6 
He  had  55  oz.,  17  pwt.,  12  grs.  of  plate,  valued  at  £99, 15s. 
A  part  of  this  marked  with  the  arms  of  the  Gorham  family,  has 
been  preserved  by  the  descendants  of  his  son  John.  Members  of 
his  own  family  were  his  principal  creditors.  He  lost  his  property 
in  his  endeavors  to  secure  to  the  officers   and  soldiers  in  King 


436         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Phillip's  war,  or  their  legal  representatives,  their  just  dues.  In 
his  strenuous  efforts  to  do  justice  to  others,  he  was  unjust  to  him- 
self, and  involved  himself,  for  the  benefit  of  others,  in  liabilities 
which  he  was  unable  to  meet. 

102.  Col.  John  Gorham,  son  of  Shubael,  was  distinguished 
as  an  officer  in  the  colonial  forces  in  the  latter  French  wars.  He 
was  at  the  taking  of  Louisburg,  and  rendered  similar  services  to 
those  which  his  grandfather  had  rendered  in  the  previous  wars. 
He  resided  in  Bai-nstable  till  the  year  1742,  when  he  removed  to 
Falmouth,  now  Portland,  and  was  sometime  a  resident  at  Gorham. 
In  1749  he  resided  in  Boston.  He  built  the  first  mills  in  the  town 
of  Gorham,  was  a  large  land  holder ;  but  did  not  become  a  per- 
manent resident.  After  the  close  of  the  French  war  he  visited, 
Europe  and  he  and  his  wife  were  presented  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James,  and  had  an  audience  with  the  King,  a  distinction  to  which 
few  of  the  subjects  of  rojality  attain. 

He  married  March  9,  1731-2,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James 
Allyn,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  ladies  of  her  time.  They 
had  fifteen  children ;  but  I  have  not  a  complete  list  of  them. 
Those  born  in  Barnstable  were:  1,  Susannah,  21st  Nov.  1732, 
died  March  1738;  2,  Mary,  3d  Dec.  1733,  died  8th  Jan.  1738; 
3,  Anna,  28th  July,  1735,  died  18th  March,  1738  ;  4,  John,  26th 
Dec.  1736  ;  5,  Christopher,  10th  Jan.  1737-8  ;  6,  Elizabeth,  bap- 
tized 16th  Dec.  1739  ;  7,  Daniel,  baptized  March  1,  1740-1.  The 
other  children  were  born  after  the  removal  of  the  family  in  1742, 
to  Falmouth  :  8,  Sea  Deliverance,  a  daughter,  was  baptized  at  the 
East  Church  July  22,  1744,  and  was  christened  by  that  name  be- 
cause she  was  born  at  sea.  Three  of  the  other  children  were 
Mary,  Susannah  and  Solomon. 

Elizabeth  Gorham  of  this  family  married  Daniel  Rogers  of 
Kittery,  Maine,  and  had  four  children.  Mary  married  Eben. 
Parsons,  a  large^ship  owner  and  merchant  of  Boston,  well  known 
to  all  our  aged  sea  captains.  Christopher  died  at  sea  unmar- 
ried. ^ 

103.  Col.  David  Gorham  resided  on  the  old  homestead  in 
Barnstable.  His  dwelling-house,  yet  remaining,  was  afterwards 
the  dwelling-house  of  Dr.  John  Davis  and  of  his  son  Job  C. 
Davis,  Esq.  He  was  with  his  brother  John  at  Cape  Breton  and 
the  taking  of  Louisburg,  *  and  was  engaged  in  other  military  ser- 
vices. During  the  Revolution  some  parties  unjustly  charged  him 
with  being  a  tory,  because  he  would  not  advocate  the  extreme 
measures  of  younger  men.  He  was  many  years  Register  of  Pro- 
bate, and  kept  the  records  very  carefully.  He  was  much  in  pub- 
lic life,  was  active,  energetic,  and  capable  ;  but  was  never  a  popu- 
lar man.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  intemperate,  and 
many   of  his  old  friends  lost  their  confidence  in  him  as  a  man  of 

*  Blind  Abner,  whom  the  middle  aged  remember,  was  a  slave  of  Col.  David  Gorham, 
ami  was  with  his  master  in  his  eastern  campaigns. 


GKNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         437 

integrity  and  honor.  Tbey  had  reason  to,  for  the  civil  law  was 
his  standard  of  morality.  His  intemperate  habits  was  the  cause 
of  this  change,  and  while  we  can  honor  him  in  youth  and  middle 
age,  impartial  justice  requires  that  no  veil  be  drawn  over  his  short 
comings  in  after  life. 

Col.  David  Gorh am  married  three  wives,  namely :  Aug.  2, 
1733,  Abigail  Sturgib,  she  died  Feb.  11,  1775,  aged  63;  2,  to 
Elizabeth  iStevens,  of  Truro,  in  1775,  and  3,  to  Hannah  Davis 
June  17,  1783.  She  died  at  the  house  of  Ebeu.  Sturgis  Oct.  3, 
1812,  aged  79  years,  3  months.  Mr.  Sturgis  and  Eben.  Bacon, 
Esq.,  took  care  of  her  property  and  provided  for  her  support  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  her  life."  He  died  in  1789,  aged  77.  His 
children  born  in  Barnstable,  were:  1,  David,  Aug.  24,  1735,  died 
young;  2,  Elizabeth,  Aug.  22,  1737,  died  young;  3,  Edward, 
April  23,  1739,  living  ifl  1756,  probably  died  soon  after;  4, 
Lydia,  May  30,  1741,  ma:rried  Jan.  26,  1764,  Capt.  Edward 
Bacon,  Jr.  ;  5,  William,  July  12,  1743  f  ;  6,  Shubael,  born  Feb. 
3,  1745,  died  1748;  7,  Benjamin,  t  23d  Feb.  1747;  8,  Abigail, 
March  5,  1749,  married  Oct.  12,  1775,  Dr.  Jeremiah  Barker,  of 
Falmouth,  now  Portland,  §  Maine.  He  married  2d,  Temperance, 
widow  of  Hon.  Wm.  Gorham  ;  9,  Shubael,  Feb.  18,  1751-2,  died 
at  sea,  leaving  no  issue;  10,  Mary,  May  21,  1754.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  James  Freeman,  of  Boston,  paid  attention  to  Mary ;  but  she 
declined  his  offer,  and  afterwards  married,  in  1778,  William  Pren- 
tiss. She  died  in  Barnstable  July  8,  1784,  aged  25,  leaving  no  is- 
sue. 

104.  Mary  Gorham  married  Oct.  24,  1734,  Mr.  Stephen 
Clap,  of  Scituate. 

t  Hon.  William  Gorham,  when  young,  wrote  a  splendid  hand,  and  assisted  liis  father  in 
the  office  of  Register  of  Probate.  About  the  year  1770  he  removed  to  Gorham,  Maine,  and 
was  a  prominent  man  during  the  Revolution.  Hs  was  on  the  committees  of  safety,  corre- 
spondence and  vigilance,  and  -most  of  their  pati-iotic  and  spirited  papers  were  written  by 
him.  He  held  many  municipal  offices,  was  president  of  the  convention  to  consider  the 
matter  of  the  separation  of  Maine  from  Massachusetts ;  Judge  of  Probate  1782,  and  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  1787,  and  held  both  offices  till  his  death  in  1804.  He  married 
twice.  1st,  "Widow  Temperance  White  of  Scituate,  in  1769,  and  2d,  Temperance  Garret. 
He  had  a  son  Francis  born  in  1775,  who  died  young,  and  his  only  daughter  Fanny  Tyler, 
died  in  1698.    (See  Pierce's  History^of  Gorham.) 

t  Benjamin  Gorham,  son  of  Col.  David,  was  called  "Turkey  Foot,"  to  distinguish  him 
from  the  other  Ben.  Gorhams.  After  his  marriage,  Oct.  15, 1775,  to  Desire  Thacher,  his 
father  built  a  house  for  him  on  Dimmock's  Lane,  which  in  a  few  years  was  removed  to  a 
lot  on  the  Gorham  farm.  He  removed  to  Gorham,  Maine,  was  there  in  1789;  but  January, 
1791,  had  returned  to  Barnstable,  and  died  not  long  after.  He  is  called  on  the  records  a 
"spendthrift."  He  had  no  business  capacity — a  man  of  weak  intellect,  and  his  wife  was  a 
yet  weaker  vessel,  though  a  member  of  the  church,  an  honest  woman  and  good  neighbor. 
Their  children  are  not  on  the  town  records,  some  were  probably  bom  in  Maine.  1,  Ed- 
ward, baptized  April  28,  1776,  was  a  respectable  man,  married  Widow  Joana  Polond 
[Webb]  and  had  Fanny,  Rhoda,  Eliza,  Mary  and  John,  born  in  Boston ;  2,  William,  bap- 
tized Jan.  25, 1778,  a  worthy  man,  married  Charlotte  Beals,  resided  in  Portland,  and  had 
William,  Charlotte,  and  Joseph  B. ;  3,  Christopher,  never  married,  died  at  sea,  he  and 
Polly  and  Shubael  stammered,  and  were  onlv  one  remove  from  idiocy ;  4,  Polly,  died  un- 
married, had  David  1809;  5,  David,  baptizecl  April  1786,  a  respectable  and  worthy  man, 
resided  in  Maine ;  6,  Shubael,  baptized  July  11, 1790,  died  single  in  1840. 

§Dr.  Barker  practiced  in  Barnstable  several  years  before  removing  to  Portland,  and 
must  be  included  in  the  list  of  physicians  of  that  town. 


438         GENKALOGlCAIi    NOTKS    OF    BAKNSTAULK    FAMILIES. 

105.  William  Gorharn  was  a  mariner — be  was  living  in 
1746. 

106.  Lydia  Gorham  married  July  27,  1737,  Dr.  .James  Her- 
sev,  an  elder  brother  of  the  noted  Dr.  Abner,  and  died  Nov.  9, 
1740,  aged  22. 

107.  Hannah  Gorham,  first  of  the  name,  died  in  infancy, 
the  second  daughter  of  the  same  name,  married  July  24,  1748, 
Mr.  Edward  Crosby. 

108.  Shubael  Gorham,  Jr.,  was  a  mariner,  and  died  in  1748, 
aged  25  years,  leaving  no  issue. 

109.  Lieut.  Joseph  Gorham  was  of  Annapolis  in  1750.  He 
married  Ann  Spry,  an  English  lady,  and  had  children  :  Joseph 
William,  Amherst,  James  Wolf,  John,  Benjamin,  Mary,  Anna, 
Lydia,  and  Abigail. 

110.  Benjamin  Gorham,  youngest  son  of  Col.  Shubael 
Gorham,  was  a  ship-master.  He  married  1st,  Nancy,  daughter 
of  Eben.  Hinckley,  and  had,  1,  James,  who  was  a  merchant  in 
Cuba,  and  married  Charlotte  Kneeland  ;  2,  Benjamin,  a  shipmas- 
ter, married  1st  Nancy  Kneeland,  2d,  Frances  Harrington;  3, 
Samuel,  settled  in  New  York,  and  his  second  wife  was  Ellen  Ran- 
kin ;  4,  John,  who  died  young  ;  5,  Nancy,  who  married  1st,  An- 
thony Glean,  of  Cuba ;  2d,  James  Macomb,  of  Matamoras.  See 
Genealogical  Register,  1859. 

(29-6).  John  Gorham,  Esq.,  son  of  Lieut.  Col.  John,  mar- 
ried Oct.  2,  1712,  Prudence  Crocker,  daughter  of  Joseph,  of 
Barnstable. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

111.  I.     Joseph,  26th  Aug.  1713. 

112.  II.     Benjamin,  18th  June  1715. 

113.  III.     Ann,  13th  Jan.  1716-17. 

114.  IV.     Deborah,  13th  Nov.  1718. 

115.  V.     John,  10th  Nov.  1720,  died  young. 

116.  VL     Thankful,  10th  Feb.  1721-2. 

117.  VII.     Mary,  1st  Jan.  1723-4. 

118.  VIII.     Nathaniel,  30th  Sept.  1726. 

119.  IX.     Experience,  23d  June,  1728t,  died  young. 

120.  X.     Mercy,  5th  July,  1729. 

121.  XL     Naomi,  16th  June,  1731,  died  young. 

122.  XII.     Abigail,  1st  June,  1731. 

123.  Xm.     Prudence,  16th  Aug.  1734. 

124.  XIV.     Rachel,  [no  record.] 

John  Gorham,  Esq.,  died  in  1769,  aged  82,  and  his  widow  in 
1778,  aged  86.  In  his  will  dated  Nov.  4,  1762,  proved  19th  Oct. 
1769,  he  gave  to  his  wife  Prudence,  in  lieu  of  dower,  one-half  of 
his  house,  and  one-half  of  his  land  between  the  road  and  Cog- 
gins'  Pond,  one-half  his  orchard,  and  also  the  use  of  so  much  of 
all  his  other  buildings  as  she  shall  have  occasion  for.  Also  2 
cows,    10  sheep,   all    his  indoor  moveables  and  provisions,   his 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        439 

negro  girl  Peg,  half  the  services  of  his  negro  Cesar,  and  the  use 
of  one-third  of  all  his  other  real  estate.  To  his  son  Benjamin  his 
silver  hilted  sword,  and  to  his  sou  Nathaniel  the  remainder  of  his 
armory,  and  his  house  and  homestead,  reserving  to  his  wife  the 
improvement  as  above  stated.  To  his  sons  Benjamin  and  Na- 
thaniel, to  be  divided  equally,  all  the  rest  of  his  real  estate,  they 
paying  his  just  debts  and  legacies.  To  Nathaniel  his  negro  man 
Cesar,  reserving  as  aforesaid,  and  his  husbandry  tools.  To  his 
four  daughters.  Thankful,  Mary,  Abigail,  and  Rachell,  £3  apiece 
in  addition  to  what  he  had  already  given  them.  To  his  daughter 
Prudence  £33,6,8,  and  a  right  in  the  house  so  long  as  she  remains 
single.  He  names  his  grand-daughter  Thankful  Annable,  and 
grandson  John  Gorham,  to  whom  he  gives  3  shs.,  and  all  his 
wearing  apparel,  to  his  grandson  Daniel  30  shs.,  and  to  his  grand- 
son Joseph  £6  at  21,  and  to  each  of  the  daughters  of  his  son  Jo- 
seph, deceased,  30  shs.  To  his  son  Benjamin  he  gives  all  his  live 
stock,  my  negro  girl  Peg,  and  his  moneys,  debts,  &c.,  to  pay  his 
debts,  legacies,  funeral  charges,  &c.,  and  if  not  sufficient,  Na- 
thaniel to  pay  half  of  the  deficiency,  and  if  there  should  be  a 
surplus,  Nathaniel  to  have  half  thereof.  He  appoints  his  son 
Benjamin  executor.  Witnesses,  David  Phinney,  Thomas  and 
James  Allyu. 

To  his  will  there  are  three  codicils  annexed.  In  the  first, 
dated  Oct.  21,  1765,  he  states  that  his  daughter  Abigail  having 
died  since  the  execution  of  his  will,  he  gives  to  his  grand-daugh- 
ter Sarah  Gorham,  daughter  of  his  daughter  Abigail,  deceased, 
£3,  when  18  or  married.  Witnesses,  David  Phinney,  James  Al- 
len, Sarah  Lumbard. 

In  the  second  codicil  dated  Jan.  12,  1767,  he  states  that  his 
daughter  Prudence  had  married  since  the  execution  of  his  will  and 
he  therefore  revokes  the  legacies  given  to  her,  and  devises  to  her 
the  same  as  given  to  his  other  daughters,  £3. 

In  the  third  codicil  dated  3d  Nov.  1768,  he  states  that 
whereas  his  daughter  Mary  Clap  had  died  since  executing  the 
second  codicil,  he  gives  to  his  grand-daugliter  Prudence  Clap,  the 
same  legacy  he  gave  to  her  mother,  to  be  paid  at  18  or  marriage. 
Witnesses,  David  Gorham,  Edward  Bacon,  Enoch  Hallett. 

111.  Joseph  Gorham  married  Dec.  8,  1737,  Abigail  Lovell. 
He  removed  to  Norwalk,  Conn.,  where  he  died  in  1760  of  the 
small  pox,  and  his  wife,  and  children  probably  born  at  Norwalk, 
returned  to  Barnstable.  His  childrea  were:  1,  John*;  2, 
Daniel ;  3,  Joseph,  of  whom  I  have  no  information  ;  4,   Abigail, 

*  John  Gorham  was  a  mariner  and  is  described  as  being  5  feet  6  inches  in  height,  and  of 
sandy  complexion.  After  the  death  of  liis  father  he  lived  with  his  grandfather  in  Barnsta- 
ble. He  married  April  28, 1771,  Tlinnkful  Butler  of  Falmonbh,  and  after  i-esiding  many 
years  in  that  town,  removed  to  Nantucket,  where  he  died  23d  July,  1801.  His  widow 
Thankful  died  18th  June,  1840,  aged  90  years  and  85  days.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  aud  under  the  act  of  Congress,  of  July  4, 1836,  his  widow  was  entitled  to  a 
peusion  of  $46.66  per  annum  from  March  4, 1831;  but  she  dying  in  1840,  the  pension  was 
obtained  by  her  only  surviving  child,  William  Gorham. 


440         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

who  miTried  Nov.  30,  1770,  Daniel  Smith,  Jr.,  of  Nantucket;  5, 
Deborah,  who  married  Jan.  16,  1772,  Peleg  Bunker  of  Nantucket, 
and  died  25th  Sept.' following ;  6,  Susannah,  who  married  James 
Perry,  Jr.,  and  resided  many  years  in  the  State  of  Maine.  She 
died  in  the  Alms  House,  Nantucket. 

112.  Benjamin  Gorham,  called  "Old  Fiddler"  to  distinguish 
him  from  the  others  of  the  same  name,  resided  in  the  Ebeuezer 
Hinckley  house,  next  east  of  Gov.  Hinckley's  new  house,  which 
his  father  probably  bought  for  him.  He  married  Sept.  3,  1741, 
Mary  Sturgis,  of  Yarmouth,  May  8,  1722.  His  children  were: 
1,  Sturgis,  born  June  28,  1742;  2,  Deborah,  July  6,  1744,  died 
in  infancy;  8,  Benjamin,  March  26,  1746;  4,  Mary,  Oct.  8, 
1748,  married  1st  Capt.  John  Eussell,  lost  with  Capt.  Ma- 
gee,  2d,  Otis  Loring,  and  died  March  11,  1811  ;  5,  Mehitable, 
Nov.  28,  1755,  married  Daniel  Hall  Oct.  31,  1776,  also  lost  with 
Capt.  Magee.  She  died  Sept.  22,  1784;  6,  Olive,  March  12, 
1759,  married  Melatiah  Bourne,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  Sept.  24,  1778, 
(see  Bourne)  ;  7,  Edward,  Feb.  15,  1762. 

Sturgis  Gorham,  Esq.,  son  of  Benjamin,  was  a  successful 
business  man.  He  was  a  merchant,  engaged  in  the  fisheries,  and 
in  the  coasting  and  West  India  trade.  In  the  Revolution  he  was 
a  whig,  and  was  on  many  committees,  and  did  much  good  service 
in  the  cause.  He  built  a  large  and  elegant  mansion  house  oppo- 
site his  grandfather's,  on  the  west  side  of  Coggins'  Pond.  This 
house  has  been  cut  up  and  shorn  of  its  fair  proportions,  and  the 
builder,  if  now  living,  would  not  recognize  it.  *  He  married 
Sept.  13,  1763,  Phebe  Taylor,  who  died  Nov.  7,  1775,  aged  31, 
and  July  12,  1778,  to  her  sister  Desire  Taylor,  who  died  Dec.  15, 
1786,  aged  30.  His  children  were:  1,  Nancy,  born  Sept.  4, 
1765,  died  in  infancy  ;  2,  Nancy,  4th  Sept.  1767,  died  unmarried 
Dec.  27,  1791  ;  3,  Debby,  12th  May,  1769,  married  Oct.  2,  1786, 
James  S.  Lovell,  of  Boston;  4,  Mary  Sturgis,  26th  July  1772, 
married  May  3,  1795,  John  Palfrey,  Jr.,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  father 
of  the  Hon.  John  Gorham  Palfrey  of  Boston  ;  5,  Edward  S., 
25th  March  1774,  died  in  infancy  ;  6,  William  Taylor,  17th  Oct. 
1775,  died  May  5,  1790  ;  7,  Edward  S.,  29th  Nov.  1779,  died  in 
infancy  ;  8,  Phebe  T.,  30th  Sept.  1781  ;  9,  Edward  S.,  31st  Oct. 
1784,  died  in  infancy;  10,  Charlotte,  22d  June,  1786,  married 
1813,  Thomas  L.  Harman,  of  New  Orleans.  She  died  in  Bath, 
Eng.,  in  1821,  leaving  three  children:  Thomas  L.,  Francis  S., 
and  Charlotte. 

Sturgis  Gorham,  Esq.,  died  April  26  1795,  aged  52  years. 
In  his  will  he  gives  one-half  of  the  profit  of  his  wind  mill  to  his 
sister  Olive  till  her  son  Sylvanus  is  21.  He  gives  legacies  to  his 
grandsons  James  and  Joseph  Lovell,  and  the  remainder  of  Ms  es- 

*  The  late  Mr.  Jabez  Hinckley  said  that  for  building  tlie  front  stairway,  Mr.  Gorham 
paid  him  for  seventy-five  days  work.  Every  part  of  the  house  and  its  surroundings  were 
finished  with  the  same  care. 


GKNEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         441 

tate  equally  to  his  daughters  Charlotte  and  "Polly,"  (Mary  Stur- 
gis).  May  5,  1795,  John  Palfrey,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  was  ap- 
pointed guardian  of  Charlotte.  His  estate  was  settled  April  13, 
1802  ;  after  paying  debts  and  legacies  the  balance  was  £683,13,10. 
His  real  estate  was  sold  to  Elijah  Smith,  of  Chatham  for  £900. 

Sturgis  Gorham,  Esq.,  for  many  years  was  the  business  man 
of  Barnstable.  On  his  shoulders  the  mantle  of  his  grandfather 
fell.  He  did  much  to  develop  the  business,  and  advance  the  pros- 
perity of  his  native  town.  He  exerted  a  wide  influence,  but  it  is 
perhaps  doubtful  whether  that  influence  was  always  salutary. 
He  was  a  slaveholder,  as  many  at  that  time  were ;  and  if  common 
report  is  reliable  the  poor  slave  rarely  had  a  harder  master. 

Benjamin  Gorham,  son  of  Benjamin,  (called  Young  Fid- 
dler) resided  in  the  house  that  formerly  stood  where  Capt.  John 
T.  Hall's  now  stands.  He  had  not  the  business  capacity  of  his 
brothers ;  but  was  a  man  of  wit  and  a  boon  companion.  The 
following  story  is  told  of  him,  and  illustrates  his  general  charac- 
ter :  When  a  boy  he  had  a  dog  that  was  very  troublesome,  and 
annoyed  his  mother  very  much.  One  day  he  went  home  and  with 
a  serious  air  said,  "Mother,  I  have  sold  my  dog."  "I  am  very 
glad,  Benjamin,  she  was  so  troublesome — how  much  did  you  get 
for  her?"  "$500."  "Did  you,  Benjamin!"  "Yes,  mother,  I 
did,  most  certainly."  "What  did  you  get  your  pay  in,  Benja- 
min?" "Aye,  that's  it, — in  bitch  pups,  at  $50  apiece."  This 
story  is  the  origin  of  the  common  saying,  applied  to  a  man  who 
makes  a  bad  batter  trade  :  "He  got  his  pay  in  bitch  pups."  He 
married  first,  Mehitable,  daughter  of  Capt.  Wm.  Davis.  She 
died  Dec.  1788,  and  he  married  2d,  Deborah,  widow  of  Mr.  Jo- 
siah  Crocker,  by  whom  he  had,  before  marriage,  one  illegitimate 
daughter  Abigail,  who  married  Capt.  Henry  Bacon  Aug.  4,  1803. 
Capt.  Bacon  had  an  only  daughter  Eloisa,  who  died  single  in 
1835. 

Edward  Gorham,  §  son  of  Benjamin,  married  Jan.  6,  1785, 
Abigail,  daughter  of  Capt.  William  Taylor,  and  resided  in  the 
easterly  part  of  the  town,  on  the  estate  which  was  the  property  of 
his  father-in-law.  His  wife  died  Sept.  19,  1820,  and  he  died 
Sept.  9,  1822,  aged  60.  His  children  were:  1,  John  Taylor, 
born  Jan.  7,  1786;  2,  Hitty,  Jan.  4,  1788,  married  April  29, 
1804,  Dr.  Ansel  Davis;  3,  Lucy,  Sept.  27,  1789,  married  Sept. 
29,  1808,  R.  D.  Shepherd,  of  New  Orleans  ||  ;  4,  Caroline,  Aug. 
26,  1791,  now  living  unmarried  ;  5,  Desire  T.,  Aug.  27,  1793, 
married  Capt.  Daniel  C.  Bacon;  6,  William  Taylor,  Sept.   19, 


§  On  one  occasion  he  reproached  David  Loring  for  his  drunkenness  and  improvid^nee. 
Loring  replied — I  admit  sir,  I  have  not  Bacon  provided  for  my  dinner;  neither  have  I  a 
Shephard  to  watch  over  me  by  night. 

II  He  paid  Mr.  Waterman  twenty  dollars  for  performing  the  marriage  services — the 
largest  fee  named  in  the  record.  Mr.  Chas.  De  Wolfe,  of  Bristol,  E.  I.,  who  married,  Oct. 
24, 1801,  Mrs.  Nabby  Green,  paid  a  doubloon  ($16)  the  next  highest  fee. 


442        GE^•EALOGI0AIi    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

1795  ;  7,  Nabby  Thaeher,  June  8,  1798,  married  Henry  H.  Allen  ; 
8,  Benjamin,  Feb.  6,  1800,  a  graduate  of  the  military  academy  at 
West  Point,  died  unmarried  ;  9,  Mary  Sturgis,  now  living,  mar- 
ried Thomas  Gray,  of  Boston. 

118.  Nathaniel  Gorham,  son  of  John,  was  unlike  any  of  the 
family — he  was  eccentric  in  his  habits,  and  in  his  manners,  and 
strenulously  opposed  any  innovations  of  the  customs  of  the 
fathers.  He  drove  his  team  with  a  long  pole,  because  the  first 
settlers  did  so  ;  and  for  the  same  reason,  he  would  never  have  a 
tip-up-cart.  In  dress,  he  not  only  adhered  to  the  fashions  of  his 
ancestors ;  but,  in  some  particulars  was  an  oddity.  He  wore  his 
shirt  with  the  open  part  behind,  and  fastened  at  the  back  of  the 
neck  with  a  loop  and  a  nail.  He  lived  on  a  very  simple  diet. 
Salt  meat  broth,  bread  and  milk,  hasty  pudding,  and  samp,  were 
his  favorite  dishes  morning,  noon,  and  night.  He  had  a  natural 
aversion  to  spirituous  liquors,  and  never  drank  any  during  his  life. 
If  his  sons  had  inherited  that  antipathy,  they  would  have  been 
better  men. 

During  the  Revolution  he  manufactured  salt  at  Sandy  Neck 
by  boiling  sea-water,  a  slow  and  toilsome  process ;  but  not  irk- 
some to  him,  because  the  first  settlers,  whom  he  venerated,  had 
been  engaged  in  the  same  business.  For  several  successive  days 
during  the  winter  of  1780-1,^  he  drove  a  four  ox  sled,  loaded 
with  wood,  on  the  ice  across  the  harbor,  from  Sandy  Neck  to 
Calves  Pasture  Point.  Since  that  date  the  harbor  has  been  frozen, 
so  that  persons  crossed  on  the  ice,  but  at  no  time  since  suflSciently 
to  bear  a  team. 

Notwithstanding  his  oddities,  he  was  industrious,  honest,  and 
prudent,  an  obliging  neighbor,  and  a  good  citizen.  He  married 
Oct.  30,  1751,  Anna,  daughter  of  George  Lewis,  and  had  1, 
Lewis,  11th  Nov.  1753,  and  2,  George  Lewis,  3d  Oct.  1763.  His 
children  were:  1,  Anner,  born  29th  March,  1775,  married  Thos. 
Harris  of  Boston,  July  12,  1798  ;  2,  David,  6th  Aug.  1778,  mar- 
ried Hannah  Nve ;  3,  John,  16th  July,  1781,  married  Ist,  Martha 
Cobb  April  12|  1804,  2d,  Lucy  Cobb  May  30,  181.3;  4,  Henry, 
8th  Aug.  1785,  married  Polly  Hoxie  ;  5,  Sarah,  12th  May,  1793, 
married  Barnabas  Hinckley. 

Lewis  Gorham*  resided  in  the  mansion-house  of  his  father 
and  grandfather,  at  Coggins'  Pond.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade,  and  for  many  years  was  a  deputy  sheriff.  He  married 
April  14,  1774,  Sarah,  daughter  of  David  Phinney.  She  died 
Feb.  10,  1851,  aged  97  years,  1  month,  6  days,  and  at  her  death 
had  living  5  children,  30  grand-children,  64  great  grand-children, 
and  4  great  great  grand-children. 

ir  This  is  the  tradition  and  it  is  probably  accurate,  for  the  winter  of  1780  is  represented 
as  the  coldest  known. 


*  During  the  Revolution  he  took  an  actiye  part  in  local  proceedings  in  Barnstable,  and 
from  him  I  obtained  some  information  not  acceptable  to  Mr.  Freeman. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         443 

George  Lewis  Gorham  resided  in  the  house  which  his  father 
purchased  of  Capt.  William  Davis.  He  married  March  25,  1784, 
Phebe,  daughter  of  Joseph  Davis,  and  for  his  second  wife  her  sis- 
ter Mary,  then  only  16.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Gorham  she 
married  Dea.  Joseph  Hawes  of  Yarmouth,  whom  she  survived. 
His  children  were:  1,  Phebe,  born  Feb.  8,  1785,  married  James 
Childs ;  2,  Nathaniel,  Oct.  9,  1789,  married  Hannah  Gorham 
April  11,  1813;  3,  Deborah,  March  19,  1792;  4,  Anna  L.  April 
21,  1795,  married  Nymphas  Davis  Aug.  7,  1814;  5,  Benjamin 
Davis,  July  29,  1798;  6,  Mary  Davis,  Dec.  1,  1808,  married  N. 
S.  Hallett. 

(31-8.)  Job  Gorham,  son  of  Lieut.  John,  born  Aug.  30, 
1692,  married  Dec.  4,  1719,  Desire,  daughter  of  Thomas  Dim- 
mock.  She  died  Jan.  28,  1732-3,  and  he  married  2d,  in  1735, 
Bethia,  widow  of  Isaac  Freeman  of  Fairfield,  Conn.  She  was  a 
Sturgis,  born  in  Yarmouth.  Capt.  Job  Gorham  died  in  1762,  and 
his  widow  Bethia  July  11,  1769,  aged  73. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable : 

Temperance,  23d  July,  1721. 
Thomas,  13th  Aug.  1723. 
.     Edward,  12th  Sept.  1725,'  died  young. 
Desire,  17th  March,  1727-8, 
Job,  6th  Nov.  1730,  died  young. 
Sarah,  baptized  15th  Aug.  1736,  died  young. 
The  will  of  Job  Gorham  of  Barnstable,  gentleman,   is  dated 
12th  Sept.   1753,  and  proved  Nov.  2,  1762.     He  names  his  wife 
Bethia  Gorham,   daughters  Temperance  Fuller  and  Desire  Gor- 
ham, to  whom  he  gives  legacies.     All  the  remainder  of  his  estate 
he  gives  to  his  son  Thomas,  whom  he  appoints  his  executor. 

124.  Temperance  Gorham  married  Oct.  29,  1741,  her  cousin 
John  Fuller,  a  great  grandson  of  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller. 

125.  Thomas  Gorham,  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
was  blind.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  and  of  industri- 
ous habits.  After  he  became  blind,  he  performed  many  kinds  of 
labor  which  others  in  his  situation  would  not  have  attempted. 
Timothy  Swinerton,  the  ancestor  of  the  family  of  that  name, 
lived  with  him  when  a  boy.  Mr.  Gorham,  instead  of  having  the 
boy  to  lead  him,  put  the  boy  on  his  horse,  and  taking  the  crupper 
in  his  hand  w^alked  behind  the  horse.  When  walking  alone,  he 
kept  his  cane  in  constant  motion  before  him. 

He  married  1st,  Hannah  Gorham,  daughter  of  Ebenezer, 
May  16,  1754.  She  died  April  5,  1765,  and  he  married  2d, 
Widow  Rebecca  Jones  of  Yarmouth,  in  1765.  She  united  with 
the  East  Church  Sept.  6,  1767,  and  on  the  13th  of  that  month, 
Edward,  Lucy  and  Sarah,  children  by  her  first  husband,  and  Mary 
by  her  last,  were  baptized.  His  children  were  :  1,  Job,  born  12th 
Dec.  1754,  who  married  Sept.  2,  1786,  Rebecca  Davis.     He  was  a 


124. 

I. 

125. 

II. 

126. 

Ill 

127. 

IV. 

128. 

V. 

129. 

VI. 

444        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

sea  captain,  inherited  the  ancient  Gorham  homestead,  and  was 
lost  at  sea  Feb.  1804,  while  on  a  voyage  to  Copenhagen,  in  a 
vessel  belonging  to  Stephen  Gorham.  "He  has  children  surviving. 
2,  Isaac,  29th  Ap.  1756,  died  in  New  Jersey  Prison  Ship ;  3,  De- 
sire,  16th  Oct.  1757,  married  1st,  Richmond,   2d, 

Hill;  4,  Ezekiel,  3d  Dec.  1758,  removed  to  So.  Carolina,  was  a 
sea  captain  lost  at  sea,  and  left  no  issue ;  5,  John,  7th  March, 
1760,  was  a  sea  captain,  lost  at  sea  and  left  no  issue;  6,  Eliza- 
beth, 10th  June,  1761,  married Tenter  ;  7,  Hannah,  bap- 
tized 28th  June,    1763,   married  Burr;    8,  Temperance, 

baptized  17th  Feb.  1765,  married Johnson  ;  9,  Mary,  11th 

Sept.  1766,  married  Elijah  Childs,  father  of  the  late  Dea.  Samuel 
Childs,  May  10.  1785.  Mr.  Thomas  Gorham,  in  his  will  dated 
July  28,  1795,  gives  to  his  wife  Rebecca,  who  was  a  woman  of  a 
weak  intellect,  a  dower  in  his  estate,  (a  gift  he  could  not  avoid) 
to  his  oldest  son  Job  all  his  estate  excepting  dower,  and  20  shill- 
ings to  each  of  his  other  children.  He  names  his  youngest  son 
John,  daughters  Desire  Richmond,  Elizabeth  Tenter,  Hannah 
Burr,  Temperance  Johnson,  and  youngest  daughter  Mary. 

[By  an  oversight  I  omitted  several  families  resident  in  Yar- 
mouth.    This  article  is  too  long  to  make  additions.] 

Note. — While  the  Gorham  genealogy  was  going  through  the 
press  additional  information  of  some  of  the  later  branches  of  the 
family  was  forwarded  by  a  descendant  in  Gloucester.  Col.  John 
Gorham  (102,)  died  of  small-pox,  in  London,  about  the  year 
1750,  while  prosecuting  his  claim  for  expenses  in  the  Louisburg 
Expedition.  His  son  Solomon  died  in  Gloucester,  Dec.  20,  1795, 
aged  47.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  married  Daniel  Rogers  of  Glou- 
cester (not  of  Kittery,  Me.,)  and  Eben.  Parsons,  who  married 
her  sister  Mary,  was  also  some  time  of  Gloucester.  His  widow, 
Elizabeth  (AUyn)  married  second  Col.  John  Stevens  of  Glouces- 
ter, in  1775,  and  died  Dec.  25,  1786,  in  her  73d  year.  Her 
grave-stone  bears  this  inscription  : 

"She  supported  thro'  Life  the  Christian  Character  and  moved  in  the  Various  Circles  of 
Domestic  Life  with  Honor  and  Dignity. 

Tlie  AiTectionate  Wife, 

The  Tender  Mother, 

The  Exemplary  Widow, 

The  Pious  Friend." 


GREEN, 


In  1653  a  Mr.  Groom  owned  land  adjoining  Dea.  Cooper's 
hottselot.  Tliere  was  a  Mr.  John  Groom  in  Plymouth  from  1638 
to  1650,  when  he  disappears  at  Plymouth  and  appears  in  Barnsta- 
ble. Dr.  Shurtleff  seems  to'favor  the  notion  tha^  John  Gorham 
and  John  Groom  were  the  same  person.  Land  for  a  housejot  was 
granted  to  John  Groom  in  1638.  John  Gorham  was  then  only  17, 
and  it  is  not  probable  that  he  was  the  person  intended.  Mr.  Sav- 
age mentions  Nicholas,  Henry  and  Samuel  Groom  ;  but  not  John 
of  Plymouth.  I  have  thought  the  name  on  the  Barnstable  rec- 
ords was  Green,  and  therefore  refer  to  it  in  this  connection. 
There  was  an  Isaac  Green,  a  surveyor,  afterwards  of  Falmouth, 
who  probably  resided  some  little  time  in  Barnstable. 

James  Green,  who  died  in  Barnstable  in  1731,  aged  about  90, 
was  a  son  of  James  of  Charlestown.  He  married  Nov.  19,  1661, 
Rebecca  Jones  of  Dorchester,  and  had, 

I.  Elizabeth,  Nov.  14,  1662,  married  1691,  Jphn  Lothrop,  of 
Barnstable,  2d,  Thomas  Crocker,  23d  Dec.  I7OI.  She  was 
four  years  older  than  her  first,  and  twelve  older  than  her  last 
husbanc^.     She  died  inHingham  Aug.  1,  1752,  aged  89. 


446         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

II.  James,   Dec.    15,  1665.     In  1688  and  9,  master  of  the  ship 
Success,  of  Boston. 

III.  Thomas,  Jan.   2,  1666.     He  owned  a  house  in  Barnstable 
which  he  sold  to  John  Goodspeed  before  the  year  1721. 

IV.  Eichard,  April  7,  1669. 

V.  John,  Feb.  24,1771. 

VI.  Esther,  Sept.  27,  1675,  married Frothingham. 

VII.  Samuel,  July  20,  1680. 

William  Green,  a  descendant  of  James,  married  March  25, 
1709,  Desire,  daughter  of  John  Bacon,  Esq.  She  died  Dec.  29, 
1730,  aged  41,  and  he  married  2d,  Sept.  1,1731,  Mary  Fuller. 
He  died  Jan.  28,  1756,  aged  above  70,  (Church  Records)  and  his 
widow  Oct.  23,  1756. 

He  resided  in  a  high  single  house  on  the  lot  next  west  of  Na- 
thaniel Bacon's,  given  to  him  by  his  father-in-law,  (see  Bacon) 
and  afterwards  owned  by  Lot  Thacher. 

,    His  children  horn  in  Barnstable  were : 

I.  Warren,  born  June  9,  1712. 

II.  Desire,  Oct.  24,  1718. 

III.  William,  July  17,  1721. 

IV.  Sarah,  Dec.  27,  1723. 

V.  Mary,  baptized  Sept.  5,  1725. 

VI.  John,  born  April  12,  1726. 

VII.  James,  Sept.  17,  1728. 

William  married  Mary  Cpnant  Oct.  1745.  James  married 
Feb.  14,  1755,  Ruth  Marshal  of  Freetown,  and  removed  to  East 
Haddam.  He  had  five  children, — was  a  blaeksnaith,  and  a  Cap- 
tain in  the  French  War.  Isaac  Green,  I  think,  belonged  to  this 
family.  He  removed  to  Falmouth,  married  1st,  Sarah,  2d,  Ju- 
dith, and  died  Jan.  1,  1739-40.  He  had  by  his  first  wife  Sarah, 
Jonathan,  Elizabeth,  Sarah  and  Martha,  after  1700,  and  by  his 
2d  wife,  Lemuel,  April  29,  1719,  and  a  daughter  Abigail  born 
Jan.  21,  1722.     This  name  is  sometimes  written  Groon. 

Rev.  Joseph  Green,  of  Barnstable,  belonged  to  another  fam- 
ily. To  him  I  am  much  indebted  for  the  careful  manner  in  which 
he  kept  the  church  records.  He  resided  in  the  parsonage  near  the 
Meeting  House  in  the  East  Parish.  He  married  Nov.  18,  1725, 
Hannah,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Russell,  and  had : 

I.  Joseph,  born  12th  Sept.  1727. 

II.  Martha,  17th  Nov.  1730. 

III.  Hannah,  6th  June,  1745. 

Mr.  Green   died  Oct.  4,  1770,  and  is  buried  in  the  Old  Bury- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         447 

ing  Ground  on  Lothrop's  Hill.     On  his  tombstone  the  following 
epitaph  is  engraved : 

"Here  lieth 
The  Body  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Joseph  Green 
The  worthy  pastor  of  this  church 
As  a  Gentleman  a  Friend  a  Christian  and  a 

Minister 
His  character  was  greatly  distinguished 
His  natural  abilities  were  conspicuous 
And  much  improved  by  study  and  application 
In  human  and  sacred  Literature  he  greatly  ex- 
celled 
His  principles  were  evangelical  and  candid 
In  prayer  and  preaching 
His  Giits  were  generally  and  justly  admired 
Temperance  Purity  Prudence  Benevolence  Res- 
ignation * 
Devotion  and  exemplary  JDiligence  in  his  Mas- 
ter's Service  adorned  his  character 
His  mind  was  sedate  his  Temper  placid 
His  Aftections  and  Passions  regulated  by  Rea- 
son and  Religion 
His  manners  courteous  generous  and  Hospitable 
His  conversation  entertaining  instructive  and 

serious 
A  dutiful  Son  an  affectionate  Husband  and  a 

tender  Parent 
A  sincere  Friend  and  a  faithful  Minister 
Greatly  and  to  the  last  beloved  and  honored  by 
his  People 

Born  June  21  O  S  1.701 
Graduated  at  Harvard  College  1720 
Ordained  May  12  O  S  1725 
Departed  this  life  in  assured  hope  of  a  better 
Oct  4  N  S  1770  in  the  70th  year  of  his  age 
And  46th  of  his  Ministry 
Think  what  the  Christian  Preacher  Friend 

should  be 
You've  then  his  character,  for  such  was  he." 

Notwithstanding  this  fuUsome  panegyric  which  some  unwise 
friend  caused  to  be  engraved  on  his  tombstone,  Mr.  Green  was  an 
excellent  man  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  He  was  a  moderate 
Calvinist,  and  his  ministry,  an  account  of  which  will  hereafter  be 
given,  was  most  successful.  As  his  tombstone  says,  he  was  "be- 
roved  and  honored  by  his  people." 

Till  recently  it  had  always  been  the  custom  of  the  parishion- 
ers to  cut  and  draw  the  wood,  and  prepare  the  same  for  the  minis- 
ter's fire  ou  the  week  following  the  annual  Thanksgiving.  After 
his  death,  in  1770,  the  people  turned  out  as  usual.  Mr.  Green 
had  always  given  them  flip  and  prepared  for  them  a  good  dinner, 
and  they  expected  the  custom  would  be  continued.  When  the 
teamsters  had  unloaded  they  expected  to  be  invited  in ;  but  no 
one  came  to  the  door.  After  waiting  some  time,  Abner,  negro 
slave  of  Col.   David  Gorham,  was  sent  into  the  house.     Abner, 


448        GENEALOUICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

went  into  the  kitchen,  found  no  preparations  were  making  for  a 
dinner,  and  that  there  was  no  flip  on  the  side-table.  He  came 
out,  and  raising  his  hands  over  liis  head,  said  in  a  solemn  sing- 
song tone  :  Mister — Green — is — dead. 

Joseph,  son  of  Rev.  Joseph  Green,  of  Barnstable,  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  the  class  of  1746,  and  of  Yale 
College  in  1752.  He  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Marshfield  in 
1753.  From  that  town  he  removed  to  Yarmouth,  and  Sept.  15, 
1762,  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  West  Church.  He  died  Nov.  5, 
1768  aged  41  years. 

He  married  Hannah  Lewis,  daughter  of  Rev.  Isaiah  of  West- 
field,  and  had  Isaiah  L.  Green  born  in  Barnstable  Dec.  28,  1761, 
Harvard  College  1781,  and  a  distinguished  man.  Was  a  member 
of  Congress  1805-9  and  1811-13,  collector  of  customs,  &c.,  and 
died  in  1841,  leaving  a  large  family.  2,  Abigail,  who  married 
Oct.  24,  1802,  Capt.  Charles  De  Wolf,  of  Bristol,  R.  I. 

Martha  Green  died  unmarried  Jan.  1791,  in  the  61st  year  of 
her  age.     Hannah,  hjs  third  child,  died  in  infancy. 

Madam  Hannah  Green,  wife  of  Rev.  Joseph  Green,  Sen., 
-died  June  6,  1745,  on  the  day  of  the  birth  of  her  daughter  Han- 
nah. 

John  Green  of  Barnstatile  belonged  to  another  family.  I 
have  heard  it  said  that  he  came  from  French  Guiana.  His  house 
is  yet  standing,  and  is  the  second  east  of  the  Court  House.  He 
married  in  1763  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Shubael  Baxter  of  Yar- 
mouth, and  had  John  and  Elizabetfi  baptized  in  1768,  James  in 
1771,  and  Sarah  in  1775.  She  died  March  27,  1782,  aged  45. 
Her  son  Shubael  by  her  first  husband,  born  June  14,  1758.  John 
Green  was  not  popular  with  the  boys,  and  they  troubled  him  in 
his  old  age.  Some  curious  stories  are  told  of  his  adventures,  but 
they  are  hardly  worth  preserving. 


GARRETT. 


Dea.  Richard  Garrett  was  the  first  Town  Clerk  of  Scituate. 
He  married  Lydia,  daughter  of  Eider  Nathaniel  Tilden,  andhad' 
Joseph  1648,  John  1651,  Mary  1655,-  Richard  1659;  Richard' 
married  1695  Persis,  daughter  of  Capt.  Michael  Pierce,  and  had 
Ann,  Deborah,  and  John  born  1706.*  His  second  wife  was 
Martha  Tobeyof  Sandwich,  whom  be  married  10th  Sept.  1712. 
Andrew  Garrett  of  Sandwich,  probably  a  son  of  Richard^  Jr., 
married  Dec.  20,  1753,  Temperance  Parker,  and  April  17,  1760, 
Lucy  Davis.  He  removed  to  Barnstable,  and  owried  the  estate 
and  wharf  afterwards  owned  by  Dea  Joseph  Chipman.  His  chil- 
dren were:  Andrew,  born  Feb.  25,  1755,  who  married,  was  a 
Lieutenant  in  the  continental  army,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  In- 
dians, with  whom  he  resided  four  years,  adopted  their  habits,  and 
it  is  said  took  one  to  wife.  On  his  return  his  wife,  a  Salem 
woman,  believing  him  dead,  had  married  and  had  a  child.  They' 
agreed  to  part,  and  he  married  Miss  Blish,  and  afterwards  resided 
at  Annable's  Pond.  2,  Jesse,  born  Feb.  20,  1761,  was  lost  with 
Capt.  Magee  Dec.  27,  1778 ;  3,  Isaac,  born  May  17,  1763 ;  4, 
Temperance,  Aug.  19,  1765;  5,  Susannah,  Oct.  7,  1768.  A 
widow  Susannah  Garrett  died  in  Barnstable  July  7,  1789,  perhaps 
a  third  wife  of  Andrew,  Senior.  ... 

*Deane. 


JOHN   HALL. 


The  precise  date  when  John  Hall  eatne  to  Barnstable,  "I  can- 
not ascertain.  I  find  no  evidence  that  he  came  before  1641.  As 
he  removed  to  Yarmouth  before  the  records  of  each  man's  land 
was  made,  the  exact  location  of  his  houselot  and  of  his  other 
lands,  I  am  unable  to  give.  All  that  I  can  say  certainly  is,  that 
his  house  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  new  Court  House,  that  he 
owned  a  small  tract  of  land  near  Cooper's  Pond,  and  that  his 
great  lot  of  forty  acres  was  at  the  Indian  Ponds.  I  presume  that 
he  bought  the  house  and  lands  of  Gen.  James  Cud  worth,  and  on 
his  removal  to  Yarmouth  he  sold  to  James  Naylor,  who  sold  July 
21,  1656,  to  Thomas  Lothrop.  If  I  am  right,  his  eight  acre 
houselot  was  bounded  north  by  the  present  County  road,  west  by 
Freeman  Hinckley's  Lane,  south  by  the  commons,  and  east  by 
Isaac  Wells,  the  boundary  line  being  not  far  from  the  present 
street  called  Railroad  Avenue.  Anciently  there  was  a  highway, 
commencing  at  the  County  road  between  Eldridge's  Hotel  and  the 
Savings  Bank  building,  and  running  north  to  the  landing,  on  the 
north  of  Potter's  neck,  as  the  land  in  that  vicinity  was  called. 
He  owned  four  acres  of  land  and  meadow  on  the  east  side  of  that 
ancient  highway,  and  twenty-six  of  land  on  the  west,  and  three 
acres  of  meadow  on  the  north.  (See  Maybor.)  These  twenty- 
six  acres  embraced  certainly  two  of  the  origioal  allotments,  prob- 
ably those  of  Mr.  Cudworth  and  of  Henry  Rowley. 

About  the  year  1651  he  removed  to  Yarmouth,  and  his  farm 
containing  147  acres,  in  Conny  *  Furlong  at  Nobscusset,  is  de- 
scribed on  the  records.  It  is  a  short  distance  north-easterly  from 
the  meeting  houses  at  North  Dennis,  and  a  part  of  it  yet  owned 
by  his  descendants.  He  also  owned  15  acres  of  upland  on  the 
west  of  Coy's  Pond,  and  12  acres  of  meadow  in  that  vicinity,  and 
rights  of  commonage. 

John  Hall,   Sen.,   was  not   distinguished  in  public  life.     In 


*  The  lands  in  Yarmouth  first  laid  out  were  divided  into  fnrlong:s,  each  of  which  was 
known  by  a  particular  name.  Snakes,  Eabbits  Ruin,  Lone  Tree  and  others,  are  named. 
The  name  of  Mr.  Hall's  I  caimot  make  out  clearly,  it  is  Conies,  Canny,  or  Cunningham, 
perhaps. 


GENEAIiOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES.         451 

1647  he  wa8  constable  of  the  town  of  "Bastable,"  as  the  name  of 
the  town  was  sometimes  written  by  the  early  inhabitants.  He 
was  surveyor  of  highways  in  Yarmouth  in  1663,  and  on  the  grand 
inquest  in  1657  and  1664.  As  a  private  citizen,  he  was  eminent- 
ly distinguished  for  his  moral  worth  and  religious  character. t  A 
more  honest  and  upright  man  in  all  his  dealings,  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  find.  He  died  in  1696,  at  a  very  advanced  age,  and  was 
probably  buried  in  the  Hall  burying  ground  in  Dennis.  In  his 
will  dated  July  15,  1694,  he  names  his  son  Samuel,  whom  he  calls 
eldest,  Jolin,  Joseph,  William,  Benjamin  and  Elisha,  who  it  ap- 
pears were  then  living  in  Yarmouth,  and  his  sons  Nathaniel  and 
G-ershom.     His  will  was  proved  Aug.  29,  1696. 

The  tradition  in  the  family  is  that  he  came  from  Wales ;  but 
nothing  is  certainly  known  on  the  subject ;  neither  is  it  known 
whether  he  married  before  or  after  he  came  over.  I  infer  from 
Richard  Henchman's  letter,  that  his  nine  sons  were  the  children  of 
one  wife.  J  As  these  names  have  already  been  given,  it  is  un- 
necessary to  repeat  them. 

(1-2.)  Samuel  Hall,  his  oldest  son,  was  bound  as  an  ap- 
prentice to  Francis  Balser,  blacksmith ;  but  he  was  not  treated 
well  by  his  master,  and  in  1655,  by  the  order  of  the  Court,  his 
indentures  were  made  void,  his  father  paying  £8.  He  afterward 
learned  the  trade  of  a  cooper.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Thomas  FoUand  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  in  1696,  leaving  no 
issue.  In  his  will  dated  Oct.  7,  1693,  he  names  his  wife  Eliza- 
beth, and  all  his  brothers.  His  widow  married  April  27,  1699, 
Jeremiah  Jones,  and  she  died  in  1711. 

(2-1.)  Dea.  John  Hall,  son  of  John,  Sen.,  resided  on  a 
farm  at  Hocanom,  in  Yarmouth.  I  find  no  record  of  his  mar- 
riage, but  presume  *  he  married  Priscilla,  daughter  of  Austin 
Bearse  of  Barnstable.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the  Yarmouth  church, 
and  died  Oct.  24,  1710,  aged  73  years.  He  was  buried  in  the  old 
graveyard  in  Yarmouth,  where  he  has  a  monument  erected  to  his 
memory.  If  he  was  73  at  his  death  in  1710,  he  was  born  in  1637, 
as  above  stated.  His  widow  died  March  30,  1712,  aged  68 
years. 

Children  of  Dea.  John  Hall,  and   Priscilla  Bearse,  born  in 
Yarmouth  : 
10.     I.     John  born  4  (gone.) 


t  See  Letter  of  Kichard  Henclman  Feb.  1687,  publishecj  in  Yarmouth  Eegister. 


l  Perhaps  the  John  Kail  named  by  Mr.  Frothingham  as  of  Charlestown  in  1632,  and  who 
was  No.  19  on  the  rei;ords  of  the  1st  church  in  Boston,  was  the  Barnstable  man.  If  so,  his 
wife  Bethia  and  sons  John  and  Sheban,  did  not  die  as  stated  by  Mr.  Savage. 


*I  find  no  record  of  this  marriage;  but  nevertheless  presume  it  to  be  the  fact.  Her 
age  corresponds  with  that  of  Priscilla,  daughter  of  Austin  Bearse,  ami  she  names  all  her 
children  excepting  the  first  and  last,  after  her  brothers  and  sisters.  Mr.  Freeman  copies 
this  without  credit  m  his  account  of  the  Bearse  family,  nearly  all  of  which  is  a  transcript  of 
my  article,  which  he  has  appropriated  to  himself,  p  297, 


452        GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 


( 


11.  II.     Joseph,  29th  Sept.  1663. 

12.  III.     daughter,  middle  Nov.  1668. 

13.  IV.     Priscilla,  Feb.  1671. 

14.  V.     Hestar,  April  1672. 

15.  VI.     Marv,  1st  March,  1673. 

16.  VII.     Martha,  24th  Mav,  1676. 

17.  VIII.     Nathaniel,  15th  Sept.  1678. 

10.  John  Hall,  3d,  married  April  30,  1694,  Margaret, 
daughter  of  John  Miller  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  March  21, 
1734-5,  in  the  70th  year  of  his  age.  This  gives  the  year  of  his 
birth  1666,  showing  that  he  was  younger  than  Joseph.  His  -wife 
died  Jan.  13,  1723-4,  in  the  56th  year  of  her  age.  His  children 
born  in  Yarmouth  were  :  1,  Mehetable,  17th  March,  1694-5,  mar- 
ried Shubael  Tavlor  Sept.  6,  1716,  and  died  young;  2,  Sarah, 
18th  March,  1696-7,  died  March  28,1732;  3,  Margaret,  13th 
Sept.  1699  ;  twins  7th  March,  1701-2,  both  died  young  ;  4,  Pris- 
cilla, 13th  May,  1704;  5,  Bethia,  24th  July,  1706,  died  Oct.  6, 
1744;  6,  John,  24th  Aug.  1708,  died  March  1,  1745;  7,  Isaac, 
23d  Aug.  1712,  died  Oct.  2,  1735. 

11.  Dea.  Joseph  Hall  grandson  of  John,  and  was  a  man  of 
note  in  his  day.  He  married  Feb.  12,  1689-90,  Hannah,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Miller.  She  died  Aug.  23,  1,710,, and  he  married  2d,, 
Widow  Mary,  relict  of  John  Morton,  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph, 
Faunce  of  Plymouth,  born  June  2,  1681.  She  died  in  Yarmouth, 
May  31,  1761,  in  the  80th  year  of  her  age.  Dea.  Joseph  diedi 
Jan.  29,  1736-7,  in  the  73d  year  of  his  age.  His  children  born 
in  Yarmouth  were:  1,  Hannah,  20th  Feb.  1690-1;  2,  Priscilla, 
28th  March,  1693,  married  Sept.  1719,  Benjamin  Crocker;  3, 
Margery,  24th  Feb.  1694-5  ;  4,  Joseph,  6th  Aug.  1697,  married 
and  had  a  family  of  12,  several  of  whom  were  distinguished ;  5, 
Daniel,  18th  July  1699,  married  Lydia  Gray  of  Harwich  May  18, 
1721,  the  first  couple  published  in  Yarmouth  under  the  then  new 
law  ;  he  afterwards  married  two  other  wives,  and  was  a  deacon 
and  man  of  note.  His  youngest  son,  Samuel,  removed  to  Ash- 
field,  1777.  Dea.  Daniel  had  15  children  recorded,  and  4  not  re- 
corded, two  of  whom  were  named  David  and  Elizabeth  ;  6,  Jo- 
siah,  12th  Aug.  1701,  married  Rebecca  Howes  Oct.  15,  1730;  7, 
David,  6th  Aug.  1704,  Harvard  College  1724,  ordained  at  Sutton, 
Mass.,  1729,  a  friend  of  that  distinguished  divine,  Dr.  Jonathan 
Edwards.  He  married,  had  twelve  children,  and  died  May  8, 
1789,  aged  86,  and  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  ministry.  8,  Mary, 
30th  March,  1712,  married  Elkanah  Howes,  1734;  9,  Peter,  19th 
May,  1715,  married  Abigail  Sears  Dee.  21,  1738;  10,  John,  3d 
Jan.  1716-17  ;  11,  Barshua,  5th  July,  1719. 

Joseph  Hall,  son  of  Dea.  Joseph  of  Yarmouth,  married  Re- 
becca.    He  died  1771-2,  aged  74,  and  his  widow  died  March  10, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         453 

1791,  aged  91.  Children  bora  in  Yarmouth:  1,  Hannah,  10th 
Sept.  1721,  died  young;  2,  Joseph,  7th  June,  1723,  married  Zip- 
pera  Young  ;  3,  Edward,  22d  Jan.  1725,  died  April  20,  1765  ;  4, 
Hannah,  18th  Dec.  1726,  married  Nathaniel  Bassett ;  5,  Rebecca, 
16th  Jan.  1731,  married  James  Howland  ;  6,  Nathaniel,  6th  Jan. 
1733;  7,  Stephen,  9th  Jan.  1736,  married  Mary  Freeman;  8, 
Betty,  16th  May,  1738,  married  Prince  Sears  ;  9,  Nathaniel,  1st 
June,  1740,  married  Mehetable  Howes  ;  10,  Barnabas,  20th  April, 
1742,  married  Mary  Crocker ;  11,  Priscilla,  24th  July,  1744,  mar- 
ried Jeremiah  Howes  ;  12,  Daniel. 

(1-3).  Dea  Joseph  Hall,  son  of  John,  Sen.,  was  an  early 
settler  in  Mansfield,  Conn.  He.  was  Town  Clerk,  and  a  promi- 
nent man.  He  died  in  Yarmouth  May  31,  1736,  aged  73  years, 
probably  while  on  a  voyage  to  his  native  town.  He  left  no  issue. 
His  widow  Mary  died  in  Mansfield  Feb.  3,  1717-18.*  (Manu- 
script letter  of  Wm.  S.  Weaver,  Esq.) 

(1-5).  Capt.  Nathaniel  Hall  was,  if  we  except  Joseph,  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  sons  of  John  Hall,  Sen.  Richard 
Henchman,  the  school-master  of  Yarmouth,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  In- 
crease Mathew,  dated  Yarmouth,  Feb.  1686-7,  says  :  "There  is  in 
this  town  one  Mr.  Nathaniel  Hall,  a  man  descended  of  eminently 
religious  parents  ;  who  were  very  happy  in  all  their  children, 
being  nine  sons,  men  whom  this  Nathaniel  is  reckoned  to  excel, 
who  in  the  late  wars  received  a  wound  (the  bullet  remaining  in  his 
body)  that  has  taken  away,  in  a  great  measure,  the  use  of  one  of 
his  arms  "  &c.  Capt.  Hall  was  a  corporal,  in  the  first  expedi- 
tion, in  1675,  under  Capt.  John  Gorham  ;  a  sargeant  in  the  sec- 
ond, in  1676,  in  which  expedition  it  is  probable  he  received  the 
wound  for  which  he  claimed  and  received  a  pension.  The  earliest 
record  I  find  is  dated  July  7,  1681,  when  the  Court  allowed  him 
£15  and  all  fines  imposed  on  persons  in  Yarmouth,  who  were  con- 
victed of  selling  spirituous  liquors.  There  had  evidently  been 
some  previous  action,  for  June  9,  1683,  £8  was  allowed  him  for 
his  continued  lameness,  and  it  is  stated  in  the  record  June  5, 
1684,  that  $40  had  been  paid  to  him  in  money  and  a  license 
granted  to  him  to  keep  an  ordinary,  and  all  the  fines  imposed  on 
parties  in  Yarmouth  who  should  sell  drink  contrary  to  law.  In 
final  settlement  of  his  claim,  an  annual  pension  of  five  pounds 
per  annum  for  life,  was  offered  him,  which  he  accepted  June  2, 
1685. 

Being  unable  to  attend  to  any  business  that  required  physical 


*Mr.  Savage  blesses  Dea.  Joseph,  Sen.,  with  a  family.  He  did  not  follow  my  manu- 
script, yet  I  think  I  am  right.  Our  Probate  Records  say  he  had  no  children  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  The  Yarmouth  records  are  silent  on  the  subject.  So  are  the  Mansfield,  of 
which  town  he  was  the  Clerk,  and  he  would  probably  have  recorded  the  births  of  his  own 
children  if  he  had  any.  Mr.  Weaver,  who  has  carefully  examined  the  records,  writes  to  me 
that  "he  probably  had  no  descendants."  Mr.  Savage  confounds  the  two  Dea.  Joseph 
Halls.  It  is  very  curious  if  both  should  have  had  children  of  the  same  names  and  bom  on 
the  same  days. 


454        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

strength,  he  devoted  his  leisure  time  to  the  study  of  surgery  and 
medicine,  in  which,  aided  by  his  father-in-law.  Rev.  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton, who  was  a  physician  as  well  as  a  minister,  he  acquired  much 
skill  and  performed  several  diflScult  surgical  operations  with  suc- 
cess. In  1687  he  had,  in  a  great  measure,  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  his  wound,  and  proposed  to  remove  to  Boston  and  es- 
tablish himself  in  that  town  as  a  physician.  To  accomplish  this 
was  the  object  of  Mr.  Henchman's  letter.  He  removed  to  Hing- 
ham,  where  he  practiced  medicine  several  years,  and  from  thence 
to  Lewes,  Sussex  County,  Penn. 

In  1689,  it  appears  by  Church's  history,  that  he  again  was  a 
soldier  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars  of  that  period.  He  was  a 
Captain  and  fought  with  great  bravery  under  Major  Church  in  the 
defence  of  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  Sept.  21,  1689.  .  Mather  in 
his  Magnalia,  and  he  certainly  knew,  states  that  the  Capt.  Na- 
thaniel Hall  who  fought  so  bravely  at  Falmouth,  was  the  same 
man  who  had  served  as  an  officer  in  King  Phillip's  war. 

The  history  of  his  keeping  an  ordinary  or  tavern,  in  Yar- 
mouth, presents  many  curious  points.  The  Court  conferred  on 
him  the  sole  right  of  keeping  an  ordinary  in  Yarmouth,  then  in- 
cluding the  present  town  of  Dennis,  and  forbid  all  others  from 
selling  wines  or  spirituous  liquors  without  license,  and  constituted 
him  an  agent  to  prosecute  all  offenders,  and  gave  him  the  fines 
collected.  He  had  absolute  power  conferred  on  him,  and  the 
grant  was  to  continue  during  his  natural  life.  Excepting  at  his 
house  no  traveler  could  procure  lodging.  The  consequence  was, 
his  house  was  thronged  with  customers  and  was  the  resort  of  the 
intemperate  and  the  lascivious.  In  two  years  he  became  dissatis- 
fied, and  his  wife  who  was  a  very  pious  woman,  was  utterly  dis- 
gusted with  the  business  of  keeping  an  ordinary.  He  sought 
other  employment,  and  sold  out  to  Jasper  Taylor  Sept.  17,  1690, 
"the  liberty  and  privilege  of  keeping  a  house  of  public  entertain- 
ment in  said  Yarmouth,  to  retail  all  sorts  of  strong  drink,  with- 
out further  license  during  the  natural  life  of  said  Hall,  with  one- 
half  of  all  the  fines  taken  of  any  English  person  for  retailing 
strong  drink  without  license  in  said  Yarmouth."  In  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  privileges  conveyed,  Taylor  avers  that  Hall  covenant- 
ed to  save  him  harmless.  The  papers  are  full  of  legal  quibbles, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  sift  out  the  simple  truth.  The  following  are 
some  of  the  facts  :  Taylor  was  complained  of  for  keeping  an  or- 
dinary without  license,  and  was  amerced  in  £4  fines.  At  the  Octo- 
ber term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  held  in  Barnstable  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  October,  1703,  Taylor  sued  Hall  on  his  covenant 
and  obtained  a  judgment,  and  from  this  judgment  Hall  appealed 
to  the  Suserior  Court  to  be  held  in  Plymouth.  He  did  not  deny 
in  his  "Eeasons  of  Appeal"  that  he  had  made  such  sale,  but  that 
the  covenant  was  void  in  law,  and  "no  covenant."     In  law  Mr. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  455 

Hall  was  probably  right ;  but  he  was  nevertheless  morally  bound 
to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  his  bargain.  He  would  not  be  morally 
bound  to  do  an  illegal  or  immoral  act ;  but  he  was  bound  in  honor 
to  restore  money  that  he  had  obtained  by  an  illegal  contract,  and 
the  court  rightly  held  that  he  was  so  responsible. 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Hall  married  before  1675,  Ann,  daughter  of 
Rev.  Thomas  Thornton  of  Yarmouth.  There  is  no  record  of  his 
children  in  Yarmouth  or  Hingham.  In  reply  to  my  inquiries,  I 
am  informed  that  a  family  of  the  name  settled  early  in  Sussex, 
but  my  correspondent  was  unable  to  ascertain  whether  the  Halls 
of  that  County  were  the  descendants  of  Nathaniel. 

(1-6.)  Mr.  Gersham  Hall,  son  of  John,  Sen.,  was  a  promi- 
nent man.  He  resided  some  time  in  Chatham,  from  which  town 
he  was  a  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court  in  1791.  He  resided  in  Har- 
wich most  of  his  life,  and  was  a  useful  and  influential  man  during 
the  early  settlement  of  that  town.  He  built  the  grist  mill  known 
as  Hall's  Mill,  and  his  residence  was  in  that  vicinity.  He  mar- 
ried first  Bethia,  daughter  of  Edward  Bangs.  She  died  Oct.  15, 
1696,  aged  54.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Dec.  7,  1696, 
Martha  Bramhall  of  Hingham.  She  died  July  2,  1733,  aged  69 
years.  He  died  Oct.  31,  1732,  aged  85  years,  and  was  buried  in 
the  Hall  burying  ground  in  Dennis,  where  he  and  his  wives  have 
monuments.  The  record  of  his  family  is  lost.  His  children 
were  :  1,  Edward,  who  married  twice,  and  died  in  Harwich  Jan. 
22,  1727,  and  his  widow  Sarah  married  Aug.  12,  1728,  Mr. 
Daniel  Legg  of  Yarmouth.  His  children  were :  1,  Bethia,  born 
Dec.  31,1709,  married  Andrew  Clark,  Jr.,  Aug.  20,1729;  2, 
Hannah,  Feb.  1,  1711-12,  marriedFeb.  22,  1728-9,  TuUy Crosby; 

3,  Mary,  Oct.   15,  1714,  married  Nov.  28,    1734,  Gershom   Hall ; 

4,  Edward,  April  19,  1717,  married,  had  a  family,  and  died  Feb. 
1797,  aged  80  years;  5,  Sarah,  April  27,  1720,  died  young;  6, 
Patience,  July  15,  1726. 

2.  Jonathan  Hall,  son  of  Gersham,  had  by  wife  Hannah, 
Gersham,  born  Oct.  25,  1715,  who  married  his  cousin  Mary. 

3.  Samuel  Hall,  son  of  Gersham,  born  1669,  married  Pati- 
ence Rider  Feb.  2,  1696-7.  He  died  in  Harwich  Feb.  19,  1729-30, 
and   his   widow    married   Thomas  Clark,  Esq. 

4.  Mercy  Hall,  daughter  of  Gersham,  married  John  Chase. 

5.  Bethia  Hall,  daughter  of  Gersham,  married  Kenelen 
Winslow. 

Capt.  "William  Hall,  son  of  John  Senior,  removed  to  Mans- 
field, Conn.  He  bought  June  24,  1695,  a  thousand  acre  right  of 
land  in  "Windham,  now  Mansfield.  He  died  June,  11,  1727,  aged 
76,  and  his  wife  Easter  Feb.  19,1727.  His  children  were:  1, 
Isaac,  who  married  April  24,  1700,  Sarah,  daughter  of  John 
Reed  of  Windham,  and  had  ten  children  ;  2,  James,  who  married 
Mehitable  "Wood  Oct.  15,  1716,  and  had  ten  children ;  3,  "William, 


456        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

who  married  Hester July  20,  1708,  and  had  a  family.     He 

probably  had  other  children.  Mr.  Weaver  writes  that  "there  was 
a  Theophilus  Hall  who  married  Ruth  Sargeant  March  2,  1719-20, 
but  whether  the  son  of  Benjamin  or  William  I  am  not  certain." 

(1-8).  Benjamin  Hall,  son  of  Jonn  Senior,  removed  first  to 
Harwich  and  afterwards  to  Mansfield,  Conn.,  when  he  purchased 
land  Sept.  15,  1708,  and  was  then  called  of  M.  He  married  Feb. 
7,  1677,  Mehitabel  Matthews  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  in  Mans- 
field Aug.  7,  1737,  aged  93  years,  and  his  widow  Mehitabel  Feb. 
20,  1740-1,  aged  over  90.  Little  is  certainly  known  respecting 
his  family.  His  children  were  probably  all  born  in  Harwich,  and 
the  record  is  lost.  He  had  a  son  Barnabas  who  married  Mercy, 
and  had  a  family,  the  oldest  born  May  23,  1710  ;  also  a  son  She- 
bar,  who  married  Abigail  and  had  a  family,  the  oldest  child  born 
June  13,  1711.     Theophilus  above  named  was  perhaps  his  son. 

(1-9).  Elisha  Hall,  youngest  son  of  John,  Senior,  resided 
in  Yarmouth.  He  married  Lydia,  who  died  Feb.  23,  1723-4. 
His  children  were:  1,  Ebenezer,  born  Nov.  20,  1681,  married 
Mehitabel  Eldredge  Sept.  27,  1705;  2,  Elisha,  June  14,  1682, 
married  Mary  Howes  Sept.  1709 ;  3,  Tabitha,  Dec.  18,  1683, 
married  Wm.  Cook  March  18,  1707  ;  4,  Judah,  Jan.  18,  1685, 
married  Mehitabel ;  5,  Phebe,  March  23,  1689,  married  Jacob 
Cobb  April  3,  1716;  6,  Job,  Sept.  14,  1691  ;  7,  Sylvanus,  May 
17,  1693. 

Elisha  Hall,  son  of  Elisha,  and  grandson  of  the  first  John, 
married  Mary  Howes  Sept.  1709,  and  had  1,  Elisha,  26th  Aug. 
1710;  2,  Mary,  27th  July  1712  ;  3,  Thankful,  31st  Jan.  1715; 
4,  Joshua,  18th  April  1717,  he  removed  to  Connecticut,  thence  to 
Ploughed  Neck,  Sandwich,  where  he  has  descendants ;  5,  Ste- 
phen, 16th  July,  1719  ;  6,  Bethia,  17th  March,  1722  ;  7,  Eliza- 
beth, 14th  Dec.  1724;  8,  Phebe,  20th  Jan.  1630;  9,  Lydia,  16th 
Jan.  1733. 

Judah  Hall,  son  of  Elisha,  married  Mehitabel,  and  had  1, 
Judah,  born  in  Plymouth  Ist  June,  1714  ;  2,  Abner,  born  in  Yar- 
mouth 21st  Feb.  1719  ^  3,  James,  23d  Aug.  1719  ;  4,  Giles,  14th 
July  1721;  5,  Thomas,  26th  April  1724;  6,  Enoch,  27th  Dec. 
1725  ;  7,  Sylvanus,  15th  June,  1727. 

(I  have  generally  and  that  is  my  intention  to  trace  the  fami- 
lies one  generation  farther  ;  but  the  Halls  can  hardly  be  called  a 
Barnstable  family,  and  as  Mr.  Weaver  of  Williamantic,  and  Mr. 
Paine  of  Harwich,  are  interested,  I  resign  the  labor  to  them.) 


HATHAWAY. 


In  early  times  this  name  was  written  as  it  is  usually  pro- 
nounced, Hadaway.  Four  of  the  name  came  over.  Arthur,  who 
settled  in  Marshfleld,  and  afterward  removed  to  Dartmouth ; 
John  and  Joseph  of  Taunton,  and  John  of  Barnstable. 

John  Hadaway  of  Barnstable,  was  born  in  the  year  1617,  as 
appears  by  the  Custom  House  record,  and  by  his  deposition  dated 
March  1,  1658-9.  He  came  over  in  1635,  in  the  ship  Blessing 
from  London.  July  1,  1656,  he  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Mary  Hallett,  presumed  to  be  the  widow  of  the  school-master, 
Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  the  elder.  She  died  early,  and  he  married 
May  1,  1672,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Edward  Coleman  of  Yar- 
mouth. She  was  born  in  Boston  28th  Feb.  1651-2,  and  was 
thirty-flve  years  younger  than  her  husband. 

About  this  time  he  removed  to  Yarmouth,  not  to  Taunton  as 
stated  by  Mr.  Savage,  and  built  a  house  on  a  clearing  in  the 
woods,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  the  spot  where  the 
Town  House  in  Yarmouth  now  stands,  and  known  as  Thompson's 
fields,  because  a  man  of  that  name  subsequently  owned  the  lot. 
The  late  Mr.  Paul  Rider  afterwards  owned  the  old  Hadaway 
house  and  estate.  He  was  taxed  in  Yarmouth  in  1675  and  1676, 
showing  that  he  removed  as  above  stated.  His  rate  was  eight 
pence  in  1675,  evidence  that  he  was  at  that  time  a  man  of  small 
estate. 

His  estate  in  Barnstable  was  equal  to  an  average  of  the  es- 
tates of  the  first  settlers,  yet  it  soon  passed  iiuto  the  hands  of 
others.  March  31,  1659,  by  a  deed  of  gift,  his  mother-in-law 
conveyed  to  him  the  land  now  owned  by  Major  Phinney  on  the 
north  of  the  railroad,  and  the  land  where  the  Custom  House  now 
stands,  with  the  dwelling-house  thereon.  Dec.  14,  1661,  he 
bought  the  house  and  lands  of  his  brother-in-law,  Josiah  Hallett, 
situate  on  the  south  of  the  railroad,  for  £10  sterling.  In  this 
purchase  was  included  three  acres  of  meadow  at  Blushes  point, 
bounded  north  by  the  beach,  east  by  the  meadow  of  Abraham 
Blush,    and  south  and  west  by  "Old  Mill  Creek."    As   rights  of 


458   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BABNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

commonage  pertained  to  these  lands  and  dwelling-houses,  Hadda- 
way  at  that  time  was  not  a  poor  man. 

John  Hathaway  of  Taunton,  was  a  very  respectable  man, 
owned  a  large  landed  estate,  and  was  often  employed  in  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Colony.  Our  John  was  a  different  man.  During  a 
portion  of  his  life  he  was  intemperate  in  his  habits,  improvident, 
and  wasted  his  own  and  his  wife's  estate.  He  belonged  to  the 
class  of  persons  that  I  have  described  under  the  name  of  Caseley, 
and  to  which  I  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  refer. 

He  died  in  Yarmouth  in  the  year  1697,  aged  80  years.  In 
his  will  dated  Aug.  3,  1689,  proved  Feb.  20,  1696-7,  he  names 
his  wife  Elizabeth,  and  his  sons  Thomas,  John,  Gideon,  and  Ed- 
ward. He  refers  to  daughters  by  a  former  wife,  but  does  not 
name  them,  and  to  two  daughters  by  his  wife  Elizabeth.  His 
widow  is  named  in  the  settlement  of  her  brother  Edward's  estate 
in  1714.  At  the  division  of  the  common  lands  in  1710,  Thomas 
is  the  only  one  of  the  name  mentioned  in  Yarmouth,  and  there 
were  none  at  that  time  of  the  name  in  Barnstable. 

The  record  of  the  births  of  the  children  of  John  Hadaway  is 
imperfect.     On  the  Barnstable  records  four  are  named,  namely  : 

I.  John,  born  Oct.  1675,  died  same  year. 

II.  John,  Aug.  16,  1658. 

III.  Hannah,  May  1662. 

IV.  Edward,  10th  Feb.  1663-4. 

Named  in  his  will. 

V.  Thomas. 

VI.  Gideon. 

He  left  Sarah,  and  probably  two  other  daughters. 

As  this  family  is  nearly  extinct,  I  have  not  devoted  much 
time  to  tracing  its  genealogy.  The  ancestor  was  an  eccentric 
man,  and  many  individuals  among  his  descendants  had  their  pecu- 
liarities. The  children  for  several  generations  were  brought  up  in 
secluded  spots,  at  a  distance  from  neighbors,  and  this  fact  proba- 
bly had  an  influence  on  their  characters. 

John  and  Edward  Hadaway,  sons  of  John,  died  or  removed 
from  Yarmouth  before  1710.  Gideon  married  Jan.  21,  1697,  Pa- 
tience Beaumond  of  Dorchester,  and  perhaps  removed  to  that 
town.  Of  Hannah  I  find  no  account.  A  Sarah  Hadaway,  proba- 
bly a  daughter  of  the  first  John,  married  Oct.  11,  1710,  John 
Page,  of  whose  history  I  know  nothing. 

Thomas  remained  in  Yarmouth  till  about  the  year  1715,  when 
he  removed  to  Barnstable.  He  married  Dec.  15,  1698,  Sarah 
Baker  of  Yarmouth.  I  find  no  record  of  his  children  by  this 
marriage.  James,  afterwards  of  Barnstable,  and  Hannah  who 
married  Feb.  15,  1728,  John  Lothrop,  were  probably  his  children. 
For  his  second  wife  he  married  May  19,  1714,  Sarah  Marchant  of 
Yarmouth,  and  removed  to  Barnstable,  where  he  had  : 
I.         Lot,  born  May  6,  1717. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         459 

II.  Sarah,  June  24,  1718. 

III.  Temperance,  May  23,  1720. 

IV.  Patience,  Feb.  27,  1724-5. 

V.  Susannah,  Sept.  3,  1726. 

VI.  Thomas,  Dee.  3,  1730. 

James  Hadaway,  probably  son  of  Thomas  by  his  first  wife, 
married  Oct.  9,  1730,  Bethia,  daughter  of  Barnard  Lumbard,  and 
had: 

I.  Lois,  born  17th  April  1732. 

II.  James,  13th  Nov.  1733. 

He  died  in  1733,  leaving  Widow  Bethia  and  one  small  child. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  in  the  whaling  business. 

James,  the  second  of  the  name,  had  a  farm*  at  Rowley's 
pond,  afterwards  called  Lewis',  and  of  late  years  Hadaway's 
pond.  His  house,  built  perhaps  by  one  of  the  Lewis  family, 
stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  pond.  He  was  a  very  odd  man,  a 
firm  believer  in  withcraft,  and  other  strange  fantasies.  He  lived  to 
the  ripe  age  of  95,  a  healthy  old  man,  and  to  the  last  capable  of 
great  physical  endurance.  He  married  Dec.  9,  1756,  Mary  Lum- 
bard, and  had  Benjamin,  Lewis,  John,  and  Hannah,  whom  I  re- 
member— perhaps  others.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Mary, 
or  Molly,  as  she  was  usually  called,  widow  of  Eli  Phinney,  one  of 
the  most  efficient  men  in  Barnstable  during  the  Revolutionary 
period.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Jabez  Phinney,  and  was  born  3d 
Dec.  1735,  and  was  perhaps  one  of  the  smallest  specimens  of  hu- 
manity. She  was  the  mother  of  nine  children  by  her  first  hus- 
band, six  of  whom  were  living  at  the  time  she  married  Hadaway. 
She  died  Jan.  12,  1821,  aged  85  years. 

Of  James'  children  John  did  not  marry,  and  his  father  called 
him  his  boy  more  than  60  years.  Benjamin  has  descendants. 
His  house  was  destroyed  by  fire  Feb.  1799. t  His  two  sons  were 
sleeping  in  a  chamber  at  the  time,  and  could  not  be  approached 
by  the  stairway  which  was  in  flames.  The  eldest  perished  in  his 
bed,  the  second  was  rescued  by  the  father  only  to  survive  and 
suffer  a  few  hours.  Both  are  buried  in  one  grave  in  the  west 
burying-ground  near  the  East  Church.  In  attempting  to  rescue 
his  children  the  father  was  badly  burned,  and  for  some  time  it 
was  feared  that  he  would  lose  his  eyesight. 

Thomas  Hadaway    youngest  son  of  Thomas,   married  Dec. 
18,  1757,  Huldah  Smith,   daughter  of  Matthias  of  West  Barnsta- 

*Creorge  Lewis'  great  lot  was  at  Rowley's  pond.  Jan.  12, 1662-3,  George  Lewis,  Sen., 
and  his  son  George,  Jr.,  conveyed  tlie  same  to  Edward  and  John,  sons  of  George,  Sen., 
namely :  27  1-2  acres  on  the  northerly  side  to  Edward,  and  27  1-2  on  the  southerly  to  John. 
The  latter  was  killed  in  the  Kehobeth  battle  March  26, 1676,  and  his  lands  passed  out  of  the 
family  and  for  many  years  hare  been  known  as  the  Hadaway  farm. 


fThe  house    which  he  built  on  the  same  spot  with  funds  contributed  to  him,  was  also 
destroyed  by  fire  the  present  yeEix. 


460        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ble.  He  had  several  children,  among  whom  were  Frederick,  Ben- 
jamin and  Hannah.  Benjamin  was  called  carpenter  Ben.  to  dis- 
tinguish him  from  the  son  of  James.  He  was  a  deputy  sheriff,  a 
captain  of  a  militia  company,  and  jail  keeper  for  a  time.  He  was 
a  very  strong  man,  and  among  other  feats  he  took  up  a  barrel  of 
rum  and  drank  from  the  bung.  He  bought  of  Mr.  Eleazer  Scud- 
der  the  ancient  Gorham  mansion  house  at  Hyannis  Port,  where  he 
resided  and  kept  a  public  house.  He  married  his  cousin  Han- 
nah, daughter  of  James  Hadaway,  and  had  a  large  family  of 
daughters.  He  was  as  eccentric  as  any  of  the  name,  and  his  his- 
tory is  an  illustration  of  the  saying,  "Truth  is  stronger  than  fic- 
tion." 

His  sister  Hannah  sued  him  for  money  that  she  said  she  had 
deposited  with  him,  taking  no  security  therefor.  He  denied  hav- 
ing received  it.  A  few  days  before  the  case  was  to  be  tried,  he 
remarked  to  his  wife  that  he  would  go  on  board  a  vessel  in  the 
harbor,  and  purchase  a  barrel  of  flour.  He  did  not  return. 
Search  was  made  for  him.  His  hat  was  found  in  the  surf  on  the 
shore,  his  boat  was  adrift,  and  the  oar  which  he  used  in  sculling 
was  also  found  near  by.  These  circumstances  seemed  to  prove 
beyond  controversy,  that  in  attempting  to  board  the  vessel  in  the 
harbor  he  was  accidentally  drowned.  Guns  were  fired,  sweeps 
were  dragged,  oil  was  poured  on  the  waters,  and  every  effort  was 
made  to  recover  his  body  without  success.  No  one  had  seen  him 
go  away,  and  his  family  and  neighbors  believed  he  was  dead,  and 
an  administrator  was  appointed  on  his  estate. 

Soon  after  he  left,  there  was  a  report  that  he  had  been  seen 
at  his  brother  Frederick's  in  Vermont,  but  nothing  reliable  could 
be  obtained,  though  it  was  reported  that  letters  had  been  received 
from  him.  Twenty-one  years  after  he  left  he  as  unexpectedly  re- 
turned to  his  house.  No  one  knew  where  he  came  from,  or  how 
he  came,  and  it  was  some  time  before  the  members  of  his  family 
could  realize  that  he  was  among  the  living.  Capt.  Hadaway  in 
his  dealings  with  strangers  was  considered  an  honorable  man  ;  but 
with  members  of  his  family  or  his  relatives,  he  was  the  most  ec- 
centric of  men. 

Frederick  married  a  Marchant,  and  removed  to  Vermont. 
He  was  as  eccentric  as  any  of  the  family. 

Hannah  married  Capt.  Thomas  Appleton.  She  resided  in 
Boston,  Gloucester,  and  Barnstable.  She  was  a  woman  of  good 
understanding,  well  informed,  and  was  distinguished  for  her  collo- 
quial powers  and  her  ready  wit.  For  fifteen  years  after  her  mar- 
riage she  lived  in  good  style,  and  associated  with  the  intelligent, 
the  gay  and  the  fashionable.  Notwithstanding,  she  was  a  Hada- 
way all  her  days — odd,  eccentric,  a  firm  believer  in  witches  and 
witchcraft.  Surprising  stories  she  would  tell  of  witches  she  had 
seen   and  known,    of  their   strange  transformations,  and   of  the 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         461 

strange  influence  that  th«y  exerted  over  others.  Those  stories 
she  dressed  up  in  all  the  charms  of  eloquence,  and  would  half 
persuade  her  hearers  that  they  -were  true.  She  was  the  great- 
grand-daughter  of  the  first  .John,  inherited  his  peculiarities,  and 
education,  extensive  reading,  and  association  with  the  in- 
telligent, failed  to  root  out  the  seeds  of  fanaticism  which  in 
early  life  had  been  so  deeply  implanted  in  her  mind,  that  they 
had  become  a  part  of  her  very  being. 


THOMAS  HATCH. 


Many  of  the  name  Hatch  came  over  early.  Elder  William 
of  Scituate,  who  came  from  Sandwich  in  England  in  1635,  with 
wife  Jane  and  five  children,  was  a  noted  man  in  the  early  history 
of  the  Colony.  Two  of  the  name  of  Thomas  came  over,  and 
settled  in  Massachusetts,  and  afterwards  removed  to  the  Plym- 
outh Colony.  One  of  them  was  made  a  freeman  of  Massachu- 
setts May  14,  1634,  the  same  day  that  three  others  were,  who 
were  afterwards  among  the  first  settlers  of  Yarmouth.  Thomas 
whom  Mr.  Deane  calls  an  elder  brother  of  William,  settled  in 
Scituate,  and  died  there  about  the  year  1646,  leaving  a  family. 
Mr.  Savage  calls  this  man  the  freeman  ;  but  circumstances  incline 
me  to  the  opinion  that  it  was  the  other  Thomas  who  was  made  free 
May  14,  1634. 

Thomas  Hatch,  the  ancestor  of  the  family  in  this  country, 
was  one  of  the  nine  who  proposed,  Jan.  7,  1638,  O.  S.,  "to  take 
up  their  freedome  at  Yarmouth."  On  the  5th  of  March  follow- 
ing his  name  is  entered  on  the  record  with  those  who  proposed  to 
become  freemen  at  the  next  court,  but  there  is  no  mark  against  it 
indicating  that  he  then  took  the  required  oath.  In  1641  he  had 
removed  to  Barnstable,  and  at  the  court  held  the  first  of  June 
that  year,  he  with  others  of  that  town,  was  again  "propounded  to 
be  admitted  a  freeman  at  the  next  court."  His  name  does  not  ap- 
pear on  any  list  of  freemen  of  the  town  of  Barnstable.  He  had 
taken  the  "oath  of    fidelity"  before  his  removal  from  Yarmouth, 


462   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OP  BAENSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

and  in  some  instances  this  seems  to  have  been  considered  as  the 
equivalent  of  the  freeman's  oath.  In  August  1643,  his  name  ap- 
pears on  the  roll  of  those  "able  to  bear  arms  in  Barnstable,"  and 
in  the  following  January  on  the  list  of  approved  inhabitants  of 
Barnstable. 

Very  little  is  certainly  known  respecting  him.  He  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  employed  at  any  time,  in  any  public  busi- 
ness. He  was  not  a  man  of  wealth,  and  no  record  of  his  lands 
has  been  preserved.  In  1648  Mr.  Anthony  Thacher  claimed 
eight  acres  in.  the  "West  Field"*  in  Yarmouth  that  had  been 
bought  of  Thomas  Hatch.  This  was  the  usual  allotment,  and  the 
probability  is  that  he  had  an  equal  proportion  of  the  lands  both  in 
Yarmouth  and  in  Barnstable  assigned  to  him.  I  am  inclined  to 
the  opinion  that  his  houselot  in  Barnstable  was  near  the  Crocker 
farm  at  West  Barnstable.  Lands  in  that  vicinity  were  after- 
wards owned  by  his  son  Jonathan,  and  by  him  sold  to  Capt. 
Thomas  Dimmock. 

He  died  in  1661,  leaving  a  widow  Grace  and  son  Jonathan 
and  daughter  Lydia,  wife  of  Henry  Taylor.  Mr.  Savage  calls  him 
"a  young  man."  He  was  a  grandfather  and  in  my  judgment  had 
ceased  to  be  young. 

A  pleasant  story  is  told  respecting  his  courtship.  It  is  said 
that  he  was  son  of  a  farmer  and  served  his  father  before  learning 
the  trade  of  a  tailor.  His  wife  was  also  a  farmer's  daughter,  and 
in  time  of  harvest  assisted  him  in  the  fields,  and  was  very  expert 
in  the  use  of  the  sickle.  Two  young  men  asked  her  hand  in  mar- 
riage and  it  was  agreed  that  the  one  who  should  reap  the  larger 
piece  in  a  given  time  should  win  the  prize.  The  land  was  marked 
off  and  an  equal  proportion  assigned  to  Miss  Grace.  She  was 
the  best  reaper,  and  having  decided  that  she  would  marry  Thomas 
Hatch,  she  slyly  cut  over  on  the  part  set  off  to  him,  and  in  conse- 
quence Thomas  came  out  ahead,  claimed  and  received  her  hand  in 
marriage. 

This  story  was  related  by  a  grandson  of  Thomas,  and  has 
been  preserved  as  a  family  tradition,  and  whether  true  or  false  is 
immaterial.  I  doubt  whether  Grace,  the  widow  of  Thomas 
Hatch,  was  the  heroine  of  the  story ;  if  so,  she  was  different 
from  other  mothers — she  must  have  been  a  second  wife — for  if 
Jonathan  and  Lydia  had  been  her  children,  she  would  not  have  al- 
lowed them  in  youth  to  have  been  aliens  from  their  father's  house 
and  exposed  to  all  the  temptations  of  a  wicked  world.  I  have  no 
other  evidence  that  she  was  a  second  wife.  I  want  no  other. 
Thomas  Hatch  was  a  church  member,  and  a  freeman,  a  man 
whose  life  was  a  living  testimony  of  his  fidelity  to  the  principles 

*"The  WeBt  Field"  waa  an  open  tract,  cultivated  by  the  Indians,  bounded  southerly  by 
Dennis  Pond,  westerly  by  the  bounds  of  Barnstable,  northerly  it  extended  nearly  to  the 
present  County  road,  and  easterly  to  Hawes'  Lane.  Xhe  lot  of  Thomas  Hatch  was  in  the 
immediate  Ticmity  of  the  homestead  of  the  writer. 


GENEAIiOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  463 

which  he  professed.  He  was  not  a  man  of  note,  yet  he  was  an 
honest  man  and  a  good  neighbor.  It  is  unnatuial  to  suppose 
that  a  man  who  sustained  the  character  that  Thomas  Hatch  did, 
would  have  allowed  his  only  son,  and  only  daughter,  to  have  been 
exposed  to  temptations,  as  they  were,  if  there  had  not  been  some 
superior  controling  influence  at  home. 

Of  the  family  of  Thomas  Hatch  little  is  known  beside  what 
has  been  already  stated.  His  childrenf  were  both  probably  born 
in  England.  At  his  death  in  1661  he  was  probably  aged,  not  "a 
young  man."  Of  the  time  of  the  death  of  his  widow  Grace,  I 
find  no  record. 

2.  Jonathan,  born  about  the  year  1624. 

3.  Lydia,  born  about  the  year  1626,  married  Henry  Taylor  Dec. 
19,  1650,  and  had  a  family. 

He  probably  had  other  children,  but  none  are  named  as  sur- 
viving in  1661. 

Jonathan  Hatch  was  a  man  of  indomitable  energy  of  charac- 
ter— no  difficulties  discouraged  him — no  misfortunes  swayed  him 
from  his  onward  and  determined  course  of  life.  He  was  a  pio- 
neer in  the  march  of  civilization,  and  the  history  of  his  life,  if 
faithfully  written,  would  present  many  points  of  romantic  inter- 
est. "The  boy  was  the  father  of  the  man."  At  the  early  age  of 
fourteen,  it  appears  that  Jonathan  was  bound  as  an  apprentice  to 
Lieut.  Richard  Davenport,  of  Salem.  His  father  and  mother  and 
sister  removed  to  Yarmouth,  leaving  him  among  strangers,  in  a 
strange  land.  Davenport  was  a  soldier, — a  man  of  impetuous 
spirit,  and  Jonathan,  after  remaining  with  him  two  years,  deserted 
from  his  service  and  came  to  Boston,  probably  with  the  intention 
of  obtaining  a  passage  by  water  to  Yarmouth.  Sept.  2,  1640,  he 
was  arrested  in  Boston  as  a  fugitive  from  service,  and  "was  cen- 
sured to  bee  severely  whiped,  and  for  the  present  is  committed 
for  a  slave  to  Lieut.  Davenport."  [Mass.  Rec]  Whether 
■Jonathan  escaped  "the  severe  whipping,"  does  not  appear; 
however  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  twenty  severe  whippings 
would  not  have  compelled  a  boy  of  bis  spirit  to  have  returned  to 
the  servitude  of  Lieut.  Davenport.  He  had  legs  and  he  made  a 
legitimate  use  of  them,  and  they  brought  him  safely  to  his  father's 
house  in  Yarmouth. 

His  troubles  did  not  cease  on  his  arrival  at  the  Cape.  Dec. 
1,  1640,  Capt.  Nicholas  Sympkins  charged  him  with  slandering 
him.     The  result  was,   the  Captain  had  a  fine  of  forty   shillings 

tThe  eTidence  that  Jonathan  and  Lydia  were  children  of  Thomas  Hatch  is  not  entirely 
satisfactory.  It  rests  on  these  facts :  May  27, 1661,  his  widow  Grace  presented  an  inrentory 
of  his  estate.  March  3, 1662-3,  Jonathan  Hatch  and  Lydia,  wife  of  Henry  Taylor,  were  ap- 
pointed administrators  on  the  estate  of  Thomas  Hatch,  deceased.  They  are  not  called  his 
children,  but  the  presumption  is  that  they  were.  It  will  be  noticed  that  nearly  three  years 
elapsed  after  the  death  of  Thomas,  before  administrators  were  appointed.  If  Thomas  had 
been  a  brother  of  Jonathan  and  Lydia,  they  would  have  had  a  right  to  claim  letters  of  ad- 
ministration after  the  death  of  Grace.    1  name  this  as  possible,  not  as  probable. 


464        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

imposed  on  him,  and  Jonathan  escaped  without  punishment. 
March  1,  1641-2,  he  "was  taken  as  a  vagabond,  and  for  his  mis- 
demeanors was  censured  to  be  whipt  and  sent  from  constable  to 
constable  to  Lieut.  Davenport  at  Salem."  At  the  Court  held 
April  5,  1642,  this  sentence  was  re-considered.  The  court  had  no 
authority  to  order  the  arrest  of  a  party  as  a  vagabond,  because  he 
had  escaped  from  the  service  of  a  master  residing  in  another  ju- 
risdiction. He  was  "appointed  to  dwell  with  Mr.  Stephen  Hop- 
kins," who  was  enjoyend  to  have  a  special  care  of  him. 

Mr.  Hopkins  died  in  1644.  Jonathan  did  not  probably  reside 
long  with  him,  for  soon  afterwards  he  appears  to  have  been  a 
resident  in  Barnstable.  Aug.  23,  1645,  he  was  one  of  the  four 
men  forming  the  quota  of  the  town  of  Barnstable  in  the  expedi- 
tion against  the  Narragansets  and  their  confederates. 

The  foregoing  records  of  the  early  life  of  Jonathan  do  not 
present  his  character  in  an  amiable  point  of  view.  His  parents 
appear  to  have  taken  no  interest  in  his  welfare,  and  this  can  be  ac- 
counted for  only  on  the  supposition  that  Grace  was  a  second  wife. 
I  am  not  a  writer  of  eulogy.  I  must  present  such  facts  as  I  find 
on  record  ;  and  my  inferences  must  be  logical  or  they  are  worth- 
less. The  boy  was  exposed  to  temptation  on  every  hand — he  had 
no  friends  on  whom  he  could  rely— he  was  a  bond  servant — "a 
slave" — and  that  servitude  his  proud  spirit  could  not  brook — he 
resisted — he  escaped  from  servitude  ;  that,  in  the  eye  of  the  law, 
was  criminal — and  for  that  he  was  imprisoned,  and  for  that  en- 
dured cruel  stripes.  Though  his  conduct  is  not  legally  justifiable, 
we  cannot  but  admire  his  bold  and  manly  resistance  of  the  intol- 
erant spirit  of  the  age,  and  of  the  law  which  banished  him  from 
the  home  of  his  father,  and  which  deprived  him  of  the  liberty 
which  he  claimed  as  a  free  born  citizen  of  the  British  realm. 

Jonathan  Hatch  married  April  11,  1646,  Sarah  Rowley, 
daughter  of  Henry  Rowley,  by  his  first  wife — a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Palmer,  Sen.  From  the  latter's  will  dated  in  1637,  I  infer 
that  Sarah's  mother-in-law,  though  a  church  member,  was  not  a 
kind-hearted  woman.  She  was  a  step-mother  to  Sarah  as  I  have 
presumed  Grace  had  been  to  Jonathan.  Their  experience  in 
early  life  coincided — they  lived  long  in  married  life,  and  were 
blessed  with  a  family  of  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  had  famil- 
ies of  their  own. 

After  his  marriage  he  probably  resided  several  years  at  "West 
Barnstable  before  removing  to  South  Sea.  Oct.  7,  1651,  he  and 
Samuel  Hinckley  were  prosecuted  by  the  grand  jury  for  hiring 
land  of  the  Indians,  and  March  2,  1651-2,  he  was  again  prosecu- 
ted for  furnishing  an  Indian  with  a  gun,  powder  and  shot.  Feb. 
1652-3,  he  was  on  the  jury  that  laid  out  the  road  from  Sandwich 
to  Plymouth,  and  in  1657  took  the  oath  of  fidelity. 

The  grant  of  his  lands  was  recorded  Feb.  14,  1655,  but  it  is 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         465 

probable  that  the  grant  was  made  and  that  he  removed  to  South 
Sea  at  an  earlier  date.  His  lands  are  thus  described:  '"Fifty 
acres  more  or  less  of  upland,  with  a  little  parcel  of  marsh  ad- 
joining, at  a  place  commonly  called  Sepnisset  on  ye  South  Sea," 
also  eight  acres  of  meadow,  four  at  Oyster  Island,  which  is  very 
particularly  described.  One-half  of  this  farm  he  subsequently 
sold  to  Thomas  Shaw,  and  they  sold  the  same  May  27,  1661,  to 
Mr.  John  Thompson,  who  re-sold  to  John  Lovell  about  the  year 
1674,  and  the  latter's  descendants  yet  hold  most  of  the  ancient 
Hatch  farm  and  meadows  under  the  title  derived  from  Thomp- 
son. 

In  the  deed  of  Hatch  and  Shaw  to  Thompson  the  upland  is 
described  as  being  at  a  creek  commonly  called  Se-paw-ess-is-set 
alias  Se-pau-is-set,*  and  is  thus  described  :  "Fifteen  acres  lying 
on  ye  south  side  of  ye  said  creek,  bounded  southerly  and  westerly 
by  ye  commons,  easterly  by  a  little  swamp,  northerly  partly  by  ye 
said  creek  and  partly  by  ye  harbour ;  and  thirty  acres  bounded 
southerly  by  ye  said  creek,  lying  140  rod  long  by  ye  sea  side  and 
40  rod  into  ye  woods." 

At  this  time  there  were  very  few  whites  settled  at  South  Sea. 
Roger  Goodspeed  who  resided  at  Mystic,  was  probably  his  near- 
est neighbor  for  several  years.  At  that  time  oysters  were  very 
abundant  in  the  waters  in  the  vicinity  of  his  residence,  and  many 
barrels  were  annually  pickled  and  sent  to  market.  For  many 
years  after  the  settlement  of  the  town,  all  the  lime  used  for  build- 
ing purposes  was  manufactured  in  the  vicinity  of  Sep-nis-set  from 
the  shells  of  the  oysters.  Dry  wood  cut  into  small  pieces  was 
procured,  and  a  kiln  built  of  alternate  layers  of  shells  and  wood, 
the  whole  was  covered  with  turf,  excepting  a  small  opening  at  the 
top  and  another  at  the  bottom  where  the  fire  was  set,  and  the 
shells  converted  by  the  heat  into  quick-lime,  of  a  superior  qual- 
ity- 

Many  Indians  dwelt  near  the  residence  of  Goodman  Hatch. 
The  wigwam  of  Paup-mun-nueke,  the  sachem  of  the  Massapees, 
was  about  a  mile  distant.  He  traded  with  them,  visited  them,  and 
at  times  was  perhaps  too  familiar  with  them.  It  was  policy  for 
him  to  be  on  good  terms  with  them — they  were  his  neighbors,  and 
if  by  his  conduct  he  had  excited  them  to  hostility,  they  had  it  in 
their  power  to  do  him  much  injury.  In  June,  1658,  it  was  proved 
in  court  that  an  Indian  named  Repent  had  threatened  to  shoot 
Gov.  Prence  on  his  return  from  Plymouth.  Mr.  Hatch  was 
charged  with  having  justified  Repent,  but  there  was  no  proof,  and 

*This  name,  which  occurs  in  the  last  Number,  is  called  in  the  records  a  place  and  a 
creek.  Its  termination,  however  written,  indicates  that  it  was  a  place  or  Tillage  by  the 
water.  The  Indians  probably  dropped  the  final  syllable  when  they  referred  to  the  creek, 
calling  it  Sipanesse,  which  perhaps  means  a  little  stream  where  coarse  gi-ass  grows.  It  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  name  of  the  creek,  or  lagoon,  on  the  south  of  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Seth  Goodspeed.  After  the  Hatch  farm  came  into  possession  of  the  Lovell  family  large  ad- 
ditions were  made. 


466        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAfiNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

he  was  by  the  court  admonished  and  released. 

May  27,  1661.  Goodman  Hatch  sold  his  farm  at  Sipnesset 
and  removed  to  SHConecet,  Suconnesset,  or  Suckinesset,*  the  In- 
dian name  of  the  town  of  Falmouth.  He  is  not  named  in  the 
colony  records  till  1685  as  one  of  the  original  proprietors,  but 
their  records  and  deeds  and  other  papers  preserved  in  the  family 
prove  that  he  was.  At  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  held  Nov. 
29,  1661,  it  was  voted, 

"That  Jonathan  Hatch  and  Isaac  Robinson,  because  they 
have  built  their  houses, f  shall  have  lots  by  their  houses, — that  is 
to  say,  Jonathan  Hatch  to  have  ten  acres  by  his  house  lying 
against  the  neck,  [lying  by  the  Herring  Brook.]  And  Isaac  Rob- 
inson to  have  four  acres  by  his  house,  and  eight  acres  next  ad- 
joining to  Jonathan  Hatch  towards  Pease's  land.  Also  because 
they  think  themselves  wronged,  to  be  put  out  of  the  Neck,  we 
have  considered  that  they  shall  have  an  acre  and  a  half  of  meadow 
within  the  Great  Neck,  towards  Pease's  land." 

Goodman  Hatch's  farm  at  Falmouth  contained  eighty  acres, 
and  for  several  years  he  was  the  ageul  of  the  proprietors,  and  was 
employed  at  times  in  running  out  the  bounds  of  lots,  and  attend- 
ing to  sales  and  transfers  of  rights.  He  could  not  give  up  his 
old  habit  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  and  June  7,  1670,  was  fined 
£3  for  selling  them  liquor. 

He  bought  three  Indians  of  Capt.  Church — a  man  and  his 
wife  and  a  child — June  3,  1679,  the  brothers  of  the  woman  ap- 
peared in  court  with  Goodman  Hatch,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the 
man  and  his  wife  should  be  released  for  £6,  and  that  the  child 
should  remain  with  Goodman  Hatch  till  24  years  of  age  and  then 
be  released  forever.  He  claimed  his  pound  of  flesh  ;  he  forgot 
that  when  a  boy  he  had  been  bound  to  Lieut.  Davenport — that  he 
had  repudiated  his  service.  Had  not  the  Indian  boy  the  same 
right — or  did  the  difference  in  color  abrogate  the  right  of  the  one, 
and  establish  that  of  the  other. 

June  24,  1690,  he  took  the  freeman's  oath  at  the  County 
Court  in  Barnstable.  He  was  then  about  sixty-four  years  of  age. 
Time  had  tempered  the  fire  and  impetuosity  of  his  youth,  and  he 
had  become  a  sober,  religious  man — the  venerable  patriarch   of   a 

*Tliis  name  is  a  compound  of  Sucki,  black;  po  quauhork,  the  round  clam  or  quohoff ; 
and  et  or  set,  place ;  means  the  place  where  Suck-au-hock  or  black  wampan  was  made. 
The  Indians  had  two  kinds  of  money,  beads  of  wampajn,  the  black  of  which  three  was  con- 
sidered equal  to  apenny  English,  and  the  white  of  half  the  value  of  the  black.  The  white 
was  called  wampam,  [white]  and  the  black  Sack-au-hock  by  the  Indians,  but  the  English 
called  it  all  wampam,  or  wampam-peage.  The  white  was  made  from  the  stem  of  the  peri- 
winckle ;  the  black  from  the  dark  colored  portion  of  the  shell  of  the  quohog.  Some  Eng- 
lish attempted  to  counterfeit  it;  but  not  finding  it  a  paying  business  gave  it  up.  The  coun- 
terfeits were  readily  detected  by  the  Indians. 

tThis  record  conflicts  with  the  family  tradition  that  Moses,  son  of  Jonathan,  was  the 
first  white  child  bom  in  Falmouth,  and  that  he  was  called  Moses  because  he  was  born  un- 
der the  shelter  of  a  whale-boat,  and  on  a  bed  of  rushes.  Unfortunately  for  the  romance  of 
the  story,  Jonathan  Hatch  built  a  house  in  Falmouth  two  years  before  the  birth  of  his  son 
Moses. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.        467 

large  and  esteemed  family  of  children  and  grand-children.  After 
that  date,  his  name  seldom  appears  on  the  public  records.  He 
had  acquired  a  large  landed  estate,  and  was  ranked  among  the 
wealthy  of  those  times.  His  papers  show  that  he  continued  to  do 
business  till  the  close  of  his  long  life.  As  one  of  the  agents  of 
the  proprietors  of  Falmouth,  he  was  often  called  upon  to  take  the 
care  of  their  interests,  and  they  could  not  have  been  committed  to 
a  more  careful  hand.  He  died  Dec.  1710,  aged  about  84  years. 
His  will  is  dated  Sept.  15,  1705,  and  was  proved  Jan.  4,  1710-11. 
He  says  he  is  aged,  names  his  six  sons,  Thomas,  Jonathan,  Joseph, 
Benjamin,  Samuel  and  Moses,  and  his  daughters  Mary  Weeks, 
Sarah  Wing  and  Mercy  Rowley,  and  appoints  the  latter  his  sole 
executrix. 

Children  of   Jonathan    Hatch  and  Sarah   Rowley,    bis   wife. 
Born  in  Barnstable.     (The  discrepancies  between  the   Barnstable 
and  Falmouth  records  are  noted.) 
4.     L     Mary,  July  16,  1647. 

Thomas,  Jan.  1,  1649. 
Jonathan,  May  17,  1652,  May  16,  1652. 
Joseph,  May  7,  1654,  June  10,  1654. 
Benjamin,  Sept.  7,  1655,  June  6,  1656. 
Nathaniel,  June  6,  1657,  Sept.  3,  1658. 
.     Samuel,  Oct.  11,  1659,  Oct.  4,  1660.  ' 

Born  in  Falmouth. 
I.     Moses,  March  4,  1662,  March  4,  1663. 
Sarah,  March  21,  1664,  March  23,  1665. 
Mercv,  April  27,  1667. 
Lydia,  May  16,  1669. 
(4-1.)     Mary,    the  eldest  daughter  of  Jonathan  Hatch,   mar- 
ried a  Mr.  Weeks,  as  we  learn  from  the  will  of  the   father.     Wil- 
liam    Weeks  of    Falmouth,    married    March    16,    1669,    Mercy, 
daughter   of   Mr.  Isaac  Robinson.     I  am  inclined  to   the   opinion 
that  she  died  early  and  that  he  married  for  his  second  wife   Mary 
Hatch.     The  names  of  the  children  of  William  Weeks  were  Mer- 
cy, Mehitable,  Sarah,  Experience,  Mercy  again,  Jonathan,  Benja- 
min and   Lydia.     These  names  are  common  in  the  Hatch,  not  in 
the  Robinson  family.     In  these  times  the  mother  usually   adopted 
the   names   of  her  brothers  and  sisters,  and  I  feel   confident  that 
Mary  Hatch  married  William  Weeks  of  Falmouth.     Sarah  married 
Nathaniel  Wing,  and  Mercy  married  Nathan  Rowley. 

(5-2.)  Thomas  Hatch,  named  in  honor  of  his  grand-father, 
was  a  farmer  and  resided  in  Falmouth,  where  he  died.  He  mar- 
ried Abigail  Codman,  Feb.  22,  1679,  called  of  Falmouth — perhaps 
daughter  of  Robert  of  Edgartown. 

Children  born  in  Falmouth. 
15.     I.     Hepsibah,  9  Jan.,    1681. 


6. 

II. 

6. 

III. 

7. 

IV. 

8. 

V. 

9. 

VI. 

10. 

VII 

11. 
12. 

vii: 

13. 

X. 

14. 

XI. 

16. 

II. 

17. 

III. 

18. 

IV. 

19. 

V. 

20. 

VI. 

21. 

VII 

22. 

vii: 

23. 

IX. 

468  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Thomas,  25  April,  1685. 
Sarah,' 16  Sept.,  1687. 
Stephen,  19  Jan.,  1689. 
Nathaniel,  16  Blarch,  1693. 

Mary,  16  March,  1693. 
.     Aiareth,  16  Jan.,  1695. 
I.     Jonathan,  9  April,  1697. 
Peter,  25  July,  1700. 
(6-3.)     Capt.    Jonathan   Hatch,   son  of  Jonathan,    was     a 
farmer  and  resided  in  Falmouth,  where  he  died.     Oct.  2,  1689,  he 
was  chosen  ensign  of  the  military  company.     June   24,    1690,    at 
the   County    Court,  he  took  the  freeman's  oath.     There  are   three 
entries   of   his  marriage  on  the  records,  all  probably  intended  for 
the  same  ;  but  apparently  not  the  same.     I   presume   he   married 
Dec.  4,  1676,  Elizabeth  Weeks  of  Falmouth,    another  entry    may 
be  read  Bethia  Weeks  another  Elizabeth    Walker.* 

Children  horn  in  Falmovth. 
Jonathan,  5  June,  1678. 
Sarah,  17  Sept.,  1682. 
.     Mehitabel,  19  March,  1684. 
Mar.y,  24  June,  1689. 
Nathaniel,  30  July,  1693. 
Ebenezer,  29 Nov.,  1696. 
.Jonathan   of  this  family  married  Bethia  Nye  Dec.  22,    1703  ; 
and  had  Solomon  1704  ;  Thankful  1706  ;  Ebenezer  1709  ;  Nathan 
1710;  Moses  1712;  Benjamin    1715;  Timothy    1732?    Ebenezer 
married  Oct.  25,  1720,  Lydia  Hatch. 

{7-4j.)     Capt.  Joseph  Hatch,  perhaps  excepting   Moses,   was 
the  most  distinguished  of  Jonathan's  sons.     He  was  a   soldier  in 

*Mr.  Freeman  in  his  history,  Vol.  2,  page  474,  giTes  a  genealogy  of  this  family  fiill  of 
mistakes,  and  full  of  positive  assertions.  He  says  "Thomas  came  from  Kent  1634,  boni  in 
Saudwich."  Thi?!  may  be  so,  and  it  may  be,  from  "Wales,  but  there  is  no  record.  His  name 
is  not  on  the  list  of  those  who  embarked  at  Sandwich  in  1634-5 ;  and  the  Massachusetts 
records  prove  that  he  came  over  earlier,  for  he  was  made  a  freeman  of  that  Colony  May  13, 
1634,  N.  S.,  nearly  a  year  prior  to  the  embarkation  from  Sandwich.  Mr.  Savage  says  Jona- 
than was  perhaps  a  son  of  Thomas,  and  bom  at  Sandwich,  Eng.  On  this  shppery  founda- 
tion Mr.  Freeman  positively  asserts,  that  Thomas  came  over  from  Kent  in  1634, 

He  also  asserts  that  Thomas  was  a  member  of  the  church  in  Barnstable  -June  1,  1641. 
This  may  be  so— it  is  hard  to  prove  a  negative — especially  when  there  is  a  hiatus  in  the  list 
of  the  admissions  to  the  church  from  1638  to  1643.  Perhaps  some  claii-voiyant  filled  up  the 
gap  for  his  special  accommodation. 

He  says  Jonathan  bad  lands  in  Falmouth  in  1660.  It  is  surprising  that  this  fact  is  not 
named  either  iu  the  proprietor's,  the  town  or  the  Colonial  records.  I  haye  yet  to  learn  that 
there  were  any  whites  settled  in  Falmouth  at  that  date — and  if  there  was,  Jonathan  Hatch 
was  not  of  the  number,  for  he  did  not  probably  remove  from  Barnstable  till  after  May  27, 
1661. 

He  calls  the  8th  child  of  Capt.  Joseph  Hatch,  Bethia ;  her  name  is  plainly  wiitten  on  the 
town  and  on  the  church  records  Rebecca.  He  states  that  Benjamin,  bom  1655,  married 
Mary  Hamblin  (so  Ba  rec.  but  F.  says  Lumbee)  June  17,  1678."  The  Falmouth  records 
say  Benjamin  Hatch  married  Mary  Hamblin;  the  Barnstable  records  say  George  Lewis, 
Jr.,  married  Mary  Lumber.  He  says  that  the  second  wife  of  Benjamin  was  named  "Alice, 
the  record  has  it  Ellis."  Ihe  Barnstable  church  record  has  it  Ellis,  a  contraction  for 
Elizabeth.  On  the  Falmouth  Church  record  it  is  plainly  written  Elizabeth.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Elizabeth  Eddy,  bom  at  Martha's  Vineyard  May  3, 1659.  In  his  list  of  her  chil- 
drenhe  omits  her  son  Eddy  bom  Aug.  2, 1700. 


24. 

I. 

25. 

II. 

26. 

III. 

27. 

IV. 

28. 

V. 

29. 

VI. 

GENKAIiOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         469 

King  Philip's  war,  1675  and  G.  He  was  lieutenant  of  the  militia 
company  in  1702,  and  afterwards  captain.  He  inherited  the  home- 
stead of  his  father,  acquired  a  large  estate,  and  exercised  a  wide 
influence.  He  married  Dee.  7,  1683,  Amy  Allen  of  Chilmark. 
She  joined  the  church  in  Barnstable,  and  was  baptized  Aug.  3, 
1701.  On  the  church  records  her  name  is  uniformly  written 
Amie.  On  the  formation  of  the  Falmouth  church,  Oct.  10,  1708, 
she  with  others  was  dismissed  to  that  church.  Capt.  Joseph 
Hatch  died  Feb.  16,  1735,  aged  83.  (Grave  Stones). 
Children  of  Capt.  Joseph  Hatch  born  in  Falmouth  : 

30.  I.     Lydia,  13th  July,  1685. 

31.  II.     Amy,  10th  July,  1687. 

32.  III.     Joseph,  3d  Aug.  1689. 
83.     IV.     Ichabod,  28th  Oct.  1691. 
34.     V.     Ruth,  9th  Nov.  1693. 

36.  VI.     Joanna,  2d  June,  1696. 

36.  VII.     Elizabeth,  1st  Nov.  1697. 

37.  VIII.     Rebecca,  25th  Jan.  1700. 

38.  IX.     Ebenezer,  26th  March,  1702. 

39.  X.     Barnabas,  29th  Nov.  1703. 

Lydia  married  a  Mr.  Gifford,  a  Quaker  ;  Amy  married  Jona- 
than Delano  of  Tolland,  Conn.  ;  Joseph,  Jr.,  married  in  1713, 
and  May  1,  1736,  Rebecca,  a  second  wife.  He  removed  to  Tol- 
land, died  in  Falmouth  1751 ;  Ichabod  married  Abigail  Weeks 
Dec.  2,  1714  ;  Ruth  married  Dea.  Solomon  Swift  of  Tolland  and 
Kent,  Conn.  ;  Elizabeth  married  Aug.  1,  1722,  Stephen  Skiffe  of 
Tolland  ;  Rebecca  married  a  Mr.  Berry,  and  settled  in  Kent  about 
1740  ;  Ebenezer  married  in  1741,  Sarah,  aged  24  ;  Barnabas  mar- 
ried Abigail  Lasrell  of  Duxbury,  Mass.,  in  1728. 

8-7.  Benjamin  Hatch  was  a  farmer.  In  1729  he  removed 
to  Mansfield,  Conn.,  and  died  there  or  in  Tolland  before  the  year 
1736.  He  married  three  wives:  1st,  Mary  Hamblin,  Jan.  17, 
1678,  a  daughter  of  James,  Jr.,  of  Barnstable.  At  the  time  of 
her  marriage  she  had  not  completed  her  sixteenth  year.  She  died 
early,  and  he  married  March  16,  1682,  Elizabeth  Eddy,  who  was 
born  at  Martha's  Vineyard  May  3,  1669.  In  another  record  her 
name  is  written  Eliza.  She  was  admitted  to  the  Barnstable 
church  July  14,  1710,  and  was  dismissed  to  the  church  in  Fal- 
mouth the  following  October,  and  died  soon  after.  For  his  third 
wife  he  married  Feb.  13,  1711-12,  Experience,  widow  of  Jabez 
Davis,  of  Barnstable.  She  was  a  daughter  of  David  Linnell, 
and  died  a  widow  Dec.  1736,  aged  about  72. 

Children  of  Benjamin  Hatch  born  in  Falmouth  : 

40.  I.     Abigail,  Aug.  4,  1679. 

Note. — Mr.  Freeman  says  Jonathan  Hatch  married  Abigail  Weelcs  of  Barnstable,  thus 
adding  another  alias  to  the  name  of  his  wife  Elizabeth.  If  the  readers  of  the  records  are  re- 
liable, Capt.  Jonathan  was  a  valiant  man,  taking  to  himself  four  wives  in  the  mouth  of  Dec. 
1678 — another  "Blue  Beard."    I  do  not  however  find  that  he  was  indicted  for  polygamy. 


41. 

II. 

42. 

III. 

43. 

IV. 

44. 

V. 

45. 

VI. 

46. 

VII. 

47. 

vii: 

48. 

IX. 

49. 

X. 

50. 

XI. 

470   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

Mary,  March  3,  1681. 
Nathaniel,  Feb.  7,  1684. 
Benjamin,  Oct.  17,  1686. 
John,  Feb.  16,  1689. 
Elizabeth,  March  25,  1692. 
.     Melatiah,  Oct.  4,  1693. 
I.     Timothy,  Oct.  19,  1695. 
Hannah,  May  7,  1698. 
Eddy,  Aug.  2,  1700. 
Solomon,  May  7,  1704. 
Benjamin   Hatch  of  this  family  removed   to  Brewster,    then 
Harwich,   and   married   Aug.    11,    1715,   Mary  Bangs,   and   had 
James,  May  1,  1716;  Mary,  April  21,  1720;  Benjamin,  May   11, 
1724  ;  Ruth,  June  20,  1733.     He  died  in  Brewster  Feb.  14,  1769, 
aged  83.     (Grave  Stones). 

Timothy  Hatch  had  a  family.  His  son  Major  Jethro,  born 
Sept.  17,  1722,  who  removed  to  Kent,  Conn.,  seems  to  have  pre- 
served all  the  traditions  of  the  family.  In  April  and  May,  1816, 
Moses  Hatch,  Esq.,  of  Danbury,  Conn.,  a  graduate  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, carefully  wrote  down  the  statements  of  Major  Hatch,  then 
94  years  of  age.  He  states  that  his  ancestor  was  a  tailor  by 
trade,  and  that  his  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  farmer  born  in 
Wales.  He  relates  the  story  about  the  reapers  which  has  been 
told.     He  states  that  his  ancestor  married  only  one  wife. 

Melatiah  also  married  and  had  a  family.  J.  M.  Hatch,  Esq., 
of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  is  a  descendant,  and  to  him  I  am  largelv  in- 
debted for  information  respecting  the  family. 

9-6.  Nathaniel  Hatch,  son  of  Jonathan,  born  in  1657  or 
1658,  is  not  named  in  his  father's  will,  and  he  has  no  family  rec- 
ord, these  facts  make  it  probable  that  he  died  young. 

10-7.  Samuel  Hatch  was  a  "cordwainer,"  resided  in  Fal- 
mouth where  he  died  in  1718.  His  wife  Lydia  was  admitted  to 
the  Barnstable  Church  Oct.  5,  1701,  and  his  daughters  Kerziah 
and  Lydia  were  baptized  on  the  9th  of  Nov.  following  ;  Samuel, 
James  and  Zaccheus,  June  7,  1702  ;  Edward  July  2,  1704  ;  Anne, 
Sept.  1,  1706.  His  other  children  were  probably  baptized  in  Fal- 
mouth. The  town  record  is  imperfect.  He  probably  resided  some 
time  at  Chilmark,  to  which  place  several  of  his  family  removed. 
The  name  of  his  eldest  child  on  the  family  record  appears  to  be 
Eleazer,  perhaps  Ebenezer  ;  on  the  church  records  the  name  is  writ- 
ten Kerziah. 

51.     I.     Eleazer,  (Kerziah,  ch.  ree.)     Sept.  23,  1694. 
"'      ~      Samuel,  Feb.  28,  1694. 
James,  Aug.  23,  1696. 
Lydia,  Mav  30,  1699. 
Zaccheus,  Feb.  10,  1701. 
Edward,  bap.  July  2,  1702. 


52. 

II. 

53. 

III. 

54. 

IV. 

55. 

V. 

56. 

VI. 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         471 

57.     VII.     Anne,  bap.  Sept.  1,  1706. 

68.     VIII.     James,  and  probably  married  Abigail  Knight,  of  Tis- 

bury,  July  24,  1718. 
59.     IX.     Martha,   married  David  Cottle  of    Chilmark,  Dec.  9, 

1728. 

Samuel  Hatch,  son  of  Sa^uuel,  married  Dec.  1,  1724,  Mary 
Clifford,  of  Chilmark ;  James  married  March  22,  1720,  Judith 
Cottle,  of  Chilmark,  second  wife ;  Edward  married  Rebecca 
"Weeks  at  Falmouth  Aug.  17,  1727,  and  died  at  Falmouth  1760. 
Matthew  Rowley  was  appointed  Feb.  1750,  guardian  of  Wait, 
minor  son  of  Edward.  Anne  married  David  Butler  of  Chilmark, 
Dee.  2,  1726  ;  Joseph  married  Lydia  Cottle  of  Chilmark,  Dec. 
30,  1726  ;  Lydia  married  Ebenezer  Hatch  (son  of  Jonathan  and 
Elizabeth),  Oct.  25,  1720. 

11-8.  Dea.  Moses  Hatch,  youngest  son  of  Jonathan,  repu- 
ted to  be  the  first  white  child  born  in  Falmouth,  was  a  man  of 
note  in  his  day.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Barnstable  church  June 
19,  1698,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  Aug.  2,  1702.  Oct.  10,  1708, 
both  were  dismissed  to  the  Falmouth  church,  of  which  he  became 
a  leading  member  and  "the  first  deacon."  He  was  a  wealthy 
farmer,  a  man  of  good  business  capacity,  and  a  good  citizen. 
For  one  act  he  will  ever  be  remembered.  He  gave  to  the  town 
the  land  on  which  the  first  church  was  built,  now  a  public  square, 
ornamented  with  trees — a  beautiful  place  of  which  the  citizens  are 
justly  proud.  He  died  "20th  of  May,  1747,  in  the  85th  year  of 
his  age,"  and  is  buried  in  the  ancient  burying  grounds  in  Fal- 
mouth. 

Dea.  Moses  Hatch  married  May  9,  1686,  Hepsiba  Eddy  of 
Tisbury,  said  to  be  a  younger  sister  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Benja- 
min Hatch.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Col.  John  Thacher  of  Yarmouth,  Oct.  18,  1699.  She  died 
May  18,  1710.  A  Moses  Hatch  married  about  this  time  Hannah, 
widow  of  Joshua  Bangs,  and  a  daughter  of  John  Scudder  of  Barn- 
stable. She  was  baptized  5th  Oct.  1651,  consequently  was  twelve 
years  older  than  Dea.  Moses,  and  as  Mr.  Savage  suggests,  the 
disparity  of  their  ages  renders  it  doubtful  whether  Dea.  Moses 
married  the  widow  Hannah  Bangs.  On  the  Falmouth  records  is 
this  entry,  "Hannah,  wife  of  Capt.  Moses  Hatch,  died  May  13, 
1739."  Capt.  Moses  was  a  son  of  the  Deacon,  and  if  he  married 
the  widow  the  disparity  was  still  greater.  The  last  wife  of  Dea. 
Moses  was  named  Patience.  The  early  records  of  Falmouth  are 
dilHcult  to  decipher,  and  are  not  always  reliable.  There  is  no  full 
record  of  the  family  of  Dea.  Moses  Hatch.  The  following  is 
obtained  from  various  sources,  and  is  an  approximation  to  accu- 
racy : 

60.     I.     Abiah,  born  Feb.  1,  1686-7,  died  on  the  13th,  and  was 
buried  on  the  14th  of  same  month. 


472         GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

61.  11.     M  *  *  *,  a  son,  twin  child  with  Abiah,  died  same  day, 
buried  2d. 

62.  III.     Moses,  Oct.  6,  1688,  died  Oct.  23,  1688. 

63.  IV.     Hepsiba,   Feb.  16,  1690,  married  Benj.  Nye  of  Fal- 
mouth, who  died  in  1716  insolvent. 

64.  V.     Elizabeth.     She  married  Timothy  Hallett  of  Yarmouth, 
died  Oct.  24,  1744,  aged  44. 

65.  VI.     Rebecca,  bap.  June  18,  1704,  married  in  1733  James 
Lewis,  of  B.,  died  July  5,  1740,  aged  36. 

66.  VII.     Hannah,  bap.  Oct.  14,  1705. 

67.  VIII.     Moaes,  probably  born  before  the  year  1700. 

68.  IX-     Sylvanus.     I   have  it  noted  that  he  had  a  son   Sylva- 
nus,  but  I  cannot  quote  my  authority. 

Capt.  Moses  Hatch  of  Falmouth,  probably  a  son  of  Dea. 
Moses,  married  April,  1724,  Mary,  daughter  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Lord  of  Chatham.  Her  birth  is  thus  recorded  by  the  father : 
"Mary  Lord  born  19-20  (2)  1701,"  that  is,  on  the  night  of  the 
the  19th  of  April,  1701,  0.  S.  Their  children  were: 
Sylvanus,  Jan.  24,  1725;  Moses,  May  28,  1732,  (married  Pru- 
dence Gorham  Sept.  1766)  ;  Joseph,  March  8,  1735;  Hepsibah, 
Feb.  12,  1737. 

It  is  also  stated  that  she  had  another  child,  and  died  during 
her  confinement,  Jan.  27,  1742-3.  The  latter  date  is  doubtful, 
and  taking  all  the  circumstances  into  consideration,  I  am  inclined 
to  the  opinion  that  the  Hannah,  wife  of  Capt.  Moses,  recorded  as 
having  died  May  13,  1739,  was  a  blunder  of  the  clerk.  He  should 
have  written  Mary,  wife  of  Capt.  Moses  Hatch,  died  May  13, 
1739.  If  I  am  right  in  this  supposition,  the  difficulties  are  ex- 
plained. That  this  is  right,  his  subsequent  or  second  marriage 
seems  to  favor.  If  his  first  wife  died  Jan.  27,  1743,  N.  S.,  then 
he  married  the  second  very  soon  after  the  death  of  the  first,  for 
his  son  Jonathan  was  born  Dec.  17,  1743,  and  Benjamia  Sept. 
10,  1745. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Gorham  Hatch,  to  whom  I  am  under  obliga- 
tions for  materials  for  this  article,  is  a  descendant  of  Capt. 
Moses. 

Sylvanus  Hatch,  probably  son  of  Capt.  Moses,  had  Sylva- 
nus, who  resided  some  time  at  Great  Bend,  Penn.,  and  finally  set- 
tled in  Illinois ;  Samuel,  who  settled  in  Rome,  N.  Y.  ;  John,  in 
Pompey,  Onandago  Co.,  N.  Y.  ;  Solomon,  in  Manluis,  N.  Y.  ; 
Charles — Orias,  who  was  a  tory  and  served  in  the  British  arm^' ; 
and  Jethoe,  who  was  killed  at  the  massacre  at  Wyoming. 

I  intended  to  have  extended  this  genealogy  one  generation 
further  ;  but  on  comparing  my  copies  of  records  I  find  so  many 
discrepancies,  that  it  is  unsafe  to  trust  them.  Every  one  com- 
plains of  the  difficulty  of  deciphering  the  early  town  records  of 
Falmouth,  and  I  judge  not  without  reason,  for  no  two   transcribe 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         473 

them  alike.  The  proprietor's  and  church  records  were  better 
kept. 

I  would  like  to  give  a  particular  account  of  the  "Little 
Hatches"  of  Falmouth  ;  but  am  unable.  They  were  children  of 
Barnabas  Hatch,  who  married  in  1776,  his  relative  Abigail  Hatch, 
and  had  two  sons  and  seven  daughters.  Six  of  the  daughters 
were  less  than  four  feet  in  height,  and  could  stand  upright  under 
the  old  fashioned  "lift  latch"  on  the  front  door  of  their  father's 
house.  Neither  of  the  six  married,  but  lived  and  died  in  their 
father's  house.  The  other  daughter,  Rebecca,  was  of  common 
size,  and  married  Robert  Hammond. 

The  two  sons  were  Barnabas,  born  June  15,  1788,  and  Rob- 
inson, born  Nov.  9,  1790.  Both  of  these  were  of  low  stature. 
The  one  whom  I  knew  was  scarce  four  feet  in  height — a  portly 
gentleman,  almost  as  broad  as  he  was  long. 

The  desendants  of  Jonathan  Hatch  are  very  numerous. 
Many  are  in  Connecticut,  and  in  New  York,  and  in  the  Western 
States.  Among  them  are  many  distinguished  men,  and  most  of 
them  inherit  that  energy  of  character  for  which  their  ancestor  was 
noted.  They  claim  to  be  of  Welch  descent,  and  that  the  "honest 
blood"  of  their  maternal  ancestor  yet  flows  in  their  veins. 


THE  HALLETT  FAMILY. 


Several  of  the  name  of  Hallett  came  early  to  New  England. 
William,  the  ancestor  of  the  Long  Island  family,  was  born  in 
Dorcetshire,  England,  in  1616,  joined  in  the  settlement  of  Green- 
wich, Conn.,  whence  he  removed  to  Long  Island,  and  Dee.  1, 
1652,  purchased  of  Jacques  Bentyn,  one  of  the  Directors  of  Van 
Twiller's  Council,  161  acres  of  land  at  Hellgate,  at  a  place  known 
as  Hallett's  Cove.  "In  the  fall  of  1655,  the  Indians  destroyed 
his  house  and  plantation  at  Hallett's  Cove,  which  induced  him  to 
take  up  his  residence  at  Flushing.  Here  he  was  appointed  Sher- 
iff, in  1656,  but  the  same  year  was  deposed  by  Gov.  Stuyvesant, 
fined  and  imprisoned,  for  entertaining  the  Rev.  Wm.  Wickenden 
from  Rhode  Island,   allowing  him  to  preach  at  his  house,  and   re- 


474        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ceiving  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  from  his  hands.  Dis- 
gusted at  this  treatment,  Mr.  Hallett,  on  the  revolt  of  Long  Is- 
land fro'ai  the  Dutch,  warmly  advocated  the  claims  of  Connecti- 
cut; and  being  sent  a  delegate  to  the  general  court  of  that  col- 
ony, he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  or  justice  of  the  peace  for 
Flushing.  Afterwards  he  removed  to  Hellgate,  where  he  lived  to 
the  age  of  about  ninety  years.  He  had  two  sons,  William  and 
Samuel,  between  whom  in  1688  he  divided  his  property  at  Hell- 
gate  Neck.  William  second,  diedin  1729,  aged81.  Hewasajustice 
of  the  peace  and  captain  of  a  company  of  militia.  He  had  ten  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  married  and  had  families.  Samuel,  son  of 
William,  died  Dec.  27,  1724.  He  was  a  man  of  consideration  in 
his  time.     He  had  an  only  son  Samuel  and  several  daughters.* 

Richard  Hallett,  of  Boston,  had  a  daughter  Alice,  who  mar- 
ried 1st,  Mordecai  Nichols  in  1652,  and  2d,  Thomas  Clark,  of 
Plymouth.  Richard  does  not  appear  to  have  left  any  male  de- 
scendants. A  person  named  Angell  Hallett  is  mentioned  in  the 
settlement  of  Capt.  Bozoan  Allen's  estate,  of  Boston,  1652. 
There  was  a  George  Hallett,  Sen'r,  of  Boston,  a  freeman  in  1690, 
consequently  there  was  at  the  same  time  a  George  Hallett,  Jr. 
A  Widow  Lydia  Hallett  married  at  Boston  27th  Nov.  1661,  John 
Drummond.  There  was  a  James  Hallett  at  Windsor,  Conn.,  in 
1643,  represented  as  a  poor  thievish  servant.     (See  Savage.) 

Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  gentleman,  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Yar- 
mouth and  Barnstable  families.  He  came  over  as  early  as  the 
year  1637,  and  was  of  Plymouth  March  1638-9.  Respecting  his 
family  there  is  very  little  on  record.  His  son  Andrew  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  Sandwich.  Another  of  his  sons  (probably 
Samuel)  is  named  as  being  of  Yarmouth  in  1639. f 


*For  an  interesting  account  of  the  Long  Island  family,  see  Hiker's  Annals  of  New- 
town. 


fin  making  this  investigation  I  was  assisted  by  the  late  Judge  Nahum  Mitchell,  author 
of  the  history  of  Bridgewater;  and  by  the  late  William  S.  Kussell,  Esq.,  author  of  Guide 
to  Plymouth,  and  other  historical  works ;  both  good  authorities.  Since  the  above  was  writ- 
ten Mr.  Freeman  has  published  his  histoiy  of  Cape  Cod.  He  eays  "we  have  no  authentic 
information  in  regard  to  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  Sen*r.,  and  must  rely  on  the  conclusions  of 
others."    [Vol.  2,  page  199. 

Mr.  Hallett  is  often  named  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  Records,  considered  "authentic"  by 
Hutchinson,  Bancroft,  BaylieSj  Drake,  Palfrey,  and  many  others  known  to  fame.  Mr. 
Freeman  "relies  on  the  conclusions  of  others."  He  says  that  by  his  wife  "Mary,  in  Eng- 
land he  had  Bathsheba,  Andrew,  Samuel,  John,  Hannah  probably  bom  in  Barnstable,  Jo- 
sias  and  Joseph."  Where  does  he  find  this  account?  Not  in  Deane,  Savage,  or  Winsor. 
To  the  latter  he  refers  only  to  misquote. 

Mr.  Freeman  positively  asserts,  that  Mr.  Hallett  had  the  children  named.  I  find  no 
record  of  his  maiTiage;  no  record  of  the  births  or  baptisms  of  any  of  his  children — no  rec- 
ord of  his  death  or  of  the  settlement  of  his  estate ;  yet  there  is  no  good  reason  for  doubting 
that  the  families  of  the  name  in  Yarmouth  and  Barnstable  are  his  descendants.  The  evi- 
dence, however,  is  circumstantial,  and  does  not  justify  positive  statements.  In  no  family 
has  its  traditional  history  been  better  preserved,  or  the  family  papers  more  carefully  kept, 
some  dated  in  1654;  but  it  unfortunately  happens  that  the  tradition  extends  only  to  the  sec- 
ond Andrew,  and  none  of  the  papers  of  the  first  have  been  saved.  I  shall  endeavor  care- 
fully to  discriminate  between  that  which  is  certain,  and  that  which  is  only  probable. 

Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  Sen.,  was  a  householder  in  Plymouth  and  in  Yarmouth,  and  prob- 
ably in  Barnstable.  In  those  times  men  did  not  build  houses  to  let,  they  built  tliem  to  oc- 
cupy, and  in  fact  the  legal  meaning  of  the  term  householder,  was  a  man  who  had  a  family ; 
it  was  not  applied  to  a  man  who  owned  a  house,  occupied  by  a  tenant,    'ihis  view  of  the 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         475 

The  widow  Mary  Hallett  of  Barnstable,  was  probably  his 
wife.  Her  daughter  Hannah  Hallett  married  John  Hadaway  July 
1656.  Josias  Hallett  was  her  son,  and  probably  Joseph  Hallett, 
of  Barnstable. 

This  account  is  unsatisfactory  ;  but  it  is  the  best  I  have  been 
able  to  obtain  after  much  research.  Mr.  Hallett's  children  were 
probably  all  born  in  England,  and  the  parish  registers  in  that 
country  would  probably  furnish  the  desired  information. 

He  was  styled  ''gentleman,"  a  title  bestowed  upon  few  in  the 
Colony.  It  shows  that  he  was  a  man  possessed  of  a  good  estate, 
and  a  man  of  some  note  in  his  native  land.  He  was  among  the 
very  first  who  came  to  Mattakeset,  but  did  not  make  it  his  place 
of  residence  till  1641.  His  son  Samuel  was  of  Yarmouth  in  1639, 
and  is  spoken  of  as  a  young  man,  for  whom  his  father  was  re- 
sponsible.     (Court  Order,  vol.  2,  page  20.) 

March  5,  1638-9,  the  Colony  Court  ordered  the  Committee  of 
the  town  of  Yarmouth,  consisting  of  Mr.  Anthony  Thacher,  Mr. 
Thomas  Howes,  Mr.  John  Crowe,  Mr.  Nicholas  Sympkins,  Wil- 
liam Palmer,  Philip  Tabor  and  Joshua  Barnes,  to  make  the  first 
division  of  the  planting  lands,  to  be  divided  equally  "to  each  man 
according  to  his  estate  and  quality,  and  according  to  their  in- 
structions." Thacher,  Howes  and  Crowe,  had  surveyed  the  lands 
during  the  previous  winter,  and  it  appears  that  Mr.  Hallett  was 
also  in  Yarmouth,  and  had  "assumed  to  himself"  more  land  than 
was  thought  equitable,  and  the  Colony  Court  appointed  March  5, 
1638-9,  Joshua  Pratt,   of    Plymouth,  and  Mr.  John  Vincent  of 

matter,  I  think,  makes  it  probable,  if  not  certain,  that  the  elder  Mr.  Hallett  had  a  family. 
That  the  widow  Mary  Hallett,  of  Barnstable,  was  the  widow  of  Andrew'HaUett,  Sen'r., 
rests  on  this  evidence :  in  1654  she  was  a  resident  in  Barnstable,  and  probably  had  been  for 
scTeral  years.  She  and  some  of  her  children  were  the  owners  of  one  of,  the  original  allot- 
ments of  lands,  purchased  of  one  of  the  first  settlers,  for  in  the  list  of  the  persons  who  in 
Jannary,  1644,  were  proprietors  of  the  common  lands,  there  was  no  one  of  that  name,  Mr. 
Hallett  being  then  a  resident  in  Yarmouth.  He  was  living  July  1646,  but  his  residence  at 
that  time  is  not  named;  but  it  was  probably  Barnstable.  He  died  soon  after  this  date,  be- 
fore the  year  1648.  His  estate  was  probably  legally  settled,  and  a  division  thereof  made 
among  his  heirs;  but  unfortunately  no  record  was  made. 

Up  to  July  7;  1646,  the  records  of  judicial  acts  are  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Souther,  after  which  there  is  a  chasm  of  two  years  and  three  months,  to  Oct.  3,  1648.  In 
the  Probate  record,  there  is  a  similar  chasm.  During  that  period  there  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  a  permanent  Secretary.  The  court  orders  during  that  time  are  in  the  handwrit- 
ing of  Gov.  Bradford,  Antony  Thacher  and  others.  The  first  record  made  in  the  court  or- 
ders by  Nathaniel  Morton,  so  many  years  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  is  dated  "Dec.  7,  1647, 
Srobably  written  up  from  the  minutes  of  others,  for  he  did  not  perform  all  the  duties  till 
let.  1648.  The  Judicial  acts  and  the  Probate  records  were  not  written  up  by  him,  and  the 
papers  are  now  lost.  Notwithstanding,  the  records  of  Barnstable  and  some  incidental  en- 
tries on  the  Colony  records,  wiU  enable  us  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion  which,  if  not  entirely 
satisfactory,  is  probable. 

In  1647,  at  the  time  ot  Mr.  Hallett's  death,  Andrew  and  Samuel  were  of  legal  age. 
Josias  and  Joseph  were  minors,  if  they  were  able  bodied  and  came  over  with  their  parents, 
because  in  Aug.  1643,  all  males  able  to  bear  arms  were  enrolled,  and  their  names  not  being 
on  the  list  it  is  safe  to  infer  that  they  were  not  16  in  1643,  or  21  in  1647. 

Mr.  Hallett  left  a  good  estate.  Mr.  Freeman  says :  "Winsor  gives  his  estate  at  £1180," 
a  misquotation,  for  if  ao,  he  was  a  very  wealthy  man,  a  farm  of  of  fifty  acres  and  its  apper- 
tenances  could,  then  be  bought  for  £10.  In  the  division  of  his  estate  it  appears  that  An- 
drew, Samuel,  and  Joseph,  had  the  "Hallett  Farm"  or  great  lot  of  200  acres,  and  the  widow 
Mary,  Hannah  and  Josiah,  the  estate  at  G-oodspeed's  Hill  and  appertenances.  Mr.  Andrew 
Hallett,  Sen.,  was  the  only  man  of  the  name  in  the  Colony,  old  enough  to  have  been  the 
father  of  this  family,  and  I  think  it  a  le^timate  inference,  that  the  Wid.  Mary  was  his  wife, 
and  Andrew,  Jr.>  Satomel,  Hannah,  Josias  atid  Joseph,  his  children. 


476         GENBALOGICAl,    NOTES    OP    BAKNSTABLE    FAM11,1E&, 

Sandwich,  to  view  the  lands,  "and  make  report  thereof  unto  the 
Court,  that  if  these  proportions  which  Mr.  Andrew  Hellott  hath 
assumed  to  himself  there  shall  be  so  p'judiciall  to  the  whole,  that 
then  some  just  and  equall  order  be  taken  therein,  to  prevent  the 
evil  consequences  it  may  be  to  the  whole  pla)»tation." 

No  report  of  the  committee  is  on  record,  and  it  would  appear 
from  the  subsequent  action  of  the  Court  that  Mr.  Hallett  had  not 
"assumed  to  himself"  a  greater  proportion  of  the  planting  lauds 
than  he  had  a  right  to  claim.  On  the  5th  of  May,  1639,  the 
Court  Ordered,  "that  the  proportion  of  lands  granted  to  Mr.  An- 
drew Hellott,  at  Mattacheesett,  shal  be  and  remain  unto  him,  and 
those  that  are  appoynted  to  set  forth  the  bounds  betwixt  Matta- 
cheese  and  Mattacheeset  shall  lay  forth  the  said  proportion  unto 
him  in  a  convenient  plase  there."  (Coart  Orders,  vol.  1,  page 
121). 

The  two  hundred  acre  lot  of  Mr.  Hallett  was  laid  out,  ap- 
proved by  the  Court  and  recorded  Sept.  3,  1639.  A  particular 
description  of  this  lot  is  given  in  the  account  of  the  Gorham  fam- 
ily, who  were  afterwards  the  principal  owners.  June  17,  1641,  a 
new  boundary  line  was  run  between  Barnstable  and  Yarmouth. 
This  line  divided  the  Hallett  farm  into  two  parts ;  the  larger  in 
Barnstable  contained  150  acres,  and  the  smaller  in  Yarmouth  con- 
taining forty-four  acres. 

Oct.  7,  1639,  "It  was  ordered  by  the  Court  that  the  seven- 
teen acres  of  meadow  lying  at  the  Stony  Cove  (Mill  Pond)  in 
Yarmouth,  shall  be  laid  forth  for  Mr.  Andrew  Hellott,  on  the 
south  west  side  of  the  said  Cove,  and  if  it  want  of  that  propor- 
tion, then  to  be  made  up  on  the  other  side,  and  ten  acres  more 
upon  the  Stony  Cove  Neck." 

Mr.  Hallett's  name  first  appears  on  record  in  March  1638-9, 
but  he  had  probably  then  been  in  the  country  several  years.  He 
was  then  a  resident  in  Plymouth,  where  he  had  a  dwelling-house 
and  seven  and  one-half  acres  of  land  situate  on  the  "new  street." 
This  estate  he  sold  to  Thomas  Cushman,  who  conveyed  it  to 
Thomas  Lettis  March  28,  1641-2. 

Nov.  25,  1639,  Mr.  Hallett  bought  for  £10  sterling,  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Starr,  of  Duxbury,  seventeen  acres  of  land  in  Yarmouth, 
in  two  divisions,  and  twelve  acres  of  meadow  "with  the  frame  of 
a  house  to  be  set  and  made  with  a  chimney,  and  to  be  thached, 
studded  and  latched,  (daubing  excepted)  by  William  Chase,  who 
was  agreed  with  all  and  paid  to  the  doing  thereof  by  the  said 
Thomas  Starr,  before  the  bargain  was  made  with  Mr.  Hallett." 
[Deeds,  page  50.]  No  boundaries  are  given  in  the  deed.  The 
houselot  was  at  the  north  west  corner  of  the  town  of  Yarmouth, 
and  adjoined  his  "great  lot"  on  the  west,  south  by  the  highway, 
east  by  by  the  lot  of  Robert  Dennis,  and  north  by  the  mill  pond. 
It  is  now  owned   by  Joshua  Hallett  and  others.     The   other  divis- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.         477 

ion  of  the  land  was  in  the  West  Field,  and  he  soon  after  sold  it 
to  Robert  Dennis.  He  was  of  Plymouth  Sept.  1,  1640,  and  of 
Yarmouth  June  17,  1641,  showing  that  heand  his  son  Andrew  be- 
came permanent  residents  of  Yarmouth  about  the  same  time. 

Sept.  8,  1641,  Mr.  Hallett  mortgaged  to  Mr.  William  Paddy, 
to  secure  a  debt  of  £5,  4s,  and  to  William  Hanbury  to  secure  a 
debt  of  29sh,  "all  that  his  farm  in  Barnstable,  with  all  and  sin- 
gular the  appertenances  thei-eunto  belonging,  and  all  his  right, 
title  and  interest  of  and  into  the  same,  and  every  part  and  parcel 
thereof."  The  mortgage  was  for  one  year,  and  the  reason  he 
gives  for  making  it  is,  "that  hee  is  now  going  into  England,  and 
is  not  able  to  pay  them,"  and  therefore  freely  assigns  the  property 
.  for  their  security. 

After  his  return  from  England  he  resided  certainly  three 
years  in  Yarmouth,  and  perhaps  till  his  decease  in  1647.  The 
mortgaging  of  his  farm  for  so  small  a  sum  indicates  that  he  was 
not  a  man  of  wealth  ;  but  the  following  generous  act  proves  that 
he  was  a  man  of  property,  or  he  would  not  have  given  a  cow  to 
the  poor  of  Yarmouth.  The  following  is  extracted  from  the 
Plymouth  Colony  records,  vol.  2,  page  70 : 

March  5,  1643-4.  "Whereas  information  is  given  to  the 
Court  that  there  is  a  cowe  or  a  heiffer  in  calve  given  or  disposed 
by  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  Sen.,  of  Yarmouth,  for  the  benefltt  of 
the  poore  of  the  said  towne  of  Yarmouth,  which  for  the  ordering 
thereof  was  referred  to  the  Court  by  the  said  Mr.  Hellot,  by  his 
letter  under  his  hand,  bearing  date  the  first  day  of  March,  1643 — 
the  Court  doth  therefore  order  that  the  said  cowe  or  heiffer  in 
calve  shal  be  on  Mayday  next  delivered  to  Thomas  Payne,  of  Yar- 
mouth, who  shall  have  her  three  years  next  ensuing,  and  the  milk 
and  the  one-half  of  the  increase  during  that  tyme,  and  after  the 
said  three  years  are  expired,  the  poore  of  Yarmouth  shall  have 
her  and  the  encrease,  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  townsmen  of  Yar- 
mouth from  tyme  to  tyme  to  other  ppr  persons  dwelling  in  the 
said  town,  as  they  shall  think  fitt,  and  for  such  town,  reserving 
the  benefltt  of  the  said  stock  for  the  benefltt  of  their  poore,  and 
not  to  be  allienated  to  any  other  use." 

At  the  March  term  of  the  Court  in  1642,  Mr.  William  Han- 
bury recovered  in  an  action  of  debt  on  a  note  for  £6  9s,  9d,  judg- 
ment against  Mr.  Hallett  for  the  amount  of  the  debt,  2  pence 
damage,  and  the  cost  of  the  suit.  At  the  July  term  in  1646, 
Samuel  Harvey,  "in  action  of  trespass  upon  the  ease,"  £6  5s, 
debt,  15  shillings  damages  and  costs  of  suit. 

This  is  the  last  entry  of  his  name  on  the  records,  in  connect- 
ion with  any  business  transaction.  May  14,  1648,  Mr.  Thomas 
Howes  "laid  down  seven  and  one-half  acres  of  meadow  at  the 
lower  end  of  Kock  (Lone?)   Tree  furlong  late  Mr.  Hallelt's." 


478        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

June  7,  1648,  Robert  Dennis  claimed  seven  acres  of  land  in  the 
West  Field  bought  of  Mr.  Hallett.  In  a  deed  dated  Feb.  20, 
1654,  the  great  lot  of  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  deceased,  is  named. 

In  Lechford's  Plain  Dealing,  he  is  called  a  schoolmaster.  If 
so,  it  is  surprising  that  his  son  Andrew  did  not  learn  to  write  till 
some  time  after  he  was  a  married  man.  However,  there  were  many 
in  those  times  who  could  read  fluently  ;  but  were  unable  to  write. 
That  was  not  considered  a  necessary  accomplishment,  and  it  did 
not  necessarily  follow  that  the  man  who  could  not  write  was  igno- 
rant ;  yet  we  may  safely  presume  that  a  teacher  of  youth  would 
have  instructed  his  own  children  in  the  elementary  branches  of 
education.  His  other  children  were  better  educated;  but,  not- 
withstanding, Andrew  was  the  most  respectable  and  succeeded 
best  in  life. 

Mr.  Hallett,  as  above  stated,  was  called  a  gentleman,  a  word 
that  at  that  time  had  a  very  different  meaning  attached  to  it,  than 
it  has  at  the  present  time.  When  applied  to  a  man,  it  meant  that 
he  was  connected  with  the  gentry  or  wealthy  class — that  he  was 
not  a  mechanic  or  common  laborer,  and  that  he  had  received  a 
good  education.  Rank  and  title  were  more  regarded  in  those  days 
than  at  the  present  time.  Of  the  first  settlers  in  Barnstable, 
about  thirty  were  entitled  to  be  called  "goodman,"  four  to  be 
called  "mister,"  and  one  "gentleman."  What  his  employment 
was  the  records  do  not  inform  us.  He  was  engaged  in  too  many 
lawsuits  for  a  teacher,  yet  Leehford  was  probably  right.  He  had 
not  been  officially  employed  in  the  public  service,  yet  the  Colony 
Court  decided  that  he  had  rendered  i  some  public  service  and  was 
entitled  to  a  liberal  grant,  and  though  objection  was  made  to  the 
amount,  yet  the  Court  confirmed  it,  and  the  towns  of  Barnstable 
and  Yarmouth  acquiesced. 

Too  few  incidents  of  his  life  are  known  to  enable  us  to  form 
a  just  estimate  of  his  character.  That  he  was  a  man  of  some 
note  in  the  Colony,  has  already  been  shown.  He  speculated  in 
wild  lands  ;  but  in  doing  so  he  only  followed  the  fashions  of  the 
times.  Every  one  traded  in  land-;  from  the  minister  in  his  pulpit 
to  the  cobbler  on  his  bench;  He  was  frequently  a  party  in  law 
suits.  They  are  not  always  to  be  avoided  ;  tor  "the  over-reaching 
and  the  dishonest  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  possess  in  peace  the 
wealth  of  others.  However,  the  man  of  peace,  the  good  citizen 
and  obliging  neighbor,  very  rarely  appeals  to  the  law  to  obtain  re- 
dress for  every  offence  against  his  property  or  his  good  name. 
His  experience  and  observation  has  taught  him  that  it  is  not  the 
better  way.  The  self-willed,  the  wayward  and  the  stubborn,  as  a 
class,  are  most  frequently  engaged  in  lawsuits.  Mr.  Hallett  did 
not  recover  damage  in  any  of  his  lawsuits,  and  it  may  thence  be 
inferred  that  he  was  a  little   stiff-necked,  and  believed  his  own  to 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         479 

be  the  better  way,  a  trait  of  character  which  many  of  his  descend- 
ants, down  to  the  fifth  generation,  inherited.* 

However  wayward  he  may  have  been,  his  generous  donation 
to  the  poor  of  Yarmouth  will  ever  be  remembered,  and  make  us 
regret  that  we  know  so  little  of  the  man.  If  at  the  present  time 
a  man  should  present  a  cow  to  the  poor,  the  act  would  not  be 
heralded  in  the  newspapers  as  an  act  of  great  benevolence,  but  in 
order  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  gift,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  cattle  were  then  scarce  in  the  Colony,  and  that 
a  cow  was  then  the  equivalent  of  a  good  sized  farm,  or  of  the 
wages  of  a  common  laborer  for  a  year. 

There  is  no  record  of  his  death.  In  the  division  of  the 
fences  in  Barnstable  Feb.  28,  1647,  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Hallett  is  named, 
but  not  in  the  subsequent  division  in  1649.  This  entry  is  proba- 
bly in  old  style,  and  would  be  1648,  new.  Not  much  reliance, 
however,  is  to  be  placed  in  it.  He  probably  died  in  1647,  as 
above  stated,  but  if  the  entry  in  the  division  of  fences  is  reliable, 
in  the  spring  of  1648. 

Of  some  of  the  members  of  the  Hallett  family  I  have  spoken 
in  a  note.  John  Hallett,  who  settled  in  Scituate,  was  one  of  the 
Conihasset  planters  in  1646.  Mr.  Deane  calls  him  a  brother  of 
Andrew  of  Sandwich.  Mr.  Savage  copies  from  Deane,  and  re- 
marks that  his  account  is  "confused."  He  has  not  made  it  any 
clearer.  Both  mix  up  the  families  of  Andrew,  Sen.,  with  that  of 
Andrew,  Jr.,  and  hence  the  confusion. 

Similarity  in  the  family  names  of  the  Scituate  and  Yarmouth 
families  probably  induced  Mr.  Deane  to  call  them  relatives.  They 
probably  were ;  but  John  of  Scituate  was  too  old  a  man  to  be 
called  a  son  of  Andrew,  Sen.,  without  some  more  certain  evidence 
than  has  yet  been  obtained.  Richard  Curtis  married  "Lydia," 
daughter  of  John  Hallett,  in  1649,  presuming  her  to  be  bis  oldest 
child,  1609  is  as  late  a  period  as  can  be  assigned  for  the  birth  of 
the  father.  In  some  families  there  are  as  great  or  a  greater  dis- 
parity in  the  ages  of  the  children,  but  such  cases  are  rare,  and  in 
the  absence  of  records  it  is  not  safe  to  make  such  presumpt- 
ions. 

Mr.  Deane  had  but  little  exact  information  respecting  the 
Hallett  family.     He  evidently  did  not  know  that  there  were  two 

*Few  men  could  tell  a  story  more  ffracefuUy  or  better  than  the  late  Hon.  John  Keed. 
He  frequently  told  the  following,  remarking  that  he  was  an  eye-witness.  It  is  a  ffood  illus- 
tration of  a  peculiar  trait  of  character  for  which  many  of  the  Hallets  of  other  days  were 
noted.  Perhaps  it  was  the  manner  in  which  the  story  was  told  that  made  it  interesting. 
The  fourth  Jonathan  Hallett  and  Joshua  Hallett  were  at  work  together  shingling  a  build- 
ing. One  proposed  to  put  up  a  stage;  the  other  said,  "We  can  put  on  two  or  three  courses 
more  without  one."  The  first  said  to  himself,  "I  can  shingle  as  long  as  you  without  a 
stage,  and  I  will  not  again  propose  to  put  up  a  stage,"  and  the  other  made  the  same  resolu- 
tion. They  continued  naiung  on  course  after  course,  both  resolved  not  to  yield,  till  both 
were  seen  standing  tiptoe  bedside  the  building,  nailing  on  shingles  as  high  above  their 
heads  as  they  could  possibly  stretch,  neither  yielded  till  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  drive 
another  nail.  This  singular  contest  attracted  spectators,  and  the  merriment  which  it  exci- 
ted had,  perhaps,  an  influence  in  inducing  them  to  take  a  common  sense  view  of  the  mat- 
ter and  put  up  a  stage. 


480         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Andrews.  John,  8on  of  Andrew,  Jr.,  he  calls  a  son  of  John  of 
Scituate,  and  the  wife  of  Richard  Curtis  he  calls  in  one  place 
"Ann,"  and  in  another  "Lydia."  He  informs  us  that  John  Hal- 
lett  was  an  extensive  land  holder  ;  that  his  house  was  near  the 
harbor  at  Scituate,  and  that  Hallett's  Island  near  the  "stepping 
stones,"  still  retains  hjs  name. 

Bathsheba,  the  first  wife  of  Mr.  Richard  Bourne,  on  the  au- 
thority of  Mr.  Freeman,  I  called  a  daughter  of  Andrew,  Sen. ; 
but  the  statement  wants  confirmation. 

Family  of  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  Sen.  All  his  children  prob- 
ably born  in  England  : 

2.  I.     Andrew,   born  about  1615,  married  Ann  Besse,  died  in 

1684,  (see  below.) 

3.  II.  Samuel,  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  or  upwards,  in  1643, 
consequently  was  born  in  England  before  the  year  1627. 
He  came  to  Yarmouth  early,  before  the  removal  of  his  father 
from  Plymouth,  as  the  following  record  dated  June  17,  1641, 
seems  to  prove,  because  Mr.  Hallett  had  no  other  son  to 
whom  it  could  refer,  Andrew  being  then  of  age  and  a  resi- 
dent in  Sandwich,  and  neither  Josias  nor  Joseph,  if  they 
had  then  came  over,  was  over  twelve  in  1639. 

"It  is  ordered  by  the  Court,  that  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett  shall 
pay  Massatampaimf  one  fadome  of  beads  [wampam]  within  two 
moones,  beside  the  nett  he  alleadgeth  the  sd  Massatampaim  soold 
him,  for  the  deare  that  Mr.  Hellot's  sonn  bought  of  him  about  two 
years  since." 

In  the  division  of  his  father's  estate  a  part  of  the  "Hallett 
Farm"  situate  within  the  boundaries  of  the  town  of  Barnstable, 
and  the  homestead  bought  of  Dr.  Starr  in  Yarmouth,  appears  to 
have  been  set  off  to  him,  and  was  sold  by  his  administaators, 
probably  to  Capt.  John  Gorham  who  was  the  owner  in  1652.  J 

He  had  no  family.  Neither  widow  nor  children  are  named  in 
the  settlement  of  his  estate.  He  was  drowned  at  Eastham,  and 
the  particulars  are  thus  recorded  by  Mr.  Lothrop  on  the  Barnsta- 
ble  church   records :      "Thomas   Blossom   and    Samuel     HoUet 


fMas-sa-tam-paim  was  the  sachem  of  Nobscusset,  or  Yarmouth.  He  sold  the  lands  in 
the  north  part  of  Yarmouth  and  Dennis  to  Mr.  Bradford,  and  his  release  in  the  handwrit- 
ing of  Anthony  Thacher  is  yet  preserved.  He  lived  to  be  very  aged.  The  first  syUable  of 
his  name  signifies  great — the  whole  perhaps  "great  sagamon,"  but  I  am  not  certain.  It  is 
sometimes  writen  "Mas-am-tam-paigue." 


Jin  the  Gorham  article  I  state  that  Capt.  John  purchased  the  whole  of  the  "Hallett 
Farm"  about  the  year  1652.  A  more  careful  examination  of  deeds  and  the  other  records, 
satisfies  me  that  he  did  not  at  first  purchase  the  whole.  The  forty-four  acres  of  the 
*'Farin"  within  the  boundaries  of  Yarmouth,  excepting  some  small  portions,  has  never 
been  sold,  and  the  descendants  of  Andrew,  Sen.,  still  hold  it  by  virtue  of  the  original 
grant  in  1639,  also  a  tract  of  about  15  acres  on  the  west  of  Long  Fond;  I  am  also  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  that  he  did  not  at  first  purchase  the  northwest  portion  of  the  "Farm" 
which  aopears  to  have  been  set  ofi"  to  Joseph,  who  sold  to  James  Gorham,  a  son  pf  Capt. 
John.  My  recent  investigations  seem  to  lead  to  this  conclusion.  I  am  perfectly  certain 
that  I  was  in  an  en-or  when  I  stated  that  Capt.  John  Gorham  bought  the  whole  of  the 
"Hallett  Farm,"  and  those  who  keep  files  of  these  articles  are  requested  to  make  the 
correction  by  interlining  before  "Hallett  Farm"  the  words  "a  large  part  of." 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         481 

drowned  at  the  Harbour  of  Noeett  atti  their  first  Setting  out  from 
thence  aboute  a  fishing  voyage  April  22,  1650." 

"June  5,  16o0,  Letters  of  administration  are  graunted  unto 
Mr.  The.  Howes  [of  Yarmouth]  and  Samuel  Mayo§  [of  Barn- 
ble]  to  administer  upon  the  estate  of  Samuel  Hollet,  and  to  pay 
the  debts  as  fare  as  the  estate  will  amount  unto. by  equall  propor- 
tions." 

The  foregoing  extracts  show  that  Samuel  Hallett  came  to 
Yarmouth  with  the  first  settlers  in  the  winter  of  1638-9,  that  he 
remained  in  that  town  till  the  removal  of  his  father  in  1641,  en- 
gaged in  the  fisheries,  and  probably  had  the  care  of  his  father's 
estate  before  his  brother  Andrew  removed  from  Sandwich  ;  that  he 
died  unmarried  in  1650,  and  probably  on  account  of  his  losses  at 
the  time  of  his  shipwreck,  he  did  not  leave  a  sufHcient  estate  to 
pay  his  debts  in  full. 

4.  III.     Hannah,  born  about  1627,  married  July  1,  1656,  John 
Haddaway.     (See  Haddaway.) 

5.  IV.  Josias  was  born  after  the  year  1627.  He  was  a  mari- 
ner, and  is  named  as  living  in  1663.  From  the  notices  of  him  in 
the  records,  it  is  inferred  that  he  did  not  sustain  a  good  c  har- 
acter  for  sobriety.  In  the  division  of  his  father's  estate,  the 
southerly  part  of  the  homestead  was  set  off  to  him,  containing 
eight  acres.  This  land  is  now  owned  by  Major  Sylvanus  B. 
Phinney,  and  is  that  part  of  his  homestead  which  is  situate  on  the 
south  of  the  swamp.  Anciently  there  was  a  highway  between 
the  swamp  and  the  railroad,  called  Goodspeed's  Outlet.  Josias 
Hallett's  house  was  on  that  road.  Dee.  14,  1661,  he  sold  this  es- 
tate and  three  acres  of  meadow  at  Blush's  point  to  John  Hadde- 
way,  for  £10  sterling.  In  the  deed  he  is  called  "sometime  of 
Barnstable."  He  had  then  removed,  perhaps  to  Sandwich.  Be- 
ing a  householder  it  is  probable  that  he  had  a  family,  though  no 
children  are  named  on  the  town  or  church  records.  The  Jona- 
than of  Sandwich  in  1684,  was  a  son  of  Andrew,  not  of  Josias. 
6.  V.  Joseph,  probably  the  youngest  of  the  family,  married  in 
1666,  Elizabeth . 

Of  this  family  no  record  has  been  preserved.  It  is  evident 
from  the  Colony  records  that  he  had  at  least  one  child.  Lois  Hal- 
lett, who  married  April  10,  1690,  was  probably  his  daughter. 
She  removed  to  Stonington,  Connecticut,  in  1715.  In  1686  he 
had  a  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  county  road,  betw-een  the 
houses  of  Joseph  Benjamin  (now  Nathan  Edson's)  and  James 
Gorham's  (now'  Warren  Marston's) .  Whether  his  house  stood  on 
the  Hallett  Farm  or  not,  I  am  unable  certainly  to  determine.  In 
the  Gorham  article  I  presumed  that  it  stood  on  the  west  of  the 
mill  road ;  but  having  since  obtained  some  additional  informa- 

§Capt.  Samuel  Mayo  had  vessels  employed  in  the  coasting  and  fisheries.  In  1647  the 
town  panted  him  liberty  to  erect  a  fish  house  on  the  point  of  land  below  his  house  now 
called  Crowell's  point. 


482        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAfiNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

tion,  I  am  inclined  to  the  Qpinion  that  Joseph  had  the  northwest 
part  of  his  father's  great  lot  or  farm  set  off  to  him  in  the  divis- 
ion of  the  estate,  and  that  he  built  his  house  thereon,  not  far  from 
the  location  of  the  dwelling-house  of  the  heirs  of  Ansel  Hallett, 
deceased.  He  was  a  townsman  in  1670,  and  at  the  division  of 
the  common  meadows  in  1697  had  one  acre  allotted  to  him.  He 
is  not  named  in  the  division  of  the  common  lands  in  1706,  and  the 
presumption  is  that  some  time  between  1697  and  1706  he  removed 
from  Barnstable.  If  he  had  died  the  settlement  of  his  estate 
would  appear  on  the  Probate  Records.  His  lands  were  afterwards 
the  property  of  James  Gorham.* 

The  widow  Mary  Hallett  is  described  31st  March,  1659,  as 
"now  living  in  Barnstable,"  implying  that  Barnstable  had  not 
been  her  permanent  place  of  residence.  Her  lands  at  Good- 
speed's  Hill  in  1654  are  thus  described:  "Eleven  acres  of  up- 
land, more  or  less,  bounded  northerly  by  the  highway,  easterly  by 
James  Lewis'  land,  southerly  by  her  own  land,  (called  also  Jo- 
sias')  westerly  upon  John  Davis,  stretching  upon  a  sett  off  four 
rods  into  the  swamp  (Lewis'  swamp)  across  the  north  end  of  John 
Davis'  land."  In  the  Goodspeed  article.  No.  CVII,  there  is  a 
diagram  of  this  land.  It  is  those  portions  of  the  Goodspeed  and 
Scudder  lots,  bounded  north  by  the  County  road,  east  by  James 
Lewis,  south  by  Goodspeed's  outlet,  which  separates  it  from  Jo- 
sias  Hallett's  land  and  John  Davis',  and  west  by  the  Hyannis 
road,  which  separated  it  from  John  Davis'  houselot ;  but  did  not 
include  Lewis'  Swamp,  now  the  houselot  of  the  heirs  of  F.  W. 
Crocker,  Esq.,  deceased.  These  eleven  acres  are  now  owned  by 
the  heirs  of  Timothy  Reed,  Esq.,  Major  S.  B.  Phinney,  Eben. 
Bacon,  Esq.,  heirs  of  F.  W.  Crocker,  Esq.,  deceased,  and  by  the 
United  States,  (Custom  House  lot) . 

The  three  acres  of  meadow  at  Blush's  Point,  afterwards  Jo- 
sias',  are  also  described  as  her  property. 

There  is  no  record  of  her  death,  and  her  name  does  not  ap- 
pear after  1659.  She  probably  removed,  perhaps  with  her  son 
Josias  to  Sandwich.  That  she  was  the  widow  of  Mr.  Andrew 
Hallett,  Sen.,  there  is  very  little  reason  to  doubt.  She  is  called  in 
the  Barnstable  records  '■'•Mrs.  Hallett."  Titles  meant  something 
in  those  days ;  her  husband,  wherever  he  was,  was  called  Mr. 
There  was  only  only  one  man  of  the  name  prior  to  1654,  who  was 
entitled  to  that  distinction,  and  that  man  was  Mr.  Andrew  Hal- 
lett, Sen.,  the  husband  of  Wid.  Mary  Hallett. 

(2-1.)  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.,  is  the  common  ancestor  of  all 
the  families  of  the  name  in  Barnstable  and  Yarmouth.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  town  of  Sandwich,  and  at  the  di- 

*Mr.  Hallett  probably  had  other  children  than  thoae  named.  The  first  wife  of  Robert 
Davis  was  probably  his  daughter.  Davis  resided  in  Yarmouth  imtil  the  death  of  Mr.  Hal- 
lett when  he  remcjved  to  Barnstable, building  his  house  next  west  of  Joseph  Hallett's  house 
lot  on  a  tract  of  land  probably  the  property  of  his  father-in-law. 


GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         483 

vision  of  the  common  meadows,  April  16,  1640,  he  had  seven  and 
one-half  acres  assigned  to  him.  The  division  of  the  common 
lands  and  meadows  in  Sandwich  was  made  "according  to  each 
man's  estate  and  condition,"  or  "quality,"  a  most  aristocratic 
rule.  In  the  other  towns  there  were  three  elements  on  which  the 
division  was  made:  1,  personal  rights;  2,  to  the  owners  of  tene- 
ments or  dwelling  houses  ;  and  3,  the  estate  and  quality.  This 
was  an  equitable  mode.  One  third  was  distributed  in  equal 
shares  to  the  legal  inhabitants,  one  third  equally  to  the  owners  of 
dwelling-houses,  without  reference  to  the  cost,  and  the  other  third 
to  the  inhabitants  in  the  same  proportion  that  taxes  were  levied. 
The  proprietors  of  Sandwich  rejected  the  democratic  prtnciples 
involved  in  the  first  and  second  elements,  and  divided  by  the 
third,  literally  observing  the  rule,  "To  him  that  has  much,  shall 
much  be  given." 

The  division  was  made  by  a  committee  of  ten,  five  represent- 
ing the  aristocracy,  and  five  the  townsmen.  The  first  five  awarded 
to  themselves,  one  hundred  and  fourteen  acres,  nearly  one  third 
of  the  whole.  The  other  five  were  more  modest  iu  their  demands, 
and  took  only  forty  and  one-half  acres, — leaving  to  be  divided  to 
the  other  56  inhabitants  named,  214  1-2  acres,  less  than  four 
acres  to  each,  7  1-2  acres  being  awarded  to  Andrew  Hallett,  it 
shows  that  he  had  at  that  time  a  good  estate  and  was  compara- 
tively a  wealthy  man.* 

The  farm  of  Andrew  Hallett,  in  Sandwich,  was  that  lately 
owned  by  Paul  "Wing,  deceased,  at  the  Tack  P^actory  village, 
about  in  the  center  (from  east  to  west)  of  the  settlement  made  in 
1637.     This  tract  the  Indians  called  Mos-keeh-tuk-gut.t 

July  28,  1640,  he  sold  his  farm  in  Sandwich  to  Daniel  Wing, 
by  whose  descendants  it  was  owned  till  recently.  No  considera- 
tion is  named,  and  the  deed  is  a  specimen  of  the  brevity  in  which 
conveyances  of  real  estate  were  often  made,  in  early  times. 

"I,  Andrew  Hallett  of  Sandwich,  have  sold  unto  Daniel 
Wing,  of  same  town,  and  to  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  my 
dwelling-house  in  Sandwich,  with  three  acres  of  land  joyning  to 
it,  and  the  corn  now  growing  upon  it,  with  the  cow-house.  It 
lieth  between  the  land  of  George  ShawsonJ  and  William  New- 

*Thi9  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  justice  displayed  by  a  majority  of  the  first  settlers  in 
Sandwich.  By  the  aid  of  the  notorious  Barlo-vv.  (father-in-law  to  the  wife  of  Andrew  Hal- 
lett, Jr.j)  they  maintained  their  ascendency  twenty  fiye  years,  when  they  were  succeeded 
by  a  better  class  of  men.  Of  the  members  of  the  Committee  Mr.  John  Vincent,  Richard 
Bourne,  Geo.  Allen  and  Robert  Bodflsh,  should  be  excepted  from  the  censure  due 
to  the  recorded  acts  of  the  committee. 


fMr.  Freeman  says  the  Indian  name  of  Sandwich  was  Shaume.  He  is  mistaken, 
Shaume  or  Shawmet,  as  its  name  implies,  is  a  neck  of  land  now  known  as  Town  Neck. 
The  swell  of  land  on  the  south  is  sometimes  called  Shaume  Hill;  but  there  is  no  eyidence 
that  it  was  so  named  by  the  aboriginers. 

Ihe  first  settlement  in  Sandwich  was  made  at  Manomet  in  1627,  and  the  foundation  of 
the  trading  house  built  that  year  can  yet  be  traced,  the  spring  fi:om  which  they  obtained 
water  is  yet  to  be  seen,  and  the  remams  of  the  landing  place  or  wharf.  It  is  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river,  about  half  a  mile  west  of  Monument  Depot,  on  the  Cape  Cod  Railroad. 
A  settlement  was  made  at  Mos-keeh-tuk-gut  in  1637,  and  soon  after  at  Scusset,  Spring  Hill 


484         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

land ;  and  two  acres  of  planting  land  at  Ma-noo-nah-Skussett ; 
and  five  acres  of  planting  land  lying  near  Spring  Hill ;  and  four 
acres  wanting  one  quarter  of  meadow  near  the  Pine  Neck  ;  and 
two  acres  of  meadow  lying  [illegible]  and  one  a:cre  and  a  half 
lying  in  the  Neck,  being  yet  undivided  ;  with  all  commons,  and  all 
pasture,  and  all  profits  and  appertenances  whatsoever,  thereunto 
belonging. 

Witness  my  hand  this  twenty-eighth  day  of  July,  one  thou- 
slx  hundred  and  forty.  '  The  mark  of 

H 
Andrew  Hallett. 
Signed  and  delivered  in  presence  of 
Edward  Dillingham, 
John  Wing. 
Taken  out  of  the  original  deed  and  entered  on  record  by  me, 

Thomas  Tupper, 
Town  Clerk. 
From  Sandwich  Andrew  Hallett  removed  to  Yarmouth,  of 
which  town  he  continued  to  be  an  inhabitant  till  his  death  in 
1684.  In  1642  he  bought  the  dwelling-house  of  Gyles  Hopkins, 
the  first  built  by  the  English  in  Yarmouth,  and  ten  acres  of  land. 
This  house  was  probably  erected  by  Mr.  Stephen  Hopkins,  by 
virtue  of  a  grant  made  by  the  Colony  Court  dated  Aug.  7,  1638. 
It  stood  on  land  now  owned  by  Charles  Basset,  a  little  distance 
northwesterly  from  the  house  of  .Joseph  Hale.  Traces  of  the 
foundation  are  not  yet  entirely  obliterated.  The  ten  acres  of 
land  were  bounded  northeasterly  by  the  lands  of  Mr.  Nicholas 
Simpkins,  and  southwesterly  by  the  lands  of  Robert  Dennis.  In 
1644  he  bought  fifteen  acres  of  upland  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Simpkins 
adjoining  his  own  on  the  east  and  three  acres  of  salt  meadow. 

In  1655  he  bought  the  farm  of  Robert  Dennis.  The  original 
deed  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Anthony  Thacher,  has  been  pre- 
served, and  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

"These  presents  bearing  date   the  twenty-fourth  day  of  Feb- 

aud  other  places.  No  settlement  has  been  made  at  Shaujae  or  Town  Neck  to  this  day. 
The  account  of  the  division  of  the  common  meadows,  I  think,  sustains  this  view  beyond 
auy  controversy  or  doubt.  Moo-ne-noo-ne-nus-cus-set — the  village  Moo-re-noo-ne-nus- 
caul-ton — the  river  or  stream.  I  have  before  remarked  that  Indian  names  are  descriptive 
terms.  These  long  names  have  been  contracted  to  Scusset.  The  meaning  ot  the  long 
name  applied  to  the  river  seems  to  be  the  murmuring  stream,  or  perhaps  a  better  transla- 
tion is  "the  stream  where  murmuring  sounds  are  heard  in  the  evening,"  the  name  of  the 
village  implies  "a  landing  place  on  that  stream."  A  similar  name  was  sometimes  applied 
to  the  long  valley  which  terminated  at  Scusset  or  West  Sandwich.  In  all  languages  there 
is  an  analogy  between  sound  and  sen^e,  and  particularly  in  ,  arbarous  or  unwritten  lan- 
guages. Our  Knglish  word  murmur  is  one  of  this  character  and  the  Indian  Moo-ne- 
noo-ne  is  one  of  the  same  character  and  represents  the  same  idea.  The  Indian  names  of 
birds  and  beasts,  were  often  imitations  of  the  song  or  cry  of  each.  The  crow,  the  black- 
bird, the  duck,  the  goose,  and  all  the  birds  were  continually  chanting  to  the  Indian  their 
mdividual  names,  and  so  did  the  beasts  of  the,field  and  the  buzzing  insects. 

JGeorge  Shawson,  Mr.  Winson  says,  was  of  Duxbury  in  1638,  and  removed  to  Sand- 
wich in  1640.  He  removed  to  Stamford,  Conn.,  before  1644,  where  he  died  Feb.  19, 1695, 
leaving  descendants. 


GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         485 

ruary  Ano  Domini  1654,  made  betweea  Robert  Dennis  of  Yarmouth  in 
tlie  Colony  of  New  Plimouth  in  New  England,  carpenter,  for  the  one 
party,  and  Andrew  Hallett  of  the  same  towne  husbandman  on  the  other 
part,  witnessettf  that  Kobert  Dennis,  aforesaid,  for  and  in  consideration 
of  the  sum  of  ninety  pounds  in  good  merchantable  pay  in  New  England 
to  him  by  the  said  Andrew  Hallett,  and  before  the  unsealing  and  deliv- 
ery of  these  presents  well  and  truly  satisfied  and  paide,  the  receipt 
whereof  the  said  Robert  Dennis  doth  hereby  acknowledge  and  thereof 
and  of  every  part  and  pr  ell  thereof  doth  fully  acquite  exonerate  and 
discharge  tlie  said  Andrew  Hallett,  his  heirs,  executors  and  administra- 
tors, and  every  of  them  forever  b}'  these  presents  have  graunted,  bar- 
gained, sould,  enfeoffed,  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents  doe 
graunt,  bargain,  sell,  enfeofle  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Andrew  Hal- 
lett and  unto  his  heirs,  that  messuage  or  dwelling-house,  with  the  al- 
lottment  of  laud  the  said  house  stands  in  and  upon,  containing  six 
acres  be  it  more  or  less,  lying,  situate  and  being  in  Yarmouth  afore- 
said, neere  adjoining  on  the  easter  side  unto  the  lands  and  dwelling 
house  of  him  the  said  Andrew  Hallett  and  now  in  the  tennor  and  occu- 
pation of  him  the  said  Andrew,  and  also  forty-six  acres  of  land  be  it 
more  or  less  next  adjoyning  to  the  same,  bounded  on  the  wester  side 
with  the  fiarme  lot  of  lands  late  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett's,  deceased,  on 
the  easter  side,  with  an  allotment  of  lands  late  Emanuel  White's  and 
now  common,  and  a  lot  of  land  now  in  the  tenure  and  possession  of  Mr. 
Antony  Thacher,  on  the  souther  end  with  sold  allotment  of  (oblitera- 
ted, probably  Antony  Thacher)  the  ponds  and  parte  of  the  above-said 
fifarm  lott,  and  partly  on  the  norther  end  with  the  lands  of  the  said  An- 
drew Hallett  all  lying  and  being  in  a  ijeld  known  and  commonly  called 
the  west  field,  and  also  thirteen  acres  of  land  more  or  less  lying  and  be- 
ing in  a  parceJl  of  land  commonly  cald  stony  cove,  and  also  two  acres 
more  or  les  lying  and  being  in  a  furlong  cald  Rabbett's  min,  between 
the  lands  of  VVm.  Lumpkin  and  Richard  Pritchett  at  Nobscussett  and 
three  acres  in  a  furlong  there  cald  plain  furlong  next  adjoyning  the 
country  farm,  and  also  nine  acres  more  or  less  of  marsh  meadow  lands 
lying  abutting  on  ye  foresaid  land  cald  Stony  Cove,  and  the  two  rivers 
oV  creeks  cald  Stony  Cove  river,  and  a  creek  cald  Sympkins  creek  and 
ye  meadow  lands  of  him  the  said  Andrew  Hallett ;  together  with  all 
and  singular  houses,  edifices,  buildings,  Barnes,  staules,  pounds,  or- 
chards, gardens,  casements  and  ffitte  commodities,  emoluments,  and 
hereditaments  tliereunto  belonging,  or  in  any  wise  appertaining,  or 
therewith  enjoyed  or  accepted,  deemed,  reputed  or  taken  to  be  pte  or 
pcell  of  the  same  or  any  pte  or  pcell  of  the  lands  above  recited,  and  all 
the  estate,  rights,  title,  interest,  claim  demanded  whatsoever  of  him 
the  said  Robert  Dennis  and  Mary  his  wife  and  Thomas  fflawne  or  any 
or  either  of  them  off  in  or  to  the  same  or  any  pte  or  pcell  of  the  same. 
To  have  and  to  hold  the  said  bargained  messuage  or  dwelling  house 
lands  and  premises,  with  their  and  every  of  their  appertenances,  unto 
him  the  said  Andrew  Hallett  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  to  the  only 
proper  use  and  behoofe  of  him  the  said  Andrew  Hallett  and  of  his  heirs 
and  assignes  forever.  In  witness  whereof  the  said  Robert  Dennis  has 
hereunto  set  his  hand  and  scale. 

Signed,  sealed  and  delivered  Robert  Dennis.        L.  S. 

in  presence  of 

John  Cbowe, 

The  marke  Richard  Hore, 

Antony  Thacher, 

A :  U :  I :  C :  V :  G :  [or  something  like  it.] 

This  deed  is  recorded  according  to   order  pr  me  Nathaniel  Morton, 
Clarke  of  the  Court." 


486        GENEALOGICAli    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

May  10,  1648,  the  lands  of  Robert  Dennis,*  situate  in  the 
West  Field,  are  described  in  the  Colony  records,  as  12  acres 
bought  of  Peter  Warden,  10  of  Mr.  Edmond  Ha.wes,  7  of  Mr. 
Andrew  Hallett,  and  4  given  him  by  the  town.  Thomas  Flawne 
had  13  acres  in  the  same  field,  making  the  46  acres  sold. 

The  records  of  the  laying  out  of  the  houselots  in  Yarmouth 
are  lost.  They  contained  from  five  to  six  acres  each,  and  no  per- 
son was  allowed  to  own  two  adjoining  lots,  without  he  maintained 
a  dwelling-house  on  each.  They  were  laid  out  on  the  north  side 
of  the  County  road,  the  lands  on  the  south  being  reserved  as 
planting  grounds,  and  enclosed  by  a  common  fence.  The  west- 
ern lot  adjoining  the  bounds  of  Barnstable  was  Dr.  Thos.  Starr's, 
sold  in  1639  to  Mr.  Andrew  Hallett,  and  afterwards  owned  by 
Capt.  John  Gorham.  Four  acres  of  this  lot  are  now  owned  by 
the  Gorhams,  and  two  by  the  Halletts.  The  second  lot  was  Rob- 
ert Dennis',  the  one  conveyed  in  the  foregoing  deed,  and  is  now 
owned  by  the  Halletts,  Mr.  Eldredge  Lovell,  and  Joseph  Gorham. 
The  third  lot  was  sett  off  to  Gyles  Hopkins,  and  sold  by  him  to 
Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.,  in  1642.  This  lot  probably  included  the 
houselot  now  owned  by  Mr.  Jarius  Lincoln,  Jr.,  certainly  Capt. 
Charles  Bassett's,  Mr.  Joseph  Hale's,  and  Mr.  John  Bassett's, 
Mill  Lane  being  then  probably  its  northeastern  boundary.  The 
fourth  lot  was  Capt.  Nicholas  Sympkins',  and  sold  by  him  in  1644 
to  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr. 

The  Mill  road  was  laid  out  by  the  first  comers  as  a  private 
way.  Hopkins'  and  iSympkins'  land  extended  across  Mill  Pond 
meadows,  and  included  land  in  Stony  Cove  Neck  or  Sympkins' 
Neck,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  he  owning  to  the  creek  which 
still  retains  his  name.  This  road  led  to  the  ancient  landing-place 
or  wharf  on  the  north  of  the  Grist  Mill. 

By  subsequent  purchases  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.,  became  the 
largest  land  holder  in  Yarmouth,  owning  about  three  hundred 
acres  of  the  best  lands  and  meadows  in  the  town.  On  the  north 
side  of  the  road  his  farm  extended  from  the  Gorham  houselot  to 
the  Hawes  farm,  where  Mr.  Edward  W.  Crocker  now  resides,  and 
included  nearly  all  the  meadows  on  the  north.  On  the  south  side 
of  the  road,  he  owned  from  the  bounds  of  Barnstable  nearly  to 
Hawes'  Lane.  From  him  the  westerly  part  of  the  County  road  in 
Yarmouth  obtained  the  name  of  Hallett  street,  which  it  has  re- 
tained to  this  day.  Beside  the  ample  domain  already  described, 
he  owned  lands  and  meadows  in  Barnstable,  1000  acres  in  Wind- 
ham, Conn.,  and  rights  to  commonage  in  Yarmouth,  equal  to  500 
acres  more. 

The  mode  in  which  he   acquired  this  large  estate  I  shall  at- 

*Ilobert  1)6111118  was  a  carpenter,  and  had  a  wife  Mary,  He  had  only  one  child  record- 
ed as  bom  in  Yarmouth,  Mary,  19th  Sept.  1649.  I  think  he  removed  to  Newport,  and  was 
afterwards  a  man  of  note.  Thomas  Flawne  appears  to  have  resided  in  the  family  of  Den- 
nis.   Mr.  Savage  does  not  name  him. 


GENEALOGHCAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       487 

tempt  to  elucidate.  Two  words,  industry  and  economy,  are  the 
keys  which  unlock  the  whole  mystery.  If  he  was  the  eldest  son, 
he  was  entitled  to  a  double  share  of  his  father's  estate,  and  if  so, 
his  share  was  not  over  £20  in  value.  He  may  with  propriety  be 
called  the  representative  man  of  the  rude  social  organization  of 
his  times.  The  great  majority  of  our  fathers  lived  precisely  as  he 
lived,  and  practiced  as  he  practiced,  and  thus  laid  a  sure  founda- 
tion for  our  present  prosperity.  The  inhabitants  of  this  County 
fifty  years  ago  were,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  descendants  of 
the  first  settlers,  and  inherited  from  them  habits  of  industry  and 
economy,  their  respect  for  the  laws,  and  the  religious  institutions 
in  which  they  were  trained  up. 

Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.,  did  not  acquire  his  wealth  by  official 
services.  His  name  frequently  occurs  on  the  records,  but  not  in 
connection  with  any  ofBce  that  conferred  much  honor  or  afforded 
him  large  emoluments.  In  1642,  '50  and  '58,  he  was  a  surveyor 
of  highways;  in  1651  and  1679  constable.  In  1659  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Court  one  of  a  committee  to  raise  money  for  the 
support  of  the  ministry  in  Yarmouth.  In  1660,  '67  and  '75,  he 
was  on  the  grand  jury  ;  and  Oct.  30,  1667,  he  was  appointed  by 
the  Colony  Court,  at  the  request  of  the  town,  a  member  of  the 
land  committee  of  Yarmouth.  None  of  those  are  offices  of  honor 
or  profit ;  but  they  show  that  he  was  a  man  in  whom  his  neigh- 
bors had  confidence,  that  he  was  a  man  of  common  sense  and 
sound  judgment.  When  a  young  man  he  was  unable  to  write,  yet 
soon  after  he  came  to  Yarmouth  he  acquired  that  art,  for  in  1659 
I  find  his  name  subscribed  to  the  verdict  of  a  jury  of  inquest. 

He  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  while  a  resident  in  Sandwich,  and 
his  name  and  that  of  his  father  appears  on  the  list  of  those  who 
were  able  to  bear  arms  in  Yarmouth  in  August,  1643.  On  the 
criminal  calendar  his  name  does  not  appear.  In  those  times  the 
most  trifling  faults  were  noted,  and  he  who  escaped  a  prosecution 
must  necessarily  have  lived  a  blameless  life.  He  also  kept  his 
name  off  of  the  civil  docket.  He  had  no  lawsuits.  This  is  nega- 
tive testimony  ;  but  establishes  all  we  wish,  he  was  a  quiet  peaca- 
ble  man,  minded  his  own  business,  and  did  not  intermeddle  with 
that  of  others. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  church  in  Yarmouth  ;  but  circumstan- 
ces show  that  he  did  not  entirely  acquiese  in  all  the  crude  notions 
promulgated  by  Mr.  Matthews.  He  often  attended  the  meetings 
of  Mr.  Lothrop,  and  Mr.  Walley  and  some  of  the  members  of  his 
family  afterwards  joined  the  Barnstable  church.  He  was  kn  ex- 
emplary member  of  the  church  of  Christ,  constant  in  its  attend- 
ance on  its  ordinances,  and  in  his  family,  no  wordly  care  was  ever 
a  bar  to  the  performance  of  his  whole  duty  as  a  parent. 

Perhaps  I  am  unnecessarily  particular,  that  I  state  facts  and 
circumstances  that  are  too  trivial,  and  had  better  be  left  unsaid. 


488         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Perhaps  it  is  true  ;  but  considering  the  second  Andrew  Hallett  as 
a  representative  man,  and  that  his  history  is  the  history  of  hundreds 
of  others,  I  am  induced  to  particularize,  and  perhaps  repeat  some 
things,  because  I  happen  to  know  more  of  him  than  I  do  of  those 
equally  deserving,  whose  biography  I  omit. 

The  house  which  he  bought  of  Gyles  Hopkins  in  1642,  was 
probably  the  same  that  Mr.  Stephen  Hopkins  built  in  the  summer 
of  1638,  and  if  so,  was  the  first  house  built  by  the  English  on 
Cape  Cod  below  Sandwich.  It  was  small  and  poorly  constructed, 
and  was  occupied  as  a  dwelling  not  many  years.  As  the  first 
house  built  by  the  whites,  .it  has  an  historical  interest.  It  stood 
on  the  eastern  declivity  of  the  hill,  about  seventy-five  yards  north- 
westerly from  the  present  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Hale.  A 
depression  in  the  ground  and  a  rock  in  the  wall,  mark  the  place  of 
its  location.  An  excavation  was  made  into  the  side  of  the  hill  to 
level  the  ground,  and  the  stone  and  cob  work  chimney  was  built 
against  the  bank,  and  outside  of  the  frame  of  the  house.  It 
probably  contained  at  first  only  one  room.  The  excavation  into 
the  hill,  and  the  chimney,  covered  nearly  the  whole  of  the  west 
side,  and  the  other  three  sidtjs  were  covered  with  hand-sawed  or 
hewn  planks,  and  the  roof  with  thach.  The  walls  were  not  shin- 
gled on  the  outside,  or  plastered  on  the  in.  The  seams  in  the 
boarding  were  filled  or  "daubed"  with  clay.  Oiled  paper  sup- 
plied the  place  of  glass.  The  sills  were  hewn  from  large  logs, 
and  projected  into  the  room,  forming  low  seats  on  three  sides. 
The  floor  was  fastened  to  sleepers  laid  on  the  ground,  and  even 
with  the  lower  edge  of  the  sills.  A  ladder  to  the  chamber  and  a 
elect  door  with  a  wooden  latch  and  string,  completed  the  fixtures 
of  the  house. 

In  this  rudely  built  shanty,  two  of  the  children  of  Gyles 
Hopkins,  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  were  born,  and  here 
resided  a  number  of  years  the  moat  opulent  man  of  Yarmouth. 
Nearly  all  the  houses  of  our  ancestors  were  of  this  description. 
The  memorandum  of  the  contract  for  building  the  house  of  the 
elder  Mr.  Hallett,  preserved  in  the  deed  of  Dr.  Starr,  proves  that 
his  house  was  of  the  same  description.  Gov.  Hinckley  resided  in 
a  house  of  similar  construction  many  years.  De  Rassier's  de- 
scription of  Plymouth  in  1627,  shows  that  the  walls  of  the  houses 
in  that  town  were  covered  with  hewn  or  hand-sawed  planks,  and 
unshingled.  As  late  as  1717  it  was  not  common  to  plaster  the  in- 
side walls.  The  seams  between  the  boards  on  the  Meeting  House 
built  that  year  on  Cobb's  Hill  were  filled  with  morter,  or  "daubed" 
precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  practiced  by  the  first  settlers. 
That  boards  were  used  in  the  construction  of  their  dwellings,  by 
the  first  settlers,  is  also  shown  by  the  agreement  made  June  19, 
1641,  between  the  inhabitants  of  Barnstable  and  the  Indian  chief 
Nepaiton,  to  build  the  latter  a  house.     A  part  of  the  contract  was 


GENKALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   B4KNSTABLE   FAMILIES.        489 

tbat  it  should  be  built,  "with  a  chamber  floored  with  boards,  with  a 
chimney  and  an  oven  therein."  This  contract,  and  the  contract  by 
Dr.  Starr  with  William  Chase  in  1639,  establish  the  fact  that  boards 
were  used  by  our  ancestors  in  the  construction  of  their  houses.  In 
1640  there  was  a  saw  mill  in  Scituate,  but  Mr.  Deane  says  "we  are 
without  date  when  it  was  erected," 

Some  writers  on  our  early  history  speak  of  the  "log  cabins  of 
ancestors."  I  find  no  evidence  that  they  built  a  single  log-house. 
The  timber  in  the  vicinity  of  the  settlements  was  unfit  for  such 
buildings.  Before  the  erection  of  saw  mills^  there  were  sawyers  in 
all  the  towns  ;  and  within  the  last  fifty  years,  old  houses  have  been 
taken  down  which  were  originally  covered  with  hand-sawed  planks 
or  boards.  lu  1640  boards  were  cheap  in  Scituate,  and  for  many 
years  after  tha  settlement,  much  of  the  lumber  used  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony  was  brought  from  that  town. 

The  fortification  houses  of  our  fathers  were  built,  the  lower 
story  of  stone,  where  it  could  be  conveniently  procured,  and  the  sec- 
ond of  wood.  In  apart  of  Yarmouth  (now  South  Dennis)  where 
no  stone  could  be  conveniently  found,  a  block  house  was  built  for  de- 
fence. This  in  its  construction  resembled  a  log-house,  but  no  one 
calls  such  a  structure  by  that  name.  Many  common  houses  like 
that  of  John  Crocker  were  surrounded  by  a  palisade,  and  were  in- 
tended as  places  of  resort,  should  the  Indians  prove  unfriendly. 

Major  Grookin  in  speaking  of  the  wigwams,  of  the  Indians, 
says  some  of  them  were  large  and  convenient,  and  more  comfortable 
than  many  houses  built  by  the  English.  Mr.  Lothrop  calls  some  of 
the  houses  of  our  ancestors,  booths,  indicating  that  they  were  most 
uncomfortable  residences  in  the  winter.  Some  he  calls  pailsado, 
meaning  I  presume  that  the  walls  were  built  of  two  parallel  rows  of 
poles,  and  the  space  between  filled  with  clay  or  other  material 
Others  were  frame  houses  not  large  or  elegantly  finished,  but  warm 
and  comfortable.  Dwellings  of  the  latter  description,  only  a  few 
men  who  were  comparatively  wealthy,  had  the  means  to  build. 

In  such  rude  shelters  from  the  piercing  storms  of  the  winter  of 
1639-40,  the  great  mass  of  our  ancestors  resided  more  happily  and 
more  contentedly  than  do  their  descendants  at  this  day,  in  their  well 
built  and  well  furnished  mansions.  Mornings  and  evenings  they 
thanked  their  Heavenly  Father  for  the  many  blessings  He  had 
vouchsafed  to  them ;  that  their  lines  had  fallen  in  such  pleasant 
places  ;  that  He  had  held  them  as  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,  pro- 
tecting them  from  the  savages  among  whom  they  dwelt,  and  the 
wiles  of  the  more  savage  men,  who  had  driven  them  from  their  na- 
tive land.  Such  were  the  feelings  of  our  ancestors,  they  were  ever 
conscious  of  being  under  Divine  protection,  and  were  ever  happy, 
contented,  and  thankful.  It  is  a  sufficient  honor  to  descend  from 
such  a  race  of  men.  We  need  not  trace  our  ancestry  fi^rther.  The 
more  closely  we  study  their  character,  the  greater  will  be  our  rever- 


490   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

ence  for  them.  The  study  will  make  us  more  contented  with  our 
lot  in  life,  happier  and  better  men. 

In  the  summer  of  1640  they  had  their  lands  to  clear,  fence  and 
plant,  to  build  roads,  and  do  many  things  that  are  incident  to  the 
settlement  of  a  new  country,  and  they  found  little  time,  if  they  had 
the  means,  of  improving  their  dwellings.  Many  of  them  resided  all 
their  days  in  the  houses  they  first  erected.  Improvements  were 
made  from  time  to  time.  The  thatched  roof,  the  paper  windows, 
and  the  cob  work  chimney  disappeared,  and  shingled  roofs,  diamond 
glass  windows  and  brick  chimneys  and  ovens  were  substituted.  As 
the  family  increased  the  house  was  enlarged,  first  by  adding  a  lean- 
to,  and  afterwards  by  adding  another  story.  Some  of  the  lareest 
old  houses  now  remaining,  one  of  which  will  be  described  in  this 
aiticle,  were  built  by  adding  one  room  at  a  time. 

The  second  house  in  which .  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.,  resided,  in 
Yarmouth,  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  mill  road,  a  little  distance  north 
of  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  John  Bassett.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  this  was  the  Sympkins  house  repaired  and  enlarged.  The 
family  tradition  is  that  he  built  it. 

He  bought  the  Sympkins  land  in  1644,  but  did  not  build  his 
house  till  some  time  afterwards,  if  the  family  tradition  is  reliable, 
that  Jonathan,  born  in  1647,  first  saw  light  in  the  old  house.  The 
new  house  was  built  on  a  little  knoll,  and  fronted  due  south,  as  all 
ancient  dwellings  did.  By  such  a  location,  our  fathers  secured  two 
objects  which  they  considered  essential :  the  rays  of  the  sun  at  noon, 
or  dinner-time,  as  they  called  that  hour  of  the  day,  shone  parallel 
with  the  side  of  the  house,  and  their  "great  room"  in  which  they 
lived,  was  on  the  sunny  or  warm  side  of  the  house.  The  chimney 
was  uniformly  built  on  the  west  side,  and  projected  outside  of  the 
frame.  The  exact  size  of  Andrew  Hallett's  new  house  cannot  be 
stated  accurately  :  it  was  about  22  feet  by  26  on  the  ground,  and  was 
only  one  or  one-half  stories  high.  The  arrangement  of  the  rooms 
was  the  same  as  in  the  Dimmock  house,  which  I  have  described. 
The  "great  room,"  about  17  feet  square,  occupied  the  southeast  cor- 
ner. The  fireplace  was  eight  feet  wide  and  four  deep,  and  the  man- 
tle, which  was  of  wood,  was  laid  about  five  feet  and  a  half  high,  so 
that  the  family  could  pass  to  the  oven,*  which  opened  on  the  back  of 
the  fireplace  near  the  south  corner.  There  was  a  small  kitchen  or 
work  room  at  the  northwest  corner  ;  at  the  northeast  corner  a  Small 
pantry,  with  a  trap  door  leading  to  the  cellar.  Between  the  pantry 
and  the  great  room  was  a  bed-room,  the  floor  of  which  was  elevated 
about  two   feet,  to  give  greater  depth  to  the  cellar.     The  bed  occu- 


*The  oven  projected  out  on  the  west  side  of  the  house.  I  am  not  aware  that  there  is  a 
single  specimen  of  these  old  chimneys  and  projecting  ovens  now  remaining  in  this  County. 
Mr.  Oris  Bacon'^  was  the  last  I  recollect  in  Barnstable.  A  man  passing  a  house  of  this 
construction,  and  thinking  to  pass  a  good  joke  on  the  lady  thereof,  knocked  at  the  door  ■  on 
her  appearance,  he  said :  "Madam,  do  you  know  your  oven  has  got  out  of  doors?"  She 
replied,  "Will  you  have  the  kindness  to  bring  it  in,  it  is  too  hot  for  me  to  handle  ?" 


OENEALOGIOAIi   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       491 

pied  near  all  the  space,  and  it  was  so  low  in  the  walls  that  a  tall  per- 
son could  not  stand  upright  therein.  A  ladder  in  the  front  entry  led 
to  tlie  chamber,  which  was  occupied  for  weaving  and  lodging  rooms. 
No  part  of  the  house  was  ever  painted  or  any  of  the  rooms  papered. 
The  windows  were  of  small  diamond  shaped  glass  set  in  lead.  No 
bliuds  or  curtains  were  needed,  and  none  were  ever  used. 

The  furniture  of  the  house  was  for  use,  not  for  show.  Half  a 
dozen  flag  bottomed,  one  low  and  one  large  armed  chair,  a  table,  a 
large  chest,  and  a  cradle,  all  of  domestic  manufacture,  was  the  fur'- 
niture  usually  to  be  seen  in  the  summer  in  the  great  room,  and  in 
the  winter  a  bed  occupied  one  corner,  and  the  looms  another.  On 
one  side  of  the  room  there  were  usually  two  large  "trencher 
shelves, "t  on  which  the  pewter  ware  of  the  family  was  displayed,  an 
iron  candlestick,  an  hour  glass,  a  pen  and  ink  horn,  the  bible,  and 
hymn  book. 

A  dock  or  timepiece  was  an  article  not  to  be  found  in  the  set- 
tlement. Time  was  reckoned  thus,  "daylight,  sunrise,  sun  an  hour, 
two  hours  and  three  hours  high,  and  the  reverse  in  the  afternoon. 
When  the  sun  shone,  they  could  tell  the  precise  apparent  time  at 
noon,  and  they  had  marks  by  which  they  judged  very  accurately 
of  the  time  from  9  A.  M.  till  3  P,  M.  Sun  dials  were  early  intro- 
duced, and  many  had  them  fastened  to  posts  set  in  front  of  their 
houses. 

If  we  lay  aside  one  consideration,  the  cost  of  fuel,  it  may  be 
safely  said  that  for  comfort,  convenience  and  health,  nothing  supe- 
rior to  the  old  fashioned  fireplace  has  yet  been  invented.  Grates, 
stoves  and  furnaces,  in  comparison  with  them,  are  only  contemptible 
contrivances  for  saving  a  little  fuel,  engendering  gas,  dust,  and 
headache,  and  shortening  a  man's  days.  Talk  with  the  aged,  they 
will  uniformly  tell  you  that  the  happiest  hours  of  their  lives  were 
spent  in  the  corner  of  an  old-fashioned  kitchen  fireplace.  In  the 
long  winter  evenings  the  younger  members  of  the  family  occupied 
the  low  bench  in  the  left  chimney  corner,  the  smaller  one  perhaps 
mounted  on  the  dye-tub.  Here  they  were  warm  and  comfortable, 
and  could  read  or  play  without  molestation,  or  gaze  up  to  the  stars 
through  the  capacious  chimney.  In  the  other  corner  sat  the  mis- 
tress of  the  family  in  her  low  rocking-chair,  and  in  front,  the  father 
in  his  round-about,  or  in  an  old-fashioned  arm  chair. 

In  those  days  there  was  a  social  equality  now  unknown.  There 
were  no  visits  of  cerefnony, — no  calls  to  leave  a  card ;  but  neighbor 
called  on  neighbor,  without  previous  invitation  to  spend  a  long  even- 
ing. In  such  cases,  all  the  children  of  the  neighborhood  assembled 
at  the  house  left  vacant  by  the  parents.  They  parched  corn,  cracked 
nuts,  and  played  blind  man's  buff,  hunt  the  slipper,  thread  the  needle 
through  the  eye,    hull  gull,  and  many  other  plays  and  games,  which 

fThis  name  seems  to  imply  that  our  ancestors  used  trenchers,  or  wooden  dishes  on 
which  to  cut  and  serre  their  meats. 


492         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

the  boarding-school  Miss  now  regards  with  horror,  though  she  can 
witness  with  delight  the  indelicate  giratious  of  the  ballet  dancer,  or 
Unseemly  pranks  of  a  French  waltz. 

The  old  folks  first  discussed  the  English  news,  though  it  was 
four  or  five  months  old.  Some  one  had  had  a  letter  from  their  rela- 
tives in  the  father  land.  This  was  passed  around  from  family  to 
family,  and  read  and  discussed  by  the  whole  vicinity.  The  minis- 
try— the  church — the  acts  of  the  Court — and  the  crops,  were  sub- 
jects that  passed  in  review,  and  often  familism,  pedo-baptism, 
quakerism,  and  witchcraft,  came  in  for  a  sh»re  of  the  conversation. 

The  young  and  the  old  enjoyed  these  social  meetings,  now  only 
known  in  recollection.  They  are  past — another  King  has  arisen 
who  knows  not  Joseph,  and  all  arguments  is  estoped  by  repeating 
the  quaint  Latin  dictum, 

' '  Tempora  mutantar, 
Et  nos  mutamur  in  illis." 

That  is,  times  change,  and  we  must  change  with  them,  an  ar- 
gument which  many  call  a  "clincher."  The  Dutchman's  wife  ex- 
pressed the  same  sentiment,  perhaps  in  stronger  language,  when  she 
said  to  her  husband,  "Dear  Vill,  I  vish  as  you,  you'd  do  as  other 
people  do."  Thus  it  is  the  good  customs  of  our  fathers  are  rejected, 
because  the  vain  call  them  old  fashioned. 

The  fire  was  never  suffered  to  go  out  during  the  cool  season, 
and  very  rarely  in  the  summer.  Every  morning  in  ihe  winter,  the 
coals  were  raked  forward,  and  a  ponderous  back-log  put  on,  with 
two  or  three  smaller  ones,  as  riders.  A  large  fore-stick,  four  feet  in 
length,  was  laid  on  the  andirons,  and  two  or  three  smaller  ones  be- 
tween that  and  the  back-log  forming  a  bed  into  which  the  coals 
raked  forward  were  shovelled.  Some  dry  sticks  were  laid  on  these, 
and  in  a  tew  moments  a  large  fire  was  sparkling  on  the  hearth. 
Wood  cost  nothing  in  those  days,  and  our  ancestors  always  enjoyed 
the  luxury  of  a  good  fire  in  cold  weather,  and  however  cold  the 
weather,  the  great  room  was  warm  and  comfortable.  They  always  pro- 
vided themselves  with  pine  knots,  then  abundant,  and  in  the  long 
winter  evenings  these  were  used  instead  of  candles. 

The  kitchen  or  backroom  was  small  and  little  used,  excepting 
for  a  store  room.  The  tubs  and  pails,  and  the  spinning  wheels, 
when  not  in  use,  were  kept  here,  and  a  pile  of  wood  for  the  morn- 
ing's fire. 

AH  the  clothing  and  bedding  of  the  family  was  made  in  the 
house.  The  flax  and  the  wool  were  spun  and  wove  by  the  inmates. 
The  cloth  for  the  thick  clothing  of  the  men  was  sent  to  the  clothier 
to  be  fulled,  colored  and  pressed. 

Goodman  Hallett  lived  on  the  produce  of  his  farms.  Indian 
corn  was  his  principal  crop,  though  every  family  had  rye,  and  most 
of  them  raised  sufficient  wheat  for  their  own  consumption.  They 
also  cultivated   peas,  of  which  many  were  sent  to  Boston  and  other 


GENKALOGIOAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         493 

places  to  sell ;  beans,  pumpkins,  squashes,  cucumbers,  melons,  tur- 
nips, beets,  carrots,  parsnips,  and  onions.  Potatoes  were  not  raised 
by  the  first  settlers,  and  it  was  many  years  before  they  were  pro- 
duced in  large  quantities.  Cattle  were  scarce  and  of  high  price,  and 
few  were  killed  for  beef  by  the  first  settlers  ;  but  in  time  they  be- 
came abundant  aad  cheap.  Goats  were  kept,  and  their  milk  was 
used.  Horses  were  early  introduced  ;  but  the  country  did  not  be- 
come well  stocked  till  fifty  years  after  the  settlement  of  Plymouth. 
Pigs  multiplied  rapidly,  and  were  _soon  abundant  in  all  the  settle- 
ments. Poultry  of  all  kinds  was  raised.  Deer  and  other  wild  ani* 
mals  suitable  for  food  then  roamed  in  the  forests,  and  the  shores,  at 
certain  seasons,  were  covered  with  flocks  of  geese,  ducks,  plover, 
and  other  birds. 

Clams,  quahogs  and  oysters,  could  be  obtained  at  any  season  of 
the  year,  and  codfish,  mackerel,  bass,  eels,  and  other  fish,  were  then 
more  easily  taken  than  at  the  present  time. 

None  but  the  idle  and  the  dissolute  complained.  The  first  set- 
tlers, after  securing  their  first  crop  in  1640,  never  suflTered  for  food, 
— they  always  had  an  abundance  of  that  which  was  wholesome  and 
palatable.  At  first  they  were  short  of  clothing.  They  had  to  patch 
up  that  which  they  brought  out  of  England.  The  skins  of  the  deer 
and  other  animals,  dressed  by  the  Indians,  were  soft  and  pliable. 
These  supplied  many  of  their  wants  and  furnished  them  with  warm 
and  comfortable,  though  not  elegant  articles  of  dress. 

The  little  money  they  obtained  by  the  sale  of  peltry,  oil  and 
fish,  was  carefully  husbanded  and  used  to  supply  their  most  pressing 
wants.  Tools,  iron  and  some  kinds  of  buildiug  materials,  were  in- 
dispensable, and   it  was  many  years  before  they  were  fully  supplied. 

The  first  settlers  in  Barnstable  were  as  independent  and  as  con- 
tented a  community  as  ever  existed.  They  had  food  enough  and  to 
spare, — they  were  comfortably  clad,  and  though  their  houses  were 
open  and  cold,  these  defects  were  supplied  by  adding  wood  to  their 
winter  fires.  While  they  suffered  the  inconveniences  incident  to  a 
new  settlement,  they  had  no  cause  to  complain  of  smoke,  dust  or 
gas  in  their  rooms. 

The  spring  of  1641  was  cold  and  wet.  Hooping  cough  pre- 
vailed to  an  alarming  extent  among  the  children,  yet  only  three 
deaths  occurred  in  Barnstable  during  the  year.  The  bills  of  mor- 
tality for  the  first  fourteen  years,  exhibit  an  average  longevity  of 
seventy  years,  showing  that  the  inconveniences  to  which  our  fathers 
were  subjected  were  not  prejudicial  to  their  health.  Their  diseases 
yielded  to  the  simple  remedies  which  our  mothers  gathered  in  the 
fields  and  the  forests. — [Ch.  Records. 

Goodman  Hallett  is  called  a  husbandman.  By  honest  industry, 
skilful  management  and  economy,  he  accumulated  a  large  estate. 
In  1676  his  tax  was  equal  to  one  twentieth  of  the  whole  assessment. 
At  this  time,  it  may  seem  difficult  to  comprehend  how  he   accumula- 


494        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ted  so  much  by  farming.  But  let  any  young  man,  of  sound  health, 
practice  in  any  calling  in  life  as  Goodman  Hallett  practiced,  and  he 
will  always  succeed. 

He  may  also  have  been  engaged  in  the  fisheries,  and  probably 
was,  for  nearly  all  the  first  settlers  were  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  The  Mayos',  Allyns',  Lothrops',  Gorhams' and  Dimmoeks', 
accumulated  good  estates  in  the  coasting  and  West  India  trade. 

They  were  not  sole  owners  of  their  vessels.  Others  who  did 
not  take  an  active  part  in  these  employments  were  interested  as  own- 
ers, and  shared  the  profits. 

His  out  of  door  arrangements  were  as  rude  as  those  within, 
On  the  east  of  his  house  there  was  a  fine  spring  of  water,  in  which 
he  placed  a  large  hollow  log  for  a  curb.*  The  supply  was  pure  and 
abundant,  and  in  times  of  drought  was  the  resort  of  the  neighborhood. 
His  large  wood-pile  was  in  front  of  his  house,  not  cut  and  piled,  but 
standing  on  end,  on  each  side  of  a  large  pole  resting  on  crutches, 
settled  into  the  ground.  Forty  cords  he  considered  a  year's  supply, 
and  it  was  cut  up  as  wanted  for  the  fire,  into  pieces  three  and  four 
feet  long.  Some  of  the  logs  used  were  large,  and  required  the 
strength  of  two  men  to  roil  them  in,  and  adjust  them  in  the  fire- 
places for  backlogs. 

Goodman  Hallett  built  his  cribs  as  all  in  those  times  did,  with 
slender  poles.  Posts  were  set  at  each  corner  having  short 
branches  left  thereon,  about  three  feet  from  the  ground.  On  those 
branches  two  stout  poles  were  laid,  12  or  15  feet  long.  Across 
these  smaller  ones,  four  feet  in  length,  were  closely  laid.  The 
sides  were  constructed  with  long  poles,  and  the  roof  with  boards 
overlapping  each  other.  At  each  end  there  was  a  door  or  open- 
ing. He  had  several,  in  which  he  stored  his  large  crops.  Corn 
was  then  the  measure  of  value.  With  it  a  man  could  pay  his 
taxes  or  his  debts,  buy  houses  and  lands  ;  the  necessaries  or  the 
luxuries  of  life.  To  have  corn  in  the  crib,  in  those  times,  was 
like  having  stocks  and  money  in  the  Bank  at  the  present  time. 
To  say  of  a  man  "he  has  plenty  of  corn  in  his  cribs,"  was  equiva- 
lent to  saying  he  had  money  in  his  purse.  Goodman  Hallett  was 
not  proud,  but  he  delighted  to  exhibit  to  visitors  his  extensive 
granaries,  his  herds  and  flocks,  and  the  breadth  of  his  cultivated 
lands.  Excepting  for  hominy  or  samp,  he  consumed  very  little  of 
his  corn  till  it  was  a  year  old.t 


*Tai  about  the  year  1770  this  was  one  of  the  best  springs  of  water  in  Yarmouth. 
Though  on  high  land,  it  afforded  an  abundant  supply  of  cool,  clear,  and  excellent  water. 
About  that  year,  during  an  earthquake,  the  spring  suddenly  ceased  to  flow.  It  still  affords 
water;  but  its  character  is  entirely  changed.  A  few  years  ago  the  old  hollow  tree  was  re- 
moTcd,  and  the  spring  cleared  out,  and  a  new  curb  put  in,  yet  the  water  is  poor.  During 
the  same  earthquake  several  springs  in  yarious  parts  of  the  country  were  similarly  afTectea. 
The  jarring  of^  the  earth  probably  changed  the  direction  of  the  fountains.  The  old  spring 
near  the  Gyles  Hopkins  house  also  failed  about  the  same  time.  The  fountain  which  for- 
merly supplied  it  is  now  entirely  dried  up  or  turned  in  another  direction. 

■{■"Pointing  to  one  crib  he  would  say,  *there  is  my  last  year's  crop,*  then  to  another, 


■GENEAI.OGICAIL    NOTES    OiF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES.       495 

His  barns  in  the  field  on  the  east  of  the  mill  road,  were  as 
widely  constructed  as  those  now  seen  on  the  western  prairies, 
liarge  stacks  of  salt  hay  stood  aear,  surrounded  by  a  fence.  The 
fearn,  or  cow-house,  as  it  was  called,  was  for  the  protection  of  the 
stock,  not  for  the  storage  of  fodder.  No  English  hay  was  then 
cut.  All  the  fresh  fodder  which  the  first  settlers  had,  was  the 
stalks  and  husks  of  the  Indian  corn,  and  a  poor  quality  of  fresh 
hay  cut  on  the  high  meadows. 

In  the  field  by  his  house  and  in  his  barn  field  he  set  orchards. 
The  Kentish  Cherry  brought  over  by  the  Pilgrims,  had  rapidly 
multiplied  by  suckers,  and  were  always  set  on  the  outer  edge,  to 
protect  the  less  hardy  trees  within.  The  apple  trees  were  raised 
from  seeds,  brought  from  England,  and  were  generally  of  inferior 
quality.  The  pignose,  however,  was  very  productive  and  a  good 
winter  apple.  The  Foxwell,  yet  cultivated,  is  a  Fall  apple  of  fair 
quality.  The  pears  were  also  seedlings,  and  many  of  them  worth- 
less sorts ;  but  the  trees  were  hardy  and  long  lived.  A  seedling 
planted  by  him  is  a  good  autumn  fruit,  and  yet  propagated  by 
grafts  from  the  original  tree.  The  French  sugar,  a  very  early 
pear,  was  introduced  soon  after  the  settlement  and  grafted  into 
the  poorer  seedlings.*  The  iron  pear,  now  known  as  the  Black 
Worcester,  a  winter  fruit,  was  introduced  early — and  afterwards 
the  Catherine  from  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  and  the  Orange,  a  pear 
of  superior  quality.  Several  of  the  pear  trees  planted  by  Good- 
man Hallett  yet  remain,  monuments  of  the  hardy  industry  of  the 
first  comers,  and  living  mementoes  of  the  primitive  simplicity  of 
other  days. 

However  rude  may  have  been  his  dwelling,  and  however  in- 
elegant may  have  been  its  surroundings,  it  was  the  home  of  a 
happy  and  a  contented  family.  To  live  a  good  life  was  his  con- 
stant endeavor.  He  was  not  ambitious,  he  did  not  seek  office,  or 
honor,  or  wealth.     He  humbly  acknowledged  that  all  he  had  was 

'there  18  my  crop  of  the  year  before,'  and  then  to  another  he  would  say,  'in  that  crib  are  the 
remains  of  the  former  year's  crop.'  " 

This  passage  I  have  extracted  from  an  unpublished  biography  of  "Rock"  Kichard 
Taylor,  the  ancestor  of  the  Taylors  resident  in  Yarmouth  and  Chatham.  It  was  furnished 
by  the  late  Mr.  William  Bray,  who  obtained  it  of  his  grandmother,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bray, 
who  lived  to  great  age  and  retained  her  faculties  to  the  last.  When  young  she  was  a  seam, 
stress ;  and  after  finishing  her  days  work.  Rock  Richard  (so  called  to  distinguish  him  from 
another  Richard  Taylor,  who  was  called  "tailor")  invited  her  to  walk  out  with  him,  and 
that  conversation  then  occurred.  Taylor  was  a  vain  man,  and  perhaps  1  do  injustice  to 
Goodman  Hallett  in  the  quotation.  The  latter's  cribs  were  of  the  same  description,  and  he 
probably  had  in  the  prime  of  his  life  many  more  than  Taylor,  whose  farm  at  Hockanom 
was  valued  at  only  one-seventh  of  Hallett's  ample  domain.  Mrs.  Bray  was  seventeen  when 
she  had  the  conversation  referred  to  with  Richard  Taylor,  and  she  knew  nearly  all  the  first 
settlers.  Her  grandson  William,  when  a  child,  delighted  to  hear  her  speak  of  the  first  set- 
tlers, and  &om  nim  1  obtained  much  that  is  interesting  respecting  the  olden  times. 

^Solomon  Otis,  Esq.,  born  in  1696,  said  the  two  sugar  pear  trees  on  the  east  of  his  house, 
were  large  trees  when  he  was  a  boy — that  they  had  not  increased  in  size  but  little  within 
his  recollection.  They  were  grafted  when  small  near  the  root.  If  his  statement  is  reliable, 
they  were  grafted  as  early  as  1670.  A  sugar  pear  tree  on  the  John  Seudder  estate  was  as 
old.  None,  however,  of  this  variety  are  so  ancient  as  the  kinds  known  as  full  and  button 
pears.    The  Ewer  pear,  a  seedling,  was  esteemed  by  our  ancestors  as  one  of  the  best. 


496         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

lent  to  him  by  the  Lord,  to  enable  him  to  do  good,  and  to  be  use- 
ful, not  to  be  wasted  in  luxurious  living,  or  in  vain  and  ostenta- 
tious display.  He  lived  as  his  neighbors  lived.  No  room  in  his 
house  was  made  a  sanctum  sanctorum,  nor  had  he  any  furniture 
that  was  too  good  or  too  costly  for  his  family  to  use.  "Nothing," 
he  would  say,  ''was  valuable  that  was  not  useful."  Again.  "A 
large  house  makes  a  slave  of  the  wife,  and  elegant  furniture 
drouges  of  the  daughters."  He  had  Indian  servants  who  assisted 
him  in  the  labors  of  the  field.  They  were  not  fed  and  clothed  to 
do  that  which  he  could  do  better  himself,  for  it  was  his  common 
remark,  "He  that  waits  on  himself,  is  well  served."  When  asked 
why  he  lived  in  so  small  a  house,  he  replied,  "Comfort  lives  in  a 
small  house  and  needs  no  servants  ;  care  in  a  large  one,  and  re- 
quires many."  Vanity  may  turn  up  her  nose  in  disgust,  or  laugb 
when  these  sayings  are  repeated  ;  the  gay  and  the  thoughtless 
may  affect  to  despise  ;  but  he  that  marks  well  the  stern  realities 
of  life,  will  see  truth  buried,  not  deeply,  in  those  simple,  com- 
mon-place sayings. 

In  his  domestic  arrangements,  Goodman  Hallett  reduced  his 
theories  to  practice.  "Daylight,"  he  would  say,  "was  cheaper  than 
candle-light,"  and  as  soon  as  the  day  broke  he  was  up  and 
dressed.  He  kindled  the  Are,  brought  water  from  the  spring, 
went  to  his  barn,  fed  his  cattle,  his  pigs  and  his  poultry,  and 
milked  his  cows.  On  his  return,  he  found  all  the  members  of  his 
household  up  and  dressed,  and  breakfast  prepared.  Sitting  down 
in  their  accustomed  places,  the  older  daughter  read  a  passage  from 
the  Bible,  and  a  few  stanzas  from  a  favorite  hymn.  Goodman 
Hallett  kneeling  down,  in  a  fervent  prayer  craved  the  blessing 
and  protection  of  Heaven  on  his  country,  his  church,  his  house- 
hold, and  his  dear  friends  in  England.  Most  earnestly  did  he 
pray  that  the  Great  Shepherd  would  watch  over  and  protect  the 
companion  of  his  life,  and  gently  lead  the  tender  lambs  of  his 
flock. 

The  labors  of  the  morning  and  the  religious  exercises,  had 
prepared  them  to  partake  of  their  meal  with  thankful  hearts.  No 
cloth  covered  the  well  scoured  table.  A  large  wooden  bowl 
graced  the  center,  filled  with  savory  broth,  and  hulled  corn  sup- 
plied the  place  of  bread.  Each  had  a  pewter  spoon,  and  all 
dipped  from  the  same  dish,  as  the  Saviour  and  his  disciples  did  ou 
the  eve  of  the  crucifixion.  No  betrayer  dipped  his  hand  into  the 
dish,  and  while  imitating  the  custom  of  the  Great  Master,  they 
never  dreamed  that  a  generation  would  thereafter  arise  who  would 
despise  a  custom  which  they  reverenced.  After  the  bowl  was  re- 
moved, bread  or  samp,  milk,  butter  and  honey,  a  slice  or  two  of 
meat,  or  a  plate  of  fish,  succeeded.  Goody  Hallett  also  had  tea, 
made  from  some  favorite  herb,  that  she  had  brought  from  the  gar- 
den or  fields.     During   breakfast  Goodman  Hallett  told   pleasant 


GENKALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         497 

Stories  about  home,  as  he  called  Old  England,  to  which  the  children 
were  never  tired  of  listening.  When  the  repast  was  ended,  he  re- 
turned thanks  for  the  bountiful  supply  of  the  good  things  they  had 
enjoyed,  and  the  many  blessings  which  had  been  vouchsafed  to  him 
and  his  family. 

The  school  lasted  only  a  few  weeks  in  each  year,  and  however 
deep  the  snow  or  hard  the  storm,  the  children  never  failed  of  attend- 
ing. Goodman  Hallett  would  remark,  that  "it  was  as  great  a  sin  to 
cheat  children  of  their  learning,  as  of  their  money.''  They  were 
all  provided  with  Indian  moccasins  and  snow  shoes,  and  however 
difficult  it  is  to  learu  the  art  of  wearing  the  latter,  the  children  of 
those  days  acquired  it  almost  as  naturally  as  young  ducks  learn  to 
swim.  The  school  was  kept  by  the  second  Mr.  John  Miller  at  his 
house,  which  stood  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  high  school — a 
good  mile  distant  from  Goodman  Hallett's.  If  a  term  of  the  school 
was  then  in  session,  the  children  had  their  dinners  put  up,  and  were 
ready  to  start  at  half  past  eight.  The  roads  were  never  cleared  of 
snow  in  those  days.  Some  were  partially  broken  out  with  teams, 
but  not  so  as  to  supercede  the  necessity  of  snow  shoes,  especially 
after  a  recent  storm.  It  was  a  pretty  sight,  to  see  the  little  ones 
trailing  along  on  their  snow  shoes  towards  the  school-house  ;  but  it 
was  a  common  occurrence  then,  and  excited  no  curiosity. 

If  there  was  no  school,  and  the  weather  was  stormy,  the  parlor 
was  a  scene  of  varied  industry.  When  the  breakfast  table  was 
cleared  off,  and  preliminary  arrangemeuts  made  for  the  dinner,  the 
looms,  which  in  co.ld  weather  stood  in  a  corner  of  the  parlor,  were 
in  motion,  aud  the  girls  were  merrily  turning  their  spinning    wheels. 

Meantime  the  master  of  the  house,  assisted  by  an  Indian  ser- 
vant, bad  watered  and  fed  his  large  stock,  and  chopped  the  wood  for 
the  daily  fire.  He  was  not  lacking  in  mechanical  ingenuity,  and  on 
stormy  days  did  many  little  jobs  which  saved  money.  His  wife  fre- 
quently repeated  the  old  adage,  "A  stitch  in  time  saves  nine,"  and 
Goodman  Hallett  acquiesced.  Taking  his  awl,  his  leather,  thread, 
wax  and  knife,  he  seated  himself  in  the  chimney  corner,  and  succes- 
sively examined  the  shoes  of  the  family.  If  a  tap  or  a  patch  was 
wanted,  he  put  it  on,  or  if  there  was  a  seam  that  required  stitching, 
it  was  not  overlooked.  The  andirons  were  of  wrought  iron,  aud  had 
hooks  on  the  front  in  which  the  spit  rested.  Wild  fowl  and  venison 
were  then  abundant,  and  for  the  family  dinner  a  sirloin  had  perhaps 
been  spitted.  Goodman  Hallett  turned  the  spit,  and  from  time  to 
time  basted  the  meat  from  the  contents  of  the  dripping  pan.  The 
vegetables,  which  had  been  prepared  in  the  morning,  were  hung 
over  the  fire,  and  at  precisely  twelve  o'clock,  if  a  bright  day,  the 
dinner  was  ready. 

Before  partaking  of  the  meal,  a  blessing  was  craved.  The  meat 
was  out  on  a  wooden  trencher,  and  served  on  pewter  plates.  Vege- 
tables and  bread,    samp  or   hulled  corn,    was  on   the  table,    and    at 


498        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

every  meal  "spoon  victuals"  of  some  kind  formed  a  part  ot  the  re- 
past. Beer,  which  was  regularly  brewed  every  week,  was  used  as  a 
substitute  for  tea  or  coflfee,  and  by  the  workmen,  in  the  place  of 
strong  drink. 

It  was  a  saying  of  Goody  Hallett,  that  "the  girl  who  did  not 
know  that  the  dish-water  should  be  heating  during  meal-time,  was 
unfit  to  be  married."  Abigail  was  in  her  teens,  and  remembered 
this  saying.  "When  the  dinner  was  finished  the  water  was  hot,  and 
the  table  was  soon  cleared,  the  dishes  washed  and  put  in  their  places 
on  the  "trencher"  or  in  the  cup-board. 

By  three  o'clock  the  tasks  of  the  day  were  finished.  Goody 
Hallett  had  woven  her  five  yards,  Abigail  had  spun  six  skeins  of 
woolen  yarn,  and  Dorcas  four  of  flax.  The  wheels  were  put  away, 
the  parlor  swept  and  dusted,  and  clean  sand  was  "lumped"  on  the 
floor  or  the  old  "herren  boned,"  an  act  in  which  the  women  of  those 
days  displayed  their  good  taste.  The  girls  had  a  small  looking-glass, 
an  article  of  luxury  which  few  families  in  those  days  possessed,  be- 
fore which  they  arranged  their  toilet.  The  Hallett's  were  never  ex- 
travagant ;  but  they  always  dressed  neatly.  The  petticoat  was  the 
principal  article  of  dress,  on  which  the  most  labor  was  expended. 
It  was  made  of  cloth  of  domestic  manufacture,  sometimes  colored, 
of  two  thicknesses,  and  quilted  throughout.  On  the  lower  border 
and  on  the  front,  there  was  some  ornamental  needle  work.  Over 
this  a  "loose  gown"  was  worn.  This  was  of  also  domestic  manu- 
facture, sometimes  white  ;  but  usually  checked  or  colored.  It  was 
open  in  front,  and  did  not  extend  so  low  as  the  under  garment.  The 
sleeves  extended  about  half  way  from  the  elbow  to  the  wrist.  They 
had  long  knit  gloves  or  "sleeves,"  which  they  wore  when  they  went 
out.  The  neck  and  breast  were  covered  with  a  handkerchief  ordina-. 
rily ;  on  great  occasions,  with  a  bodice  or  a  stomacher.  White 
worsted  stockings  and  Indian  moccasins  completed  the  winter  ap- 
parel. This  was  the  common  dress  of  the  woman.  For  the  Sab- 
bath and  great  occasions,  the  wealthy  had  gayer  and  more  costly 
garments  of  foreign  manufacture.  These  were  carefully  preserved, 
and  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  Dresses  are  yet 
preserved  in  which  mother,  daughter  and  grand-daughter  were  suc- 
cessively married.  All  had  checked  aprons  which  they  wore  when 
employed  in  household  duties,  and  often  a  clean  nice  starched  one 
was  put  on  the  afternoon  and  evening. 

When  they  went  out  they  had  bonnets,  and  cloaks  of  thick  cloth 
with  a  hood  or  covering  for  the  head  attached.  For  many  years  a 
bright  red  or  scarlet  was  the  fashionable  color  for  these  garments. 

The  common  dresses  of  the  men  were  short  clothes  or  breeches, 
a  long  vest,  with  lappets  covering  the  hips,  a  round  about  coat  or 
jacket  for  every  day,  and  for  the  Sabbath  a  long  coat,  cut  a  little 
crossway,  not  "straight  down"  in  front,  with  a  standing  collar.  The 
wealthy   indulged  large  in  silver   buttons  ;    but  for   every  day   wear 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       499 

horn  was  used.  The  pilgrims  all  wore  round  hats,  but  in  after 
times  they  adopted  the  cocked  hat  of  the  cavaliers.  They  wore  long 
blue  woolen  stockings  that  extended  above  the  knee,  and  were  kept 
in  place  by  a  buckle  and  strap  on  the  lower  part  of  the  breeches. 
Shoes  fastened  with  large  buckles  completed  their  dress.  Boys  and 
men  wore  short  clothes  and  long  stockings.  In  summer  stockings 
and  shoes  were  dispensed  with,  and  trowsers  took  the  place  of  small 
clothes,  the  leg  of  which  extended  below  the  knee. 

At  the  evening  meal,  in  addition  to  "spoon  victuals,"  they  usu- 
ally had  "short  cakes"  baked  before  the  fire  on  a  pan  or  in  a  spider. 

In  the  evening  the  women  were  employed  in  knitting  or  sewing, 
and  occasionally  in  making  a  kind  of  bobinet  lace,  on  board  frames, 
a  few  of  which  have  been  preserved.  Farmers  in  those  days  se- 
lected a  small  portion  of  their  best  flax  ground,  on  which  they  sowed 
a  double  portion  of  seed,  that  the  product  might  be  of  a  fine  and 
soft  texture,  fit  to  manufacture  into  lace.  Goodman  Hallett  kept  a 
good  fire,  and  as  his  beer  barrels  were  never  empty,  he  rarely  was 
without  company.  Capt.  Gorham  and  Mr.  Thacher  often  spent  an 
evening  at  his  house,  and  though  the  use  of  tobacco  was  prohibited 
by  the  "honorable  Court,"  yet  smoke  from  the  pipe  often  curled  up 
the  chimney  on  the  long  winter  evenings. 

Our  ancestors  were  systematic  in  their  domestic  arrangements. 
Monday  was  washing-day,  a  custom  which  has  survived  to  this  day. 
On  Tuesday  the  clothes  were  ironed.  Wednesday  in  summer  was 
baking-day,  but  not  in  the  winter.  Thursday  and  Friday  were  de- 
voted to  spinning  and  weaving,  and  Saturday  was  baking-day  the 
year  round.  For  dinner  on  that  day  the  Pilgrims  eat  fish,  perhaps 
because  the  Catholics,  all  of  whose  customs  they  abjured,  dined 
thereon  Fridays.  Baked  beans,  and  Indian  puddings  were  always 
found  on  their  tables  on  the  Sabbath,  a  custom  yet  continued  in  many 
families. 

Saturday  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  all  servile  labor  for  the 
week  had  ended.  Preparations  for  the  Sabbath  had  been  made — the 
wood  cut  and  brought  in — the  Sunday  meal  had  been  prepared,  and 
preparations  made  to  keep  the  day  holy  to  the  end  thereof.  In  the 
evening  the  children  were  instructed  in  their  catechisms.  They  re- 
tired early.  The  Sabbath  was  a  day  of  rest — all  went  to  church 
morning  and  evening.  They  never  allowed  the  weather  to  interfere 
with  their  religious  duties,  it  was  never  too  wet,  never  too  hot,  never 
too  cold  to  go  to  meeting. 

In  summer  the  male  portion  of  the  family  were  employed  in  out 
of  door  labors  from  sunrise  till  the  shades  of  evening  began  to  fall. 
Toil,  hard  and  unremitting  was  their  portion,  but  it  was  cheerfully 
performed.  At  hay  time  and  harvest  the  girls  assisted  their  fathers 
and  brothers  in  the  field.  Their  wants  were  few,  and  by  industry 
and  economy  were  easily  supplied.  Goodman  Hallett  acquired 
vuealth,    and  every  young  man  may  do  the  same,  if  he  will  practice 


500         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

as  he  practiced.     He  was  temperate  in  all  things,  took  care  of  what 
he  had,  and  every  year  spent  less  than  he  earned. 

From  year  to  year  there  was  little  change  in  Goodman  Hallett'» 
habits,  employments  and  mode  of  living.  He  added  a  lean  to  or 
"salt-box,"  as  they  were  often  called,  to  the  west  side  of  bis  house, 
making  two  rooms  in  front  and  enlarging  the  kitchen.  His  in- 
creased family  rendered  this  enlargement  necessary.  The  west  room 
was  sometimes  called  the  weaving-room.  Generally  the  object  of 
building  a  leanto  was  to  have  a  place  for  the  looms  and  the  spinning- 
wheels — a  manufactory  in  miniature. 

Goodman  Hallett  died  in  the  spring  of  1684,  He  wag  at  least 
seventy  years  of  age.  His  surviving  children  had  married,  and  left 
the  paternal  roof.  In  early  times  it  was  customary,  in  making  the 
inventory  of  a  man's  estate,  to  apprise  the  furniture  in  each  room  of 
the  house  by  itself.  It  was  a  good  custom — it  not  only  furnished  a 
description  of  each  room,  but  all  the  articles  of  furniture  were  enu- 
merated in  detail^— carrying  you  into  the  family  circle — unveiling  its 
secrets — laying  open  its  wants,  its  hopes,  its  pursuits,  its  aspira- 
tions ; — picturing  the  stern  realities  of  a  social  life,  over  which  two 
centuries  have  spread  the  mantle  of  forgetfulness.  The  uncovered 
ruins  of  Herculaneum  do  not  portray  the  habits,  mode  of  living,  and 
character  of  the  ancient  Romans,  in  a  stronger  light,  or  in  more 
vivid  colors,  than  do  these  old  inventories,  the  marked  traits  of  the 
Pilgrim  character.  In  that  city  we  see  the  evidences  of  luxury  in 
contrast  with  squaled  poverty,  and  everywhere  unmistakable  rec- 
ords, that  gross  licentiolisness  prevaded  all  classes  of  its  society.  The 
human  heart,  being  ever  the  same,  its  surroundings  will  impress  on 
its  character,  an  ultimate  form,  which  the  man  has  no  power  to 
shake  off. 

Our  fathers  were  eminently  a  religious  people  ; — -with  them  the 
future  was  ever  present  in  thought — the  Bible  was  their  creed — their 
laws  were  based  on  its  precepts,  and  their  daily  intercourse  was  regu- 
lated by  some  of  its  familiar  texts.  Their  children  were  brought  up 
under  these  influences  or  surroundings: — they  were  taught  that  indus- 
try and  frugality  were  virtues — that  idleness  and  wastefulness  were 
sins  to  be  repented  of,  and  for  which  they  would  have  to  answer  at 
the  final  judgment.  These  old  inventories  exhibit  no  evidence  of 
prodigality — no  squalid  poverty — no  traces  of  licentious  life.  They 
exhibit  a  rude  social  organization, — but  beneath  that  organization 
they  portray  a  noble  race — with  hardy  virtues — of  honest  lives — 
content  to  live  on  the  fruits  of  their  own  unremitted  toil. 

Andrew  Hallett's,  Jr.'s,  estate  was  apprised  by  John  Miller  and 
John  Thacher  May  19,  1684,  and  sworn  to  by  his  widow  Ann  Hal- 
lett on  the  31st  of  the  same  month. 

In  the  "parlour"  or  "great  room." 

"His  purse  and  apparell,''  £90,10,6 

Books  in  the  parlour,  13,6 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  501 

A  cup-board,  £3,10,0 

The  bed  furniture— all,  10,05,0 

The  great  table — forme  and  stools,  1,14,0 

A  chest  and  chairs,  1,00,0 

The  trundle-bed  and  furniture,  3,10,0 

Pewter,  2,15,9 

Brass  mortar  hao,*  iron  scummer,  dripping-pan,  tin  pans— all,  15,2 

A  Tunnell,  spoones,  candlesticks,  a  warming-pan — all,  10,10 

An  hour-glass,  a  brush,  fier-slice  and  tongs — a  brass  skillett,  6,06 

Trammells,  beer  barrels,  iron  skillett,  trays — all,  17,00 
Spoones,   trenchers,  rowling  pin,  looking-glass,  bottles  and 

jugs:;  8,01 


All  in  the  parlor,  116,16,04 

Deducting  purse  and  apparel,  90,10,06 

The  furniture  including  bed,  26,05,10 

Such  was  the  furniture  in  the  parlor  of  the  most  opulent  man  of 
his  times.  The  list  was  taken  by  honest  and  honorable  men,  and 
sworn  to  by  the  surviving  widow  who  certainly  knew  what  she  had 
in  her  house.  The  looms  and  the  cradle  had  disappeared.  Goody 
Hallett  was  too  old  to  weave,  and  she  had  done  all  her  rocking, 
many  years  before. 

The  "cup-board"  or  beaufet  is  apprised  as  an  article  of  furni- 
ture. They  were  not  then  permanent  fixtures.  They  were  semi- 
circular in  form,  and  placed  in  the  corner  of  a  room  or  in  a  recess 
by  the  chimney,  and  could  be  removed  from  place  to  place.  The 
lower  part  was  closed  by  doors,  and  the  upper  open,  containing 
several  shelves,  in  form  like  a  segment  of  a  circle,  and  on  these, 
the  little  earthen  and  glass  ware  of  the  family  was  displayed. 
The  apprisement  covers  the  value  of  the  cup-board  and  its  con- 
tents. By  the  word  "furniture"  in  the  inventory,  is  to  be  under- 
stood everything  that  belonged  to  the  bed,  including  curtains  and 
valances.  The  "forme"  or  settle,  was  a  seat  made  of  boards,  with 
a  high  back — a  rude  sofa — and  in  cold  weather  was  placed  in  front 
of  the  fire, — the  seat  and  back  protecting  the  occupants  from  the 
cold  air  of  the  room. 

The  chest  and  chairs  are  apprised  at  one  pound.  In  the  chest 
were  deposited  the  most  valuable  articles  of  the  family,  and  it 
was  secured  by  iron  hinges  and  a  lock.  At  one  end  there  was  a 
till  in  which  the  money  and  valuable  papers  of  the  family  were 
kept.  It  was  well  made,  and  must  have  been  worth  ten  shillings, 
leaving  the  same  sum  as  the  value  of  all  the  chairs  in  the  house. 
"Trammells"  suspended  from  a  cross  bar  in  the  chimney  were  then 
universally  used.  Cranes  and  hooks  are  modern  inventions.  The 
"beer  barrels"  are  named  as  a  part  of  the  parlor  furniture.  As  it 
was  customary  to  brew  every  week,  it  is  probable  they  were  not  of 
large  size — only  kegs — and  being  mentioned  in  connection   with 

*Bao,  probably   a  misspelling  intended  for  Box  iron — an  instrument  then  used  for  iron- 
ing clothing,  as  flat  irons  now  are. 


502    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

the  articles  about  the  fireplace,  perhaps  they  had  usurped  the  place 
of  the  dye-tub,  which  had  disappeared. 
In  the  chamber. 

A  mulett,  £0,02,0 
A  bed  and  furniture — all,  6,18,0 
22  yards  of  wool  cloth,  a  suit  of  curtains  and  vallens,  2  cover- 
lids, 6,06,00 
A  coverlid,  a  blankett,  wool  cloth,  hops,  a  chest — all,  3,10,00 
A  chest,  a  box,  6  pairs  of  sheets,  a  table-cloth,  pillow  case — 

all,  05,08,06 

A  table-cloth,  napkin,  hunney  bees  and  hives,  flax — all,  04.15,00 

Sadies,  pillion  and  cloth  and  bridles,  Indian  corn,  rye — all,  3,05,00 
5  cushens,  linnien  and  wool  wheels,  bacon  and  beefe,   scales 

and  waits,  1,19,06 
Siften  trough,  meal  and  corn  sives,  bedstead  and  lumber  in  the 

chamber,  00,15,0 


32,19,00 
From  the  above,  it  appears  that  his  house  was  only  of  one 
story,  and  the  chamber  was  unfinished.  The  bee  hives  are  named 
as  being  in  the  chamber.  They  were  made  of  straw,  and  were 
put  under  cover  in  the  winter,  but  the  necessity  of  keeping  them 
in  the  chamber  till  the  19th  of  May  does  not  appear,  without 
there  was  an  opening  in  the  side  of  the  house  through  which  the 
bees  could  enter.* 

In  the  leanto  and  kitchen.     (The  two  first  items  are  placed 
with  the  furniture  in  the  chamber — probably  in  the  kitchen.) 

Winnowing  sheet,  horse  geers.  Iron  pots  and  kettles,  £3,08,00 

Frying  pan,  bellows,  pot  hooks,  milk  pails,  and  straining  dish,  7,00 

In  the  leantoo,  brass  and  iron — a  hathell,  a  tub  and  churn,  5,14,00 

Earthen  ware,  milk  vessels  and  lumber  in  ye  leanto,  0,19,00 

A  table,  10 

2  barrens,  a  cowle,  a  bagg,  2  pillow  cases,  12,06 
Tallow,  hoggs  fat,  malt,  linen,  yarn,  wool  and  yarne  and  flax,  2,17,00 
Arms  and  ammunition,  3,02,8 

(Added  at  the  end.) 

A  bed  and  bedding  thereto  belonging  in  ye  kitchen,  6,18,00 

3  yards  of  cloth,  15 
A  sun  dial  and  knife,  2 


£25,05,2 
Though  this  inventory  does  not  state  with  so  much  particu- 
larity as  many  do  the  room  in  which  each  article  was  kept,  yet  it 
enables  us  to  form  a  correct  opinion  of  the  appearance  of  each 
room,  and  gives  a" clear  insight  into  his  mode  of  living  and  domes- 
tic arrangements.  It  clearly  appears  that  the  house  was  only  one 
story,  that  the  chamber  or  garret  was  not  divided  into  different 


^Jonathan  Hallett  resided  in  the  old  house  till  1695,  when  he  built  his  new  house  which 
was  for  the  times  an  elegant  two  story  building— the  lower  story  being  built  on  the  same 
model  as  the  old  one.  On  the  east  side  the  upper  story  projected  oyer  the  lower.  If  the 
chamber  of  the  old  house  projected  in  a  similar  manner,  shelves  under  the  projection  would 
be  a  convenient  place  for  bee  hives.  I  ^ve  the  facts  as  I  find  them,  and  offer  the  above 
only  as  suggestive. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       503 

apartments,  and  was  unfinished.  The  small  bedroom  on  the 
lower  floor  seems  to  have  been  connected  with  the  kitchen,  not 
with  the  parlor. 

His  other  personal  property  consisted  of  "Cartwheels,   with 
plow  and  ax,  tackling,  howes  and  shovel,  £5,6,00 

Pitch  forks,  sythes,  3  augure,  and  other  tools,  horse  fetters,  1,4,0 

Horses,  mares,  sheep  and  swine,  21,02.0 

2  oxen,  15  cows,  and  23  young  cattle— all,  64,15,00 

18  jags  of  hay,  a  grindstone  a  lime,  a  peck,  4,15,00 

Boards  and  Bolts,  00  10  00 

A  drawing-knife,  spit,  aud  other  small  things,  Oo',lo',02 

Debts  due  the  estate,  U,10,00 

100,14 
As  boards  and  bolts  are  connected  in  the  same  line,  I  infer 
that  sawing  boards  by  hand  had  not  been  discontinued  in  1684. 
He  had  little  grain  on  hand,  but  a  large  stock  of  cattle,  indicating 
that  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  the  raising  of  stock  was  his  prin- 
cipal business.  Forty  head  of  cattle  were  apprised  at  only 
£64,15 — $215.83,  or  ^n  average  of  only  15,37  each,  showing  that 
during  the  forty-five  years  since  the  settlement  of  the  town,  cattle 
had  depreciated  about  76  per  cent,  in  value. 

His  personal  estate  amounted  to  £271,13,09 

and  his  real  estate, 
"In  housing,  lands  and  meadows,"  909,00,00 


Total,  £1,180,13,09 

His  will  is  dated  two  years  before  his  death.  It  is  signed 
with  his  mark,  A.  A.,  not  conclusive  evidence  that  he  was  unable 
to  write,  for  many  good  scholars  have  so  signed  their  wills,  but 
the  fact  leads  me  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  a  remark  made  in  the 
former  part  of  this  article,  "that  he  learned  to  write  after  he  was 
a  married  man."  The  provisions  of  the  will  are  very  clearly  ex- 
pressed, and  it  contains  much  historical  information,  and  will  re- 
pay the  labor  of  a  careful  perusal.  "The  Hallett  Mill"  is  not 
named  in  his  wiU  or  inventory,  showing  that  if  he  ever  was  an 
owner  in  it,  he  was  not  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

fFrom  Plymouth  Eec.  p.  194.] 
WILL  OF  ANDREW  HALLETT. 
To  ^11  Christian  people  to  whome  these  presents  shall  come :  Know 
yee  that  I,  Andrew  Hallett  of  Yarmouth,  in  ye  Colony  of  New  Plym- 
outh,  being  weake  in  body  by  reason   of  sore   pains  and  aches,   yet 
blessed  be  God  at  this  time  present  I  have  my  reason  and  understanding 
fresh  and  timely,  I  doe  make  this  my  last  will  and  testament  as  follow-  • 
eth:  First,  I  doe  bequeath  my  soule  to  God  that  gave  it  unto  me,  and 
my  body  to  ye  dust  from  whence  it  was  formed  by  a  desent  and  comely 
Buriall,  and  for  that  portion  of  Temporall  blessings  that  God  hath  been 
pleased  to  posess  me  of,  I  do  will  and  bequeath  as  folio  weth :  First,  I  doe 
will  and  bequeath  to  my  loving  wife  one-third  part  of  all  my  whole  es- 
tate of  moveables  both  within  my  house  and  also  one-third  part  of  all 
my  cattell  that  I  have  not  disposed  of  for  ye   comfort  of  her  life  and 


504         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

at  her  dispose  to  whom  she  shall  see  cai<se  to  give  it  unto,  also  my  will 
is  that  my  said  wife  shall  have  and  Injoy  ye  easier  end  ol  my  said 
house  I  now  live  in  during  her  natural!  life,  and  ye  thirds  of  all  ye 
profits  or  Improvements  of  all  my  lands,  both  upland  and  meadow,  dur- 
ing her  naturall  life,  and  then  to  returne  as  followeth  in  this  my  will. 
And  to  my  sod  Jonathan  Hallett  I  will  and  bequeath  little  calves  past- 
ure, so  called,  which  is  from  my  old  field  fence  and  bounds  that  is  be- 
twixt me  and  ye  said  Andrew  Hallett  and  John  Gorham  with  ye  broken 
marsh  belonging  to  ye  said  pasture  butting  against  ye  old  mill  pond. 
Also  I  doe  give  unto  my  said  son,  Jonathan  Hallett,  my  great  table  and 
my  great  bedstead  and  ye  drawne  cushings  and  ye  cubbord  and  ye 
stands  in  ye  Easter  end  of  my  now  dwelling-house  after  my  decease 
and  ye  decease  of  my  wife.  And  also  I  do  give  unto  my  said  son  .Tona- 
than  twenty  pounds  of  my  estate,  and  then  my  will  is  that  my  son  Jona- 
than Hallett  and  my  son  John  Hallett  shall  equally  make  a  division  of 
all  my  lands  and  meadows  whatsoever  both  within  fence  and  without 
with  all  housings  whatsoever  shall  be  standing  upon  my  lands  con- 
sidering of  quantity  and  quallity  and  so  to  make  a  division  as  you  may 
agree  yourselves,  but  in  case  you  cannot  agree  to  divide  ye  said  and 
housings  then  to  chose  indifferent  men  between  you  to  make  a  division 
of  ye  said  Housing  and  lands  and  meadows  and  when  equally  divided 
then  my  son  Jonathan  to  have  ye  one  halfe  and  my  son  John  to  have 
ye  other  halfe,  only  my  son  Jonathan  to  have  ye  first  choyce  of  ye 
lands  and  housing  after  devition,  and  my  son  John  Hallett  to  have  ye 
other  halfe  of  ye  housing  and  lands  and  meadows,  only  ye  said  Jolin 
Hallett  my  son  to  pay  to  his  brother  .Jonathan  Hallett  ye  just  sum  of 
ten  pounds,  also  what  I  have  already  given  to  my  son  John  Hallett  I 
doe  now  confirme  to  him  as  his  owne  proper  right  and  for  ye  farme  I 
bought  of  John  Penny,*  Senr,  of  Barnstable,  I  doe  confirme  to  ray  two 
sons  Jonathan  Hallett  and  to  my  son  John  Hallett,  to  them  and  their 
heirs  forever  to  be  equally  divided  between  them  two,  but  concerning 
my  other  lands  before  mentioned  in  this  my  will,  that  in  case  either  of 
my  sons  Jonathan  Hallett  or  John  Hallett  shall  dye  without  I  shew  of 
their  bodies  lawfully  begotten,  then  I  doe  give  liberty  to  either  of  them 
to  will  their  part  of  their  lands  and  housings  to  whom  they  please,  pro- 
vided it  be  to  any  of  their  owne  kindred  of  ye  Halletts,  but  in  case  any 
of  my  said  sons  doe  die  without  any  issue  and — without  any  will  then 
my  will  is  that  my  son  that  doth  survive  shall  have  ye  one  halfe  of  his 
said  brothers  lands  that  is  deceased,  and  ye  other  halfe  of  his  said  lands 
to  his  three  sisters  and  their  heirs  forever,  but  in  case  that  both  my  said 
sons  shall  dye  without  any  Issue  and  without  will  as  above  said  then 
all  my  said  lands  and  housing  to  fall  to  my  three  daughters,  that  is  to 
say  to  Ruhamath  and  Abigail  and  Mehettabell  and  their  heirs  forever, 
to  be  equally  devided  between  them  three.  And  to  my  daughter  Euha- 
math  Bourn  I  doe  confirme  to  her  what  she  hath  already,  and  doe  will 
to  her  ye  just  sum  of  twenty  pounds  more  of  my  estate,  and  to  my 
Grandchildren  as  Timothy  Bourne  I  do  will  five  pounds;  and  to  Hanah 
Bourne  I  doe  will  five  pounds,  and  to  Elezer  Bourne  I  do  will  five 
pounds,  and  Hezekiah  Bourne  I  doe  will  five  pounds  of  my  estate. 
And  to  my  daughter  Abigail  Alldin  I  doe  confirme  to  her  what  I  have 
already  given  to  her  and  do  will  unto  her  my  said  daughter  Abigail 
twenty  pounds  in  money  that  I  lent  unto  her  husband  Jonathan  Alldin. 
And  my  will  is  that  my  daughter  Abigail  Aldin  shall  have  six  pound 
paid  more  to  her  by  my  Executor,  and  to  my  daughter  Abigail's  chil- 
dren I  give  twenty  pounds,  that  is  five  pounds  to  each  of  them,  to  be 
paid  by  my  Executor  unto  all  my  children  above  expressed  either  at  ye 

*rmney  or  Phinney. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.        505 

day  of  their  marriage  or  when  they  shall  come  to  ye  age  of  one  and 
twenty  years  or  sooner  If  my  Executor  shall  see  cause,  and  to  my 
daughter  Mehettabell  I  do  will  and  bequeath  unto  her  ye  just  sum  of 
sixty  pounds  with  what  she  hath  had  already  of  my  estate,  and  to  my 
grandchild  John  Bourne  he  shall  have  pounds  when  he  shall  come  of 
age  of  one  and  twenty  years,  to  be  paid  by  my  Executor  out  of  their 
estates  according  to  proportion  of  what  they  have  of  mine  estate.  Bee 
it  further  kno  wne  by  these  presents  that  I  doe  make  and  appoint  my  love- 
ing  wife  Ann,  and  my  son  Jonathan  Hallett  and  John  Hallett  joynt  Ex- 
ecutors to  this  my  last  will  and  testament  as  witness  my  hand  and  seal 
this  fourteenth  day  of  March  Ano  Domi  one  thousand  six  hundred 
eighth  one  eighty  and  two. 

The  jnarke  of  A.  A. 
Andrew  Hallett, 

and  a  (seal.) 
Signed  and  sealed  in  presence 
of  us,  Thomas  Thornton,  Sen. 
John  Miller. 

This  will  is  proved  at  ye 
Court  held  at  Plymouth 
ye  4  June,  1684. 
Nathaniell  Morton,  Secretary. 

Of  the  family  of  the  second  Andrew  Hallett  no  perfect  rec- 
ord has  been  preserved.  He  married  Anne  or  Anna  Besse, 
daughter  of  Anthony  of  Lynn  and  Sandwich.  Tradition  says  she 
was  only  fourteen  at  marriage,  that  she  was  a  strong,  healthy 
woman,  and  was  the  mother  of  twins  before  she  completed  her 
fifteenth  year.*  That  she  was  very  young  when  married,  the 
known  age  of  her  mother  confirms.  After  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band, she  occupied  the  easterly  part  of  his  house.  Her  grandson 
John  Bourne  resided  with  her,  and  her  son  Jonathan  occupied  the 
west  part  of  the  house.  She  died  in  the  spring  of  1694,  leaving  a 
will  dated  June  23,  1684.  To  her  grandson  John  Bourne,  she 
gave  her  bed  in  the  chamber  with  the  curtains,  valances,  and  all 
that  belonged  to  it,  and  her  great  brass  kettle  or  22  shillings  in 
money.  To  her  youngest  dnughter,  Mehitaiiel  Dexter,  her  satin 
gownf  and  mohair  petticoat.  All  the  rest  of  her  estate,  apprised 
at  £180,07,06,  (£67  of  which  was  in  money)  she  gave  equally  to 
her  three  daughters,  Ruhannah  Bourne,  Abigail  Alden,  and  Me- 
hitable  Dexter.  Her  wearing  apparel,  consisting  of  articles  of 
wool,   linen,   and   silk ;    hose,  shoes,    hat,  &c.,    was  apprised   at 

*The  tradition  iiirther  relates,  that  on  the  day  following  the  birth  of  her  children,  she 
requested  her  mother,  who  acted  as  nurse,  to  take  care  of  the  babes,  while  she  went  out  to 
seek  birds  eggs, for  them.  The  grandmother  at  that  time  could  not  have  been  over  thirtjr, 
for  she  had  children  of  her  own  fifteen  years  younger  than  her  grandchild  Abigail,  and  if 
Riihama  was  one  of  the  twins,  not  far  from  twenty.  Several  similar  instances  of  early 
marriages  have  occurred  in  the  family,  one  during  the  present  year  1864.  [See  Cudworth 
for  account  of  Barlow  family.] 


fin  the  inventory  it  is  called  "Satinistow,"  a  word  not  found  in  the  dictionaries — 
and  in  another  place,  silk.  For  many  years  some  of  the  articles  belonging  to  the  first 
comer  were  preserved  as  heir-looms,  and  some  are  now  probably  in  existence. 


506        (JENEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

£15,00,00,  or  50  dollars  in  silver  money,  showing  that  on  the  Sab- 
bath and  ou  holidays  she  dressed  in  great  style. 
Children  of  Andrew  Hallett,  Jr.  : 

7.  I.     Ruhama, ,  married  Job  Bourne  14th  Dec.    16G4, 

by  whom   she  had  five  children.     He  died  in    1676,  and   she 

married   Hersey.     She   was   living   in  1714.     (See 

Bourne.) 

8.  II.  Abigail,  born  1644,  married  Capt.  Jonathan  Alden  of 
Duxbury,  Dec.  10,  1672.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Alden 
and  Priseilla  Mullins,  born  in  1627,  and  was  seventeen  years 
older  than  his  wife.  He  inherited  the  homestead  of  his 
father  in  Duxbury,  and  died  Feb.  1697,  leaving  an  estate 
apprised  at  £309.  She  died  Aug.  17,  1725,  aged  81  years, 
and  has  a  monument  in  the  old  graveyard  in  D.  Her  chil- 
dren were  Andrew,  Jonathan,  John  and  Benjamin. 

9.  HI.  Dorcas,  bap.  June  1,  1646.  She  was  not  living  in 
1684,  and  probably  died  young. 

10.  IV.     Jonathan,    born   Nov.    20,    1647.     (See   account,  be- 
below.) 

11.  V.     John,  born  Dec.  11,  1650.     (See  account  below.) 

12.  VI.     Mehitabel,  ,   called  youngest  daughter.       She 

married  Nov.  10,  1682,  John  Dexter  of  Sandwich,  and  had 
Elizabeth  Nov.  2,   1683  ;  Thomas  Aug.   26,  1686  ;    Abigail 
May  26,  1689;  John,   Sept.  11,   1692;  and  after  the  latter 
date  removed  to  Portsmouth,  R.  I.     (See  Dexter.) 
(10-IV.)     Of    the   early   life   of  Jonathan   Hallett  little   is 

known.  He  was  not  taxed  in  Yarmouth  in  1676,  and  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  a  resident.  Jan.  30,  1683-4,  he  married 
Abigail  Dexter,  daughter  of  Ensign  Thomas  Dexter  of  Sandwich, 
and  grand-daughter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter  of  Lynn,  In  1684  he 
was  constable  of  Sandwich,  and  an  inhabitant  of  that  town.  He 
was  thirty-six  when  married,  and  his  wife  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he  removed  to  Yarmouth,  and 
resided  in  the  west  room  of  his  father's  house  till  1695,  the  year 
after  the  death  of  his  mother,  when  he  built  his  new  house,  after- 
wards known  as  the  Jeremiah  Hallett  house.  As  all  the  houses 
built  about  that  time  were  of  the  same  description,  some  account 
thereof  may  not  be  uninteresting.  The  lumber  for  its  construction 
came  from  Scituate,  the  Bangor  of  those  times.  It  was  two  sto- 
ries high,  and  at  first  contained  only  two  rooms,  exclusive  of  the 
attic.  It  stood  where  Mr.  Joseph  Hale's  house  now  stands, 
fronted  due  south,  and  was  about  twenty-four  feet  in  front,  by 
eighteen  in  the  rear.  The  timber  was  large,  and  the  boarding  an 
inch  and  a  quarter  in  thickness.  The  chimney  was  built  within, 
not  outside  of  the  frame.  On  entering  the  front  door  you  stepped 
over  the  sill,  the  entry  floor  being  a  foot  lower  than  the  threshold. 
In   the   entry  a   cu-cular  stairway  led  to  the  chamber   and   attic. 


GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       507 

Passing  into  the  great  room  or  parlor  you  had  to  step  over  a  cross 
timber.  That  room  was  seventeen  feet  square,  and  no  part  of  it 
was  ever  plastered  or  finished.  The  chimney  projected  into  the 
room,  with  no  finishing  boards  put  up  around  it.  The  fireplace 
was  seven  feet  wide,  four  feet  deep,  and  five  and  a  half  high, 
with  an  oven  at  the  south  end.  The  hearth  was  laid  with  flat 
stones,  picked  up  in  the  fields.  The  sills,  which  were  large  sticks 
of  timber,  projected  into  the  room  and  formed  low  seats  on  three 
sides.  The  windows  were  of  small  diamond  shaped  glass  set  in 
lead.  No  planed  boards,  no  plastering,  paper  or  paint,  was  used 
in  that  house  from  the  day  it  was  built  in  1695,  till  it  was  taken 
down  in  1819.  Outwardly  the  house  appeared  very  comfortable. 
The  upper  story,  on  the  east,  projected  over  the  lower.  This  pro- 
jection was  adorned  with  some  rude  ornamental  work,  in  the  form 
of  acorns,  hanging  beneath.  Subsequently  two  additions  were 
made.  A  one  story  leanto  on  the  rear  for  a  kitchen  and  pantry, 
and  a  leanto  or  "salt-box"  on  the  west  side.  The  inside  of  these 
additions  were  ruder,  if  possible,  than  the  original  structure.  The 
back  stairs  were  made  of  a  pine  log,  with  scores  cut  therein.  There 
was  no  railing,  and  to  go  up  or  down  them  in  the  dark,  was  a  feat 
that  few  would  venture  to  attempt. 

The  furniture  of  the  house  was  as  mean  as  the  interior  finish. 
His  father's  house  was  elegantly  furnished  in  comparison. 

Jonathan  Hallett,  after  the  decease  of  his  father,  was  the 
most  wealthy  man  in  Yarmouth,  and  his  brother  John  ranked  next 
to  him  ;  yet  with  all  their  riches,  neither  was  contented — neither 
was  happy.  I  have  heard  the  aged  remark  that  the  men  of  the 
third  generation  were,  as  a  class,  an  ignorant  and  superstitious 
race.  The  ardent  piety  of  the  first  comers  had  degenerated  into 
lifeless  formalities  ;  their  wise  economy  into  a  desire  to  hoard  ; 
and  their  simple,  unaffected  manners,  into  coarseness — often  to 
rudeness  and  incivility.  The  first  Jonathan  Hallett  was  a  type  of 
that  class  of  men.  Hundreds  now  living  can  testify  that  his  house 
was  as  cold,  as  cheerless,  and  as  comfortless  as  I  have  described. 
He  had  money  to  let  to  all  who  could  give  good  security,  and  were 
willing  to  pay  a  liberal  percentage,  yet  he  had  no  money  to  ex- 
pend in  finishing  or  plastering  his  rooms,  none  to  make  his  home 
pleasant  and  comfortable.  His  excuse  was,  "my  father's  house 
was  never  plastered."  The  seams  of  his  father's  house  was 
'■'■daubed,"  and  it  was  warm  and  comfortable.  Jonathan  could  not 
afford  that  small  expense,  he  caulked  the  seams  with  "swingling 
tow"  which  cost  nothing.  This  was  the  character  of  the  man,  he 
was  greedy  of  filty  lucre  ;  denied  himself  the  comforts  and  con- 
veniences of  life,  lived  as  meanly  and  as  sparingly  as  the  poorest 
of  the  poor,  that  he  might  add  to  his  already  well  filled  coffers. 

Generally  the  first  settlers  had  not  the  means,  and  those  that 
had  were  obliged  to  send  out  to  England  for  the   articles  they 


508         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

wanted,  and  shippers  in  those  days  charged  enormous  profits. 
Thirty  per  cent,  was  a  moderate  rate.  Forty,  fifty,  and  even  one 
hundred  per  cent,  was  paid.  In  Jonathan's  time  it  was  not  so. 
Some  manufactures  had  been  established,  communication  with  the 
mother  country  was  more  freqnent,  there  were  importers  who  sold 
goods  at  a  moderate  advance,  and  the  Colonies  were  well  supplied 
with  articles  of  convenience  and  comfort.  We  cannot  respect  the 
man  who,  to  save  a  little  more  money,  will  go  bare-foot  in  winter ; 
who  will  run  the  risk  of  breaking  his  neck  in  clambering  up  a 
notched  log,  and  who  lived  all  his  days  in  a  house  that  neither  the 
joiner,  the  plasterer,  nor  the  painter  ever  entered.  There  is  a  gol- 
den mean  in  the  path  of  life  which  neither  the  miser  nor  the 
spendthrift  ever  see.  The  former  never  perceives  the  deep  gulph 
that  separates  prudent  management  from  miserly  hoarding  and  the 
latter  that  which  divides  an  honorable,  generous  hospitality,  from 
wasteful  extravagance. 

Goodman  Andrew  Hallett,  after  providing  in  his  will  for  the 
comfortable  support  of  his  widow,  making  liberal  bequests  to  his 
daughters,  and  giving  to  his  son  Jonathan  his  little  Calves  Past- 
ure, as  a  token  of  his  right  of  primogeniture,  gave  all  the  remain- 
der of  his  large  estate  to  his  two  sons,  enjoining  on  them  to  make 
a  peaceful  division  thereof  by  mutual  agreement.  They  quar- 
relled about  the  boundaries  of  the  little  Calves  Pasture,  the  birth- 
right of  Jonathan,  and  they  spent  two  years  and  a  half  in  vain  at- 
tempts to  divide  peaceably  and  by  mutual  concession  and  agree- 
ment, when  they  put  themselves  under  bonds  of  £800,  each  to  the 
other,  to  abide  by  the  award  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Bacon,  of  Barn- 
stable, and  Col.  William  Bassett,  of  Sandwich.  Jonathan  had 
the  western  portion  of  the  farm,  John  the  eastern.  The  present 
road  to  the  wharf  being  the  division  line  on  the  north  side  of  the 
County  road,  That  there  was  some  unpleasant  feeling  between 
them  and  their  families,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  Jonathan's 
descendants  called  John's,  "other  side  Halletts." 

March  5,  1686-7,  Jonathan,  Hallett,  for  £20  in  current 
money,  bought  of  his  brother-in-law,  John  Dexter,  of  Sandwich, 
a  negro  slave  called  Harry,  aged  29  years.  The  bill  of  sale,  yet 
preserved,  is  drawn  up  with  much  formality — signed,  sealed  and 
witnessed. 

In  1710  he  continued  to  rank  as  the  most  wealthy  man  in 
Yarmouth,  and  his  brother  John  next.  He  was  an  extensive 
landholder  in  Yarmouth  and  in  Barnstable.  March  28,  1698-9,  he 
bought  of  Samuel  Bradford,  of  Duxbury,  for  twenty  pounds  in 
current  money,  a  thousand  acre  right  of  land  in  Windham,  Hart- 
ford County,  Connecticut,  "being  the  fifth  lot  at  the  crotch  of  the 
river,"  and  also  a  houselot  of  twelve  acres  abutting  on  the  river, 
with  rights  of  commonage.  It  is  probable  he  sold  his  Windham 
farm,  for  none  of  his  family  removed  to  that  town. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         509 

His  will  is  dated  Dec.  5,  1716,  and  was  proved  Feb.  14, 
1716-17.  He  names  his  five  sons,  Ebenezer,  Thomas,  Timothy, 
David  and  Jonathan,  and  his  daughters  Mehitabel  Sturgis,  Eliza- 
beth Crowell,  and  Abigail  Hallott.  His  real  estate  was  apprised  at 
£2000,  and  his  personal  estate  for  a  large  sum. 

The  men  of  the  third  generation  had  very  slender  means  of  ac- 
quiring an  education,  generally  their  piety  had  degenerated  into  life- 
less, unmeaning  formalities  ;  they  were  church  members  ;  but  not  of 
the  noble,  self-sacrificing  race  by  whom  the  country  was  settled. 
Jonathan  Hallett  loved  money  better  than  he  loved  the  church  ;  he 
was  industrious,  and  gathered  up  riches  which  his  children  put  to  a 
better  use  than  he  did.  He  died  Jan.  12,  1716-17,  aged  69  years, 
and  his  wife  died  Sept.  2,  1715,  aged  52  years.  Both  are  buried  in 
the  old  burying-ground  in  Yarmouth,  where  monuments  are  erected 
to  their  memories. 

The  record  of  his  family  is  lost.  The  leaf  of  the  record  on 
which  it  was  written  is  gone.  His  children  were  born,  the  oldest 
perhaps  in  Sandwich,  the  others  in  Yarmouth. 

13.  I.     Mehitabel,  married  Edward  Sturgis,  Nov.  25,  1703. 

14.  n.     Ebenezer.      (See  account  below.) 

15.  in.     Thomas,  born  1691.      (See  account  below.) 

16.  IV.     Jonathan,  1694.      (See  account  below.) 

17.  V.     David.      (See  account  below.) 

18.  VJ.  Abigail,  married  Hatsuld  Freeman,  of  Harwich,  -Jan. 
18,  1719.  She  lived  to  great  age,  about  100  years,  and  is 
buried  in  the  old  burying-ground  in  Brewster. 

19.  VII.     Elizabeth  married  Paul  Crowell  Oct.  21,  1714. 

20.  VIII.     Timothy.      (See  account- below.) 

(10-10.)  Mr.  John  Hallett,  son  of  Andrew,  born  in  Yar- 
mouth Dec.  11,  1648,  was  a  corporal  in  the  company  of  Capt.  .John 
Gorbam  in  King  Philip's  war.  He  was  not  taxed  in  Yarmouth  in 
1676.  I  have  not  carefully  investigated  his  history  ;  but  he  was  a 
man  of  more  note  than  his  brother  Jonathan,  as  the  Mr.  affixed  to 
his  name  indicates.  His  house,  precisely  of  the  description  of  his 
brother  Jonathan's,  stood  a  little  in  the  rear  of  where  Capt.  John 
Eldridge's  house  now  stands,  and  was  taken  down  about  forty  years 
ago.  Though  ranking  as  second  in  point  of  wealth  among  the  in- 
habitants of  Yarmouth,  his  house  was  never  finished,  never  plast- 
ered, papered  or  painted,  facts  that  show  that  he  had  as  penurious  a 
disposition  as  his  brother.  He  was  constable  of  the  town  of  Yar- 
mouth in  1682,  and  held  other  offices. 

He  married  Feb.  16,  1681-2,  Mary,  daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Howes.  The  Register  of  his  family  on  the  Yarmouth  Records  is 
lost.  In  his  will  dated  May  14,  1725,  he  names  his  children  then 
living.     He  died  June  10,    1726,  aged  78,  and   his   widow,    Mrs. 


510    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

Mary  Hallett,  June  1732,  aged  73  years.     Both   are  buried   in   the 
old  burying-ground  in  Yarmouth. 

Children  of  Mr.  John  Hallett  born  in  Yarmouth  : 

21.  I.  Thankful,  married  Joseph  Basset  Dec.  3,  1719,  his  second 
wife  died  Aug.  12,  1736. 

22.  II.     Andrew,  born  1684.      (See  account  below.) 

23.  III.     John,  1688.      (See  account  below.) 

24.  IV.     Joseph.      (See  account  below.) 

25.  V.     Samuel.  do 

26.  VI.     Seth.  do 

27.  VII.  Hannah, ,  married  her  cousin  Ebenezer  Hal- 
lett June  27,  1728,  died  April  20,  1729,  at  the  birth  of  her 
iirst  child. 

28.  VIII.     Mary, ,  died  unmarried  April  22,  1751. 

29.  IX.     Mercy, ,  died  Nov.  13,  1747. 

30.  X.  Hope,  born  1705,  married  Joseph  Grifieth  of  Harwich. 
July  24,  1729,  died  July  5,  1784,  aged  79. 

(14-11.)  Ebenezer  Hallett,  son  of  Jonathan,  was  a  farmer 
and  resided  in  Yarmouth.  His  dwelling-house,  which  has  been 
owned  by  four  successive  generations  of  Ebenezer  Hallett's  yet  re- 
mains. It  was  originally  of  the  same  description  with  his  father's, 
but  by  several  additions  of  one  room  at  a  time,  it  is  now  a  large  two 
story  mansion  house.  Though  originally  of  the  same  description 
with  his  father's,  it  was  better  finished  and  furnished.  In  his  fam- 
ily record  I  find  this  entry,  "Our  house  was  in  danger  of  burning 
August  9,  1746."  Perhaps  there  is  no  house  in  the  County  in 
which  so  much  wood  has  been  consumed  as  in  this.  The  Ebenezer 
Halletts,  especially  the  second,  were  noted  for  keeping  large  fires. 

He  married  Aug.  14,  1712,  Rebecca  Howes.  She  died  March 
23,  1724-5.  2d,  his  cousin  Hannah  Hallett,  June  27,  1728.  She 
died  April  20,  1729.  3d,  Mercy  Gray,  May  30,  1737,  who  sur- 
vived him.  In  his  will  dated  10th  May,  1760,  he  gives  to  his  wife 
Mercy  one-half  of  the  moveables  in  the  east  end  of  his  dwelling- 
house,  two  cows,  one  steer,  one-third  part  of  his  sheep  and  hogs, 
sundry  articles  of  provision,  one-third  part  of  his  grain  in  the 
ground,  the  improvement  of  the  east  end  of  his  dwelling-house,  one- 
quarter  of  his  barn,  and  a  third  part  of  his  real  estate,  as  her  right 
of  dower  or  thirds  during  her  natural  life  ;  twelve  loads  of  pine  and 
twelve  loads  of  oak  wood  annually,  cut  "convenient  for  the  chim- 
ney," and  a  horse  to  ride  to  meeting  and  elsewhere  by  his  sou  Eben- 
ezer. She  survived  her  husband  several  years  ;  but  her  connection 
with  the  family  was  an  unhappy  one. 

He  gives  legacies  to  his  daughters  Ann  Crowell,  Sarah  Gray, 
and  Rebecca  Hallett,  to  his  grandchildren  Ebenezer,  Susannah, 
John,  Temperance,  Rebecca,  Mercy  and  Jonathan  Whelden,  and 
his  son-in-law  John  Whelden.  To  Ebenezer  Whelden  he  made  an 
additional  bequest  of  "one-third  part  in  acres  of  the  southern  end  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES.       511 

the  woodlot  commonly  called  the  "New  Society"  where  once  Sinieon 
Porridge  lived.  To  his  grandson  Ebenezer  Hallett,  he  gave  one 
pair  ol  gold  sleeve  buttons,  and  his  coat  with  silver  buttons  ;  and  to 
hjs  grandson  Edward  Hallett  one  Jack-coat  with  silver  buttons  on  it. 
He  appoints  his  son  Ebenezer  executor,  makes  him  his  residuary 
legatee,  and  charges  him  with  the  payment  of  his  debts  and  lega- 
cies. 

(15-3.)  Thomas  Hallett,  styled  gentleman,  son  of  Jonathan, 
born  in  Yarmouth  in  1691,  owned  and  resided  in  the  large,  ancient 
mansion-house  now  standing  on  the  corner  of  Hallett  St.,  and  Wharf 
Lane.  It  was  originally  built  on  the  same  plan  with  that  of  his 
father's  which  has  been  described,  but  was  better  finished  at  first, 
and  has  since  been  kept  in  good  repair.  The  Halletts',  as  a  race, 
are  able-bodied  men,  and  average  in  stature  above  the  common 
height.  Thomas  was  an  exception.  He  was  a  short,  thick-set 
man.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  of  feeble  health. 
'  For  many  years  he  was  afflicted  with  a  sore  leg — a  disease  which 
usually  set  at  defiance  the  curative  skill  of  the  physicians  of  his 
time. 

Thomas  Hallett,  lived  in  better  style  than  many  of  his  neigh- 
bors, and  died  April  10,  1772,  aged  81,  leaving  a  good  estate. 

He  man-ied  April  9 ,  1719,  for  his  first  wife,  Sarah,  daughter 
of  Dea.  Joseph  Hawes.  She  was  born  April  1,  1696,  and  died 
soon  after  her  marriage,  leaving  no  .issue.  He  married  Feb.  8, 
1721-2,  Hannah,  widow  of  Andrew  Gray  of  Harwich,  and  North 
Yarmouth,  Maine.  She  died  Feb.  6,  1749-50,  and  he  married  for 
his  third  wife,  Aug.  19,  1750,  Desire  Gorham.  She  died  Dec. 
1767,  aged  57.  For  his  fourth  wife  he  married  Mary,  widow  of 
Thomas  Hedge,  and  a  daughter  of  James  Gorham.  (See  Gorham 
genealogy  No.  64.) 

In  his  will  dated  21st  Feb.  1770,  proved  May  4,  1772,  he  gives 
to  his  wife  Mary  Hallett  in  lieu  of  thirds,  the  improvement  of  all 
his  real  estate  during  her  natural  life,  one-third  of  his  in-door 
moveables,  and  his  best  cow.  To  his  nephew  Thomas  Hallett,  son 
of  his  brother  Jonathan,  a  piece  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the 
road  on  which  Thomas'  house  stood,  containing  two  acres.  To  his 
nephews  Jonathan  and  Jeremiah,  sons  of  his  brother  Jonathan,  £6 
or  $20  each.  To  his  nephew  Ebenezer  Hallett,  Jr.,  £6-.  To  his 
nephews  Jonathan  and  Abner,  sons  of  his  brother  David,  £4  each. 
To  his  nephews  Moses,  Joshua,  and  Isaac,  sons  of  hia  brother 
Timothy,  deceased,  £6.  All  the  rest  of  his  real  and  personal  es- 
tate he  gave  to  his  adopted  son  Joshua  Gray,  son  of  his  second  wife 
Hannah  Gray. 

(16-4.)  Dea.  Jonathan  Hallett,  owned  and  occupied  the 
house  which  was  his  father's  residence,  and  which  I  have  described. 
Notwithstanding  he  lived  in  a  house  so  meanly  furnished,  he  had 
the  means  of  living  better.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  and 
exercised  a  wide  and  deserved  influence   among  his   neighbors   and 


512  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

acquaintances.  There  is  a  common  saying,  often  repeated,  and  that 
has  some  truth  in  it — "the  shoemaker's  wife  and  the  blacksmith's 
horse  go  unshod."  Dea.  Jonathan  was  a  carpenter,  though  agricul- 
ture was  his  principal  employment ;  and  though  he  had  time  to  finish 
off,  and  put  some  of  his  neighbor's  houses  in  good  order,  he  never 
found  time  to  keep  his  own  in  decent  repair. 

He  and  his  wife  united  in  full  communion  with  the  Barnstable 
Church  Sept.  8,  1728,  and  continued  to  be  a  member  till  July  1, 
1744,  when  he  was  dismissed  to  the  West  Church  in  Yarmouth  of 
which  he  was  soon  aiter  elected  one  of  its  deacons,  and  continued  to 
be  till  his  death.  He  was  many  years  one  of  the  Selectmen  of  the 
town  of  Yarmouth,  and  held  other  municipal  offices.  His  children 
were  all  well  educated  for  tlie  times.  His  son  Jonathan  was  fitted  for 
Cambridge  College,  and  his  father  desired  him  to  enter  ;  butthe  son 
preferred  rather  to  be  a  farmer  than  a  clergyman. 

He  married  Feb.  17,  1719-20,  Desire   Howes,  with   whom   he  ' 
lived  in  the   marriage  state  fifty-five  years,  till  April  3,  1775,    when 
she   died  aged    78  years.     He  died   May  24,  1783,    aged  90   years, 
and   is  buried   in  the  ancient  burying-ground   in   Yarmouth,    where 
monuments  are  erected  to  his  and  his  wife's  memory. 

In  his  will  dated  July  17,  1779,  he  names  his  sons  Jonathan, 
Thomas  and  Jeremiah,  and  daughters  Desire  Bacon  and  Mehitable 
Swift,  and  his  four  grandchildren,  Elkanah,  Isaiah,  Mehitabel  and 
Desire  Crowell.  He  gave  his  dwelling-house  to  Jeremiah,  hence 
the  name  by  which  the  old  house  was  known  in  modern  times,  and 
the  lot  of  land  on  the  south  of  the  road  on  which  his  son  Jonathan's 
house  stood  to  Jonathan.  This  lot  was  bounded  easterly  by  the  land 
of  Col.  Enoch  Hallett.  To  Thomas  and  Jeremiah  he  gave  his  or- 
chard on  the  west  of  Jonathan's  house. 

Children  of  the  second  Jonathan  Hallett  born  in  Yarmouth  : 
Two  daughters  20th  Nov.  1720)  still  born. 

40.  1.     Desire,  18th  Jan.  1721-2,  married  Samuel  Bacon  1747. 

41.  II.     Jonathan,  10th  Nov.  1723.      (See  account  below.) 

42.  III.     Prince,  12th  Sept.  1725,  died  July  3,  1728. 

43.  IV.     Abigail,  25th  Aug.  1727,  died  June  26,  1728. 

44.  V.     Thomas,  7th  July,  1729.      (See  account  below.) 
0.  VI.     Abigail,  3d  June,  1731,  died  June  23,  1731.* 
0.  VII.     Prince,  3d  June,  1782,  died  June  23,  1732. 

45.  VIII.     Jeremiah,  20th  Sept.  1733.      (See  account  below.) 

46.  IX.     Joshua,  19th  March,  1735-6,  died  10th  May,  1736. 

47.  X.     Sarah,  28th  June  1737. 

48.  XI.     Mehitabel,  7th  May,  1740. 

(17.)  David  Hallett,  son  of  Jonathan,  removed  to  Hyannis, 
and  settled  on    the  land  which  was  his  father's.     His  house  was  one 


♦Abigail  and  Prince.    I  find  this  so  on  the  record ;  but  it  looks  like  a  mistake  of  the 
clerk. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         513 

of  the   first  built   in  that   village.     He    married    19th   Aug.    1719, 
Mary,  daughter  of  John  Annable  of  West  Barnstable. 
Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

49.  1.  Abigail,  26th  June,  1720,  married  Prince  Howes  of  Yar- 
mouth, Aug.  3,  1739. 

50.  II.  Jonathan,  1st  Dec.  1722,  married  Aug.  5,  1744,  Mercy, 
daughter  of  Dea.  Samuel  Bacon,  and  had  John,  4th  Oct. 
1745 ;  Jonathan,  9th  Dec.  1749  ;  Nathaniel,  28th  Nov. 
1752 ;  Anner,  20th  March,  1755 ;  Samuel,  26th  March, 
1758  ;  Benjamin,  18th  Jan.  1760  ;  Edward,  6th  April  1762  ; 
William  and  David.  Capt.  Benjamin  of  this  family  resided 
at  Osterville,  and  was  the  father  of  the  late  Hon.  Benjamin  F. 
Hallett. 

51.  III.  David,  12th  Dec.  1744,  married  July  18,  1753,  Sarah 
Lewis.  2d,  Sarah  Butler,  Feb.  12,  1756.  He  died  Nov. 
1763. 

52.  IV.     Elizabeth,  9th  Jan.,  1726. 

53.  V.  Mehitabel,  21st  Ap.  1729,  married  Shubael  Baxter  of 
Yarmouth,  1746-7. 

54.  VI.  Remember,  12th  May,  1731,  married  Jabez  Marchant  of 
Yarmouth,  Jan.  4,  1753. 

55.  VII.     Sarah,  28th  May,  1733,  married  Jabez  Parker  1751. 

56.  VIII.  Annah,  14th  May,  1737,  married  Nov.  1,  1759, 
Elisha  Kent,  of  Goodfleld. 

57.  IX.  Mary,  11th  May,  1739,  married  Nov.  22,  1761,  Timo- 
thy Hamblin. 

58.  X.     Abner,  19th  May,    1741.     He   married    Susan   , 

had  a  son  Abner  and  others. 

Timothy  Hallett,  son  of  Jonathan,  owned  and  resided  in  the 
dwelling-house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Eldridge  Lovell  of  Yarmouth. 
He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  very  respectable  man.  He  married,  first, 
Feb.  18,  1719-20,  Thankful  Sturgis,  who  died  at  the  birth  of  her 
first  child — still  born — 10th  Jan.  1721,  and  both  were  buried  in  the 
same  grave.  Second,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Dea.  Moses  .Hatch 
of  Falmouth.  She  died  Oct.  23,  1744,  aged  44  years,  and  he  mar- 
ried May  23,  1745,  Thankful  Jones  of  Barnstable,  his  third  wife. 
He  died  as  recorded  on  his  grave  stones,  Jan.  24,  1771,  in, the  69th 
year  of  his  age.  His  grandson  Benjamin  made  the  following  record 
in  his  family  bible  :  "My  grandfather  Timothy  Hallett  died  July  7, 
1770,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age."  "My  grandmother  Elizabeth 
Hallett  died  Oct.  23,  1744,  aged  44  years." 

Children  of  Timothy  Hallett  born  in  Yarmouth  : 

59.  I.     Timothy,  7th  May,  1725,  died  Aug.  3,  1747. 

60.  II.     Elizabeth,  12th  June  1727,  died  June  7,  1728. 

61.  III.  Moses,  20th  April,  1629.  He  was  an  ignorant,  self- 
conceited   man. 


514        GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

62.  IV".  Benjamin,  9th  Oct.  1730,  married  Bethia  Jones  of  Saud- 
wich  Ap.  26,  1759.  He  was  pilot  of  a  vessel  bound  to  Hali- 
fax, lost  at  sea,  and  all  on  board  perished.     He  left  no  issue 

63.  V.     Elizabeth,  16th  Nov.  1735,  died  Dec.  20,  1735. 

64.  VI.     James,  12th  April,  1737,  died  young. 

(On  the  family  record  of  Benjamin  Hallett,  grandson  of  Timo- 
thy, the  name  of  James  is  not  given.  Joshua  Hallett,  now  living, 
(1858)  says  he  does  not  recollect  of  having  heard  his  father  say  he 
had  a  brother  James.  On  the  family  register,  the  birth  of  Joshua 
is  recorded  in  the  year  1737,  which  corresponds  with  the  record  of 
his  age  at  his  death.) 

65.  VII.  Joshua,  10th  Jan.  1738-9.  His  house,  yet  remaining, 
is  the  most  westerly  on  the  north  side  of  the  County  road  in 
Yarmouth.  He  married  Dorcas  Eldridge.  He  died  Aug.  19, 
1821,  aged  84,  and  his  wife  April  26,  1813,  aged  72  years. 
His  children  were  : 

Bethia,    Feb.  5,    1763,    died  aged — yrs. 

Elizabeth,  Oct.  31,  1764, 

Lydia,  Feb.  21,  1767, 

Dorcas,  April  20,  1770, 

Mary,  June  23,  1772, 

Patience,  April  26,  1775, 

Joshua,  April  12,  1778, 

Omitting  Patience,  who  died  in  infancy,  the  average  of  the 
family,  parents  and  children,  is  83  years  and  some  months. 

Bethia  married  Elkanah  Crowell  and  resided  at  West  Yar- 
mouth. Elizabeth  or  Betsey  as  she  was  called,  lived  unmarried  and 
died  in  her  father's  house.  Lydia  married  Obed  Howes,  Esq.,  of 
Dennis.  Dorcas  was  marked  at  birth  with  bunches  of  grapes  on 
her  face.  She  married  at  62  her  cousin  Benjamin  Hallett.  Marv 
married,  first,  Josiah  Baker.  2d,  Robert  Dixon  ;  and  3d,  Capt. 
Eben  Howes  of  Yarmouth.  She  resided  for  a  time  in  the  Western 
States ;  but  after  her  third  marriage  in  Yarmouth,  and  died  of 
apoplexy  in  1858.  Joshua  married  twice.  He  was  a  carpenter, 
and  resided  in  a  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  from  his 
father's.     He  died  in  1863.      • 

66.  VIII.  Isaac,  born  24th  Aug.  1742,  was  the  youngest  child 
of  Timothy.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the  Yarmouth  church,  and 
his  family,  as  well  as  his  brother  Joshua's,  are  long  lived.  He 
married  in  1761  Elizabeth  Eldridge.  He  died  Oct.  5,  1814, 
aged  72  years,  and  his  widow  March  1,  1831,  aged  86  years. 

Children  horn  in  Yarmouth. 
Benjamin,  Nov.  3,  1762,  died  Feb.  28,  1838,  aged  76  years. 
Thankful,  Oct.  10,  1764,  died  Aug.  14,  1831,  aged  68  years. 
Isaac,  Dec.  6,  1766,  died  1857  aged  90  years. 

Elizabeth,  Feb.  23,  1769,  now  living,  aged 95  years.      [Died  March 
26,  1866,  aged  97.] 


(( 

88  ■•' 

u 

82  " 

u 

85  " 

if. 

86" 

(t 

(( 

a 

86  " 

in 

infancy. 

the 

average 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       515 

Anna,  March  26,  1771,  died  Sept.  24,  1823,  aged  52  years. 
Deborah,  Aug.  3,  1773,  died' Sept.  24,   1857,  aged  84  years. 
John,  Jan.  28,  1775,  died  1853,  aged  78  years.    ' 
Rosanua,   May    1,    1778,    now    living.     [Died   June,    1867,    aged 

89.] 
Samuel,  Sept.  23,  1780,  died  April  23,  1829,  aged  48  years. 
Levina,  Jan.  13,  1783. 
Elisha,  Maroh  8,  1777,  now  living. 

Benjamin  of  this  family  married  for  his  first  wife,  Feb.  16, 
1786,  Abigail  Matthews,  and  had  Elsey  Oct.  12,  1786,  and  Sophia 
May  3,  1791.  Both  of  whom  married  the  late  Capt.  Nathan  Hal- 
lett.  For  his  second  wife  he  married,  June  19,  1832,  Dorcas  Hal- 
lett. 

Thankful  married  Reuben  Rider  Dec.  1,  1785,  and  lived  in 
Yarmouth. 

Isaac  married  Rebecca  Matthews,  resided  in  Barnstable,  and 
had  a  family.  In  his  old  age  he  lived  with  his  daughter  Ruth 
Sears. 

Elizabeth,  who  married  1st,  Prince  Crowell,  and  2d,  Isaac 
Gorham,  is  now  living.  Though  in  the  ninty-sixth  year  of  her  age, 
she  keeps  house,  does  her  own  work,  runs  her  own  errands,  and  is  as 
well  as  most  persons  at  seventy.  A  day  or  two  since,  while  return- 
ing with  her  milk,  she  toppled  down — jumping  up  quickly,  she  ex- 
claimed :   "I  have  not  spilled  one  drop  of  it." 

Anna  married  Barnabas  Marchant  of  Barnstable,  and  removed 
to  Falmouth. 

Deborah  married  Capt.  Ezra  Crowell,  and  resided  in  Barnsta- 
ble. 

John  married  Lydia  Thacher,  and  resided  in  Barnstable.  In 
his  old  age  he  and  his  wife  removed  to  Chatham. 

Rosanna  married  Nov.  26,  1799,  Zenas  Howes,  who  died  in 
1853. 

Samuel  married  Lydia  Ewer  of  Barnstable.  He  owned  his 
grandfather  Timothy's  house,  which  he  sold.  In  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  he  was  a  resident  of  Barnstable. 

Levina  married,  1st,  Trustrum  Nye,  of  Falmouth.  2d,  Will- 
iam Cobb  of  Nantucket. 

Elisha  married,  1st,  Dorcas  Small  of  Lubec,  16th  Feb.  1809. 
She  died  Jan.  27,  1848,  and  he  married  2d,  Hannah  W.  Davis  of 
Lubec.  He  is  a  ship  carpenter,  and  a  part  of  his  life  has  resided  at 
Lubec.  He  has  recently  removed  to  that  vicinity,  where  he  has  a 
farm,  on  which  there  is  a  lead  mine,  which  has  been  wrought. 

(22.)     Andrew   Hallett,    son  of  John,    born  in   Yarmouth   in 
1684,  built  a   house  of  the  same  description  with  his  father's  on   the 
land  opposite  the  Barnstable  Bank  building.     He   married  July  23, 
1713,  Mehitabel,  daughter  of  John  Annable  of  West  Barnstable. 
Children  horn  in  Yarmouth. 


51(T         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

67.  I.  Desire,  April  21,  1714,  married  July  20,  1732,  James 
Hawes. 

68.  II.  Stephen,  Oct.  5,  1721,  married  in  1743,  Mercy  Joyce. 
She  died  Oct.  23,  1763,  and  be  married  2d,  Widow  Thankful 
Taylor.  His  children  were  Mary,  June  12,1744;  Anna, 
March  30,1747;  Joseph,  Dec.  11,  1748;  Mercy,  Feb.  17, 
1752;  Stephen,  Aug.  16,  1754;  Mehitable,  June  10,  1757; 
Sarah,  April  12,1760;  Mary,  April  10,1767;  and  Levi 
July  16.  1769.  Joseph  married  Ruth  Taylor,  and  had  Jo- 
seph, and  David  and  Asa  twins.  He  was  lost  at  sea  with 
Howes  Taylor.  His  brother  Levi  was  also  lost  at  sea  in  1789. 
Anna,  Mercy  and  Mehitabel,  did  not  marry,  resided  in  the  east 
part  of  their  father's  house,  and  died  in  old  age.  Stephen 
married  Desire  Hall  and  had  Susan  and  Mercy.  He 
drank  to  excess,  spent  the  large  estate  devised  to  him  by  his 
father,  and  died  a  town-pauper 

Andrew  Hallett  died  April  26,  1751,  aged  67,  and  his  widow 
Mehitabel  Oct.  28,  1767,  aged  72.  In  his  will  dated  23d  April, 
1651,  proved  May  7,  1751,  he  is  styled  yeoman,  names  his  wife 
Mehitabel,  to  whom  he  gives  one-half  of  his  dwelling-house,  privi- 
lege of  the  well,  barn  room,  one-half  of  the  fruit  yearly  growing  in 
his  orchard,  use  of  one-third  of  his  other  real  estate,  one-third  of 
his  personal  estate,  and  sufficient  wood  at  the  door,  cut  fit  for  the 
fire,  to  be  furnished  by  his  son  Stephen.  To  his  daughter  Desire  he 
gave  a  piece  of  land  on  the  east  of  Hawes'  Lane,  ten  acres  of  wood- 
land adjoining  Jonathan  Hallett's,  and  one-half  of  his  moveable  es- 
tate.    All  the  rest  of  his  estate  he  gave  to  his  son  Stephen. 

(23.)  John  Hallett,  Esq.,  son  of  John,  born  in  Yarmouth, 
was  married  Aug.  24,  1716,  by  Peter  Thacher,  Esq.,  to  Thankful 
Thacher,  He  died  April  8,  1765,  aged  77  years,  and  his  widow 
Thankful  Feb.  9,  1768. 

He  built  the  large  mansion-house  now  occupied  by  the  widow 
Elizabeth  Gorham  and  Howard  Crowell.  He  was  Sheriff,  and  a 
man  of  note  in  his  day,  but  I  have  not  space  to  trace  his  history. 

His  children  born  in  Yarmouth  were  : 

69.  I.  Mary,  17th  Dec.  1717,  m.  Jan.  24,  1727,  Isaac  Gorham 
of  Barnstable,  and  had  Mary,  who  married  Elisha  Hedge,  and 
Thankful,  who  married  John  Hall.  She  died  Aug.  19,  1741, 
and  is  buried  near  the  East  Church  in  Barnstable. 

70.  II.  John,  9th  Aug.  1719,  married  Feb.  12,  1747,  Rebecca 
Hallett.  He  died  Feb.  14,1760.  His  children  were  :  Mary, 
Dec  26,  1748,  died  young  ;  Charles,  April  4,  1751,  married 
Lydia  Thacher,  and  was  the  father  of  the  late  George  Hallett, 
Esq.,  of  Boston,  and  of  the  late  Mr.  Oliver  Hallett,  and 
others;  Martha,  Nov.  2,  1753,  died  unmarried  in  1794;  and 
John,  May  4,  1756,  married  Hannah  Hallett  Apr.  10,  1781, 
and  resided  at  Great  Island. 


GENKALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         517 

81.  III.  Peter,  7th  Oct.  1721,  married  in  1739,  Eunice  Allen 
of  Harwich.     She   died   Aug.  26,    1762.     His  second   wife 

was  Sarah  ,  who  died  Feb.  13,  1760,  and  he  married 

for  his  third  wife  Lydia  Buck  (or  Bearse)  in  1761.  He 
died  Feb.  1794.  He  was  the  father  of  nineteen  children, 
whose  fortunes  in  life  were  widely  dissimilar.     His  children 

were  Rebecca,  Jan.    15,1743,   married Bray;    John 

Allen  Nov.   14,    1745,    married Mackey ;    Elkanah, 

Sept.  16,  1749  ;  Eunice,  Dec.  24,  1751  ;  Lot,  April  12, 
1754;  Hannah,  Oct.  1756,  married  Sersham  Cobb,  and  has 
descendants;  Temperance,  Sept.  1758;  Benjamin,  Aug.  13, 
1762,  died  at  sea  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  1790 ;  George, 
July  21,  1764  ;  Prince,  April.  16,  died  a  pauper  in  Y.  ;  Job, 
Feb.  26,  1767,  died  young  ;  Lydia,  Feb.  23,  1769,  married 
Zenas  Hallett;  Sarah,  Feb.  10,  1.771,  married  and  removed; 
Peter,  March  2,  1775,  died  at  sea ;  Mary,  Sept.  19,  1777, 
married  Joseph  Hallett;  Job,  July  28,  1779,  of  Boston,  now 
living,  and  three  others  who  died  young,  making  19. 
(24.)  Joseph  Hallett,  son  of  John,  built  a  house  like  his 
father's  between   his  brother  John's  and  Andrew's.     He   married 

Abigail 1722,    and  died  Sept.    19,1735,   and  his   widow 

Abigail  Sept.  18,  l7'68,    aged  67.     His  oldest  child  was   born  in 
Barnstable,  his  other  children  in  Yarmouth. 

72.  L  Roland,  7th  Aug.  1723.  (A  Rowland  Hallett  married 
Jane  Sears  in  1772.  He  resided  at  Hyannis,  had  a  son 
Rowland  and  other  children. 

73.  II.     Joseph,  25th  June,  1725,  married  1745,  Mary  Joyce. 

74.  III.  Abigail,  15th  June,  1727,  married  Samuel  Gorham 
April  20,  1747. 

75.  IV.  Hannah,  23  Oct.  1729,  married  Josiah  Gorham  Oct.  9, 
1755,  and  2d,  Thomas  Allyn. 

76.  V.     Eunice,  8th  Jan.  1731-2. 

77.  VL     Elizabeth,  25th  AprU,  1734. 

(25.)  Samuel  Hallett,  son  of  John,  married  June  15,  1727, 
Susannah  Clark  of  Harwich.  He  resided  in  the  house  which  was 
his  father's.  His  family  register  I  do  not  find  on  the  Yarmouth 
records.  His  estate  was  settled  Jan.  4,  1757,  his  widow  Susan- 
nah being  then  living.  His  children  named  in  the  settlement 
are : 

78.  I.  Enoch,  born  in  1737,  was  one  of  the  leading  men  dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  period.  He  was  a  Colonel  of  the 
militia,  and  afterwards  Sheriff  of  the  County.  He  resided 
in  the  house  which  was  his  grandfather's,  already  described. 
Though  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  County — a 
man  of  good  business  capacity — a  man  of  influence  and 
highly  respected,  yet  he  was  satisfied  to  reside  in  a  house 
that  neither  the  joiner,  the  plasterer,  nor  the  painter  ever  en- 


518    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

tered,  and  in  which  the  four  winds  of  Heaven  might  contend 
for  the  mastery.  His  first  wife  was  Thankful  Hawes, 
who  died  Dec.  9,  1778,  and  he  married  May  25,  1780,  Abi- 
gail Eider.  He  died  March  8,  1788,  aged  51  years.  He 
had  fourteen  children  born  in  Yarmouth,  namely  :  Samuel, 
April  8,  1756,  died  Jan.  29,  1778,  at  Lancaster,  viz  :  while 
in  the  public  service ;  Barnabas,  Dec.  27,  1757,  married 
three  wives,  and  has  descendants ;  Enoch,  Feb.  19,  1760, 
married  Mary  Sears;  Heman,  Jan.  27,  1762,  died  unmar- 
ried ;  Abner  Mar(Jh  27,  1764,  married  Mary  Hallett,  and 
had  daughter  Serena,  now  living — he  died  in  Aux  Cays 
1797;  David,  March  21,  1766,  died  at  sea,  had  no  issue; 
Susannah,  Dec.  29,  1767,  died  13th  Feb.  1768:  Susannah, 
March  7,  1769,  married  Heman  Bangs  and  removed  to  the 
West ;  Ascha,  Aug.  31,  1772,  married  and  removed  ;  Thank- 
ful, Sept.  3,  1774,  resided  with  Rev.  John  Mellen,  Jr.,  and 
diedrat  Cambridge  ;  Rhoda,  Aug.  29,  1776,  married  Edward 
Marston  ;  Abigail,  Oct.  27,  1781,  married  Crocker  Marston  ; 
Nancy,  April  7,  1783,  died  young;  and  Samuel  Clark,  Feb. 
13,  1785  ;  died  unmarried  at  sea. 

79.  II.     Clark,  died  at  sea. 

80.  III.     Thankful,  married  David  Taylor  l'?49. 

81.  IV.     Susannah,  married Bangs. 

82.  V.     Sarah,  died  unmarried.     She  was  insane  and   supported 
by  the  town. 

(26.)  Seth  Hallett,  son  of  John,  born  in  Yar- 
mouth in  1699,  resided  at  Hyannis.  He  married  May  8, 
1729,  Mary  Taylor.  He  died  May  1,1757,  aged  58,  and  his 
widow  Mary,  Oct.  9,  1763,  aged  62.  Both  are  buried  in  the  old 
graveyard  at  Hyannis. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

83.  I.     Temperance,  April  18,  1729. 

84.  II.     Hannah,  Dec.  4,  1731. 

85.  III.     Deborah,  April  14,  1734. 

86.  IV.     Joseph,  Sept.  21,  1736. 

87.  V.     Thankful,    Sept.  21,  1736,    married  John   Crocker  4th 
June,  1760. 

88.  VI.     Abigail,  Aug.  8,  1738. 

And  I  have  also  noted  that  he  had  a  son  Rowland  born  in 
1743,  died  Aug.  10,  1816,  aged  73.  (See  Roland  son  of  Sam- 
uel.) This  Roland  married  Jane  Sears,  and  among  his  children 
was  the  late  Seth  Hallett,  Esq.,  of  Hyannis. 

36.  Ebenezer  Hallett,  son  of  Ebenezer,  born  in  Yarmouth 
Dec.  29,  1719,  married  Dec.  12, 1741,  Elizabeth  Bangs.  He  died 
March  6,  1807,  aged  87  years.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  resided  in 
the    house  which  was  his   father's.     After   he  was  sixty  years  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       519 

age   he  set  out  an   orchard,  and  lived  to   gather  the   fruit   many 
years.     His  children  born  in  Yarmouth  were  : 

89.  I.     Ruth,  18th  Sept.  1743,  married  Eben  Howes. 

90.  II.     A  son,  7th  Sept.  1745,  died  15th  of  same  month. 

91.  III.  Edward,  6th  April,  1747,  married  Sarah  Hedge,  and 
had  Nathan,  Dec.  10,  1768;  Ansel,  Nov.  1,  1770;  Hannah, 
March  16,  1773;  Olive,  April  16,  1775 ;  Betty,  Aug.  2, 
1777,  died  young;  Betty,  Nov.  2,  1779,  married  John 
Eldridge;  Edw.  Bangs  March  16,  1782;  Sally,  June  18, 
1784  ;  and  Nancy  Jan.  4,  1787.  The  father  of  this  family 
died  aged  49,  but  his  children  were  all  long-lived,  and  he  has 
numerous  descendants. 

92.  IV.  Ebenezer,  22d  May,  1750.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  contractors  to  carry  a  weekly  mail  to  Bos- 
ton. (See  Thacher.)  His  children  were :  Lot,  Oct.  17, 
1777;  Catte,  Feb.  4,  1780;  Ann,  April  13,  1783  ;  Ebene- 
zer, May  22,  1785  ;  Matthews  C,  May  25,  1787;  Elizabeth, 
Feb.  4,  1790;  Lucy,  March  21,  1795;  and  Randall,  Jan. 
24,1799.  All  are  now  deceased  excepting  Elizabeth,  wife 
of  Charles  Sears,  Esq. 

93.  IV.     Bette,  17th  March,  1752. 

94.  V.     Lucy,  4th  July,  1754,  died  Sept.  6,  1765. 

95.  VI.     A  son,  13th  Oct.  1758,  died  Nov.  24,  1758. 

96.  VII.     A  son,  23d  June,  1759,  died  July  25,  1759. 

97.  VIII.  Elizabeth,  23d  March,  1764,  married  Eben  Whel- 
den. 

98.  IX.     Lucy,  20th  Jan.  1768,  married  Johu  Eldridge. 

41.  Jonathan  HaUett,  son  of  Dea.  Jonathan,  married 
Thankful  Crowell.  By  mistake  she  took  rats-bane  instead  of 
salts,  and  died  in  six  hours.  He  died  Feb.  6,  1814  ;  aged  90 
years.  His  children  were:  Lydia,  born  11th  Aug.  1745,  married 
Josiah  Miller ;  Thankful,  16th  Sept.  1747,  married  Barnabas 
Hedge  and  removed  to  Maine  ;  Howes,  21st  July,  1749,  married 
Temperance  Hedge;  Jonathan,  13th  June,  1751,  married  Sarah 
Hedge;  Azuba,  4th  Dec.  1752,  married  Ansel  Taylor  ;  Solomon, 
23d  Nov.  1754,  married  Deborah  Chapman  and  removed  to  Ken- 
nebec, Maine  ;  Elisha,  married  Elizabeth  Hawes  Oct.  15,  1779,  re- 
moved to  Kennebec;  Isaiah,  10th  Aug.  1762,  died  of  small  pox 
in  Boston  harbor — left  no  issue  ;  Zenas,  9th  Aug.  1768,  married 
Lydia  HaUett ;  and  Josiah,  27th  Aug.  1765,  married  Elizabeth 
Matthews. 

Howes  HaUett  of  this  family  was,  in  1789,  skipper  of  a  new 
fishing  vessel,  owned  principally  by  a  Mr.  Evans  of  Providence, 
R.  I.  She  was  lost  in  a  gale  on  Nantucket  Shoals,  and  all  on 
board  perished,  namely  :  Howes  HaUett,  master,  Josiah  HaUett, 
Daniel  HaUett,  Edmond  Hallett,  Levi  HaUett,  Joseph  HaUett,  Jo- 
siah MUlef  and  Moody  Sears. 


520    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

44.  Thomas  Hallett,  son  of  Jonathan,  married  Sarah  Hatn- 
blin,  and  had  Ezekiel,  5th  April,  17.57,  died  at  sea  unmarried; 
Desire,  15th  April,  1759,  married  Barnabas  Hallett;  Judith,  Blat 
May,  1761,  died  single  at  Sandwich;  Sarah,  14th  July,  1763, 
married  Barnabas  Hallett;  Ruth,  21st  July,  1765,  died  single  at 
Sandwich;  Thomas,  6th  Sept.  1767;  Ezra,  28th  March,  1769; 
William,  13th  Marcb,  1775,  married  Abigail  Thacher ;  Elizabeth, 
12  Nov.  1778,  died  single  at  SEjndwich. 

47.  Jeremiah  Hallett,  son  of  JonathaD,  mamed  Hannah 
Griffeth.  He  died  Nov.  12,  1819,  aged  86.  His  children  were: 
Hannah,  born  18th  June,  1760,  married  John  Hallett  April  10, 
1781  ;  Mary,  Ist  Sept.  1763,  married  Abner  Hallett.  She  lived  a 
widow  many  years,  and  was  a  living  chronicle  of  the  history  of 
theHalletts;  Thankful,  6th  Oct.  1764,  married  James  Sears; 
Jerusha,  14th  March,  1767,  married  Ebenezer  Marston  ;  Daniel, 
20th  Oct.  1769,  lost  at  sea  1789;  Rebecca,  3d  Sept.  1772,  mar- 
ried 1st,  David  Downs,  2d,  Barnabas  Bacon;  Jeremiah,  28th 
June,  1775,  committed  suicide  1837  ;  and  Joseph,  2d  April,  1778, 
married  Lucretia  Taylor. 

Lines  composed  by  the  Rev.  Timothy  Alden,  on  the  death  of 
Mr.  James  Sears'  wife  and  two  infant  children  : 

The  Sovereign  Power  that  reigns  above, 
Recalls  these  pledges  of  his  love ; 
The  mother  with  the  tender  babes, 
Ee tires  from  light  to  death's  cold  shades. 
The  infants  free  from  human  harm, 
There  sleep  as  on  the  mother's  arms. 
Thus  to  fulfil  the  sentence  just, 
The  mortal  part  returns  to  dust; 
Together  lay  the  small  and  great, 
While  lasts  the  intermediate  state. 
But  at  the  resurrection  day 
The  soul  reanimates  the  clay. 
Made  then  immortal  friends  in  heart ; 
To  Christ  united  ne'er  shall  part ; 
The  sure  approach  of  that  great  day, 
May  drive  all  gloomy  thoughts  away. 
And  free  the  mind  from  sorrows  past, 
With  joys  that  shall  forever  last. 
God's  judgments  now  as  dark  as  night, 
Will  then  uplet  as  noonday  light, 
Displaying  wisdom  Infinite, 
Why  bosom  friends  must  part  so  soon, 
The  offspring  cease  in  early  bloom. 
Though  this  is  far  from  present  choice. 
Is  all  for  good  in  wisdom's  voice, 
That  wisdom  reigns,  let  all  rejoice. 
When  late  retired  to  take  my  rest, 
I  viewed  your  care  as  one  distressed. 
These  thoughts  arose  within  my  breast, 
If  they  a  drooping  heart  can  cheer, 
Accept  them  from  a  friend  sincere. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         521 

(61.)  Moses  Hallett,  son  of  Timothy,  was  born  in  Yar- 
mouth April  20,  1729.     He  married  four  wives,  namelv  : 

1,  Phebe  Hamblin,  in  1751,  died  Nov.  28,  1769. 

2,  Elenor  Hamblin, died  Sept.  7,  1771,  aged  38. 

3,  Lydia  Goodspeed,  1772,  died  Feb.  16,  1791,  aged  53. 

4,  Betty  Crowell,  a  daughter  of  Ephraim. 

He  died  Dec.  14,  1809,  aged  80  years,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  had  only  one  unsound  tooth.  His  widow  survived  him  sev- 
eral years. 

His  children  born  in  Yarmouth,  were  : 

I.  James,  11th  Sept.  1752,  married  Dec.  24,  1778,' Susannah 
Taylor,  and  had  a  large  family.  Capt.  Timothy  Hallett  was  a 
_son. 

II.  Elizabeth,  21st  May,  1754,  married  Jonathan  Bassett  and 
removed  to  Kennebec. 

III.  Mary,  18th  March,  1756,  married  Nov.  26,  1778,  Jeremiah 
Crowell, 

IV.  Abigail,  8th  Feb.  1758,  married  Wm.  Taylor. 

V.  Timothy,  9th  Jan.  1759-60,  died  May  5,  1776. 

VI.  Phebe,  4th  Aug.  1763,  died  single  in  old  age. 

VII.  Keziah,  26th  March  1766,  died  unmarried  Feb.  12,  1806. 
She  was  a  woman  feeble  in  mind  and  in  bodv. 


THE  HAMBLEN  FAMILY. 


A?  nearly  all  the  l^i^st  settlers  o;f  Barnstable  came  from  Loiit 
don  and  the  County  of  Kent,  it  is  probable  that  James  Hamblen, 
the  ancestor,  ca,mefi;om  that  city,  as  stated  by  Mr.  David  Ham- 
blen in  the  New  Englan(^  Historic  and  Genealogical  Journal.  Of 
his  early  history,  little  is  knovrn.  He  appears  to  have  been  an 
early  member  bif  Mr.  iothrpp's  Church,'  though  th^  date,  is  i^ot 
found  on  tie  record.  His  son  Bartholemew  was  baptized  April 
24,  1642,  but  the  baptism  of  his  older  children,  James  and  Han- 
nah, do  not  appear  on  the  record.  It  is  probable  that  they  were 
born  in  England,  and  that  neither  they  nor  their  mother  came 
over  so  early  as  the  father.  This  was  a  common  occurrence  in 
early  times.  The  father  came  over,  and  when  he  had  provided  a 
home  sent  for  his  family. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  and  was  in  Barnstable  in 
the  spring  of  1639.  His  houselot,  containing  eight  acres,  was  at 
Coggin's  Pond,  and  was  one  of  those  that  I  presume  were  laid  out 
under  the  authority  of  Mr.  Collicut.  It  was  bounded  northerly 
by  the  lot  of  Gov.  Hinckley,  easterly  by  the  Commons,  (now  the 
ancient  graveyard)  southerly  by  the  Commons,  and  westerly  by 
the  highway,  which  at  that  time  after  crossing  the  hill  on  the  west 
turned  to  the  north  on  the  borders  of  the  pond  to  Gov.  Hinck- 
ley's old  house,  which  stood  near  the  pond,  and  thence  turned 
easterly,  joining  the  present  road  at  the  head  of  Calve's  Pasture 
Lane.  In  1686  the  present  road  was  laid  out  through  Hamblen's 
lot,  and  leaving  a  triangular  shaped  portion  of  it  on  the  north  of 
the  road.  Afterwards,  in  1693,  the  location  of  the  road  having 
been  changed,  the  Hamblens  were  allowed  to  enclose  that  part  of 
the  old  road  situate  between  their  land  and  the'  pond,  and  ad- 
joining to  Gov.  Hinckley's.  The  westerly  portion  of  the  road 
which  was  discontinued,  opposite  the  south  end  of  the  pond,  was 
reserved  as  a  public  watering-place,  and  is  so  occupied  to  this 
day. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       523 

His  other  lands  were  six  shares  and  six  acres  of  upland  in 
$he  Calves  Pasture,  twenty  acres  of  upland,  and  the  meadow  on 
the  north,  bounded  easterly  by  the  land  of  Henry  Bourne,  and 
westerly  by  the  land  of  Dea.  John  Cooper.  His  great  lot  of  fifty 
acres  was  bounded  south-westerly  by  the  great  Indian  Pond, 
southerly  by  the  lot  of  Thomas  Lpthrop,  and  northerly  by  the 
Comnions.  It  was  the  most  northerly  of  the  Indian  Pond  lots, 
and  his  son  John  built  a  house  thereon.  The  Hamblens  were 
among  the  first  settlers  in  that  part  of  the  town,  ancj  that  region 
of  country  is  now  known  as  Hamblen's  Plain. 

In  1686  James  Hamblen,  Senior's,  house  is  described  as  stand- 
ing on  his  twenty  acre  lot,  on  the  north  side  of  the  highway,  be- 
tween the  houses  of  Mr.  Russell  (known  in  modern  times  as  Brick 
John  Hinckley's)  and  Dea.  John  Cooper's,  now  owned  by  Mr. 
William  Hinckley  and  others.  In  the  year  1653  this  land  is  called 
on  the  records  Mi;.  Gvoom's  land,  but  in  the  following  year,  1654, 
Gpodman  Hamblen's. 

James  Hamblen,  Sen'r,  died  ^n  1690.  In  his  will  da,ted  Jan. 
23,  1683-4,  he  names  his  wile  Anne  and  all  his  children.  To  James 
h^  gave  £10,  to  Bartholemew,  j66,  and  to  his  daugh,ter  Hannah, 
^'according  tp  ye  desire  of  my  mother,"  £5.  4^\l  the  rest  of  his  es- 
ta,te  he  gave  tP  his  wife  during  her  natural  life,  and  after  her  death 
tp  b^  4.1^^,^:4  equally  amopg  his  chil^reij.  He  ha,<J  a  large  real  es^ 
ta,te.     His  pprsopf^l  eSjta,te  was  apprised  at  £19,17.3. 

GrDp,dma;i;i  Hanabilen  was  not  mucl^  in  public  life.  He  was  an 
l^onest  man,  a,  good  neighbor,  and  a,  sincer?  christian.  He  was  ip- 
^ijistrious,  and  pi;u,(^ent  in  his  ^^abi(;s,  an|d,  brought  up  his  children  to 
walk  in  his  footsteps.  His  descendants  have,  with  ^ew(  exceptions, 
ii^lferited  the  good  qv^li,ties  pf  their  ancestor.  The  Hon.  Hannibal 
Hamlin,  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  is  the  only  one  among 
^h^m  who  hajS  been  eminent  in  public  life.  To  give  a  full  genealogy 
of  the  family  would  require  a  volume.  I  cannot  use  all  the  material 
I  have  collected  without  transcen|d,ipg.  the  liipits  of  a  newspa,per  arti- 
cle. 

Several  of  this  name  came  over  early.  Capt.  Giles  Hamlin,  of 
Middletown,  was  a  shipmaster,  an,d  a  man  of  r^ote  i|n  his  time. 
There  vyas  a  Clei^euit  H,amliQ,pjf  Boston,  in  1776,.  James,  pf  Barp- 
stable,  is  supposed  to  have  bpen  a  b;;pth^r  pf  Giles,  but  I  ha,ve  seen 
no  evidence  that  ren^ders  i,t  pjo^able.  Capt.  Gijes  wrpte  his  name 
^amlfji;  ^ames,  BfmMen.  This  i^  not  conclusive  evidence  ;  bijt 
if  they  were  brothers  the  probability  is  they  would  haye  \fritten 
their  names  in  the  same  manner.  Op;  the  Colony  Records,  except  i,n 
two  instances,  his  name  is  written,  Hamlen,  TJ'h'e  exceptions  are  an 
instrument  to  which  he  affixed  his  own  signature,  and,  an  exemptipn 
in  1657  from  seryiUig-  on  the  grand  jury  in  <?onsequeiice  of  sickness. 
His  sons  wrote  their  nai^e  Hambleti,  ReV;.,  Mr.  Lothrop  wrotp  the 
u^i^e  umform^y,  Hamling  \  Rev.  Mr.  Russell  Ha/mblin.     In    1642 


2. 

I.     . 

3. 

11. 

4. 

III. 

5. 

IV. 

6. 

V. 

7. 

VI. 

8. 

VII. 

524         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

James  Hamlen  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony,  and  in  164S 
was  constable  of  the  town  of  Barnstable.  The  usual  spelling  is 
Hamblin,  but  the  descendants  of  James  are  not  uniform.  Eleazer, 
the  great-grandfather  of  Vice  President  Hamlin,  dropped  the  6  as  a 
useless  letter,  and  his  descendants  have  continued  to  do  so. 
Family  of  James  Hamblen. 

His  son  James   and  daughter   Hannah  were  probably   born    in 
England,  his  other  children  in  Barnstable. 
James. 
Hannah. 
Bartholemew,  11th  April,  1642,  bap.  April  24. 
John,  26th  June,  1644,  bap.  June  30. 
Sarah,  7th  Nov.  1647,  bap.  same  day. 
Eleazer,  17th  March,  1649-50,  bap.  same  day. 
Israel,  25th  June,  1652,  bap.  same  day. 
This  record   shows  that  Goodman  Hamblen  was   very  exact   in 
the   performance  of  what  he   believed  to  be  a  religious   duty,    that 
none  of  his  children  should  die  unbaptized. 

James  Hamblen,  Jr.,  son  of  James,  was  probably  born  in  Lon- 
don. He  came  over  when  a  child,  and  resided  all  his  life  in  Barn- 
stable. At  first  on  his  father's  Coggins'  Pond  lot ;  but  in  1702  he  had 
removed  to  Hamblen's  Plain,  West  Barnstable,  when  his  son  Ebene- 
zer  occupied  the  old  homestead,  which  he  afterwards  sold  to  Col. 
Gorham.  He  was  a  farmer,  an  exemplary  member  of  the  Church, 
and  a  good  citizen.  He  married  20th  Nov.  1662,  Mary  Dunham, 
probably  a  daughter  of  Dea.  John,  of  Plymouth.  She  died  April 
19,  1715,  aged  73,  and  was  the  mother  of  fourteen  children  born  in 
Barnstable,  namely : 
9.  I.  Mary,  24th  July,  1664,  married  Ben.  Hatch  June  17, 
1678. 

10.  II.     Elizabeth,  13th  Feb.  1655-6,  married  John    Scudder  31st 
July,  1689,  died  in  Chatham  Jan.  1742-3,  aged  77. 

11.  III.     Eleazer,  12th  April,  1668. 

12.  IV.     Experience,  12th  April,  1668. 

13.  V.     James,  26th  Aug.  1669. 

14.  VI.     Jonathan,  6th  March,  1670-1. 

15.  VII.     A  child,  28th  March,  1672,  died  7th  April,  1672. 

16.  VIII.     Ebenezer,  29th  July,  1674. 

17.  IX.     Elisha,  15th  March,  1676-7,  died  20th  Dec.  1677. 

18.  X.     Hope,  13th  March,  1679-80,  married  Wm.    Case  May  9, 
1712. 

19.  XI.     Job,  15th  Jan.  1681. 

20.  XII.     John,  12th  Jan.  1683. 

21.  XIII.     Elkanah. 

22.  XIV.     Benjamin,  baptized  March  16,  1684-5. 

4.     Bartholemew   Hamblin,   son   of   James,   resided   on     his 
father's  twenty  acre  lot,  adjoining  Dea.  Cooper's,  and  Mr.    Russell's 


GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         525 

home  lots.  He  was  a  farmer,  a  worthy  and  respectable  man.  His 
and  his  brother  Eleazer's  names  appear  as  soldiers  in  the  company  of 
Capt.  John  Gorham  in  King  Philip's  war.  The  Hamblens  were 
largely  interested  as  original  proprietors  of  the  township  of  Gorham, 
in  the  State  of  Maine. 

He  died  April  24,  1704,  aged  62  years  and  14  days,  leaving  an 
estate  apprised  at  £309,  6sh,  8d,  which  was  divided  by  an  agreement 
dated  May  31,  1704,  his  widow  receiving  one-third,  each  daughter 
£15,  and  the  balance  to  his  sons. 

He  married  20th  Jan.  1673,  Susannah  Dunham,  perhaps  a  sis- 
ter of  Mary,  wife  of  James  Hamblen,  Jr. 

Children  born  in  BarnstcMe. 

23.  I.     Samuel,  25th  Dec.  1674. 

24.  II.  Mercy,  1st  June,  1677.  She  joined  the  church  Aug.  17, 
1707,  and  married  Edward  Milton  Nov.  10,  1709. 

25.  III.     Patience,  15th  April,  1680. 

26.  IV.  Susannah,  16th  March,  1682,  unmarried  July  13,  1718, 
when  she  was  admitted  to  the  church. 

27.  V.  Experience,  13th  Feb.  1684.  She  was  admitted  to  the 
church  May  5,  1728,  married  Isaac  Lewis  13th  Sept.  1732, 
and  died  24th  July,  1749.      [Church  Records.] 

28.  VI.     John,  19th  June  1686,  died  26th  April,  1705. 

29.  VII.     Ebenezer,  23d  March  1689. 

30.  VIII.     Mary,  23d  May,  1691. 

31.  IX.     Bethia,  26th  Nov.  1693. 

32.  X.  Reliance,  30th  Nov.  1696,  unmarried  Nov.  26,  1727, 
when  she  joined  the  church. 

John  Hamblen,  son  of  James,  resided  at  Hamblen's  Plain, 
West  Barnstable.  He  was  a  farmer.  His  wife  Sarah  Bearse  was 
an  early  member  of  the  Church,  he  did  not  join  till  late  in  life.  The 
will  of  his  son  John,  who  died  unmarried  in  1734,  furnishes  many 
particulars  respecting  this  family. 

John  Hamblin,  son  of  James,  married  Aug.  1667,  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Austin  Bearse.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable, 
were : 

33.  I.  Melatiah,  1st  July,  1668.  She  was  living  in  1734,  and  it 
appears  was  then  unmarried. 

34.  II.  Priscilla,  30th  April,  1670.  She  married,  had  deceased 
in  1734,  but  had  two  surviving  children. 

35.  III.  Sarah,  1st  July,  1671.  She  married,  was  living  in 
1734,  when  she  had  three  children. 

36.  IV.  Martha,  16th  Feb.  1672-3,  married  30th  Dec.  1696, 
Samuel  Doane,  was  living  in  1734,  and  then  had  four  chil- 
dren. 

37.  V.  Experience,  16th  April,  1674.  She  married  20th  Feb. 
1695,  Jabez  Lewis.     Her  brother  John  says  she  had   five  chil- 


526    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

dren  living  in  1734,  which  is  probably  accurate,  though  the 
records  name  only  four.  She  removed  to  West  Yarmouth,  and 
the  Lewfs  families  in  that  vicinity  are  her  descendants.  She 
died  July  26,  1766,  aged  92  years  and  three  months. 

38.  VI.  Hannah,  16th  Feb.  1675-6,  married  Sept.  9,  1714.  John 
King  of  Harwich,  and  her  brother  John  says  had  six  children 
in  1734.  She  was  his  fourth  wife  as  I  have  it  noted  on  the 
record,  certainly  his  third.     He  had  a  numerous  family. 

39.  VII.  Esther,  17th  March,  1677,  married  6th  March,  1705, 
her  cousin  Jonathan,  and  had  seven  children  living  in  1734. 
[See  Jonathan.] 

40.  VIII.     Thankful,  Oct.  1679,  died  Oct.  1683. 

41.  IX.  John,  10th  March  1680-1.  He  died  unmarried  in  1734. 
His  will  dated  April  10,  1734,  proved  July  3,  is  one  of  those 
from  which  the  genealogist  reaps  a  goodly  harvest  of  facts. 
He  was  a  wealthy  man,  left  a  large  estate  and  much  due  him 
on  land  and  mortgage.  He  gives  legacies  to  all  his  brothers 
and  sisters,  and  to  his  numerous  nephews  and  neices,  and  did 
not  forget  his  church  and  the  pastor  thereof.  He  resided  in 
the  dwelling  house  which  was  his  father's  at  Hamblen's  Plain, 
owned  equally  by  himself  and  his  brother  Benjamin. 

42.  X.     Ebenezer,  12th  May,  1683.      (See  below.) 

43.  XI.  Abigail,  25th  April,  1685.  She  married  13th  April, 
1711,  her  cousin  Elkanah.  She  died  29th  May,  1733.  (See 
Elkanah  ) 

44.  XII.     Benjamin,  11th  Feb,  1686.      (See  below.) 

John  Hamblin,  Sen.,  died  in  1718,  aged  73  years.  His  wife 
Sarah  died  previously.  In  his  will  dated  Jan.  3,  1714,  proved 
March  8,  1717-18,  he  gives  to  his  son  John  one-half  of  his  tene- 
ment at  Indian  Pond,  one-half  of  his  dwelling  house  and  barn  and 
one-half  of  his  lands,  and  to  his  son  Benjamin  the  other  half,  and  to 
his  son  Ebenezer  his  tenement  at  Cooper's  Pond,  and  the  lands  adja- 
cent. It  appears  that  he  had  a  large  landed  estate,  and  that  he 
owned  three  houses  or  tenements.  That  at  the  Indian  Pond  he  did 
not  occupy  himself.  The  dwelling  house  which  he  occupied  was 
farther  north  on  the  "Plain."  His  personal  estate  was  apprised  at 
£168,0,8.  He  names  his  nine  daughters  and  three  sons.  As  his 
daughter  Thankful  died  in  1683,  it  seems  that  he  had  another  younger 
than  Benjamin  not  named  on  the  record. 

7.  Eleazer  Hamblin,  son  of  James,  was  a  soldier  in  Capt. 
John  Gorham's  company  in  King  Philip's  war,  and  an  original  pro- 
prietor of  the  town  of  Gorham,  in  Maine.  I  have  not  carefully 
examined  his  record,  and  know  but  little  of  his  history.  His 
wife  was  an  early  member  of  the  church,  and  he  joined  in  1686.  I 
think  he  resided  at  Hamblen's  Plain.  The  Eleazer  Hamblins  pat- 
ronized the  lawyers  more  than  all  others  of  the  name  ;  but  I  may  be 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       527 

doing   injustice    in  making  the  remark  in  connection  with   the  elder 
Eleazer. 

He  married  15  Oct.  1675,  Mehitabel,  daughter  of  John  Jenkins, 
and  had  six  children  born  in  Barnstable : 

45.  I.     Isaac,  20th  Aug.,  1676. 

46.  II.     Joseph,  20th  Nov.,   1680. 

47.  III.  Mehitabel,  28th  March,  1682,  married  Nov.  8,  1714, 
John  Sanderson. 

48.  IV.     Shubael,  16th  Sept.,  1695. 

49.  V.     Elisha,  bap.  30ih  July.  1685. 

50.  VI.     Ichabod,  bap.  30th  May,  1687. 

The  two  last  probably  died  young  aud  therefore  their  names  do 
not  appear  on  the  town  record. 

(8.)  Israel  Hamblin,  the  son  of  James,  was  born  the  25th  of 
June,  1652.  It  appears  by  the  church  records  that  he  married 
twice.  His  first  wife  was  Abigail,  who  died  about  the  year  1700, 
and  his  second  wife  was  named  Jemima.  He  resided  in  the  east 
parish.  His  house  stood  by  a  pond  yet  known  as  Israel's  pond  on 
Dimmock's  lane,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  County  road. 
His  nearest  neighbor  was  more  than  half  a  mile  distant.  He  cleared 
away  only  a  small  space  in  the  forest,  now  again  covered  with  trees. 
I  am  not  informed  respecting  his  occupation.  He  lived  in  a  solitary 
spot,  and  farming  could  not  have  been  his  principal  occupation.  He 
is  called  Mr.  on  the  records,  which  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  some 
note. 

Children  of  Israel  Hamblen  by  his  firit  wife  Abigail,  who  was 
perhaps  a  daughter  of  Joshua  Lumbard. 

51.  I.     A  child,  1687,  died  1687. 

52.  II.  Thankful,  24th  Aug.,  1689,  married  May  11,  1710,  her 
cousin  Ebenezer  Hamblin,  son  of  John.  She  joined  the  church 
Oct.  1713,  and  was  living  at  the  death  of  her  husband  in  1736. 
The  history  of  her  family  which  will  be  given  proves  that  it  is 
not  well  for  so  near  relatives  to  marry  each  other. 

53.  III.  Prudence,  24th  Aug.,  1689.  She  married  in  1727, 
Joseph  Gates,  of  Preston. 

54.  IV.  Israel,  15th  March,  1694,  married  29th  May,  1715, 
Dorcas  Godfrey  of  Yarmouth,  and  Jan.  17,  1738-9,  Bathsheba 
Baker.  His  name  appears  on  the  Yarmouth  records,  and  he 
had  by  wife  Dorcas,  Israel,  born  Feb.  13,  1725,  and  by  Bath- 
sheba, Thankful,  Dec.  29,  1739,  and  Israel,  June  4,  1741,  all 
born  in  Yarmouth. 

55.  V.  Joseph.  Respecting  this  Joseph  I  have  no  information. 
He  was  called  second  to  distinguish  him  from  the  other  two  of 
the  same  name. 

56.  VI.     Jemima,  15th  Aug.,  1699. 

By  his  second  wife  Jemima. 


528  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

57.  VII.  Jacob,  28th  May,  1702,  married  Content  Hamblen 
Aug.  18,  1731.  He  and  his  wife  were  dismissed  from  the 
East  Church  to  the  Church  in  Gorhara,  Maine,  Oct.  28,  1750, 
to  which  town  they  had  previously  removed.  He  was  one  of 
Ihe  first  settlers,  and  he  and  his  family  were  in  the  garrison  in 
1746,  and  remained  there  during  the  Indian  war.  I  do  not 
find  a  record  of  his  family.  He  had  sons  Joseph  and  Daniel, 
and  has  descendants. 

58.  VIII.  Ann,  10th  April,  1706.  She  was  admitted  to  the  East 
Church  1728.  She  married  a  Mr.  Tilson  in  1750,  and  re- 
moved to  Middleboro. 

(11.)     Eleazer  Hamblen,*  son  of  James,    2d,    born   April  12, 

1668,  removed  to  Harwich.  His  wife  was  named  Lydia,  of  Yar- 
mouth. I  think  she  was  a  Sears.  Respecting  the  time  of  his  death, 
I  have  no  certain  evidence.  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  he 
died  soon  after  the  birth  of  his  son  Elisha,  and  that  the  Lydia  Ham- 
blen who  married  Sept.  30,  17u6,  Thomas  Snow,  was  his  widow. 
Ih  March,  1726,  as  appears  by  the  school  returns,  there  was  no 
family  of  the  name  of  Hamblen  in  Harwich.  The  Eleazer  Hamblen 
who  married  Sarah  Sears  in  1718  was  probably  another  man,  the 
son  of  Isaac  of  Barnstable. 

Children  of  Eleazer  Hamblen  born  in  Harwich  : 

59.  I.  Elisha,  Jan.  26,  1697-8,  married  Elizabeth  Mayo,  of 
Eastham,  and  had  Elijah,  March  22,  1722-3,  and  perhaps 
others. 

(13.)     James  Hamblen,  son  of  James,  2d,  born    26th    Aug., 

1669,  married  Oct.  8,  1690,  Ruth  Lewis.  He  united  with  the 
West  Church  March  10,  1727-8,  and  his  wife  June  23,  1729. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

60.  I.  Mary,  24th  June,  1691.  Became  a  member  of  the  church 
Dec.  21,  1718,  and  was  baptized  same  day. 

61.  II.  Ruth,  25th  Jan.,  1692-3,  married  Samuel  Crocker,  Nov. 
2,   1723. 

62.  III.     James,    17th    July,    1696,    married ,  had    Silas, 

April  15,  1722;  Caleb,  Feb.  8,  1723-4;  Deborah,  Jan.  19, 
1726-7;  Benjamin,  Jan.  1,  1730;  David,  Jan.  11,  1732; 
Hannah,  Aug.  30,  1735. 

63.  IV.     Benjamin,  Nov.  8,  1702  ;  died  23d  Jan.  1732-3. 

64.  V.     David,  June,  1708  ;  died  4th  Nov.  1732. 

65.  VI.  Hannah,  June  17,  1709.  Nov.  25,  1735,  she  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  West  Church  and   baptized,  being   then   confined 


*Following  in  the  track  of  so  eminent  and  careful  a  ^nealogist  as  the  late  Mr.  David 
Hamblen,  I  did  not  expect  that  the  labor  of  writing  the  Hamblen  genealogy  would  be  an 
arduous  task.  I  have  full  abstracts  from  the  town,  church  and  probate  records,  and  other 
original  papers,  yet  many  questions  arise  which  I  cannot  satisfactorily  resolve.  There  were 
three  Eleazers  who  were  cotemporaries,  and  four  Ebenezers.  To  keep  their  families  dis- 
tinct, requires  more  labor  than  I  have  now  time  to  devote  to  it.  If  I  find  leisure  for  the 
investigation,  I  will  append  a  note  at  the  close  of  this  article  giving  the  result  of  further 
examination.    If  any  of  the  family,  or  others,  can  assist  me,  I  will  thank  them  to  write  me. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         529 

to  her  bed  with    a   consumption.     Her   gravestones   at   West 
Barnstable  give  the  date  of  her  death  Nov.  7,  1735,  a  mistake. 

66.  VII.     Job,  2oth  June  ;  died  28th  Sept.  1732. 

67.  VIII.     Deliverance. 

(14.)  Jonathan  Hamblen,  son  of  James,  Jr.,  born  March  6, 
1670-1,  married  6th  March,  1705,  by  Mr.  Russell,  to  Esther  Ham- 
blen, daughter  of  John.  He  died  22d  June,  1743,  aged  74,  accord- 
ing to  the  record,  and  his  wife  died  Sept.  1,  1746,  aged  69. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

68.  I.  Solomon,  5th  Dec.  1705 ;  married  Oct.  1735,  Rebecca 
Taylor,  of  Yarmouth,  and  had  Hannah  July  31,  1737. 

69.  II.  Content,  12th  Dec.  1707,  married  Aug.  18,  1731,  Jacob 
Hamblen. 

70.  III.  Priscilla,  13th  July,  1709,  married  Capt.  Simeon  Davis 
June  5,  1740,  died  April  1751,  aged  41. 

71.  IV.  Zaccheus,  17th  June,  1711,  married  July  29,  1736, 
Mary  Lumbard.  There  is  no  record  of  his  family  on  the 
town  books. 

72.  V.     Jabez,  probably  born  in  1713,  baptized  July  13,  1718. 

73.  VI.  Jonathan,  baptized  July  13,  1718,  married  Thankful 
Buapas  Dec.  12,  1744,  and  had  Thankful  April  18,  1747  ; 
Jonathan,  March  22,  1749  ;  Tabitha,  Jan.  14,  1751,  and  Con- 
tent, May  6,  1753,  died  Feb.  22,  1776. 

74.  VII.  Sarah,  baptized  13th  July,  1718,  married.  There 
were  two  Sarah  Hamblens  of  about  the  same  age.  One  mar- 
ried David  Smith  April  8,  1736,  and  the  other  Ephraim  Lewis 
Oct.  8,  1736. 

75.  Vin.     Josiah,  Oct.  15,  1720,  died  March  1,  1789. 

(16.)  Dea.  Ebenezer  Hambliruson  of  James,  Jr.,  born  29th 
July,  1674,  was  a  prominent  man.  Tie  married  4th  April,  1698, 
Sarah  Lewis  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  on  the  records  of  whom  she 
was  a  daughter.  George  Lewis,  Jr.,  had  a  daughter  Sarah  born  in 
1659,  but  she  could  not  have  been  the  mother  of  his  children. 
Ebenezer,  son  of  John ,  married  Thankful  Hamblen,  who  survived 
him.  Ebenezer,  son  of  Bartholemew,  married  Thankful  Childs 
1722. 

Dea.  Hamblen  removed  to  Sharon,  Conn.,  where  he  died  in 
1755,  aged  81.     His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were : 

76.  I.  Ebenezer,  18th  March,  1698-9.  An  Ebenezer  Hamblen, 
whose  wife  was  Prudence,  had  John  and  Israel  baptized  Sept. 
3j  1721.  He  afterwards  married  perhaps  Hopestill  Davis  i 
widow  of  Shubael,  and  a  daughter  of  Joshua  Lumbard  born 
in  1686.  Judging  by  the  age,  it  may  have  been  the  father 
who  married  Hopestill.  An  Ebenezer,  perhaps  this  man,  had 
Hopestill  born  in  Rochester  April  28,  1726.     "Mrs.   Hopestill 


76. 

II. 

77. 

III. 

78. 

IV. 

79. 

V. 

80. 

VI. 

90. 

VII. 

530    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BAEN8TABLE  FAMILIES. 

Hamblen   died  Oct.   1756,    aged   above    60." — [Church    Rec- 
ords. 

Mercy,  10th  Sept.  1700. 
Hopestill,  23d  July,  1702. 
Cornelius,  13th  June,  1705. 
Thomas,  6th  May,  1710. 
Isaac,  1st  July,  1714. 
Lewis,  31st  Jan.  1718-19.     Lewis  was  grandfather  to 
Capt.    Nathaniel   Hamblen,  of  Boston,    and    Hon.    Frederick 
Hamblin,    of  Elira,  Ohio.     He    married   Experience  Jenkins 
April   12,  1739,  and  had   Sarah  born  in   Barnstable   Jan.    3, 
1739-40  ;  Nathaniel,  born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  Nov.  29,  1741  ; 
Lewis,  born  in  Lebanon  Dec.  19,  1743  ;  he  then   returned   to 
Barnstable   and  had  Sarah   Dec.  17,  1745  ;    Mary,    Dec.    16, 

1747  ;  Philemon,    April  2,    1751  ;  Mercy,    March  25,    1753  ; 
and  Perez,  Sept.  26,  1755. 

(21.)     Elkanah   Hamblen,  son  of  James,   Jr.,  married   April 
14,    1711,  Abigail,    daughter   of  John    Hamblen,  she  died  29th  of 
May,   1733,  and  he   married  Aug.    11,  1734,    Margaret   Bates,    of 
Plymouth,  also  called  of  Agawam,  and  married  June  9,  1734. 
Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

91.  I.  Sylvanus,  20th  July,  1712,  married  April  24,  1741,  Dor- 
cas Fish,  of  Falmouth,  and  had  Sylvanus  baptized  Oct.  11, 
1741;  Simeon,  June  17,  1744;  Patience,  Oct.  25,  1745; 
Barnabas,  April  26,  1747  ;  Rachel,  June  2,  1751. 

92.  II.  Reuben,  13th  March,  1714,  married  May  29, 1739,  Hope, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Hamblen,  and  had  Elkanah,  June  1, 
1740,  died  19th  April,  1750  ;  Benjamin,  May  7,  1742  ;  Abi- 
gail, Feb.  23,  1743,  married  Lemuel  Howland  of  Sandwich, 
Dec.  11,    1765  ;  Lemuel,  April  4,  1746  ;  Thomas,    Sept.    26, 

1748  ;  and  Hannah,  Ausl  4,  1753. 

93.  Ill,     Abigail,  17th  Oct.  1715. 

94.  IV.  John,  2d  Nov.  1717,  married  Jan.  23,  1740,  Jerusha, 
daughter  of  Shubael  Hamblen,  and  had  John,  June  16, 
1743  ;  Lydia,  Oct.  21,  1746,  and  probably  others. 

95.  V.     Rachell,  7th  Sept.  1720,  died  1722. 

96.  VI.     Patience,  12th  June,  1721. 

97.  VII.     Tabitba,  14th  April,  1723. 

(22.)  Benjamin  Hamblen,  son  of  James,  Jr.,  baptized 
March  16,  1684-5.  Benjamin,  son  of  John,  remained  in  Barn- 
stable. Benjamin,  son  of  James,  Jr.,  removed  to  Eastham,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  whale  fishery.  His  death  is  thus  noticed  in 
the  Boston  News  Letter  of  Aug.  25,  1737  :  "We  hear  that  some- 
time in  the  beginning  of  July,  that  Capt.  Atherton  Hough,  master 
of  a  whaling  vessel,  being  in  the  straights,  kUled  a  large 
whale  and  brought  her  to  the  vessel's  side  as  usual  to  cut  her  up, 
and  as  the  hands  were  hoisting  the  blubber  into  the  hold,  the  run- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        531 

ner  of  the  block  gave  way,  and  fell  with  great  force  on  the  head 
of  a  man  that  stood  underneath,  viz :  Benjamin  Hamblin,  of 
Eastham,  Mass.,  and  instantly  killed  him." 

He  married  Oct.  25,  1716,  Anne,  daughter  of  Samuel  Mayo, 
of  Eastham,  and  had  : 

98.  I.  Cornelius,  1719,  who  married  Jane  Young  June  23, 
1748,  and  had  a  famUy.     He  died  Nov.  8,  1791. 

99.  II.     Benjamin,  married  March  24,  1747-8,  Lydia  Young. 

100.  IV.  Eleazer.  (This  Eleazer  may  have  been  the  ancestor 
of  Vice  President  Hamblen,  but  circumstances  do  not  favor 
the  supposition.) 

101.  V.  Lydia,  married  Aug.  30,  1743,  John  Wilcut,  of  Hing- 
ham. 

Of  the  family  of  Samuel  Hamblen,  son  of  Bartholemew,  I 
find  no  record. 

(29.)  Ebenezer  Hamblen,  son  of  Bartholemew,  born  23d 
March,  1689,  married  Thankful  Childs  2.5th  Oct.  1722,  and  had 
Elizabeth  1st  Oct.  1723.  A  Thankful  Childs  who  was  admitted 
to  the  West  Church  in  1720,  afterwards  was  dismissed  to  Middle- 
boro'.  I  presume  this  Ebenezer  removed  to  that  town  ;  but  as 
there  were  several  Ebenezers  I  cannot  state  positively. 

(41.)  John  Hamblen,  son  of  John,  born  March  10,  1680, 
died  unmarried  in  1734,  leaving  a  large  estate,  which  he  disposed 
of  AprU  10,  1734,  by  one  of  those  wUls  which  rejoice  the  heart 
of  the  genealogist.  He  remembers  his  nine  brothers  and  sisters, 
and  his  numerous  nephews  and  neices.  He  gave  to  the  "West 
Church  £4,  and  to  Rev.  Mr.  Russell  £3.  He  appoints  his  brother 
Ebenezer  and  Dea.  John  Crocker  his  executors.  His  will  has  en- 
abled me  to  trace  the  family  of  the  first  John  Hamblen  with  per- 
fect certainty. 

(42.)  Ebenezer  Hamblen,  son  of  John,  resided  on  the  es- 
tate which  was  his  father's,  at  Great  or  Nine  Mile  Pond,  called  in 
early  times.  Cooper's  Pond.*  He  died  in  1736,  aged  53  years. 
In  his  will  dated  Oct.  25,  1735,  proved  July  7,  1736,  he  names  his 
wife  Thankful,  his  sons  Gershom,  Ebenezer,  Timothy,  Nathan, 
Daniel  and  Samuel,  and  his  daughters  Elizabeth,  Dorcas  and 
Thankful  Bangs.  His  widow  Thankful  died  Jan.  15,  1768,  aged 
78.  She  joined  the  Church  Oct.  1713,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
East  Church  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

Ebenezer  Hamblen  and  his  cousin  Thankful   Hamblen  were 


*Mr.  Fryman  in  his  Annals  of  Barnstable  says,  page  250 :  "On  the  records  it  is  often 
called  Cooper's  Pond.  It  was  known  to  the  early  settlers  as  the  Great  Indian  Pond."  Mr. 
Freeman  has  confounded,  as  he  often  does,  two  things  that  are  entirely  separate  and  dis- 
tinct. The  "Great  Pond,"  or  Nine  Mile  Pond,  situate  between  the  westerly  part  of  the 
East  Parish  and  Chequaquett,  or  Centrerille  was  called  by  the  early  settlers  Cooper's 
Pond,  because  Dea.  John  Cooper  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  on  its  borders.  It  was  never 
known  as  the  Great  Indian  Pond.  The  Indian  Ponds  are  between  Hamblen's  Plain  and 
Marston's  Mills,  and  their  waters  flow  into  Marston's  Mill  stream.  If  Mr.  Freeman  had 
carefully  read  the  records,  he  would  not  have  made  the  blunder. 


532  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

married  by  Rev.  Mr.  Rnssell  May  11,  1710.     Their  children  born 
in  Barnstable  were  : 

102.  I.     Isaac,  Feb.  1711,  died  aged  7  weeks. 

103.  II.  Gershom,  July  19,  1713,  married  Aug.  9,  1739,  by 
Mr.  Green  to  Hannah  "Almony,"  a  name  I  have  not  met 
with  before,  perhaps  Almy.  His  children  born  in  Barnsta- 
ble were  Martha,  May  11,  1740;  Enoch,  Jan  23,  1742-3; 
Gershom,  Sept.  16,  1745  ;  George,  Feb.  3,  1749. 

104.  III.  Thankful,  6th  Aug.  1715,  married  Joseph  Bangs,  of 
Harwich,  Sept.  18,  1735. 

105.  IV.  Nathan,  29th  June,  1717,  deaf  mute.  He  was  living 
at  the  death  of  his  father,  1736. 

106.  V.  Ebenezer,  26th  Nov.  1719.  He  joined  the  East 
Church  when  17  years  of  age.  He  married  Joanna  Ham- 
blen Dec.  3,  1755,*  and  had  Joanna  baptized  April  17, 
1757,  Ebenezer,  Dec.  14,  1760.  He  was  chosen  a  deacon 
of  the  East  Church  July  3,  1766.  His  wife  died  May, 
1790,  in  the  70th  year  of  her  age. 

107.  VI.     A  daughter,  stiU  born,  Sept.  1720. 

108.  VII.  Samuel,  7th  Jan.  1722,  deaf  mute.  A  Samuel  Ham- 
blen, Jr.,  perhaps  deaf  and  dumb  Samuel,  married  Nov. 
16,  1749,  Joanna  Bumpas,  and  had  Rebecca,  Sept.  13, 
1750.  This  Samuel  died  early.  Another  Samuel  married 
Dec.  13,  1750,  Temperance  Lewis.  She  joined  the  East 
Church  April  4,  1756,  and  had  Elijah  baptized  Nov.  28^ 
1756;  Temperance,  April  18,  1762;  and  Seth,  March  10, 
1765.  I  give  my  minutes  without  spending  much  time  to 
investigate.  The  records  are  deficient  in  regard  to  several 
families  of  the  name  of  Hamblin,  and  want  of  time  com- 
pels me  to  leave  it  to  some  future  investigator  to  supply  de- 
flciences. 

109.  VIII.     Dorcas,  5th  June,  1727,  deaf  mute. 

110.  IX.     Timothy,  3d  Sept.  1728. 

111.  X.     Elizabeth,  20th  Nov.  1730. 

112.  XI.  Daniel,  2d  April,  1735,  married  Nov.  3,  1757,  Deliv- 
erance Childs,  and  had  Abigail  July  2,  1761. 

(44.)  Benjamin  Hamblen,  son  of  John,  born  11th  Feb. 
1686-7,  married  May  29,  1709,  Hope  Huckins.  Both  joined  the 
Church  July  19,  1714.  He  resided  at  West  Barnstable  in  a  two 
story  house  with  a  leanto  (or  salt-box,  as  sometimes  called.)  He 
died  in  1718,  and  his  widow  married  in  1719,  Ebenezer  Childs. 
His  estate  was  settled  April  6,  1724,  and  Joseph  Hambleti  was  ap- 
pointed guardian  of  the  children.  His  personal  estate  was  ap- 
prised at  £230,16,9. 


*As  there  was  no  Joanna  Hamblen  born  about  the  year  1720, 1  hazard  the  opinion  that 
her  maiden  name  was  Bumpas,  and  that  she  was  the  widow  of  Samuel  Hamblen,  Jr. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.         533 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

113.  I.  Rebecca,  17th  May,  1711,  married  Thomaa  Crocker 
Oct.  20,  1730,  and  died  May  9,  1756. 

114.  II.     Hannah,  baptized  July,  1714. 

115.  III.  Benjamin,  baptized  18th  Nov.  1716,  married  1740, 
Mehitabel  Black,  of  Sandwich,  and  2d,  Mehitabel  Child8 
June  1766,  and  had  Mary,  July  16,  1741 ;  Benjamin,  Feb. 
25,1742-3;  Nathaniel,  Feb.  21,  1744;  Jane,  March  23, 
1746  ;  Ichabod,  June  28,  1749.  By  his  second  wife,  Mary 
ApriI12,  1767;  Lewis,  Dec.  24,  1768;  Benjamin,  Sept. 
30,  1770. 

116.  IV.  Hope,  baptized  31st  Aug.  1718,  married  May  28, 
1739,  Reuben  Hamblen. 

(45.)  Isaac  Hamblen,  son  of  Eleazer,  born  20th  Aug. 
1676,  married  Sept.  14,  1698,  Elizabeth  Howland.  He  died  in 
1710,  and  his  widow  married  Nov.  9,  1711,  Timothy  Cannon. 
His  brother  Joseph  Hamblin  administered  on  his  estate,  and  the 
final  settlement  and  distribution  was  made  Feb.  20,  1737-8. 
Eleazer,  of  Harwich,  late  of  Barnstable,  yeoman,  Joseph,  of 
Yarmouth,  blacksmith,  and  Elizabeth  of  Barnstable,  acknowl- 
edged the  receipt  of  £52,0,6,  of  their  uncle  Joseph  in  full  for 
their  father's  estate. 

Children  of  Isaac  Hamblen  born  in  Barnstable  : 

117.  I.  Eleazer,  22d  Aug.  1699.  An  Eleazer  Hamblen  mar- 
ried 25th  Feb.  1721-2,  Jane  Phinney.  This  could  not 
have  been  Eleazer,  son  of  Isaac.  The  latter  married  Sarah 
Sears,  of  Harwich,  to  which  town  he  removed,  and  at  first 
is  called  a  yeoman,  afterwards  a  trader.  He  had  Barnabas 
March  SO',  "1719  ;  Sarah,  March  16,  1720-1 ;  Eleazer,  May 
24,  1723.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  Alice  Phinney, 
of  Barnstable,  Dec.  10,  1724,  by  whom  he  had  other  chil- 
dren in  Harwich  of  which  I  find  no  record.  His  name  dis- 
appears in  Harwich  about  1740,  and  a  family  probably  the 
same  appears  in  Bridgewater.  I  have  carefully  investiga- 
ted this  matter,  the  proof  is  not  conclusive,  but  there  is 
little  reason  to  doubt  that  the  Eleazer  born  in  Harwich  May 
24,  1723,  was  the  Eleazer  who  resided  successively  in 
Bridgewater,  Harvard,  Western,  and  finally  removed  to 
Maine,  and  is  the  ancestor  of  the  family  of  the  name  in 
that  State,  of  whom  Vice-President  Hamlin  is  one.  This 
Eleazer  was  a  prominent  man  in  his  day,  an  oflScer  in  the 
Revolutionary  army,  and  otherwise  distinguished.  He  mar- 
ried first  Lydia  Bonney,  and  had  a  very  large  family.  To 
four  of  his  sons  he  gave  the  names  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa 
and  America.     I  have  several  sheets  of  closely    written 


NOTE. — ^Mr.  Otis  at  a  later  date,  ascertained  that  "Irael'a  Pond"  was  named  for  Israel 
"Hamblin,  Jr.,  and  not  for  his  father.  S. 


534        GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BAfiNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

matter  in  reference  to  this  Eleazer  and  his  descendants ; 
but  I  have  not  time  to  transcribe  them. 

I  have  several  specimens  of  the  handwriting  of  Eleazer, 
son  of  Isaac,  written  at  different  periods  of  his  life.  This 
is  not  conclusive  evidence,  but  it  enables  me  to  trace  the 
wanderings  of  the  man  and  his  avocations.  It  is  known  by 
tradition  that  the  ancestor  of  the  Maine  Hamblens  was  a 
near  relative  of  Isaac,  of  Yarmouth,  that  he  spoke  fre- 
quently of  the  children  of  Isaac,  calling  them  his  relatives. 
There  is  another  circumstance  not  of  much  weight,  but  in 
the  connection  is  deserving  of  notice.  There  is  a  most 
striking  family  resemblance  between  the  Hamblen's  of 
Maine  and  the  Yarmouth  family.  One  who  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  latter,  though  he  had  never  seen  the  Vice- 
President,  would,  if  he  should  casually  meet  with  him,  be 
strongly  inclined  to  address  him  as  Mr.  Hamblen. 

117.  II.     Isaac,  baptized  20th  July,  1701,  died  young. 

118.  III.  Joseph,  4th  June,  1702.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  and 
resided  about  a  mile  east  of  the  Congregational  Meeting 
House  in  Yarmouth.  He  married  Elizabeth  Matthews 
March  3,  1726-7.  He  died  19th  Jan.  1777,  aged  75  years. 
His  children  born  in  Yarmouth  were :  Hannah,  March  3, 
1728-9;  Phebe,  April  11,1731,  married  Moses  Hallett ; 
Sarah  June  11,  1733,  married  Thomas  Hallett;  Isaac, 
March  14,  1735;  Elizabeth,  Feb.  4,  1737-8;  Rebecca, 
April  4,  1740  ;  Joseph,  June  15,  1742. 

119.  IV.  Elizabeth,  Oct.  1705,  married  Deacon  Barnabas  Chip- 
man  of  Barnstable,  Feb.  20,  1727-8,  and  died  in  1753,  aged 
48, 

(46.)  Joseph  Hamblen,  son  of  Eleazer,  born  Nov.  20, 
1680,  resided  in  Barnstable.  He  was  £j  prominent  man,  of  good 
business  capacity,  and  lived  to  great  age,  dying  Aug.  27,  1766, 
aged  86  years.  He  was  married  by  Mr.  Russell  27th  May,  1704, 
to  Mercy  Howland.     His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were : 

120.  I.  Alice,  4th  Feb.  1705,  married  John  Howland,  Jr., 
1728. 

121.  II.  Seth,  March,  1708,  married  Sarah  Blush  Oct.  9,  1735, 
and  had  Mercy  Nov.  15,  1737;  Sarah,  Aug.  15,  1737; 
Abigail,  Aug.  14,  1741,  married  John  Smith  Jan.  18,1764; 
Seth,  Aug.  20,  1744;  Alice,  Aug.  12,  1747. 

'122.  III.  Sarah,  4th  April  1711,  married  Ephraim  Lewis  Oct.  7, 
1736. 

123.  IV.  Joseph,  March  10,  1715,  married  Dec.  8,  1738,  Han- 
nah Lovell,  and  had  Micah  11th  Nov.  1741.  Major  Micah 
Hamblen,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  died  Aug.  8,  1797. 
He  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Samuel  Parker  and  had  Han- 
nah, Joseph,  Micah,  Temperance,  Geo.  W.,  Thomas,  Abigail. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       535 

124.  V.  Southworth,  2l8t  May,  1721,  married  Dec.  13,  1744, 
Martha  Rowland,  aad  May  12,  1757,  Tabitha  Atkins,  and 
had  Bethia  July  3,  1758  ;  Eleazer,  March  26,  1760  ;  South- 
worth,  April  12,  1762. 

His  wife  Mercy  died  soon  after  the  birth  of  Southworth, 

and  he  married  Sept.  5,  1751,  Widow  Hopestill  Davis,   a 

daughter  of  Joshua  Lumbard,  born  in  1686.     She  died  Oct. 

1756,  aged,  says  the  church  records,  above  60.     She  was  70 

years  of  age   at  her  death.     As  there  was  no  other  Joseph 

whose  age  corresponded  with  HopestiU's,  1  feel  confident  of 

the  correctness  of  this  statement. 

(48.)     Shubael  Hamblen,  son  of  Eleazer,  born  16th  Sept. 

1695,    resided   at  West  Barnstable.     He   married  25th   March, 

1719,  Eleanor  Winslow,  of  Harwich.     She  was  a  member  of  the 

church  in  Harwich,  and  was  dismissed  to  the  Barnstable  church 

Aug.  16,  1719. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

125.  I.  Jerusha,  4th  May,  1722,  married  24th  Jan.  1740,  John 
Hamblen,  and  had  John  June  16,  1743  ;  Lydia,  Oct.  21, 
1745,  and  probably  others.  Jerusha  Hamblen,  who  mar- 
ried Oct.  9,  1760,  Benj.  Hamblen,  Jr.,  is  probably  of  this 
family. 

126.  II.  Shubael,  ■  20th  Sept.  1724,  married  Martha  Lumbard 
March  7,  1751 ;  2d,  Sarah  Crocker,  July  16,  1771,  and  3d, 

Ruth ,  and  had  ten  children,  namely  :     Joshua  born 

July  2,  1752,  O.  S. ;  Susannah,  April  15,  1754,  N.  S. ; 
Timothy,  Feb.  2,  1756 ;  Sarah,  Feb.  1754,  married  B. 
Downs,  Jr. ;  by  his  2d  wife,  Martha  May  31,  1762  ;  Su- 
sannah, Feb.  15,  1765;  Shubael,  July  18,  1766,  married 
Rachel  Downes ;  by  his  3d  wife,  Ruth,  Nov.  21,  1768; 
Mercy,  April  16,  1771,  and  Hope,  Nov.  11,  1733.  By  his 
first  marriage  he  came  into  possession  of  the  dwelling-house 
and  farm  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Lombard,  on  the  east  side  of 
Dimmock's  Lane.  He  filled  up  Capt.  Lombard's  well,  and 
removed  his  house,  a  high  single  one  with  a  leanto,  to  a 
very  high  hill  on  his  farm,  that  he  might  have  "a  clear  air 
and  a  good  prospect,"  and  all  his  life  he  and  his  children 
after  him,  lugged  their  water  about  half  a  mile  up  hill  from 
Lumbard's  Pond. 

127.  III.     Eleanor,  ISthOct.  1726,  baptized  Oct.  23,  died  young. 

128.  IV.     Joshua,  21st  Aug.  1728. 

129.  V.  Mehitabel,  4th  Dec.  1730,  published  to  Benjamin 
Childs  1752. 

130.  VI.  Eleanor,  15th  April,  1733,  baptized  April  15,  1733, 
joined  the  church  Sept.  30,  1761,  married  Moses  Hallett,  of 
Yarmouth,  1771. 

131.  VII.     Lydia,  15th  Nov.  1735. 


536         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

The  genealogy  of  the  Hamblens  I  wrote  very  rapidly  often 
sending  the  manuscript  to  the  printer  without  looking  it  over  and  re- 
vising it,  consequently  I  have  made  mistakes  which  will  mislead  the 
reader.  Since  it  was  printed  I  have  revised  the  article,  and  request 
those  who  keep  files  of  these  papers  to  note  the  following  errors : 

55.  V.  Joseph  Hamblin.  I  say  "respecting  this  Joseph  I  have  no 
information."  I  had,  but  I  wrote  under  the  Impression  that  the  Joseph 
who  married  Sept.  1718,  Abigail  Davis,  was  Joseph,  son  of  Eleazer. 

Abigail  Davis'  history  1  omitted  to  give  in  my  account  of  her  fam- 
ily. She  was  a  daughter  of  Jabez  Davis,  born  26th  April,  1698.  After 
the  death  of  her  father  in  1711,  she  removed  to  Preston,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church  in  that  town,  and  dismissed  to  the  Barnstable  church 
July  9,  1721  and  on  the  division  of  the  church  she  joined  the  East.  In 
the  church  records  the  following  curious  passage  occurs : 

"July  28, 1725.  The  Brethren  voted  that  Abigail  Hamblen,  wife  to 
Joseph  Hamblen,  shall  desire  the  Pastor,  before  the  congregation,  to 
inform  of  her  sorrow  and  repentance  for  her  inconsistency  in  her  pro- 
fession in  going  to  the  assemblies  of  the  Quakers  on  the  Lord's  Day,  of 
choice  and  disputing  much  for  them  upon  her  return  from  Nantucket, 
before  she  be  admitted  unto  the  privileges  of  the  church."  It  does  not 
appear  by  the  record  that  she  complied  with  the  requirement  of  the 
Brethren.  The  children  of  Joseph  and  Abigail  Hamblin  do  not  appear 
on  the  town  record.  On  the  church  records  three  of  their  children  are 
named:  Lois,  baptized  May  26,  1722;  Esther,  April  23,  1727;  Susannah, 
May  12,  1728.    Joseph  Hamblen  died  soon  after  the  latter  date,  and  his 

widow  married Barlow.    Her  death  is  thus  entered :  "April  25, 

1740,  Abigail  Barlow  (formerly  Hamblen)  departed  this  life  very  aged." 
As  she  was  only  42,  I  do  not  perceive  the  propriety  of  calling  her  "very 
aged." 

No.  158,  (11.)  The  first  paragraph  I  wrote  from  recollection  of  the 
facts.  On  recurring  to  the  Probate  Records  T  find  that  Eleazer  Ham- 
blin, son  of  James,  2d,  died  in  1698,  and  that  his  widow  administered 
and  afterwards  married  Thos.  Snow  as  stated. 

76.  I.  I  say  perhaps  Ebenezer  Hamblen  married  Hopestill  Davis. 
She  married  as  afterwards  stated,  Joseph  Hamblen. 


[end  of  volume  I.J 


GENEALOGICAL     NOTES 


—  OF  — 


B^^OTBIiE      F^pmiEg, 


BEING   A   REPRINT   OF   THE 


AMOS    OTIS    PAPERS, 


ORIGINALLY   PUBLISHED    IN 


THE    BARNSTABLE    PATRIOT. 


Revised    and    Completed    by 
C.    F.    SWIFT, 
Largely  from  Notes  Made  by  the  Author. 


VOLUME    II. 


BARNSTABLE,  MASS. : 

F.  B.  &  F.  P.  GOSS,  PUBLISHERS  AND  PRINTERS. 

[The  "Patriot"  Press.] 

1890. 


'\' 


INDEX  TO  FAMILIES. 


Vol.   IL 

HEESEY,               ....         Page    5 

HULL, 

19 

HINCKLEY, 

30 

HOWLAND, 

49 

HOWES, 

54 

HUCKINS, 

58 

HAMMOND, 

67 

HILLIAED, 

69 

HICKS, 

72 

ISUM, 

73 

INDIANS,  THE,   . 

75 

JENKINS, 

90 

JONES, 

106 

JACKSON, 

113 

LEWES, 

115 

LINNEL, 

148 

LOTHROP, 

162 

LOTHROP,  (Continued] 

215 

LITCHFIELD, 

217 

LOMBARD, 

217 

MARSTON, 

219 

MAYO, 

220 

OTIS, 

222 

OTIS,  AMOS, 

238 

PHINNEY, 

225 

ROBINSON, 

228 

SCUDDER, 

233 

SMITH, 

236 

HERSEY- 


This  is  a  Hingham  name.  William,  the  common  ancestor, 
wrote  Ilia  name  Hersie.  He  was  of  Hingham  in  1636,  a  freeman 
of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  March,  1638,  of  the  Artillery  Com- 
pany in  1652,  and  died  24th  Maich,  1668,  leaving  wife  Elizabeth. 
In  his  will  dated  March  9,  1668,  he  names  his  sons  William, 
John  and  James,  and  daughters  PVances,  Elizabeth  and  Judith. 
Frances  married  Riciiard  Croad  29th  May,  1666.  Judith  married 
Dec.  1663,  Humphrey  Wilson.  Mr.  SSavage  remaiks  "'that  it  has 
been  from  early  days  a  very  prevalent  name  in  Hingham,  and  it 
may  well  be  a  cause  of  regret  that  we  have  no  fuller  genealogical 
account  of  the  family." 

Three  of  this  name  settled  in  Barnstable.  Dr.  James  Her- 
sey,  Dr.  Abner  Hersey,  and  Rev.  Henry  Hersey,  the  latter  now 
living,  and  kindly  remembered  by  all  his  old  parishioners  foi  his 
urbane  feelings  and  gentlemanly  bearing. 

Dr.  James  Hersey,  son  of  James  and  Mary  Hersey,  was  born 
in  Hingham  Dec.  21,  1716.  He  settled  as  a  physician  in  Barnsta- 
ble, puichased  a  part  of  the  Dimmoek  estate,  which  included  the 
ancient  stone  house  built  by  Elder  Thos.  Dimmoek.  A  tradition 
exists  that  he  resided  in  a  house  that  stood  east  of  the  stone 
house ;  but  it  is  more  probable  that  he  resided  in  the  stone  house. 
He  owned  it,  and  it  was  at  that  time  in  good  repair.  The  three 
sons  of  James  and  Mary  Hersey,  of  Hingham,  were  all  physi- 
cians. Ezekiel,  the  elder,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1728, 
settled  in  Hingham,  and  died  Dec.  9,  1770,  aged  sixty-two  years, 
leaving  no  children.  Dr.  James  Thacher  speak  of  him  as  a 
man  eminent  in  his  profession. 

James,  the  second  son,  did  not  receive  a  public  education ;  he 
was,  however,  well  educated,  and  Dr.  Thacher  speaks  of  him  as  a 
skilful  physician,  who  had  at  the  time  of  his  death,  July  22,  1741, 
acquired  an  extensive  practice  in  the  County.  Tradition  gives 
him  a  good  name.  He  married  July  27,  1737,  Lydia,  daughter  of 
Col.  Shubael  Gorham.  She  died  Nov.  9,  1740,  leaving  one  son, 
James,  born  Nov.  9,  1738. 

For  his  second  wife  Dr.  James  Hersey  married  April  9,  1741, 


6  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Mehitable,  daugliter  of  John  Davis,  Esq. ,  of  Barnstable,  by  whom 

she  had  born  in  Barnstable, 

I.      Ezekifcl,  Jan.    14,    1741-2,  five  months  and  twenty-two  days 

after  tlie  death  of  the  father. 

The  widow  Mehitable  Hersey's  history  has  already  been 
given,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  only  an  abstract  tl)eieof  in 
this  connection.  !Slie  married  1st,  James  Hersey,  by  whom  she 
had  P^zekiel.  2d.  Capt.  John  Russell,  by  whom  she  had  Lothrop. 
3d,  John  Sturgis,  P^sq.,  by  whom  she  had  John  and  Sarah,  and 
4th,  Hon.  Daniel  Davis,  by  whom  she  had  Daniel. 

Sept.  9.  1741,  Ezekiel  Hersey,  of  Hmgham,  physician,  and 
Mehitable  Her.-ey,  of  Barnstable,  were  appointed  by  Hon.  Sylva- 
nus  Bourne,  Judge  of  Probate,  Administrators  of  the  estate  of 
James  Hersey,  late  of  Barnstable,  in  the  County  of  Barnstable, 
Physician. 

Sept.  -2,  1741,  "Ezekiel  Hersey,  Hingham,  in  the  County  of 
Suffolk,  was  appointed  by  Josiah  Willard,  Judge  of  Probate,  to 
be  Guardian  'unto  ye  nephew  James  Hersey,  a  minor,  aged  about 
three  years' — to  take  into  your  custody  such  part  and  portion  of 
estate  as  accrues  to  him  in  right  of  his  father  James  Hersey,  late 
of  Barnstable,  in  the  County  of  Barnstable,  deceased." 

James  Hersey,  2d,  was  a  physician  and  probably  studied 
medicine  with  his  uncle  Ezekiel  at  Hingham,  and  removed  to  Kit- 
tery,  Maine,  where  he  died  in  17.58  aged  twenty  years.  Oct.  13, 
17.58,  Solomon  Davis,  of  Boston,  merchant,  was  appointed  admin- 
istrator of  his  estate. 

Feb.  1763,  Ezekiel  Hersey,  the  brother  of  James,  2d,  was  of 
legal  age,  and  his  uncle  Solomon  Davis  resigned  his  trust,  and  he 
was  appointed  administrator  on  the  estate  of  his  brother  James. 
On  other  deeds  and  papers  recorded  in  the  County  of  Suffolk, 
James  of  Kittery,  is  called  a  physician. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  quoting  from  the  records,  be- 
cause a  question  has  arisen  involving  the  identity  of  James,  the 
father,  and  James,  the  son.  I  think  it  perfectly  certain  that  both 
were  physicians.  James,  the  younger,  was  only  twenty  when  he 
died,  unmarried.  His  heirs  were,  his  brother  Ezekiel,  who  was 
about  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  his  mother,  who  was  then  the 
wife  of  John  Sturgis,  Esq.  Neither  were  legally  eligible,  and 
therefore  his  uncle  Solomon  Davis,  Esq.,  was  appointed  adminis- 
trator, till  Ezekiel.  the  brother,  was  of  legal  age,  and  then  he  re- 
signed and  Ezekiel  was  appointed. 

That  a  young  man,  who  had  not  completed  his  twentieth 
year,  should  have  been  a  practicing  physician  at  Kittery  seems 
improbable,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  accuracy.  His  uncle 
Abner  had  an  extensive  practice  in  Barnstable  when  only  19. 

Ezekiel  Hersej',  son  of  James,  born  Jan.  14,  1741-2,  was  a 
clerk  in  the  store  of  his  uncle  Solomon  Davis,  merchant,  of  Bos- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  7 

ton.      He  died  eai'ly,  tradition  8a3's,  at  22,  leaviDg  no  issue. 

Dr.  Abuer  Hersey,  sou  of  James  and  Mary  Hersey,  born  in 
Hingliam  in  1721,  was  employed  till  18  in  husbandry  with  his 
father.  He  had  few  opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education, 
and  is  represented  as  a  rude  and  illiterate  young  man.  He  came 
to -Barnstable  in  1740  to  study  medicine  with  his  brother  James. 
The  late  Dr.  James  Thacher,  of  Plymouth,  says  that  Dr.  Abner 
studied  medicine  with  his  brother  James  of  Barnstable,  a  physi- 
cian of  reputation  aud  extensive  practice,  enjoying  entire  confi- 
dence and  popular  favor  wherever  known.  He  studied  one  year, 
and  at  nineteen  succeeded  to  his  brother's  practice.  He  was 
young  and  suffering  under  the  disadvantages  of  a  penurious  edu- 
cation, when  he  began  his  career,  and  afterwards  pursued  it  with 
a  zeal  and  fidelity  in  the  highest  degree  honorable  to  his  charac- 
ter. For  many  years  he  commanded  without  a  rival  the  whole 
practice  of  Cape  Cod,  then  containing  seven  or  eight  thousand  in- 
habitants. Sound  judgment  and  correct  observation  supplied  de- 
fects of  education.  As  a  physician  he  was  indefatigable,  faith- 
ful, punctual  and  successful.  As  a  surgeon,  judicious,  and  siiil- 
f ul ;  but  he  performed  no  capital  operations.  He  was  honest. 
No  one  suffered  injustice  by  him.  He  was  a  strict  observer  of  the 
Sabbath,  never  absenting  himself  from  public  services.  He  was 
moderate  in  his  charges,  and  punctual  in  making  his  annual  de- 
mands. 

Dr.  Hersey  was  subject  to  hypochrondiac  affections,  and  in 
his  domestic  character  he  was  eccentric  in  the  extreme — a  mere 
compound  of  caprice  and  whim.  Domestic  happiness  and  social 
intercourse  were  strangers  to  his  family. 

He  never  had  the  small  pox,  and  that  disease  was  a  great  ter- 
ror to  him.  He  once  visited  a  patient  who  had  the  symptoms  of 
the  disease — he  was  soreij'  frightened  and  shut  himself  for  a  week 
in  his  house,  firmly  believing  that  his  last  day  was  near  at  hand. 

He  was  abstemious,  eating  no  animal  food,  and  di  inking  no 
ardent  spirits  or  wine.  His  diet  consisted  chiefly  of  milk  and 
vegetables.  His  garments  were  cut  after  a  fashion  of  his  own, 
large,  loose  and  lined  with  baize.  His  bed  was  the  same  summer 
and  winter.  It  is  said  that  the  Chinese  estimate  the  degrees  of 
cold  by  ja-ckets.  Dr.  Hersey  adopted  a  similar  rule.  He  had  on 
his  bed  a  dozen  all-wool,  fulled  blankets.  In  the  summer  he 
turned  down  one  or  two.  When  the  weather  became  cool  in  au- 
tumn, he  turned  down  three  or  four,  and  during  the  coldest 
weather  in  winter  he  buried  himself  under  the  whole.  With  him 
the  weather  was  from  one  to  ten  blankets   cold. 

Such  is  the  character  given  to  him  by  one  who  was  his  pupil 
five  years.  Its  truthfulness  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt.  I  have 
conversed  with  many  who  knew  him  intimately,  and  they  all  con- 
firm the  statement  that  he  was  "a  mere  compound  of  caprice  and 


8     GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

whim."  The  pathology  of  disease  no  one  UDderstood  better  than 
he,  and  that  was  the  secret  of  his  success.  The  great  art  of  the 
physician  is  to  judge  rightly,  to  read  the  character  of  the  disease 
in  its  symptoms.  He  that  can  do  this  is  a  good  physician,  foi'  a 
very  simple  man  can  prescribe  safely  if  he  know  certainly  the 
character  of  the  disease. 

He  prepared  his  own  medicines,  employing  Mr.  Edward 
Childs  to  do  the  labor.  For  days  and  weeks  together  Mr.  Childs 
used  the  pestle  and  the  mortar  under  his  direction. 

In  politics  he  was  doubtful — he  took  sides  with  neither  the 
whigs  nor  the  tories.  He  avoided  conversation  on  political  sub- 
jects, and  no  one  could  say  with  certainty  to  which  party  he  be- 
longed. He  suffered  much  pecuniarily  by  the  depreciation  of  con- 
tinental money.  One  spring  during  the  Revolution  he  sold  a  cow 
for  $30,  and  in  the  fall  paid  the  whole  sum  for  a  goose. 

Some  years  since  1  collected  many  curious  anecdotes  illustra- 
tive of  his  character,  but  I  have  mislaid  the  paper  and  cannot  now 
recall  them  to  memory.  Dr.  Thacher  relates  several :  On  a  hot 
day  after  chasing  a  flock  of  sheep,  he  sweat  most  profusely,  and 
pulling  off  his  wig  he  said :  "This  is  not  strange,  for  1  have  more 
wool  on  my  back  than  the  whole  flock  of  sheep." 

Mrs.  Davis,  widow  of  his  brother,  and  another  lady,  proposed 
making  him  a  visit;  greatly  agitated  at  the  proposition,  he  re- 
plied :  "Madame,  I  cannot  have  you  here,  1  an  sick,  and  my 
wife  is  sick — I  have  no  hay  or  corn  for  your  horses ;  and  I  have 
no  servants  in  my  family,  and  I  had  rather  be  chained  to  a  galley 
oar  than  to  wait  on  you  myself." 

Whenever  anything  vexed  him  the  latter  part  of  the  above 
quotation  varied  to  suit  the  circumstances,  was  a  common  saying 
with  him.  He  usually  repeated  it  in  this  form  :  '•!  hud  rather  be 
chained  to  a  galley  oar  than  to  suffer  such  vexation." 

He  had  a  great  coat  made  from  seven  calf  skins,  tanned  and 
prepared  for  the  purpose  by  Mr.  Joseph  Davis,  which  he  wore  in 
stormy  weather.  Huge  cowhide  boots,  home  made  breeches,  coat 
and  waistcoat,  lined  with  baize,  a  shirt  of  the  same  cloth,  and  a 
red  buff  cap.  was  his  usual  dress.  If  such  an  apparition  should 
now  appear,  he  would  be  called  insane.  Clothed  in  this  strange 
and  uncouth  dress,  no  physician  in  Massachusetts  ever  had  a  more 
extensive  practice,  and  no  one  ever  secured  so  completely  as  he 
did  the  confidence  of  his  patients.  That  he  should  have  secured 
the  practice  of  the  whole  County,  as  stated  by  Dr.  Thacher,  and 
as  his  will  confirms,  seems  almost  incredible,  yet  there  is  no  doubt 
of  the  fact.  At  that  time  obstetrics  was  not  included  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  regular  physician.  A  class  of  persons,  known  as  mid- 
wives,  absorbed  all  that  practice,  many  of  whom  were  eminent  in 
their  day. 

Dr.  Hersey  could  not  have  secured  the  practice  of  a  region  of 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  9 

country  extending  seventy  miles  in  length  without  being  orderly  in 
all  his  arrangements.  Eccentric  as  he  was,  he  was  the  most  punc- 
tual and  orderly  of  men.  He  established  '■'•his  rounds"  and  on  a 
certain  day  he  visited  each  town.  That  day  was  known,  and  if  the 
roads  were  not  blocked  up  with  snow  he  was  certain  to  be  at  an  ap- 
pointed place  at  a  particular  hour.  He  travelled  his  "rounds" 
whether  he  had  or  had  not  a  patient  to  visit.  The  people  on  his 
route  who  needed  his  services  kept  a  watch  for  him  on  the  roads  he 
uniformly  passed.  Everybody  knew  him,  and  if  they  did  not,  he 
could  be  easily  described  so  that  the  most  simple  could  not  mistake 
him. 

Most  of  his  days  he  spent  on  horseback  or  in  his  carriage, 
which  was  as  oddly  constructed  as  his  dress.  He  used  it  only  in  the 
winter,  or  during  violent  storms.  It  was  built  somewhat  like  a 
common  sulky,  closed  up  on  every  side,  with  two  small  openings  in 
front,  one  for  the  reins  and  the  other  for  him  to  see  to  guide  his 
horse. 

The  money  which  he  acquired  in  his  practice  he  invested  prin- 
cipally in  real  estate.  At  one  time  a  tract  of  woodland  was  to  be 
sold  at  auction  on  the  day  that  he  would  be  at  Cape  Cod.  He  called 
on  a  neighbor  and  asked  him  to  bid  it  off  for  him.  The  neighbor 
inquired  how  long  he  should  bid.  "Till  I  come  back,"  was  the 
Doctor's  laconic  reply. 

He  was  very  exact  in  his  accounts,  keeping  debtor  and 
creditor  with  all  with  whom  he  dealt,  and  making  annual  settle- 
ments. Mr.  Jonathan  Davis,  on  receiving  his  annual  bill,  found 
thereon  the  following  credit :  "For  chasing  a  calf  and  not  catching 
it,  4  d." 

He  employed  many  workmen  on  his  farms.  Every  man  must 
do  what  he  was  told  to  do,  and  nothing  else.  Mr.  Oris  Bacon  set- 
tled a  spring  curb  for  him  and  the  Doctor  examined  the  work  at 
noon  and  was  pleased  with  it.  After  dinner  the  Doctor  ordered 
him  to  take  an  armed  chair  and  sit  in  a  cool  place  by  the  door.  Mr. 
Bacon  did  so.  At  four  o'clock  the  Doctor  ordered  him  a  mug  of 
flip,  and  at  sunset  Mr.  Bacon  went  home,  having  done  nothing  dur- 
ing the  afternoon.  At  the  annual  settlement  Mr.  Bacon  found  that 
the  Doctor  had  credited  him  for  a  full  day's  work. 

Mr.  Edward  Childs,  as  has  been  already  stated,  worked  for 
him  for  several  successive  years.  One  day  the  Doctor  said  to  him, 
"I  have  given  you  £100  in  my  will,  what  do  you  intend  to  do  with 
it?"  "Dress  up  and  marry  off  my  girls,"  was  the  reply.  The 
Doctor  was  irritated  and  said,  "I  will  change  my  will,  none  of  my 
money  shall  be  spent  in  buying  finery  for  girls." 

The  Doctor  had  a  favorite  mare.  She  was  as  stubborn  as  she 
was  sleek,  and  at  times  neither  coaxing  or  the  whip  would  urge  her 
forward.  Edward,  after  exhausting  his  patience  in  trying  to  urge 
her  along,  struck   her  a  violent  blow  over  the  head,  killing  her  in- 


10    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

stantly.  He  dare  not  see  the  Doctor  that  day,  but  on  the  following 
went  to  his  work  as  usual.  He  expected  the  Doctor  would  be  vexed 
with  him,  but  on  meeting  the  Doctor  was  unusually  pleasant,  and 
never  thereafter  named  the  matter  to  him. 

These  anecdotes  show  that  the  Doctor  was  a  perfectly  honest 
man,  that  as  eccentric  as  he  was,  he  would  never  willingly  wound 
the  feelings  of  a  man. 

Dr.  Abuer  Hersey  married  Oct.  3,  1743,  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Mr.  James  Allen,  of  Barnstable.  She  belonged  to  one  of  the  most 
fashionable  families  in  town,  and  was  well  educated  for  the  times. 
It  was  an  ill-assorted  match,  and  as  Dr.  Thacher  informs  us,  was 
productive  of  tlo  domestic  felicity.  They  had  one  child.  Mary, 
born  Jan.  19,  1749,  who  died  young. 

Dr.  Abner  Hersey  died  Jan.  9,  1787,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age. 
His  widow  died  in  May,  1794,  in  the  71st  year  of  her  age,  accord- 
ing to  the  church  records ;  but  according  to  the  town,  in  her  73d 
year. 

In  his  will  he  divided  his  estate  among  the  several  churches  in 
the  County  in  the  proportion  which  each  town  had  employed  him  as 
a  physician. 

Annually  the  Deacons  of  the  several  churches  assembled  to  set- 
tle the  accounts  and  receive  their  several  proportions  of  the  income. 
So  long  as  the  woodland  lasted  the  Deacons'  fund  was  looked 
forward  to  as  anxiously  as  their  annual  meetings  ;  when  the  wood 
was  gone,  the  income  of  the  lands  barely  paid  expenses ; 
they  therefore  petitioned  the  Legislature  to  allow  them  to 
make  a  compromise  with  the  heirs  at  law,  and  sell  and 
divide  the  proceeds  in  the  proportions  named  in  the  will.  The  Leg- 
islature granted  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  the  property  was  sold 
and  deeded.  At  the  end  of  a  century  the  Doctor  said  he  would  re- 
turn, and  examine  the  accounts  of  the  Deacons.  That  century  has 
now  -nearly  elapsed,  and  if  he  returns  may  all  of  us  stand  ready  to 
welcome  his  second  advent  to  this  wicked  world.  Let  the  Deacons 
tremble. 

Dr.  Abner  Hersey  owned  the  ancient  Dimmock  house  bought 
ol  the  heirs  of  his  brother  James.  There  is  no  tradition  that  he  re- 
sided therein,  but  he  probably  did  till  his  marriage  in  1743,  and  per- 
haps a  few  years  later.  He  bought  of  the  Lothrops  the  estate  which 
was  Tritram  Hull's,  situate  opposite  the  County  Jail  on  the  north 
side  of  the  County  road.  His  residence  was  a  high  single  house, 
pleasantly  situated,  with  convenient  outbuildings,  surrounded  by  a 
large  orchard  of  choice  fruit  trees  which  bore  abundant  crops. 

His  farm  contained  about  seventy-five  acres  of  planting  land, 
not  in  one  tract,  but  in  several,  all  lying  in  the.East  Parish.  He 
also  owned  salt  meadows,  and  large  lots  of  woodland  which,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  wood 
and  timber. 


OENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  11 

la  the  selection  of  his  lands  he  exercised  a  sound  judgment. 
Poor  land  with  a  sandj  soil  he  uniformly  rejected,  because  the 
crops  would  not  pay  for  fencing  as  he  fenced,  and  cultivating  as 
he  cultivated.  Prior  to  his  time,  a  more  skilful  and  scientific 
farmer  had  not  resided  in  the  County  of  Barnstable.  As  regard- 
less as  he  was  of  his  own  personal  appearance,  he  was  yet  the 
most  orderly  of  men  in  all  his  business  arrangements,  and  as 
neat  as  he  was  orderly.  His  wooden  fences  were  five  railed,  and 
every  post  was  set  two  and  one-half  feet  into  the  ground.  His 
stone  walls,  of  not  fully  four  feet  high,  were  hemmed  with  two 
rails,  or  heavy  poles.  No  loose  stones  or  rails  were  allowed  to 
lie  beside  them,  and  no  briars  or  rank  weeds  to  grow  near  to  ma- 
ture seed  to  be  scattered  over  his  fields. 

In  the  cultivation  of  his  lands,  it  was  his  invariable  rule  to 
return  more  to  the  soil  than  the  crop  drew  from  it.  This  is  the 
secret  art  of  good  husbandry.  From  year  to  year  his  lands  in- 
creased in  fertility.  The  stranger  passing  through  the  town  might 
select  every  field  which  he  owned,  by  observing  his  neat  and  sub- 
stantial fences,  his  luxuriant  crops  of  grain,  vegetables  or  grass. 
Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  his  lands  became  the  standard  to 
which  his  neighbors  referred  when  speaking  of  the  fertility  of 
land.  "It  is  naturally  as  rich  as  Dr.  Hersey's,"  was  a  common 
remark  of  those  who  had  lands  to  sell. 

He  exhibited  the  same  good  sense  and  sound  judgment  in  the 
selection  and  management  of  his  stock.  He  selected  the  best 
breeds,  never  keeping  a  poor  animal,  and  in  the  care  and  manage- 
ment thereof  very  few  were  more  careful  or  skilful  than  he. 

Dr.  Hersey  did  good  service  for  the  farming  interest  of  the 
County.  The  exhaustive  system  of  cultivation,  universally  prac- 
ticed by  our  fathers,  he  repudiated.  He  introduced  a  better  sys- 
tem of  cultivation  and  management  which  many  of  his  neighbors 
adopted. 

In  his  time  agricultural  products  were  comparatively  higher 
than  at  the  present  time.  The  price  of  labor  was  regulated  by 
the  price  of  grain,  consequently,  with  judicious  management, 
there  was  a  profit  in  farming  even  when  the  labor  was  hired.  Dr. 
Hersey's  object  in  cultivating  was  not  mainly  for  profit.  His 
great  object  was  improvement,  and  incidently  to  give  employment 
to  the  industrious  and  collect  debts  due  him  which  he  would  have 
lost,  if  he  had  insisted  on  cash  payments. 

At  his  death  his  farm  was  under  high  cultivation.  After  the 
death  of  his  widow  in  1794,  its  sole  management  devolved  on  the 
deacons  of  the  several  churches.  However  pious  they  may  have 
been,  they  certainly  were  not  good  farmers.  They  re-inaugurated 
the  old  system  of'  croping  without  manure.  Every  spring  the 
land  was "  leased  at  public  auction,  either  for  pasturing  or  plant- 
ing. 


12  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

During  the  twenty-nine  years  that  the  deacons  managed  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  had  diminished,  and  the  expense,  repairs  and 
taxes,  nearly  absorbed  all  that  was  obtained  from  rents,  and  the 
sale  of  w^ood. 

In  1815  the  deacons  became  convinced  that  in  a  few  years 
more  the  expenses  would  equal  the  income.  A  compromise  was 
made  with  the  heirs  at  law,  legal  authority  from  the  Legislature 
was  obtained,  and  in  1816  the  whole  property  was  sold.  Dea. 
Nathaniel  Lewis,  of  Barnstable,  and  Dr.  Calvin  Tilden,  of  Yar- 
mouth, were  the  active  and  efficient  men  in  effecting  the  sale. 

In  summing  up  thp  character  of  Dr.  Abner  Hersey,  1  am  de- 
cidedly of  the  opinion  that  a  higher  rank  should  be  awarded  to 
him,  than  that  given  by  his  pupil  Dr.  James  Thacher.  I  know 
he  had  better  individual  opportunities  to  judge  than  I  have  had, 
and  if  the  decision  depended  on  us,  my  opinion  should  be  re- 
jected and  his  received.  But  the  question  is  not  between  us.  I 
could  name  twenty  individuals  who  had  as  good  opportunities  for 
forming  a  correct  judgment  as  Dr.  Thacher,  and  they  unani- 
mously said  in  reply  to  my  inquiries  that,  forgetting  his  eccen- 
tricities, he  was  a  most  skilful  physician,  a  man  whose  moral 
character  was  unimpeached,  of  good  sense,  of  sound  judgment; 
a  good  neighbor  and  citizen  and  an  exemplary  and  pious  member 
of  the  church. 

He  had   one fault,  call  it   so  if  you  please,   he  was  a 

hypochrondiac,  an  affection  which,  the  doctors  say,  "is  attended 
by  uneasiness  about  the  region  of  the  stomach  and  liver,  or  the 
hypochrondiac  region."  It  is  a  disease  which  causes  melancholy 
feelings,  low  spirits,  spleen,  and  a  disordered  imagination.  The 
person  who  is  thus  afflicted  is  no  more  to  blame  than  the 
blind  man  because  he  cannot  see,  or  the  deaf  for  not  hearing. 
Uniformly  persons  having  that  disease  have  power  to  restrain 
their  feelings  when  in  the  presence  of  strangers,  but  at  home,  in 
the  presence  of  their  own  families,  they  cannot.  This  is  univer- 
sally true  of  the  hypochrondiac. 

We  may  smile  when  the  stories  of  his  eccentricities  are  re- 
peated, but  can  we  condemn  Dr.  Hersey  ;  ought  we  to  forget  his 
many  good  qualities  because  he  had  an  incurable  disease.  With 
equal  propriety  we  might  censure  the  rheumatic  or  the  consumpt- 
ive. 

Dr.  Hersey  has  been  called  rude  and  illiterate.  It  is  true  he 
was  not  a  gay  or  a  fashionable  man,  neither  did  he  have  a  public 
education.  He  could  not  have  been  rude  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  that  term.  If  he  was  rude  he  was  not  a  hypochrondiac,  for  all 
thus  affected  are  remarkable  for  the  suavity  of  their  manners  when 
abroad.  Tradition  represents  him  as  gentlemanly  in  his  address, 
and  as  one  who  studiously  avoided  giving  cause  for  offence.  The 
Doctor,  his  family  and  relatives,    had   much   reason   to   lament   his 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  13 

misfortune,  the  public  had  no  right  to  complain,  and  Dr.  Thacher, 
for  giving  publicity  to  private  matters,  was  injudicious,  and  trod  on 
ground  he  had  no  moral  right  to  enter  upon. 

I  have  quoted  substantially  what  he  has  published,  and  I  have  so 
done  that  the  bane  and  the  antidote  might  appear  side  by  side.  If 
Dr.  Hersey  had  been  a  bad  man,  it  would  have  been  unjust  to  have 
veiled  his  faults  ;  but  no  man  is  to  be  condemned  because  God,  in 
his  allwise  Providence,  has  afflicted  him  with  an  incurable  disease. 
He  is  a  subject  for  our  piety  and  our  commiseration. 

Dr.  Hersey  has  left  a  good  record. — Very  few  a  cleaner  or  a  bet- 
ter one.  When  he  signed  his  will  he  thought  he  had  immortalized 
his  name-^that  it  would  be  venerated  by  the  wise  and  the  good  in 
all  coming  time.  He  was  mistaken.  As  a  physician  he  had  then 
erected  a  monument  to  his  own  memory  more  enduring  than  marble 
or  brass.  Of  what  other  physician  can  it  be  said  that  for  forty-five 
successive  years  he  commanded  all  the  practice  of  a  County  extend- 
ing seventy  miles  in  length.  There  were  other  physicians  at  the 
time  in  the  County  ;  but  no  one  would  employ  another  in  a  difficult 
case,  if  by  any  means  his  services  could  be  secured.  All  had  the 
utmost  confidence  in  his  skill — nothing  could  impair  their  confidence 
in  him  as  a  man  or  a  physician.  His  memory  and  his  reputation 
will  brighten  as  time  advances,  and  the  future  writer  of  the  biogra- 
phies of  the  eminent  physicians  of  our  land  will  never  pass  over  in 
silence  the  name  of  Abner  Hersey. 

His  body  has  now  rested  nearly  a  century  in  the  grave,  yet  he  is 
not  forgotten — his  memory  is  embalmed  in  the  popular  mind  and 
centuries  will  not  eradicate  it.  He  was  a  good  man — he  left  his 
mark  on  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

The  will  of  Dr.  Abner  Hersey  is  dated  Oct.  21,  1786,  and  the 
codicil  thereto  23d  Dec.  next  iollowing,  and  proved  in  1787. 

Its  several  provisions  are  very  clearly  stated,  his  meaning  and 
intention  cannot  be  misunderstood.  It  was  probably  drawn  up  by 
himself,  and  is  too  long  to  copy  verbatim.  After  the  usual  prelimi- 
nary articles  he  says : 

"I  give  to  my  wife  Hannah  the  use  and  improvement  of  all  my 
real  estate,  with  this  special  restriction  that  she  shall  not  suffer  more 
than  two  crops  in  the  term  of  twelve  years  to  be  taken  off  said  real 
estate,  and  that  she  cut  no  more  wood  off  said  real  estate  than  what 
is  sufficient  for  her  own  firing  and  fencing  said  estate,  provided  she 
cannot  procure  fencing  stuff  otherwise." 

After  paying  off  his  debts  and  legacies  she  was  to  have  the  im- 
provement of  his  whole  estate,  real,  personal  and  mixed. 

The  following  bequest  shows  clearly  that  however  "penurious" 
his  own  education  may  have  been,  he  did  not  despise  learning  and 
science.  His  brother  Ezekiel  had  been  a  benefactor  of  Harvard 
College,  and  the  founder  of  a  professorship. 

"I  give  and  bequeath  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds  lawful 


14    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BAEN8TABLE  FAMILIES. 

money  ($1,666.67)  for  the  sole  use  and  benefit,  and  for  the  en- 
couragement and  support  of  a  professor  of  Physic  and  Surgery  at 
the  University  in  Cambridge,  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,  and  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts,  aforesaid ;  or  any  other  town  or 
county  in  said  Commonwealth  where  such  professor  shall  be 
appointed  to  reside,  the  one  moity  or  half  part  thereof  to  be  paid  by 
my  executors  hereafter  named  in  four  years  after  my  decease,  and 
the  remaining  moity  or  half  part  thereof  to  be  paid  by  my  executors 
hereafter  named  after  the  decease  of  my  wife." 

In  the  codicil  the  whole  is  made  payable  after  the  decease  of  his 
wife. 

He  also  bequeathed  to  the  University  at  Cambridge,  to  be  de- 
posited in  its  library, 

10  Books  of  Bishop  Butler's  Analogy  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Re- 
ligion. 
6  Books  by  Rev.  Henry  Grove  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
3  sets  of  Dr.  Evans'  Sermons  on  the  Christian  Temper. 

After  the  decease  of  his  wife  and  the  payment  of  the  legacy^' to 
Harvard  College,  he  devised  the  use  and  improvement  of  the  |  re- 
mainder of  his  estate,  forever,  to  the  thirteen  Congregational 
Churches  in  the  County  of  Barnstable.  In  making  this  division,  he 
proportioned  the  amount  given  according  to  the  amount  of  practice 
he  had  obtained  in  each  of  the  several  parishes.  This  fact  is  not 
stated  in  the  will,  but  I  have  it  on  good  authority.  I  have  reduced 
his  fractions  to  their  least  common  denominator,  56,  instead  of  using 
8th,  14th,  28th  and  56th,  as  he  does. 

To  the  Congregational  Church  in  the  East  Precinct  in  Barnsta- 
ble, (of  which  he  was  a  member,)  7  56th8. 
To  the  West  Church,  Barnstable,  5 
"  Church  in  Sandwich,  4 
"  "  in  Falmouth,  4 
"  West  or  First  in  Yarmouth,  6 
"  East  or  Second,  4 
"  North  or  First,  Harwich,  4 
"  South  or  Second,  3 
"  Church  in  Chatham,  4 
"  "  South  Eastham,  5 
"  "  North  "  3 
"  "  Wellfleet,  3 
"            "           Truro,                                                              4 


56  56ths. 

The  east  parish  in  Yarmouth  is  now  the  town  of  Dennis  ;  the 
north  in  Harwich,  Brewster,  and  the  south  in  Eastham,  Orleans ; 
Provincetown  was  included  in  Truro. 

Respecting  the  management  of  his  real  estate  after  the  decease 
of  his  wife,  he  directed  as  follows : 


GENBALOGIOAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  15 

"And  it  is  my  will  and  I  hereby  order  that  the  deacons  of  the 
churches  for  the  time  being,  or  such  persons  as  they  shall  appoint, 
do  from  time  to  time,  let  out  or  rent  such  real  estate  for  as  much  as 
it  will  fetch,  (under  this  special  restriction,  that  there  shall  not  be 
taken  off  from  said  real  estate  more  than  two  crops  in  twelve  years.) 
And  I  do  hereby  order  that  the  buildings  and  fences  be  kept  in  re- 
pair, and  the  same  be  paid  for,  with  all  other  reasonable  charges 
and  costs,  out  of  said  rents,  being  the  net  profits  of  said  divised 
premises,  together  with  the  said  personal  or  mixed  estate,  be  paid  by 
the  said  deacons  of  said  thirteen  churches  to  the  ministers  of  their 
respective  churches  for  the  time  being,  who  are,  or  shall  be  regularly 
settled  and  ordained,  and  for  whose  support  their  respective  towns, 
districts,  precincts  or  parishes,  are  by  law  liable  to  be  taxed." 

The  rents  so  received  by  said  ministers  to  be  applied, 
1-3  thereof  in  the  purchase  of  Dr.  Dodridge's  Rise  and  Progress  of 

Religion. 
1-3  Dr.  Evans'   sermons  on  the  Christian  Temper,  and  the   remain- 
ing 1-3  as  follows  : 
12  63ds  in  the  purchase  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Grove's  discourse  on  the 

Lord's  Supper. 
18  63ds  in  Dr.  Dodridge's  discourses  on  Regeneration,  and  two  ser- 
mons on  Salvation  by  Faith. 
9  63ds  in  Dr.  Dodridge's  discourse  to  young  people. 
12  63ds  in  Dr.  Dodridge's  discourses  on  the  education  of  children. 
12    63ds   in  Dr.  Dodridge's   discourses  on  the   power   and  grace   of 
Christ,  and  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
"And  that  each  of  said  ministers  do  distribute  said  books  in  his 
church  as  he  shall  think  most  conducive  to  and  for  the  interests  of  re- 
ligion and  virtue." 

The  net  income  of  his  estate  he  ordered  to  be  so  applied  for  one 
hundred  years.  After  the  expiration  of  a  cenlury,  the  ministers  of 
the  several  churches  were  authorized  to  purchase,  three  years  out  of 
every  period  of  four  years,  such  other  books  as  they  shall  judge  best 
calculated  for  the  promotion  of  piety  and  religion. 

He  named  as  the  executors  of  his  will  his  wife  Hannah  Hersey, 
Dea.  Nathaniel  Lewis,  and  Dr.  John  Davis,  and  in  the  codicil 
thereto  added  the  name  of  Mr.  Joseph  Davis.  Witnesses  to  the 
will,  Timothy  Phinney,  Joseph  Annable,  Edward  Childs.  To  the 
codicilr  Richard  Bourne,  Ebenezer  Hinckley,  Prentiss  Mellen  and 
Edward  Childs. 

His  estate  was  apprised,  in  lawful  money,  as  follows : 
His  homestead  and  34  acres  of  land,  £705 

Calves  Pasture,  10  acres,  180 

The  Dimmock  farm  and  land  adjoining,  68  acres,  906 

230  acres  of  Woodland,  450,15 

Salt  Meadows,  188 


16  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Personal  Estate,  332,17,4 

Notes  due  him,  1035,17,6 


£3798,09,10 
equal  to  $12,611.64, 

The  deacons  held  an  annual  meeting  at  Lydia  Sturgis'  tavern, 
and  in  those  days  neither  ministers  nor  deacons  refused  to  partake  of 
good  liquors,  could  smoke  their  pipes  and  be  as  merry  as  the  merri- 
est. Lydia  Sturgis'  tavern  at  thattime  was  the  head-quarters  of  a 
company  of  men  who  met  to  play  cards,  drink  and  gamble  in  a  small 
way,  often  stopping  till  the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  Common 
rumor  at  the  time,  said  that  some  of  the  deacons  preferred  the  jovial 
company  of  card  players  in  "Hagar's  Bed  Room,"  to  the  staid  and 
religious  conversation  of  the  ministers  and  the  gray  haired  deacons. 

Dr.  Hersey  placed  no  restriction  in  his  will  on  the  sale  ol  his 
wood,  and  as  long  as  that  lasted  a  small  sum  was  annually  dis- 
tributed among  the  thirteen  churches,  and  the  books  ordered  were 
purchased.  When  the  wood  was  gone  the  rents  barely  paid  taxes 
and  repairs.  The  expenses  of  the  annual  meetings  of  the  deacons 
were  large.  The  testator  presumed  that  the  ministers  and  deacons 
would  manage  his  estate  gratuitously  ;  but  it  was  not  so.  Some  of 
them  had  to  travel  forty  miles  to  attend  the  annual  meetings,  and 
were  absent  from  home  nearly  a  week,  and  they  had  to  be  compen- 
sated, at  least  for  the  amount  of  their  traveling  expenses. 

In  their  petition  to  the  Legislature  they  state  that  the  manage- 
ment of  said  real  estate  in  common  is  attended  with  great  inconve- 
nience and'  expense  and  that  the  same  has  heretofore  been  managed 
in  an  unproductive  manner.  On  the  12th  of  February,  1816,  the 
General  Court  authorized  the  churches  to  make  a  compromise  with 
the  heirs-at-law,  namely,  of  the  children  of  Dr.  Hersey's  sister 
Molly,  who  married  David  Lincoln,  and  of  his  sister  Rachell,  who 
married  Ephraim  Otis,  and  to  sell  the  estate,  and  after  paying  to  the 
heirs  such  proportion  as  should  be  agreed  upon,  to  divide  the"  re- 
mainder to  and  among  the  thirteen  churches,  in  the  proportions  or- 
dered by  the  testator.  Dr.  Calvin  Tilden  of  Yarmouth,  was  ap- 
pointed the  agent  of  the  churches,  and  Barney  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Mil- 
ton, the  attorney  of  the  heirs-at-law.  They  sold  the  estate  at  auc- 
tion in  October,  1816. 

A  goodly  sum  was  realized  from  the  sale.  Like  prodigal  chil- 
dren, the  churches  have  wasted  their  heritage.  Not  content  with  the 
golden  egg,  (the  income)  they  have  killed  the  goose  that  laid  it. 
They  have  devoted  the  money  to  other  purposes  than  those  for  which 
it  was  given.  Little,  very  little  now  remains  of  the  Hersey  fund. 
The  churches  have  forgotten  their  benefactor,  and  the  deacons  no 
longer  remember  him  in  their  prayers. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  17 

DR.    JAME&   HERSEY. 

Dr.  James  Hersey  died  intestate.  The  account  of  his  estate 
and  the  settlement  thereof  on  the  probate  records,  is  entered  very 
minutely.  The  inventory  taken  September  28,  1741,  by  Joseph 
Lothrop,  Ebenezer  Lewis  and  Robert  Davis,  is  very  particular. 
The  furniture  in  each  room  is  apprised  by  itself.  It  is  evident 
from  this  document  and  the  division  of  the  estate,  that  he  owned 
and  resided  in  the  old  Dimmock  fortification  house.  At  the  time 
he  occupied  it,  there  was  a  leanto  on  the  rear  or  north  side. 

The  following  are  taken  from  the  inventory  : 

Bed  with  the  furniture  belonging  thereto,  in  the  Great  Room, 
or  parlor,  at  the  southeast  corner,  on  the  lower  floor,  £29,10,0 
Bed  and  its  furniture  in  the  Great  or  Front  Chamber,  39,00,0 

Bed  in  the  Leanto  Chamber,  15,00,0 

Bed  in  the  Leanto,  20,00,0 

Bed,  small  and  trundle,  1,10,0 


£10.5,00,0 
He  had  a  looking-glass  in  the  great  and  in  his  bed-room,  both 
valued  at  £8,00,0,  and  one  in  his  great  chamber  valued  at  £2,10. 
He  had  23  oz.  of  silver  plate  valued  at  £34,  showing  that  the 
price  of  silver  was  then  3,75,  a  much  higher  price  than  it  has 
reached  during  the  present  war.  His  house  was  well  furnished, 
and  it  appears  that  he  lived  in  good  style  for  those  times.  He 
had  four  horses  and  a  colt  valued  at  from  10  to  £15  each  ;  a  pair 
of  oxen  £23  ;  3  cows  and  a  steer.  If  these  figures  are  called  dol- 
lars instead  of  pounds,  it  would  represent  the  value  in  gold  or 
silver  money.  Indian  corn  is  apprised  at  10  shillings  a  bushel, 
equal  to  45  or  50  cents  in  coin  ;  rye  at  12  shillings,  peas  at  20 
shillings,  and  potatoes  at  six  shillings  currency.  I  do  not  recol- 
lect of  seeing  potatoes  named  in  the  records  at  an  earlier  date. 
They  were  not  cultivated  by  the  first  settlers,  but  the  precise 
period  of  their  introduction  I  am  unable  to  give. 

He  had  £177,47  due  him  on  notes,  and  a  large  amount  on 
book  account  of  uncertain  value.  His  medicines  on  hand  were  ap- 
prised at  £46,17. 

His  real  estate  in  Hingham  in  the  County  of  Suffolk,  was  ap- 
prised at  £476,09,0 
In  tlie  County  of  Barnstable,  1540,00,0 

£2,015,00,0 
From  his  personal  estate  there  was  realized,  £1345,6,3 

Debts  and  expenses  of  settling,  1,487,19,8 

leaving  the  net  value  of  his  estate  less  than  £2,000,  estimated  in 
a  depreciated  currency,  in  reality  only  2000  dollars  in  silver 
money. 

His   real  estate  consisted  of  that  part  of  the  ancient  Dim- 


18         GENKALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BABNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

mock  Farm,  extending  on  the  road  from  the  dwelling-house  of 
Asa  Young,  Esq.,  to  the  run  of  water  on  the  west  of  the  dwell- 
ing-house of  Mr.  Job  Handy.  It  contained  twenty-eight  acres  of 
upland,  more  than  half  of  which  was  on  the  north  of  the  stream 
of  water  running  into  the  mill  pond.  He  also  owned  the  mead- 
ows adjoining  his  land,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek  to  the 
western  boundary  of  the  old  Dimmock  Farm.  He  also  owned 
about  forty  acres  of  woodland.  His  estate  was  divided  Dec.  6, 
1757.  To  the  widow,  then  the  wife  of  John  Sturgis,  Esq., 
twelve  acres  of  the  north  part  of  the  homestead.  Of  the  remain- 
der James  was  assigned  five  eighths  and  Ezekiel  three.  James 
had  the  southwesterly  part  of  the  farm,  containing  nine  acres. 
His  boundary  on  the  east  was  the  present  range  of  fence  on  the 
west  of  Alvan  Howes'  residence,  and  included  all  the  land  on  the 
south  of  the  creek  to  the  run  of  water  above  named  on  the  west, 
with  aU  the  meadows  adjoining,  and  to  the  west,  on  the  south  of 
mill  creek.  Ezekiel  had  the  eastern  part  of  the  farm,  containing 
seven  acres,  bounded  easterly  by  the  land  of  Samuel  Sturgis,  now 
Asa  Young's,  southerly  by  the  highway,  and  westerly  by  James 
and  his  mother's  land.  These  heirs  and  the  widow  afterwards 
sold  out  to  Dr.  Abner  Hersey. 

[Hinckley  is  the  article  next  in  order,  but  I  have  decided  to 
publish  an  account  of  the  Hull  family  first,  because  it  chronologi- 
cally comes  first.  The  byographies  of  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  and  Gov. 
Thomas  Hinckley,  will  cover  the  most  interesting  portion  of  the 
history  of  the  town  of  Barnstable,  that  is  from  its  first  settlement 
till  1705.  If  Gov.  Hinckley  had  written  an  account  of  the  first 
settlement,  given  us  the  personal  history  of  the  first  settlers,  all 
of  whom  he  knew,  he  would  have  conferred  an  obligation  on  the 
present  and  future  generations  for  which  they  would  have  ever 
been  thankful.  He  omitted  to  do  it,  and  now  the  history  of  these 
men  has  to  be  gleaned  from  the  few  records  and  the  perishing 
memorials  which  the  remorseless  hand  of  time  has  left.] 


HULL 


REV.     JOSEPH    HULL. 

Of  the  early  history  of  this  gentleman  little  is  known.  In 
Mather's  Magnalia  the  name  of  Mr.  Hull  is  placed  in  his  "first 
classis,"  that  is,  "such  as  were  in  the  actual  exercise  of  their  min- 
istry when  they  left  England,  and  were  the  instruments  of  bring- 
ing the  gospel  into  this  wilderness,  and  of  settling  churches  here 
according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel."  May  5,  1635,  twenty-one 
families  from  England,  with  Mr.  Hull  as  their  minister,  settled  at 
Wessaguscus,  now  Weymouth.  On  the  8th  of  July  following, 
the  lands  on  which  they  settled  were  granted  to  them  by  the 
Massachusetts  Colony.  In  September,  1635,  he  became  a  free- 
man of  that  Colony,  and  he  was  a  deputy  to  the  General  Court  in 
September,  1638,  and  at  the  March  term  in  1639. 

Sept.  6,  1638,  Mr.  Joseph  Hull,  Edmond  Hobart,  Sen.,  and 
Mr.  Richard  Browne  were  elected  magistrates  for  the  town  of 
Hingham,  to  hear  and  determine  actions  where  less  than  20  shill- 
ings was  claimed. 

In  the  spr^ing  of  1639,  Mr.  Hull  and  several  families  from 
Weymouth  and  Hingham  decided  to  remove  to  Barnstable,  with 
the  company  to  be  organized  by  Mr.  Collicut  of  Dorchester.  On 
the  5th  of  May,  1639,  it  is  stated  in  Hobart's  journal  that  he 
preached  his  farewell  discourse  to  his  people  in  Weymouth. 

Mr.  Bliss  in  his  history,  quoting  from  a  dedication  sermon  de- 
livered by  Rev.  Josiah  Bent,  Jr.,  Nov.  28,  1832,  remarks  that 
"Mr.  Hull  did  not  preach  in  Weymouth  much  over  a  year  if  any." 
He  draws  this  inference  from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Thomas  Jenner 
was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Weymouth  in  1636,  and  Mr.  Robert 
Lenthal,  previous  to  1638.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Hull  did  not  preach 
his  farewell  discourse  till  May,  1639,  is  fatal  to  the  supposition  of 
Mr.  Bent  that  he  was  the  minister  only  one  year.  If  he  was  dis- 
missed in  1636,  he  would  not  have  delayed  preaching  that  sermon 
three  years,  until  he  was  on  the  eve  of  removing  to  Barnstable. 

In  early  times  the  churches  that  were  able,  maintained  a  pas- 


20  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

tor  and  a  teacher,  and  both  were  called  ministers.  Mr.  Hull  was 
probably  pastor,  and  perhaps  Jenner  and  Lenthal  were  successive- 
ly teachers  of  the  same  church. 

"Weymouth  was  early  settled,  and  its  population  was  scat- 
tered over  a  wide  extent  of  territory,  and  there  may  have  been 
two  churches.  In  early  times  there  were  men  in  that  town  of  al- 
most every  shade  of  religious  opinion,  and  it  is  probable  that 
there  were  two  churches  or  religious  societies  therein  before  1639 
when  Mr.  Samuel  Newman,  one  of  the  ablest  and  learned  of  the 
divines  who  came  to  New  England,  was  settled  as  the  successor  of 
Mr.  Hull,  and  under  his  ministry  all  the  people  were  united. 

Mr.  Hull  came  to  Barnstable  in  May,  1639,  Elder  Thomas 
Dimmock  was  there  in  the  preceding  March.  To  them  the  Plym- 
outh Colony  Court  granted  the  lands  in  the  town,  on  the  custom- 
ary conditions  and  making  the  usual  reservations.  They  were 
the  founders  of  the  town,  and  Mr.  Hull,  being  the  minister,  on 
him  devolved  the  greater  responsibility. 

At  that  time  the  woodman's  axe  had  seldom  resounded 
through  the  forest.  The  country,  excepting  a  few  fields  which 
had  been  cleared  by  the  Indians,  was  a  vast  wilderness.  The  old 
common-field,  which  still  retains  its  name,  had  only  a  few  scat- 
tering trees  thereon,  and  the  new  common-field,  which  extended 
from  the  old  to  the  bounds  of  Yarmouth,  contained  little  forest. 
There  were  planting  lands  near  Goodspeed's,  now  Meeting  House 
Hill,  at  the  Calves  Pasture,  and  on  some  of  the  sandy  soils  at 
West  Barnstable.  Near  the  Indian  ponds  there  were  large  tracts 
of  lands,  called  by  our  fathers  plain  lands,  by  which  I  understand 
cleared  or  planting  lands.  At  Chequaquet  and  at  Hyannis  there 
were  also  Indian  fields. 

In  1639  the  Indian  population  probably  exceeded  five  hun- 
dred. They  were  a  quiet  inoffensive  race,  with  whom  our  ances- 
tors ever  lived  in  peace.  Though  all  were  Pokonokets  and  ac- 
knowledged the  supremacy  of  Massasoit  as  their  great  sachem  or 
chief  ruler,  they  were  divided  into  numerous  tribes,  each  of  which 
was  ruled  by  its  own  sagamore. 

lyannough,  the  sachem  of  the  Mattakeset  Indians,  had  been 
dead  fifteen  years,  and  his  territory  was  divided  among  many 
claimants.  He  had  no  children  of  suflScient  age  to  succeed  him. 
Nepoyitan  was  the  sachem  of  the  northeasterly  part  of  the  town. 
He  had  given  half  his  lands  to  Twaeonniecus,  and  there  were 
other  claimants.  The  sachem  of  the  Indians  at  Hyannis,  was 
called  by  the  English  John  Hianna,  for  what  reason  I  cannot  de- 
cide. The  Indians  of  Chequaquet  and  in  the  southwest  part  of 
the  town,  belonged  to  the  Massapee  or  Marshpee  tribe,  and  their 
sachem,  Paupmunnucks,  resided  on  the  neck  of  land  at  the  Indian 


GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  21 

Ponds.  At  West  Barnstable  the  Indians  belonged  to  the  Seorton 
tribe  and  their  sachem,  Secuncke,*  resided  in  Sandwich. 

Sandwich  had  been  settled  two  years,  and  Yarmouth  less  than 
one,  when  Mr.  Hull  came  to  Barnstable.  There  were  in  the  plan- 
tation about  fifteen  families,  settled  in  two  villages,  one  near 
Goodspeed's,  now  Meeting  House  Hill,  and  the  other  near  Cog- 
gins'  Pond.  The  settlement  at  Old  Town,  in  the  northeasterly 
part  of  the  town,  commenced  by  Mr.  Bachiller  and  his  company 
in  the  cold  winter  of  1637-8,  had  been  abandoned.  Mr.  Hull  and 
Dimmock  laid  out  the  lands  between  the  two  villages  into  lots, 
and  those  who  came  with  Mr.  Hull  settled  thereon.  Mr.  Dim- 
mock  had  then  selected  a  farm  for  himself  and  built  a  house  there- 
on, probably  the  fortification  house  that  has  so  often  been  named 
in  these  papers. 

Mr.  Hull  built  for  himself  a  farm  house  where  Capt.  Thomas 
Harris  now  resides.  The  first  Meeting  House  was  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  road,  where  the  ancient  burying-ground  now  is. 
I  infer  from  the  fact  the  first  settlers  often  held  their  meetings  at 
his  house,  that  it  was  as  large  and  convenient  as  any  in  the  settle- 
ment. 

Tradition  informs  us  that  Mr.  Hull  held  his  first  meeting,  and 
preached  his  first  sermon,  beside  the  great  rock  lying  in  the  road 
near  the  house  of  Mr.  Edward  Scudder.  Formerly  it  stood  on 
the  blufC  on  the  south  side  of  the  way,  but  it  was  gradually  under- 
mined by  the  rains,  and  finally  rolled  down  to  its  present  position. 
When  the  present  jail  was  built  a  portion  of  it  was  split  off  and 
used  in  the  construction  of  the  foundation  of  that  building. 

At  the  December  term  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court  Mr. 
Hull  and  Mr.  Dimmock  were  deputies  from  Barnstable,  and  at  the 
same  court  he  was  admitted  to  be  a  freeman  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony. 

His  name  does  not  occur  on  the  Church  records,  as  the  pastor 
or  teacher.  Dec.  11,  1639,  a  day  of  thanksgiving  was  held  athis 
house  "for  God's  exceeding  mercy  in  bringing  us  hither,  safely 
keeping  us  healthy  and  well  in  our  weak  beginnings,  and  in  our 
church  estate.  The  day  being  very  cold  our  praises  to  God  in 
publique  being  ended,  we  divided  into  three  companies  to  feast 
together,  some  at  Mr.  Hull's,  some  at  Mr.  Mayo's,  some  at  Brother 
Lombard's,  Senior." 

April  15,  1640,  Mr.  Hull  assisted  at  the  ordination  of  Rev. 
John  Mayo  as  teaching  elder  of  the  Barnstable  church. 

"May  1,  1641,  Mr.  Hull  was  excommunicated  for  his  williul 
breakeing  of  communication  with  us,  and  joyneing  himselfe  a  mem- 
ber with  a  companie  at  Yarmouth  to  be  their  pastour  ;  contrary  to 
the  advise  and  couusell  of  our  church." 

*Secunoke's   (or  Black  Goose'e)  father  was  perhaps   sachem  in  1639.    SecUncke  was, 
kowerer,  an  aged  man  in  1682. 


22  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

There  is  no  record  of  the  excommunication  of  his  wife,  but  the 
following  record  makes  it  certain  that  she  was,  and  for  the  same 
offence. 

"Our  syster  Hull  renewed  her  covenant  with,  renouncing  her 
joyneing  with  the  [not  legible]  at  Yarmouth  confessing  her  evil  in 
soe  doeing  with  sorrow  March  11,  1642." 

"Mr.  Hull  in  the  acknowledgeing  of  his  sin,  and  renewing  his 
covenant  was  received  againe  into  fellowship  with  us  Aug.  10, 
1643." 

March  7,  1642-3,  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court  "ordered  that  a 
warrant  shall  be  directed  to  the  constable  of  Yarmouth,  to  appre- 
hend Mr.  Joseph  Hull,  (if  he  do  either  exercise  the  ministry  amongst 
them  or  administer  the  seals,)  to  bring  him  before  the  next  magis- 
trate, to  fynd  suffieient  sureties  for  his  appearance,  the  next  General 
Court,  to  answere  his  doings,  (being  an  excommunicant.)" 

Mr.  Hull  desisted  from  his  attempt  to  preach  in  Yarmouth,  and 
that  spring  removed  to  Dover.  Gov.  Winthrop  under  the  'date  of 
May  10,  1643,  when  the  articles  of  confederation  of  the  United 
Colonies  were  adopted,  says  :  '  'Those  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorge  his 
province  beyond  Pascataquack,  were  not  received  nor  called  into  the 
confederation,  because  they  ran  a  different  from  us  both  in  their  min- 
istry and  civil  administration  ;  for  they  had  lately  made  Acomenti- 
cus  (Dover)  a  poor  village  a  corporation,  and  had  made  a  taylor 
their  mayor,  and  had  entertained  one  Hull,  an  excommunicated  per- 
son and  very  contentious,  their  minister." 

Mr.  Hull  after  his  settlement  returned  to  Barnstable,  where  as 
above  stated  he  was  again  received  into  fellowship,  and  no  proceed- 
ings were  had  against  him  on  the  warrant  which  had  been  issued  for 
his  arrest. 

His  daughter  Joanna  had  in  1639  married  Mr.  John  Bursley 
who  traded  with  the  Eastern  Indians  at  Dover  and  in  that  vicinity. 
On  his  return  Mr.  Hull  removed  bis  family,  and  thereafter  did  not 
reside  in  the  Plymouth  Colony. 

Precisely  how  long  he  remained  at  Dover  I  am  unable  to  state. 
Governor  Winthrop  speaks  of  him  as  the  minister  at  Dover  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1646,  and  names  circumstances  not  creditable 
to  a  son  of  Mr.  Hull.  Cotton  Mather,  in  his  Magnalia  Book  VII, 
describing  the  perils  of  the  "Widow  Elizabeth  Heard  at  the  famous 
assault  of  the  Indians  on  Cocheco,  in  1689,  calls  her  "a  daughter  of 
Mr.  Hull,  a  reverend  minister." 

Bishop,  in  his  New  England  Judged,  part  1,  page  386,  in  his 
relation  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Quakers  at  Dover  and  that  vicin- 
ity previous  to  1660,  speaks  of  Mr.  Hull  as  being  then  the  minister 
at  Dover  or  Oyster  River.  He  does  not  clearly  state  at  which  place 
he  was  settled,  but  that  the  two  places  were  not  distant.  He  says 
Mary  Tompkins  and  Alice  Ambrose  on  the  Sabbath  attended  Mr. 
Hull's  place  of  worship,  and  both  standing  up  "before  the  old   man 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  23 

he  began  to  be  troubled ;  and  having  spoken  something  against 
women's  preaching,  he  was  confounded,  and  knew  not  well  what  to 
say,  whereupon  Mary  stauding  up  declared  the  truth  to  the  people." 
She  waH  put  down  and  carried  out  of  the  house,  and  Bishop  says 
that  in  the  melee,  "the  Priest  pinched  her  arms."  In  the  afternoon 
the  Quakers  held  a  separate  meeting,  to  which  nearly  all  of  Mr. 
Hull's  parishioners  resorted. 

A  little  time  after  he  removed  to  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  or  Smith's 
Isles,  and  preached  in  a  Meeting  House  on  Hog  Island,  built  in 
1641.  It  would  seem  by  a  notice  of  Mr.  Hull  in  Neals  History  of 
New  England,  that  he  went  to  those  desolate  islands  earlier  than 
1659.  In  the  publications  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  it 
is  also  stated  that  the  Rev.  John  Brook  was  the  minister  from  about 
the  year  1650  to  1662. 

Rev.  Joseph  Hull  died  Nov.  19,  1665.  He  was  called  aged, 
though  the  number  of  years  that  he  lived  is  unknown.  His  wite 
A^nes  administered  on  his  estate.  Inventory,  £52,5,5.  It  appears 
that  the  Island  then  owed  him  £20  for  his  ministry. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  "poor  Mr.  Hull"  I  have  quoted  from 
the  records  and  the  writings  of  his  contemporaries.  I  have  done  so 
because  I  cannot  endorse  the  opinions  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  or  those 
of  Mr.  Savage,  in  his  edition  of  the  Grovernor's  history  or  in  his 
Grenealogical  Dictionary.  In  his  criticisms  of  Dr.  Cotton  Mather, 
Mr.  Savaare  is  severe,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  on  re-examination  of 
the  subject  he  will  conclude  that  he  has  confounded  the  histories  of 
two  men,  Benjamin  and  Joseph  Hull.  I  have  also  carefully  collected 
what  others  have  said  of  him  because  I  believe  that  no  better  men, 
as  a  class,  than  the  first  settlers  of  Barnstable,  came  into  New  Eng- 
land. The  treatment  which  Mr.  Hull  received  during  his  short  resi- 
dence, from  Mr.  Lothrop  and  his  church,  I  cannot  approve.  I  feel 
that  full  justice  has  not  been  done  to  his  memory. 

There  is  another  consideration  that  should  have  an  influence. 
All  the  records  and  all  the  early  notices  we  have  of  Mr.  Hull  were 
written  by  men  who  for  some  reason  or  other  appear  to  have  been 
his  personal  enemies,  and  some  allowance  should  be  made  for  their 
prejudices.  In  the  following  review  of  his  character  I  state  my  own 
opinions,  and  I  think  the  judicious  reader  will  concur  with  me  there- 
in.' 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  came  from  England  in  1635,  and  settled 
with  twenty  families  beside  his  own  at  Weymonth,  as  their  minister. 
He  remained  there  four  years,  when  he  was  dismissed  from  the 
church,  preaching  his  farewell  discourse  to  his  people  May  6,    1639. 

That  he  was  a  man  of  good  standing,  clearly  appears  by  the 
records.  Soon  after  bis  arrival  he  was  made  a  freeman  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Colony,  and  in  1638  was  a  deputy  to  the  General  Court,  and 
was  appointed  a  magistrate  to  try  small  cases.  These  offices  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  until  his  removal  to  Barnstable.     Th6  people  of  Wey- 


24  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

mouth  were  not  at  that  time  unanimous  in  their  religious  opinions. 
There  were  Episcopalians ;  men  who  had  danced  with  Morton 
around  the  May-pole,  set  up  at  Merry  Mount ;  puritans  ;  and  men 
who  belonged  to  no  sect.  Settled  among  a  people  whose  opinions 
were  so  variant,  it  is  not  surprising  that  there  were  some  who  called 
him  "a  contentious  man." 

The  salary  paid  to  Mr.  Hull  was  inadequate  for  the  support  of 
his  large  family.  He  was  engaged  in  agriculture,  particularly  in  the 
raising  of  cattle  and  horses  for  market,  which  then  sold  at  high 
prices.  It  appears  by  a  deed  of  Richard  Standuwick,  of  Broadway, 
Somersett,  England,  recorded  in  vol.  1,  page  160,  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony  records,  that  he  took  the  care  of  cattle  which  had  been  sent 
out  from  England  for  a  portion  of  the  increase.  This  was  a  com- 
mon practice  at  that  time,  and  as  cattle  sold  for  high  prices,  the  ad- 
venturers obtained  a  profit. 

The  great  inducements  held  out  to  people  to  remove  to  Barnsta- 
ble, or  Mattakeset,  as  it  was  then  called,  were  the  extensive  salt 
meadows  and  the  great  facilities  for  raising  stock  which  the  place 
afforded.  These  considerations  induced  the  first  settlers  of  Barnsta- 
ble to  leave  the  older  settlements,  where  they  complained  that  "they 
were  straightened  for  lands."  To  raise  cattle  in  a  new  country  cov- 
ered with  forest  requires  a  large  extent  of  land  for  pasturage,  and  if 
there  are  no  natural  meadows  on  which  hay  can  be  cut,  it  will  be 
many  years  before  large  stocks  can  be  kept.  In  1639  the  raising  of 
stock  was  a  very  profitable  business,  and  Mr.  Hull  and  those  who 
came  with  him  expected  to  realize  fortunes  in  the  business  ;  but  in  a 
lew  years  emigration  having  almost  ceased,  the  demand  was  greatly 
diminished,  and  prices  fell,  and  with  them  their  visions  of  lordly 
wealth. 

Mr.  Lothrop  and  his  church  came  Oct.  21,  1639,  N.  S.  The 
town  had  been  incorporated,  many  houses  had  been  built,  and  a  civi- 
lized community  were  dwelling  among  the  Indians.  Mr.  Hull  and 
the  other  settlers  welcomed  them  to  their  homes,  assigned  them 
lands,  and  assisted  them  in  putting  up  their  first  rude  cabins.  Mr. 
Lothrop's  church  constituted  a  majority  of  the  people,  they  preferred 
their  own  pastor  with  whom  they  had  suffered  persecution  in  Eng- 
land. Mr.  Dimmock  and  others  of  the  first  comers  preferred  to  sit 
under  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Lothrop  rather  than  that  of  Mr.  Hull. 
In  consequence  Mr.  Hull  was  left  in  a  small  minority.  Rev.  John 
Mayo  had  been  ordained  teacher  of  the  church,  and  Mr.  Hull  held 
no  office  therein. 

In  municipal  affairs  Mr.  Lothrop  and  his  church  assumed  the 
whole  control.  Mr.  Hull  was  not  re-elected  deputy  to  the  Court  in 
June,  1640,  and  he  does  not  appear  to  have  held  any  office  what- 
ever. Lands  that  he  had  sold  Samuel  Hinckley  the  town  took  pos- 
session of,  and  Mr.  Hinckley  sued  Mr.  Hull  for  damages.  The  mat- 
ter was  referred  to  the  Governor,  and  assistants,   and  their  decision 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OE   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  25 

was  in  accordance  with  the  offer  Mr.  Hull  had  made,  that  he  should 
refund  to  Samuel  Hinckley  20  shillings,  and  that  the  town  should  re- 
turn one-half  of  the  land  taken.  As  the  decision  was  in  exact  ac- 
cordance with  the  tender  made  by  Mr.  Hull ;  and  as  this  was  the 
only  lawsuit,  or  controversy,  as  il  is  called,  in  which  his  name  ap- 
pears, it  does  not  prove  that  he  was  "a  contentious  man." 

Human  nature  is  ever  the  same.  All  men  are  ambitious, — 
some  seek  distinction  in  one  form,  some  in  another.  "Whether  a 
community  be  large  or  small,  to  be  the  leading  man  therein  is  a  mark 
of  honor,  and  to  be  rudely  thrust  from  that  position  is  a  dishonor  to 
which  very  few  men  can  calmly  and  quietly  submit.  In  October, 
1639,  Mr.  Hull  was  the  leading  man  in  the  town — he  had  procured 
the  grant  of  the  lands — the  act  incorporating  the  town — as  chairman 
of  the  town  committee,  had  the  general  management  of  its  munici- 
pal affairs — was  deputy  to  the  Colony  Court — and  pastor  of  the 
church  and  congregation.  He  was  the  founder  of  a  civil  commu- 
nity and  however  small  or  however  weak  it  may  have  been,  and 
though  no  Homer  or  Virgil  has  sung  his  praises,  nor  any  Demos- 
thenese  or  Cicero  has  trumpeted  his  fame,  yet  he  may  honestly  and 
truly  have  said,  I  was  the  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  to  build 
up  this  little  community  ;  and  to  convert  the  savage  Indians  from 
enmity  to  friendship. 

In  one  short  year  thereafter  he  fell  from  his  high  position,  he 
was  excluded  from  office ;  he  had  lost  his  influence  ;  he  was  unpopu- 
lar, many  of  his  early  friends  had  deserted  him,  and  others  reaped 
the  fields  he  had  sown.  He  felt  chagrined  ;  and  the  ungenerous 
treatment  he  thought  he  had  received,  induced  him  to  remove.  A 
few  friends  still  adhered  to  him — they  deeply  sympathized  with  him, 
and  they  desired  that  he  should  continue  to  be  their  leader  in  tempo- 
ral, and  minister  unto  them  in  spiritual  things. 

In  Yarmouth  the  Rev.  Marmaduke  Matthews,  a  Welchman,  was 
the  settled  minister.  He  was  witty  and  learned ;  but  not  distin- 
guished for  depth  of  thought  or  sound  judgment.  Many  were  dis- 
satisfied with  him  as  a  minister,  among  whom  were  Dr.  Thomas 
Starr,  Mr.  William  Nickerson,  Hugh  Tilley,  and  Joshua  Barnes.* 
d?hese  men  probably  invited  Mr.  Hull  to  come  to  Yarmouth,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1641  he  removed,  and  was  the  pastor  of  a  small  con- 
gregation, composed  partly  ot  his  Barnstable  friends  and  partly  of 
the  opponents  of  Mr.  Matthews.  For  thus  presuming  to  worship 
Grod  in  the  manner  and  in  the  place  they  desired,  the  church  in 
Barnstable  hurled  letters  of  excommunication  against  him  and  those 
who  had  dared  to  follow  him.  Those  letters  had  no  effect.  The 
power  of  the  civil  magistrate  was  invoked,  and  in  March,  1642-3,  a 

*TheBe  men  were  presented  as  "scoffers  and  jeerers  of  religion"  and  as  disturbers  of 
the  proceedings  of  a  town  meeting.  The  plain  English  of  this  is,  they  opposed  Mr. 
Matthews,  the  regularly  settled  minister,  and  favored  Mr.  Hull,  the  pastor  of  the  second  or 
irregularly  estabhshed  church. 


26         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BAEN8TABLB   FAMILIES. 

warrant  was  issued  for  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Hull  for  the  crime  of 
"preaching  at  Yarmouth,  he  being  an  excommunicated  person." 
However  strenuously  he  might  deny  the  authority  of  the  church,  and 
however  ardently  he  might  oppose  the  policy  of  the  law,  yet  as  a 
good  citizen  he  felt  bound  not  to  resist  the  power  of  the  civil  magis- 
trate— he  submitted,  and  soon  after  removed  to  Dover. 

His  settlement  at  that  place  gave  great  offence  to  Gov.  Win- 
throp  and  the  other  delegates  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  Eng- 
land, who  held  their  first  meeting  at  Boston  in  May,  1643.  Because 
the  little  town  of  Dover  elected  a  mechanic  to  be  its  mayor,  and 
called  Mr.  Hull  to  be  its  minister,  the  colony  of  Sir  Fernando 
Gorges,  embracing  the  territory  now  included  in  the  stales  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  then  called  Georgiana,  was  denied  the 
right,  and  was  excluded  from  membership,  as  one  of  the  United 
Colonies. 

Surprising  and  incredible  as  this  may  appear,  the  fact  is  clearly 
and  distinctly  stated  in  the  passage  which  I  have  quoted  from  Win- 
throp's  History.  If  the  delegates  of  Sir  Fernando  had  been  admit- 
ted, perhaps  different  counsels  might  have  prevailed,  perhaps  some 
of  the  long,  bloody  and  cruel  wars,  between  the  English  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  French  and  the  Indians  on  the  other,  might  have  been 
avoided. 

When  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1641,  the  church  in  Barnstable 
excommunicated  Mr.  Hull,  for  neglecting  to  commune  with  them, 
the  members  could  hardly  have  imagined  that  they  were  committing 
an  act  which  would  be  remembered  in  all  coming  time.  They  had 
a  perfect  right  to  dismiss  Mr.  Hull,  and  that  was  probably  all  they 
intended  by  the  vote,  for  when  Mr.  Hull  on  the  10th  of  August, 
1643,  acknowledged  he  had  done  wrong  in  breaking  off  communion 
with  the  church,  they  received  him  again  into  fellowship.  If  he  had 
been  an  immoral  man,  or  even  "a  contentious  man,"  they  would  not 
have  welcomed  him  again  into  their  fellowship.  This  act  of  the 
church  in  Barnstable  is  a  complete  vindication  of  the  moral  character 
of  Mr.  Hull. 

The  vote  of  the  church  passed  in  May  1641,  had  been  com- 
municated to  the  Plymouth  Colony  Court,  and  they  had  thereupon 
ordered  a  warrant  to  be  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  Mr.  Hull  if 
he  continued  to  preach  in  Yarmouth.  Gov.  Winthrop  of  Massachu- 
setts had  been  informed  of  these  proceedings ;  but  that  the  church 
had  recinded  its  vote  of  excommunication,  and  that  the  constable  had 
never  had  an  occasion  to  serve  the  warrant,  are  facts  that  probably 
never  came  to  his  knowledge.  If  they  had,  it  is  not  probable  that 
he  would  have  allowed  his  record  to  have  remained  uncorrected,  and 
the  stigma  of  being  a  "contentious  man"  to  have  rested  on  Mr. 
Hull's  character.  Fortunately  thro'  the  efforts  of  Rev.  Hiram 
Carleton,  of  West  Barnstable,  the  records  of  Mr.  Lothrop  have  beeu 
rescued  from  the  oblivion  in  which  they  have  slept  nearly   two    cen- 


GENEALOGIGAI.   NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  27 

turies,  and  furnish  the  means   of  vindicating  the   character   of  Mr. 
Hull. 

Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  however  bigoted  he  may  have  been,  how- 
ever credulous,  however  fond  of  the  mavellous,  and  however  strong 
may  have  been  his  faith  in  the  super-natural,  on  all  occasions  speaks 
kindly  and  well  of  Mr.  Hull. 

Misfortunes  followed  in  his  footsteps  in  all  his  wanderings. 
Every  recorded  act  of  his  life  exhibits  him  as  a  man  of  peace,  of  a 
quiet  and  yielding  disposition,  as  a  good  man  and  a  sincere  christian. 
In  his  controversy  with  Samuel  Hinckley,  he  yielded  all  that  he  was 
asked  to  yield.  His  dealings  with  the  church  in  Barnstable  is  a  con- 
tinual series  of  concessions  on  his  part — he  conceeded  till  he  had 
nothing  left  to  concede.  At  Yarmouth,  when  he  found  that  the 
gathering  of  a  second  church  ga,ve  offence  to  his  former  friends  and 
to  the  Court,  he  withdrew  and  in  a  spirit  of  meekness,  bordering  on 
pusilanimity,  "acknowledged  that  he  had  sinned,"  in  preaching  the 
gospel  to  that  people. 

At  Dover,  when  the  quakeress  preachers  invaded,  on  the  Sab- 
bath, his  house  of  worship,  and  disturbed  the  order  of  exercises,  by 
assuming  a  high  place  therein,  and  attempting  to  address  the  congre- 
gation. Bishop  says  that  John  Hill  was  belligerent,  and  thrust  them 
down,  and  "that  old  Mr.  Hull  in  leading  Mary  out  pinched  her  arm." 
Bishop  is  usually  truthful,  and  I  presume  the  pinching  must  be  ad- 
mitted ;  that  is,  as  aged  as  he  was,  he  did  not  mean  that  she  should 
escape  from  his  grasp.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Hull  allowed  the 
quakeresses  to  do  as  their  spirits  moved — he  did  not  disturb  their 
meeting,  and  to  avoid  all  contest  with  their  adherents  he  removed  to 
the  Isles  of  Shoals.  In  these  desolate  isles,  where  the  rocks  and 
sterility  contend  for  the  mastery,  and  where  a  single  spring  furnishes 
the  water,  and  where  the  people  breakfast,  dine  and  sup  on  fish, 
there  being  nothing  to  tempt  intrusion,  poor  Mr.  Hull  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days,  and  there  died  in  peace. 

I  have  extended  this  review  to  a  greater  length  than  I  intended. 
Circumstances  seemed  to  require  it.  Mr.  Hull  was  the  founder  of 
the  town  of  Barnstable  ;  his  character  as  a  man  and  a  minister  was 
shrouded  in  doubt,  and  uncertainty.  I  felt  it  to  be  a  duty  to  attempt 
to  remove  that  shroud,  and  present  his  character  in  its  true  light. 
To  succeed  in  this,  it  was  necessary  that  the  examination  should  not 
only  be  full,  but  exhaustive.  How  well  I  have  succeeded  in  per- 
forming that  duty,  the  reader  will  judge.  If  he  decides  that  Mr. 
Hull  was  "a  contentious  man"  and  a  heterodox  teacher  of  religion, 
I  fear  that  he  will  have  to  travel  many  a  weary  mile  to  find  a  peace- 
ful man  and  a  sincere  christian. 

Of  Mr.  Hull's  family  little  is  certainly  known.  His  wife  and 
several  children  came  over  with  him.  Judging  by  the  disparity  be- 
tween the  ages  of  his  children  he  probably  married  twice.     It  is  also 


28  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

diflScult  in  some  cases  to  discriminate  between  his  and  Mr.  Benjamin 
Hull's  children. 

His  daughter  Naomi  was  baptized  in  Barnstable,  22  March, 
1640,  and  Ruth  9th  of  May  1641.  Beside  these  he  had  other  chil- 
dren. His  daughter  Joanna,  born  in  England,  married  28  Nov. 
1639,  Mr.  John  Bursley,  and  afterwards  Dolar  Davis.  Elizabeth, 
who  married  John  Heard,  of  whom  Mather  gives  so  full  an  account 
of  her  escape  from  the  Indians  in  1689,  I  am  confident  was  his,  not 
Benjamin  Hull's  daughter,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Savage.  She  was  the 
mother  of  eleven  children,  among  which  the  names  of  Joseph  and 
Tristram  occur.  He  had  a  son  to  whom  reference  has  already  been 
made.  Josias,  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  tradition  says,  was  his  son. 
Reuben,  of  Portsmouth,  was  probably  another  son.  He  had  a  large 
family,  and  it  is  of  no  profit  to  guess  at  their  names.  Tristram,  of 
Yarmouth  and  Barnstable,  I  feel  confident  was  the  son  of  Rev. 
Joseph,  though  there  is  no  record  by  which  to  establish  the  fact. 

Tristram  Hull,  probably  a  son  of  Rev.  Joseph  Hull,  went  to 
Yarmouth  with  his  father  in  1641,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  re- 
turned to  Barnstable  till  1644,  all  his  children  are  recorded  as  born 
in  Barnstable. 

His  houselot  containing  ten  acres  was  bounded  northerly  by  the 
meadow,  easterly  partly  by  the  land  of  Barnabas  Lothrop  and  partly 
by  William  Casely,  southerly  by  the  highway,  and  westerly  by  the 
land  of  Mr.  Thomas  AUyn,  formerly  Mr.  Mayo's.  This  land  is 
now  owned  by  Mr.  Isaiah  Hinckley,  and  was  a  part  of  Dr.  Hersey's 
farm.  He  also  owned  three  acres  of  meadow  on  the  north  of  his 
homelot,  and  four  acres  at  Sandy  Neck,  at  a  creek  yet  known  as 
Hull's  creek. 

Tristram  Hull  was  a  prominent  man  in  Barnstable.  He  was  of 
the  board  of  Selectmen,  and  held  other  offices  of  trust.  His  wife 
was  named  Blanch,  and  is  frequently  named  on  the  records  as  a 
woman  whose  reputation  was  not  creditable  to  herself,  her  family  or 
her  friends.  In  1656  she  married  for  her  second  husband  Capt. 
William  Hedge  of  Yarmouth,  but  the  change  in  her  residence  did  not 
improve  her  manners.  Capt.  Hedge  cut  her  off  with  a  shilling  in 
his  will,  full  eleven  pence  more  than  she  deserved.* 

Children  of  Tristram  Hull  born  in  Barnstable  : 

I.  Mary,' Sept.,   1645. 

II.  Sarah,  March, . 

III.  Joseph,  June,  1652. 

IV.  John,  March,  1654. 

V.  Hannah,  Feb.,  1656. 

*A  question  may  arise  whether  it  is  right  to  publish  such  passages  as  this.  Some 
squeamish  persons  object.  I  think  it  not  only  clearly  light ;  but  unjust  to  suppress  them. 
Is  it  r^ht  that  the  reputations  of  such  persons  as  Martha  Foxwell,  Capt.  John  Gorham,  and 
Capt.  William  Hedge,  should  suffer  because  they  \maToidably  came  in  contact  with  a  bad 
■woman?  I  think  not.  BUstory  is  of  no  value  when  the  exact  truth  is  suppressed.  No  line 
of  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  not  telling;  the  whole  truth  and  the  wilful  misstatement 
of  facts. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  29 

In  his  will  dated  Dec.  20,  1666,  he  names  his  five  children  and 
wife  Blanch. 

Joseph,  a  cooper  by  trade,  inherited  the  paternal  estate.  He 
married  Oct.  1676,  Experience  Harper,  and  had  Tristram,  born  8 
Oct.,  1677.  Feb.  7,  1678,  he  sold  his  estate  for  £85  to  Capt.  John 
Lothrt)p,  his  mother  Blanch  and  his  wife  Experience  releasing  their 
rights  of  dower.  From  Barnstable  he  removed  to  Falmouth,  and 
purchased  of  Jacob  Perkins  for  £105  an  estate  which  he  bought  31 
Oct.,  1677,  of  William  Weeks,  Sen'r. 

Capt.  John  Hull,  son  of  Tristram,  removed  to  Rhode  Island, 
where  be  has  descendants.  He  sailed  a  ship  between  Newport  and 
London.  Charles  Magee,  afterwards  the  celebrated  and  well-known 
Sir  Charles  Magee,  was  an  apprentice  to  Capt.  Hull. 

Hannah  Hull  married  Sept.  15,  1674,  Joseph  Blush,  of  West 
Barnstable,  and  was  the  mother  of  twelve  children.  She  died  Nov. 
15,  1732,  aged  75. 


HINCKLEY. 


To  write  a  full  genealogy  and  history  of  the  Hinckley  family,  a 
volume  would  afford  insufficient  space.  I  shall  condense  the  mate- 
rials I  have  collected  into  the  smallest  compass  that  I  can,  without 
rendering  the  narrative  obscure.  Omitting  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley, 
the  same  traits  of  character,  with  very  few  exceptions,  have  been 
transmitted  from  the  first  to  the  ninth  generation. 

SAMUEL  HESCKLEY. 

Samuel  Hinckley,  the  common  ancestor  of  all  of  the  name  in 
this  country,  is  the  type  of  the  race.  He  was  a  dissenter,  though  on 
the  14th  of  March,  1734-5,  in  order  to  escape  out  of  his  native 
country,  he  was  obliged  to  swear  that  he  "conformed  to  the  order 
and  discipline  of  the  church"  of  England.*  He  was  honest,  indus- 
trious and  prudent,  qualities  which  have  been  transmitted  from 
father  to  son  down  to  the  present  time.  The  Hinckley's  are  zealous 
in  the  advocacy  of  whatever  opinions  they  adopt,  and  I  never  knew 
one  who  was  dishonest,  lazy  or  imprudent.  He  was  not  a  distin- 
guished man  or  prominent  in  political  life.  To  be  a  juryman  or  sur- 
veyor of  highways,  filled  the  measure  of  his  political  aspirations. 
He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  good  estate  for  the  times,  and  all 
his  children  were  as  well  educated  as  his  means  would  permit.  Very 
few  of  his  descendants  have  amassed  wealth,  and  a  smaller  number 
have  been  pinched  by  poverty. 

In  1628  it  appears  by  the  colony  records  that  Elder  Nathaniel 
Tilden,  of  Teuterden,  purchased  lands  in  Scituate.     He  is  spoken  of 

♦This  oath,  whether  taken  with  or  without  mental  reservation,  was  perjury,  according 
to  the  laws  of  England.  Many  of  our  ancestors  were  compelled  to  take  it,  or  remain  in 
England.  They  did  outwardly  "conform,"  in  order  to  save  themselves  from  imprisonment 
or  persecution.  Many  of  the  first  settlers  of  Barnstable  would  not  outwardly  conform,  and 
in  consequence  suffered  two  years  imprisonment  in  the  vile  dungeons  of  the  city  of  London. 
Mr.  Hinckley  thought  it  politic  to  outwardly  conform,  and  most  persons,  under  the  same 
circumstances,  would  have  done  the  same.  The  sin  consisted  in  compelling  such  men  to 
take  the  oath,  rather  than  in  the  taking  thereof.  The  Union  men  of  the  South  are  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  circumstances  at  the  present  time,  and  no  man  condemns  them  for  outward- 
ly conforming  to  the  requirements  of  the  rehels. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  31 

as  being  at  that  time  in  this  country.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth, 
and  before  removing  his  family  probably  came  over,  as  many  did,  to 
examine  the  country  and  fix  on  a  place  for  his  future  residence.  In 
the  spring  of  1635  Mr.  Tilden,  Samuel  Hinckley,  John  Lewis,  and 
James  Austin,  of  Tenterden,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  in  England, 
and  several  other  families  from  that  County,  making  a  company  of 
102,  counting  men,  women,  children  and  servants,  resolved  to  emi- 
grate to  New  England.  In  the  latter  part  of  March  they  sailed  from 
Sandwich  in  the  ship  Hercules,  200  tons,  Capt.  John  Witherly. 
Circumstances  make  it  probable  that  they  intended  to  join  the  Rev. 
.John  Lothrop,  who,  with  several  members  of  his  church,  had  taken 
passage  in  the  GriflSn  for  Boston  the  preceding  summer.  More  than 
half  of  the  passengers  who  came  over  in  the  Hercules  were  afterwards 
inhabitants  of  Scituate.* 

Samuel  Hinckley  brought  with  him  his  wife  Sarah  and  four 
children,  and  immediately  after  his  arrival  in  Boston  went  to  Scitu- 
ate and  built  a  house  which  Mr.  Lothrop  calls  No.  19.  Three  of 
his  fellow  passengers  also  built  houses  in  that  town  in  the  summer  of 
1635,  namely,  William  Hatch,  No.  17,  John  Lewis,  No.  18,  and 
Nathaniel  Tilden  No.  20.  The  street  on  which  they  built  was  called 
Kent  street.  Samuel  Hinckley  continued  to  reside  in  Scituate  till 
July,  1640,  when  he  sold  his  house,  farm  and  meadows,  and  re- 
moved to  Barnstable. 

Samuel  Hinckley  bought  his  lands  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hull,  and 
respecting  the  title  he  afterwards  had  some  trouble  with  the  town. 
There  is  no  record  of  his  lands  ;  but  their  location  is  well  known. 
His  houselot  was  bounded  south  by  his  son  Thomas',  and  west  by 
Rowley's  pond,  near  which,  according  to  tradition,  he  built  his 
house,  a  small  one-story  building,  with  a  thached  roof.  Precisely 
how  long  he  resided  in  that  house,  I  am  not  informed.  He  was  one 
of  the  very  first  who  removed  to  West  Barnstable,  where  he  owned 
one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  town,  now  owned  by  Levi  L.  Good- 
speed,  Esq.  His  son-in-law,  John  Smith,  owned  the  adjoining  lands, 
since  known  as  the  Otis  farm 

In  1637  Mr.  Samuel  Hinckley,  as  he  was  called  in  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  took  the  freeman's  oath,  though  his  name  appears  on 
the  list  of  the  preceding  year.  As  before  remarked,  he  was  not  a 
prominent  man,  though  his  name  frequently   occurs   on    the   records 


*Moore,  in  his  "Lives  of  the  GovernorB  of  New  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts,"  pages 
201  and  2,  states  that  Samuel  Hinckley,  in  1623,  remored  with  Rev.  John  Lothrop  from 
Egerton,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  to  London,  that  he  came  over  in  1634  in  the  ship  Griflin 
with  Mr.  Lothrop,  arrived  in  Boston  Sept.  18, 1634,  and  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month  re- 
moved to  Scituate,  and  that  he  removed  to  Barnstable  In  1639.  His  son  Thomas,  he  says, 
was  bom  in  1621,  and  that  he  "came  to  New  England  soon  after  his  father  had  made  a  set- 
tlement in  Barnstable."  Mr.  Moore  makes  these  statements  as  matters  of  fact.  To  say 
that  he  was  mistaken  in  his  suppositions,  does  not  excuse  him.  He  inferred  or  guessed  that 
Mr.  Hinckley  came  over  with  Mr,  Lothrop,  and  recorded  his  guess  as  a  truth  of  history. 
Mr.  H.  came  from  Tenterden  in  the  ship  Hercules  in  March  1635,  bringing  his  wife  and  four 
children,  as  the  Custom  House  records  at  the  port  of  Sandwich  show. 


32         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARU8TAB1E    FAMILIES. 

as  a  juror,  a  surveyor  of  highways,  and  as  one  of  the  granters  of  the 
lauds  at  Suckincsset. 

As  a  church  member  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  intolerant. 
The  fact  that  he  was  twice  indicted  for  "entertaining  strangers,"* 
indicates  that  he  belooged  to  the  liberal  party,  of  which  his  frienda 
Cudworth,  Hatherly  and  Robinson,  and  his  son-in-law.  Rev.  John 
Smith,  were  prominent  members. 

He  married  his  first  wife  in  England,  and  she  and  his  four  chil- 
dren came  over  with  him.  The  names  of  his  children  are  on  the 
Custom  House  record  ;  but  their  names  are  omitted  in  the  history  of 
the  town  of  Sandwich,  England^  from  which  Mr.  Savage  copied; 

Chitdren  of  Samuel  Hinckley. 

2  I.     Thomas,  born  in  England,  1618.      (See  below,) 

3  II.     Susannah,  born  in  England,  married  in  1643,    Mr.    John 

Smith,  of  Barnstable,  and  had  a  large  family.      (See  Smith.) 

4  III.     Sarah,  born  in  England,  married  by  Mr.  Prince  Dec.  12, 

1649,  to  Elder  Henry  Cobb,  and  was  his  second  wife.      (See 
Cobb.) 

5  IV.     Mary,  born  in  England.     It  appears  by  her   father's   will 
that  she  married  and  had  a  family,  and  was  living  in  1662. 

6  V.     Elizabeth,  born  in  Scituate,  baptized  Sept.  6,   1635,    mar- 

ried July  15,  1657,  Elisha  Parker.      (See  Parker.) 

7  VI.     Samuel,  born  in  Scituate,  bap.  Feb.  4,  1637-8,  buried   'm 
Barnstable  March  22,  1640-1,  aged  three  years. 

8  VII.     A  daughter,  born  in  Scituate,  and  buried   in   Barnstable 

July  8,  1640. 

9  VIII.     Twins  born  in   )    buried  Feb.  6,  1640-1. 

10  IX.  Barnstable,      J    buried  May  19,  1640-1. 

11  X.     Samuel,  born  in  Barnstable  24  July,    1642,  and   baptized 

same  day.      (See  below.) 

12  XI.     John,  born  in  Barnstable  24   May,    1644,  and    baptized 

26th  of  same  month.    .  (See  account  below.) 
Mrs.  Sarah  Hinckley  died  Aug.  18,  1656,  and  Samuel  Hinckley 
married  Dec.  15,  1657,  for  his  second  wife,  Bridget  Bodfish,  widow 
of  Robert  of  Sandwich. 

Samuel  Hinckley  died  Oct.  31,  1662.  In  his  will  dated  Oct.  8, 
1662,  he  gives  to  his  wife  Bridget  the  use  of  his  house,  a  garden  and 
some  land  ;  his  two  cows.  Prosper  and  Thrivewell,  and  "all  the 
household  stuff  she  brouarht  with  her."  His  daughters  Susannah, 
Mary,  Sarah  and  Elizabeth,  are  named,  and  he  gives  to  each  of 
them  and  to  each  of  their  children,  one  shilling  each.  As  Mr. 
Hinckley  had  a  large  property,  the  presumption  is  that  he  had  given 
a  dower  to  each  of  his  daughters  at  the  time  of  their   marriage.     He 

*"Entertaming  strangers."  "We  are  commanded  to  "entertain  strangers,"  and  are  told 
that  some  have  thereby  "entertained  angels  unawares."  By  "strangers"  our  ancestors 
"Quakers,"  and  thence  the  criminality  of  the  act. 


GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  33 

gives  legacies  to  his  grandchildren  Samuel,  Thomas,  Marj-,  Bath- 
shea,  children  of  his  son  Thomas,  and  to  his  grandsons  Samuel 
and  Jonathan  Cobb.  His  personal  estate  was  apprised  at  £162,16, 
and  he  had  a  large  real  estate  which  he  gave  to  his  three  sons, 
Thomas,  Samuel  and  John. 

Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley,  son  of  Samuel,  married  for  his  first 
wife,  Dec.  4,  1641,  Mary  Richards,*  daughter  of  Thomas  of 
Weymouth.  She  died  June  24,  1659,  and  he  married  March  16, 
1660,  for  his  second,  Mary  Glover,t  widow  of  Nathaniel  Glover. 
Her  grandson,  Rev.  Thomas  Prince,  says  "she  was  the  only  child 
of  Mr.  Quartermaster  Smith  by  his  first  wife,  formerly  of  Lan- 
cashire, in  England,  and  afterwards  of  Dorchester,  in  New  Eng- 
land," and  "was  born  in  Lancashire  in  1630.  Her  parents  living 
under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richard  Mather  at  Toxteth  in 
that  shire,  they  came  up  and  brought  her  with  them  to  Bristol  in 
order  for  N.  E.  in  April,  1635.  Her  father  and  others  settling  at 
Dorchester,  and  a  new  church  gathered  there  Aug.  23,  1636,  the 
said  Mr.  Richard  Mather  became  the  Teacher  ;  under  whose  min- 
istry she  lived,  unless  when  sent  to  school  at  Boston.  She  mar- 
ried to  Mr.  Nathaniel  Glover,  a  son  of  the  Hon.  John  Glover,  of 
said  Dorchester,  by  whom  she  had  Nathaniel  and  Ann.  And  then 
this  husband  dying  she  remained  a  widow  till  when  she  married 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Hinckley,  Esq.,  of  Barnstable."  Her  daughter 
married  July  11,  1673,  William  Rawson,  and  her  son  Hannah 
Hinckley. 

Mrs.  Mary  Hinckley  is  represented  to  have  been  beautiful  in 
person,  and  the  most  accomplished  and  intelligent  woman  in  the 
Colony.  Her  daughters  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  mother, 
and  in  her  grandsons  seems  to  have  been  concentrated  the  intel- 
lectual vigor  of  the  grandfather,  and  the  accomplishments  of  the 
grandmother.  This  is  remarkable,  but  perhaps  not  more  so  than 
the  other  facts  named,  that  the  distinguished  traits  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  ancestor  of  this  family  have  been  transmitted  from 
father  to  son  to  the  present  generation. 

Mrs.  Hinckley  died  July  29,  1703,  in  the  73d  year  of  her 
age.  To  her  may  truly  be  applied  the  words  frequently  occurr- 
ing in  ancient  eulogies,  "She  lived  greatly  beloved  and  died  great- 
ly lamented."  Gov.  Hinckley,  then  86  years  of  age,  wrote  some 
verses  to  her  memory  which  have  been  printed.  She  was  buried 
in  the  ancient  burying-ground  in  Barnstable,  and  a  monument  was 

*Her  sister  Alice  married  Deputy  Got.  "WiUiam  Bradford,  making  Mm  brother-in-law 
to  Gov.  Hinckley. 

tMrs.  Glover's  friends  were  opposed  to  the  marriage.  She  had  two  children  and  Mr. 
Hinckley  eight,  and  they  urged  this  as  a  reason  against  the  marriage.  About  the  time  of 
his  marriage  Mr.  H.  earned  with  him  some  apple- tree  grafts  from -his  own  orchatd.-'  These 
.he  set  in  a  tree  which  is  said  to  be  yet  in  bearing  in  Quincy,  and  known  as  the  Hinckley 
apple  tree. 


34  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

erected  to   her  memory,  which  has  now  crumbled  to   pieces.     The 
inscription  has  however  been  preserved. 
HERE  LYETH  Ye 
BODY  OF  Ye  TRULY 

virtuous  and  praise- 
worthy mrs.  mary 
hinchCey,  wife  to 

Mr.  THOMAS  HINCKLEY, 
DIED  JULY  Ye  29,  1703, 
IN  Ye  73d  YEAR  OF 
HER  AGE. 

Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley  died  April  25,  1705,  aged  87,  not  85, 
as  stated  on  the  monument  recently  erected  to  his  memory. 

Mr.  Moore,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Governors  of  Plymouth  and 
Massachusetts,  has  furnished  the  most  extended  notice  of  Gov. 
Thomas  Hinckley  that  has  been  published.  He  obtains  his  facts 
mainly  from  the  colonial  records,  consequently  it  is  little  more 
than  a  synopsis  of  his  official  acts.  In  relation  to  his  individual 
history,  he  furnishes  little  information  and  of  that  little,  much  is 
wanting  in  accuracy. 

I  confess  that  I  do  not  feel  competent  to  write,  as  it  should 
be  written,  the  biography  of  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley.  I  may 
however  attempt  it  in  an  article  separate  from  this  genealogy.  I 
can  collect  the  facts,  and  lay  a  foundation  on  which  another  can 
build.  During  half  a  century  he  held  offices  of  trust  and  power 
in  the  Old  Colony,  and  had  a  controling  influence  over  the  popu- 
lar mind.  He  was  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune  in  life  ;  the 
builder  of  his  own  reputation.  He  was  a  man  of  good  common 
sense,  and  of  sound  judgment ;  honest  and  honorable  in  all  his 
dealings  ;  industrious,  persevering  and  self-reliant ;  and,  if  it  be 
any  praise,  it  may  be  added,  he  was  the  best  read  lawyer  in  the 
Colony.  He  had  some  enemies — it  would  have  been  a  miracle  if 
so  prominent  and  so  independent  a  man  had  had  none.  Barren 
trees  are  not  pelted.  The  Quaker  influence  was  arrayed  in  hostil- 
ity to  him.  He  examined  every  question  presented  to  him  in  its 
legal  aspects,  and  viewing  his  acts  from  that  stand-point,  he  was 
very  rarely  in  the  wrong.  He  was  a  rigid  independent  in  relig- 
ion, and  his  tolerant  opinions,  though  in  advance  of  his  times,  did 
not  come  up  to  the  standard  of  the  present.  Some  of  his  acts  I 
shall  leave  for  others  to  defend  ;  but  that  he  was  the  intolerant 
and  cruel  man  that  some  of  the  infatuated  bigots  of  his  time  rep- 
resented him  to  be,  the  facts  will  not  sustain.  He  was  a  living 
man,  never  allowed  his  faculties  to  rust  by  inaction,  and  to  the 
last  could  draft  an  instrument  with  as  much  clearness  and  precis- 
ion as  in  his  early  manhood. 

Children  of  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley  born  in  Barnstable : 
13.     I.     Mary,  3d  Aug.  1644,  baptized  Aug.  4,  1644.     She  mar- 


■aENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  35 

ried  a  man  tiatued  Weyborne,  perhaps  John,  a  son  of  Tbomas 
Weyborne  who  came  from  Teaterden  to  the  "Castle"  in  Bos- 
ton harbor  in  1638,  and  probably  acquaintances  before  they 
came  over.  She  was  living  in  1688. 
14.  II,  Sarah,  4th  Nov.  1646,  baptized  Dec.  6,  1646,  married 
March  27,  1673,  the  second  Nathaniel  Bacon.  She  died 
Feb.  16,  1686-7,  aged  40,  leaving  four  chUdren.  (See 
Bacon. ) 

1.5.  III.  Meletiah,  25th  Nov.  1648,  bap.  next  day.  She  mar- 
ried 23d  Oct.  1668,  Josiah  Crocker  of  West  Barnstable,  and 
was  the  mother  of  a  most  respectable  family  of  ten  children. 
Benjamin,  the  youngest,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1713,  and  was  many  years  teacher  of  the  Ipswich  Grammar 
School.  She  survived  her  husband  26  years,  and  died  2d 
Feb.  1714-15,  aged  66  years.  In  her  will  dated  21st  Jan. 
1713-14,  she  names  her  five  sons  and  three  daughters  then 
living.     (See  Crocker.) 

16.  IV.  Hannah,  15th  April,  1651,  bap.  April  27,  1851,  mar- 
ried Capt.  Nathaniel  Glover,  son  of  her  mother-in-law  by  a 
former  husband.  She  died  in  Dorchester  Aug.  20,  1730, 
aged  79  years,  4  months,  5  days.  She  had  a  daughter  Han- 
nah born  Dec.  3,  1681,  and  died  6th  Jan.  1724. 

17.  V.  Samuel,  14th  Feb.  1652-3,  bap.  Feb.  20,  1652-3.  (See 
account  below.) 

18.  VI.  Thomas,  5th  Dec.  1654.  He  died  in  1688,  aged  34, 
leaving  no  issue.  In  1686,  when  the  County  road  was  laid 
out,  his  house  is  named  as  standing  on  the  south  side  of  the 
road  between  the  houses  of  George  Lewis  and  Samuel  Cobb, 
probably  the  same  house  that  he  gives  in  his  will  to  his 
nephews,  and  that  was  afterwards  owned  by  his  nephew 
Samuel.  As  he  was  a  householder  in  1686,  it  is  probable 
that  he  did  marry  and  that  his  wife  died  early,  according 
to  a  tradition  preserved  in  the  Crowell  family. 

In  his  will  dated  27th  July,  1688,  and  proved  on  the  13th 
of  Sept.  following,  he  bequeaths  to  his  honored  father 
Thomas  Hinckley,  all  the  lands  which  his  father  had  given 
him  excepting  the  portion  he  had  sold  Samuel  Cobb,  and  his 
horse.  To  his  brother  Ebenezer  he  gave  one-half  of  all  his 
uplands  within  the  Common  Field  gate,  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  lands  he  had  bought  with  the  housing  thereupon,  equally 
to  his  sister  Crocker's  eldest  son,  and  to  his  brother  Samuel's 
eldest  son.  All  his  meadows  in  Barnstable  and  in  Yar- 
mouth, he  gave  in  equal  proportions  to  his  brother  Ebenezer 
and  to  his  said  sister  Crocker's  and  brother  Samuel's  eldest 
sons.  He  also  bequeathed  to  his  honored  mother  £10  in 
money  ;  to  his  well  beloved  friend,  Faith  "Winslow,  daughter 


86         GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

of  Nathaniel,  £5  in  money  ;  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Russell  £3  out 
of  his  estate ;  to  his  sistera  Mary,  Thankful,  Abigail  and 
Reliance,  each  a  cow  ;  to  his  brother  John  his  two  four  year 
old  steers  ;  to  each  of  his  sisters,  Hannah,  Bathshua,  Mehit- 
abel,  Mary  and  Experience,  10  shillings.  His  lands  were  at 
the  east  end  of  the  town,  and  were  bought  of  the  Lumbards, 
and  his  house  was  probably  that  afterwards  owned  by  Dea. 
Gershom  Davis. 

19.  VII.  Bathshua,  15th  May,  1657,  married  June  6,  1681, 
Samuel  Hall,  of  Dorchester,  bad  Bathshua  Nov.  14,  1683. 
She  was  living  in  1G88. 

20.  VIII.  Mehetable,  24th  March,  1659.  She  married  Samuel 
Worden  of  Yarmouth,  who  was  afterwards  of  Boston.  She 
had  Samuel,  baptized  at  Barnstable  Feb.  24,  1683-4.  Her 
husband  died  early,  and  she  married  25th  Aug.  1698,  Wil- 
liam Avery  of  Dedham,  his  third  wife. 

21.  IX.     Admire,  28th  Jan.  1660,  died  16th  of  Feb.  following. 

22.  X.     Ebenezer,  22d  Feb.  1661,  died,  2  weeks  after. 

23.  XI.  Mary,  31st  July,  1662.  She  was  the  second  wife  of 
Samuel  Prince,  Esq.,  of  Sandwich,  Middleboro',  and  Roch- 
ester. She  was  the  mother  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Prince, 
born  May  1687,  graduate  Harvard  College  1707,  a  most  as- 
siduous annualist,  whose  services  in  perpetuating  evidence 
relative  to  our  early  history,  exceeds,  says  Mr.  Savage,  that 
of  any  other  man  since  the  first  generation.  When  young  he 
resided  at  Barnstable  with  his  grandfather  Hincklej',  whose 
papers  he  filed  and  preserved  ;  but  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
many  of  them  have  since  been  scattered  and  lost.  She  also 
had  Nathan  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1718,  a  man  of 
superior  talent  to  his  brother,  but  of  less  value  to  society. 

24.  XII.  Experience,  Feb.  28,  1664.  She  married  James 
Whipple,  of  Barnstable.  She  is  named  in  her  brother 
Thomas'  will  dated  27th  July,  1688,  but  it  seems  that  she 
died  soon  after  that  date,  leaving  no  issue.  He  married  for 
his  second  wife  25th  Feb.  1692,  Widow  Abigail  Green  of 
Boston,  a  daughter  of  Lawrence  Hammon,  born  27th  April, 
1667,  and  by  her  had  nine  children.  He  removed  to  Boston 
in  1708.  He  owned  the  estate  afterwards  owned  by  Hon. 
Sylvanus  Bourne,  and  his  son  Dr.  Richard. 

25.  XIII.     John,  9th  June,  1667.     (See  account  below.) 

26.  XIV.  Abigail,  8th  April,  1669.  She  married  2d  Jan. 
1697-8,  Rev.  Joseph  Lord,  graduate  Harvard  College,  1691 
of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  founder  of  Dorchester,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  afterwards  minister  of  Chatham.  He  was  a  school 
master,  physician,  and  clergyman.  I  have  a  volume  of  his 
manuscript  sermons  and  a  portion  of  his  diary,  beautifully 
executed.     She  had  nine  children,  and  died  on  the  night  of 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  37 

Dec.  14,  1725,  aged  66.     He  married  Nov.  16,  1743,  for  his 
second  wife  Bethia  Smith.     He  died  ia  1748,  aged  76. 

27.  XV.  Thankful,  20th  Aug.  1671,  married  12th  Nov.  1675, 
Rev.  Experience  Mayhew,  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  teacher  of 
the  Indians  there,  and  the  author  of  several  books  in  relation 
to  them.  She  was  the  mother  of  a  most  remarkable  family 
of  children  ;  namely  :  Joseph,  Harvard  College  1730  ;  Na- 
than, Harvard  College  1731  ;  Lecariah,  a  missionary  to  the 
Indians  who  died  6th  March,  1806,  aged  88  ;  and  Jonathan, 
Harvard  College  1744,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  divines 
of  the  country. 

28.  XVI.     Ebenezer,  23d  Sept.  1673.     (See  act.  below.) 

29.  XVII.  Reliance,  15th  Dec.  1675,  baptized  Dec.  19,  1675, 
being  on  that  Sunday  of  the  great  Narraganset  Swamp 
fight.  The  father  was  an  officer  in  Capt.  Gorham's  com- 
pany, and  Rev.  Mr.  Russell,  the  minister,  gave  the  name. 
She  married  15th  Dec.  1698,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Stone  of  Har- 
wich, and  was  the  mother  of  twelve  children. 

Samuel  Hinckley,  son  of  Samuel,  resided  on  his  father's  es- 
tate at  West  Barnstable.  He  was  a  farmer.  He  married  14th 
Dec.  1664,  for  his  first  wife,  Mary,  daughter  of  Roger  Goodspeed. 
She  died  Dec.  20,  1666,  aged  22,  and  he  married  Jan.  15,  1668-9, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Edward  Fitzrandolphe.  He  died  intestate  Jan. 
2,  1726-7,  aged  84,  and  his  estate  was  divided  on  the  31st  of  the 
same  month,  by  a  mutual  agreement  between  his  four  sons,  Ben- 
jamin, Joseph,  Isaac,  Ebenezer  and  Thomas,  who  appear  to  have 
been  all  the  surviving  heirs.  His  widow  signs  her  name  as 
"Elizabeth  Bursley,"  wife  of  John  B. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 
Benjamin,  6th  Dec.  1666.     (See  below.) 
Samuel,  6th  Feb.  1669,  died  3d  Jan.  1676. 
Joseph,  15th  May,  1672.     (See  below.) 
Isaac,  20th  Aug."l674.     (See  below.) 
Mary,  May  1677,  died  15th  June,  1677. 
Mercy,  9th  April,  1679. 
.     Ebenezer,  2d  Aug.  1685.     (See  below.) 
I.     Thomas,  1st  Jan.   1688-9.     (See  below.) 
John   Hinckley,  son  of  Samuel,  resided  at  West  Barnstable. 
He  was  a  man  of  some  note,  often  employed  in  town  affairs,    and 
ensign  of  the  militia   company,  an  office  of  honor  in   his  day.     He 
married  for  his  first  wife  July  1668,  Bethia  Lothrop.     She  was  a 
member  of   the  church,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  an   ex- 
emplary sister.     She   died  10th  July,  1697,  and  he  married   Nov. 
24th,  1697,  for  his  second  wife,  Mary  Goodspeed. 

Children  of  Ensign  John  Hinckley  horn  in  Barnstable. 
38.     1.     Sarah,    end   of  May,  1669,  married   John  Crocker   22d 
June,  1721. 


30. 

I. 

31. 

II. 

32. 

III. 

33. 

IV. 

34. 

V. 

35. 

VI. 

36. 

VII 

37. 

VII 

38    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

39.  II.  Samuel,  2d  Feb.  1670-1.  He  removed  to  Stonington, 
Conn.,  and  was  living  in  1710. 

40.  III.  Bethia,  latter  end  of  March,  1673.  She  died  12th 
April,  1715,  aged  32,  according  to  her  gravestones  in  West 
Barnstable  churchyard. 

41.  IV.  Hannah,  middle  of  May,  1675,  married  June  2,  1708, 
Benjamin  Lewis.     (See  Lewis.) 

42.  V.     Jonathan,  15th  Feb.  1677. 

43.  VI.     Ichabod,  28th  Aug.  1680. 

44.  VII.     Gershom,  2d  April,  1682. 

The  above  are  all  the  children  named  on  the  town  record ; 
but  in  the  settlement  of  his  estate,  and  in  the  will  of  Bethia  in 
1715,  and  of  Mercy  in  1707,  the  following  are  also  named,  proba- 
bly children  of  the  second  wife  : 

45.  VIII.     Mary. 

46.  IX.     Abigail. 

47.  X.  Mercy.  She  died  single  in  1718,  leaving  £100  estate 
mostly  in  money.  She  names  her  sisters  Sarah,  Hannah 
Lewis,  Mary  and  Abigail.  Her  brother  Job,  Thomas 
Crocker,  Jr.,  Walley  Crocker,  Rev.  Mr.  Lord,  and  her  lov- 
ing cousin  Joseph  Lothrop,  whom  she  appoints  executor. 

Ensign  John  Hinckley  died  7th  Dec.  1709.  Inventory  by 
Joseph  Smith  and  Daniel  Parker  Dec.  13,  1709.  Real  estate 
£431,10  ;  personal,  £200,15,4,  and  was  sworn  to  by  his  widow 
Mary.  His  sons  Ichabod  and  Gershom  administered.  His  estate 
was  divided  to  his  wife  Mary,  eldest  son  Samuel  of  Stonington, 
Ichabod,  Bethia,  Hannah  Lewis,  Jonathan,  Gershom,  Job,  Abi- 
gail, Mercy  and  Sarah. 

(17.)  Samuel  Hinckley,  son  of  Gov.  Thomas,  called  junior, 
to  distinguish  him  from  his  uncle  of  the  same  name,  resided  at 
West  Barnstable.  His  father  in  his  will  says  he  gave  to  him  the 
greatest  part  of  his  great  lot  where  his  son  built  his  house.  The 
boundaries  of  his  great  lot  are  not  on  the  record.  It  was  proba- 
bly a  part  of  the  tract  at  West  Barnstable,  known  as  the  "Timber 
Lands."  Samuel  Hinckley,  Jr.,  was  not  a  prominent  man.  He 
married  Nov.  13,  1676,  Sarah,  daughter  of  John  Pope  of  Sand- 
wich. ,  His  death  is  recorded  with  commendable  particularity, 
"Sam'l  Hinckley,  son  of  Mr.  Thos.  Hinckley,  deceas'd,  ye  19 
March,  1697,"  new  style  I  presume,  aged  46  years,  and  his  widow 
married  Aug.  17,  1698,  Thos.  Huckins,  2d.  This  family  residing 
remote  from  the  principal  settlements,  and  had  few  advantages  for 
obtaining  an  education.  The  mother  and  her  son  Thomas  signed 
with  their  marks  Dec.  17,  1700.  This  family  removed  to  Har- 
wich and  some  of  the  members  afterwards  to  Maine. 

Samuel  Hinckley  in  his  will  dated  March  12,   1696-7,  gives 


GBNEALOGICAt,   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  39 

half  of  his  land  and  "housing"  to  his  wife  Sarah,  and  the  -other 
half  to  his  son  Thomas,  provided  he  confirms  the  conveyance  of 
the  lands  of  his  son  which  he  sold  unto  Samuel  Cobb  and  Henry 
Cobb  which  were  given  to  his  son  by  his  brother  Thomas  Hinck- 
ley, also  all  the  money  due  him  from  Richard  Child,  Eleazer  and 
Jonathan  Crocker,  being  a  part  of  the  money  the  land  sold  for. 
He  appoints  his  wife  executrix,  and  his  brothers,  Capt.  Seth  Pope 
and  Josiah  Crocker,  overseers.  Inventory  April  2,  1698,  by  Job 
Crocker,  Josiah  Crocker  and  Daniel  Parker.  Personal  estate 
£137,1. 

Children  iorn  in  Barnstable. 

48.  I.  Mercy,  22d  July,  1678,  married  Samuel  Bangs  Jan.  13, 
1706,  of  Harwich. 

49.  II.  Mehitabel,  28th  Dec.  1679,  died  in  Harwich  April  30, 
1718. 

50.  III.     Thomas,  19th  March,   1680-1,  married  Mercy 

and  had  born  in  Harwich  Joshua,  March  29,  1707,  Thomas, 
March  11,  1708-9.  He  died  in  Harwich  and  administration 
on  his  estate  was  granted  to  his  widow  Oct.  11,  1710.  She 
married  2d  William  Crosby  April  26,  1711.  Joshua  married 
Lydia  Snow  March  31,  1726,  and  had  in  Harwich,  Thomas, 
M"areh  4,  1726-7;  Joshua,  Aug.  15,  1728  ;  Josiah,  May  5, 
1730;  Elkanah,  July  1,  1732;  Nathan,  June  1,  1734; 
Lydia,  April  1,  1736  ;  Ruth,  Feb.  2,  1738  ;  Isaac,  Feb.  5, 
1740;  and  Benjamin,  June  8,  1744.  He  had  other  children 
whose  names  are  not  on  the  town  records,  for  his  son  Reuben 
was  baptized  April  9,  1748.  In  1763  Joshua  Hinckley  and 
his  wife  Lydia  were  dismissed  from  the  Harwich  church  to 
the  church  in  Oblong.  He  was  a  worthy,  respectable  man  ; 
but  unfortunately  very  poor.  Thomas,  son  of  Thomas,  mar- 
ried March  31,  1730,  Ruth  Myrick  of  H.  March  7,  1765, 
Lydia  Nickerson  of  Chatham,  and  July  31,  1766,  Hannah 
Severance  of  H.  He  is  called  a  blacksmith  and  resided 
near  Hinckley's  Pond  in  H.  The  record  of  his  family  is 
lost.  He  had  Nathaniel  baptized  July  30,  1738;  Mary, 
1741;  Ruth,  1743 ;  Mercy,  1745 ;  Isaac,  July  12,  1747. 
He  died  in  1769,  leaving  a  widow  Hannah  and  a  minor  son 
Elijah.  His  widow  married  perhaps  in  1771,  John  Burgess 
of  Yarmouth.  Nathaniel  of  this  family  married  1760  Mercy 
Nickerson  of  Chatham  and  Mary, '  Nathan  Crowell  Jan.  1, 
1761. 

51.  IV.  Seth,  16th  April,  1683.  April  5,  1711,  letters  of  ad- 
ministration were  granted  to  Samuel  Hinckley  of  Harwich, 
on  the  estate  of  his  brother  Seth,  late  of  Barnstable,  de- 
ceased. His  heirs  were  his  brothers  Job,  Shubael,  Josiah, 
Elnathan,  sisters  Mary  Bangs,  Mehitabel  Hinckley  and  Mer- 


40        GENEALOGICAL  NOTES   OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

cy   Crosby,   and   to  the  two  children  of  Thomas  Hinckleyr 
another  of  the  brothers  deceaeed. 

52.  V.  Samuel,  24th  Sept.  1684^  married  Mary,  daughter  off 
Edmond,  and  grand  daughter  of  Major  John  Freeman.  Hi» 
children  born  in  Harwich  were  Seth,  Dec.  25,  1707  j  Shu- 
bael,  March  15,  1708-9  ;  Samuel,  Feb.  12,  1710-11 ;  Mary, 
Feb.  12,  1710-11,  twin,  died  March,  1710-11  ;  Edmon^, 
Nov.  20,  1712  ;  Reliance,  Nov.  21,  1714  (this  date  is  doubt- 
ful). She  is  recorded  as  the  eldest  child,  date  probably 
1704.  Samuel  Hinckley  and  his  wife  were  dismissed  from 
the  Harwich  to  the  church  in  Truro  in  April  1719. 

53.  VI.     Elnathan,  8th  Sept.  1686,  living  in  1711. 

54.  VII.     Job,  16th  Feb.  1687-8,  living  in  1711. 

55.  VIII.  Shubael,  Ist  May,  1699,  married  first,  Lydia,  daugh- 
ter of  Capt.  Jonathan  Bangs,  1712,  had  Sarah  March  2, 
1712-13,  who  probably  died  early  ;  and  Samuel,  Jan.  5, 
1714-15.  His  uncle  Edward  Bangs  appointed  his  guardian 
1728.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  Oct.  7,  1718,  Mary 
Snow.  This  is  probably  the  Shubael  Hinckley  of  "Old 
York,"  Me.,  mentioned  in  the  April  number,  1854,  of  the 
Genealogical  Register,  who  moved  to  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Kennebec,  had  four  wives,  twenty  children,  and  died  at 
Hallowell  aged  92.  His  son  .James  married  Mary  McKen 
ney  of  Georgetown,  Me.,  and  had  born  in  Topsham,  James, 
14th  Aug.  1769  ;  Thomas,  April  3,  1772  ;  Mercy,  Dec.  17, 
1775;  Nicholas,  April  2,  1778  ;  Ebenezer,  Oct.  20,  1780; 
Clark,  May  10,  1783  ;  Levi,  May  29,  1785  ;  Olive  O.,  Aug. 
24,  1787  ;  Mehitabel,  May  18,  1790  ;  and  Mary,  March  18, 
1793.     He  has  descendants  in  Maine. 

56.  IX.  Mercy,  11th  Jan.  1692,  mamed  by  Joseph  Doane, 
Esq.,  to  William  Crosby  April  24,  1711,  and  had  seven  chil- 
dren. 

57.  X.  Josiah,  24th  Jan.  1694-5.  He  was  a  blacksmith  and 
lived  in  Truro.     Married  Lydia  Paine. 

58.  XI.     Elnathan,  29th  Dec.  1697,  (?1695.) 

I  am  indebted  to  Josiah  Paine,  Esq.,  of  Harwich,  for  much 
information  respecting  the  family  of  Sam'l  Hinckley  (son  of  Gov. 
Thomas.)  That  a  woman  having  eleven  children,  the  oldest  only 
twenty  years  of  age,  should  have  deserted  her  family  and  married 
a  man  having  eight  children,  is  what  mothers  do  not  often  do.* 

(25.)  John  Hinckley,  son  of  Gov.  Thomas,  born  9th  June, 
1667,  was  a  farmer,  and  as  the  stock  and  tools  of  a  shoe  maker 
are  apprised   as  a  part  of  his  assets,  I  infer  that  he  had  learned 

*Her  aon  Jabez  Huckins  was  bom  20th  July,  1698,  a^d  her  marriage  to  Thomas  Huck- 
ins  was  solemnized  on  the  17th  of  Aug.  next  following.  If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the 
Huckins  genealogy,  the  reason  why  the  children  left  their  unnatural  mother  will  be  appar- 
ent. The'  some  of  this  family  removed  to  Truro,  those  of  the  name  now  resident  in  that 
town  are  not  descendants  of  Samuel;  but  of  his  brother  Jolm. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  41 

that  trade.  In  those  times,  many  who  did  not  work  regularly  at 
the  trade,  made  and  mended  the  shoes  for  their  own  families. 
This  was  probably  the  fact  in  regard  to  John  Hinckley.  He  was 
a  witness  to  the  will  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Newman  of  Rehobeth, 
Nov.  18,  1681,  and  Mr.  Savage  thence  infers  that  he  was  then  a 
pupil  of  Mr.  Newman.  He  occupied  for  a  time  a  part  of  his 
father's  house.  He  was  honest,  industrious,  and  prudent,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church,  but  did  not  possess  much  talent  or  business 
capacity.  He  married  May  1,  1691,  Thankful,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Trott  of  Dorchester.  He  died  in  1706,  and  his  widow 
married  Mr.  Jonathan  Crocker  of  West  Barnstable,  B'^eb.  1710-11. 
He  died  in  1746,  leaving  her  again  a  widow.  His  father  gave  him 
the  westerly  half  of  his  dwelling  house,  and  of  his  farm  and  land 
at  the  Calves  Pasture.  He  outlived  his  father  less  than  a  year, 
and  was  only -thirty-eight  at  his  death.  Letters  of  administration 
on  his  estate  were  granted  to  his  widow  Thankful  Hinckley  March 
22,  1706-6.  His  real  estate  was  apprised  at  £100,  and  his  perso- 
nal at  £93,10.  Among  the  articles  apprised  were  his  leather  and 
shoemaker's  tools  £1,  and  a  servant  boy  and  a  girl  £12.  Slaves 
or  servants  in  those  days  do  not  appear  to  have  been  valued  very 
highly.  The  final  settlement  of  his  estate  was  made  May  27, 
1722,  by  "Thankful  Crocker,  formerly  Thankful  Hinckley."  She 
appears  to  have  been  a  good  manager,  for  beside  the  support  of 
her  family  the  personal  estate  had  increased  in  value  £60.  John 
Hinckley  bought  out  his  sisters  Abiah  and  Thankful,  and  four- 
fifths  were  divided .  to  him  and  one-fifth  to  his  brother  James. 
John  had  all  the  lands  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  and  at  the 
Calves  Pasture,  excepting  the  dwelling  house  which  had  been  sold 
to  Samuel  AUyn,  and  the  lot  by  the  hill  on  the  south  of  the  pond 
where  he  afterwards  built  his  house,  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of 
Robinson  T.  Hinckley,  deceased. 

Children  of  '■^Mr.  John  Hinckley,  Jr."  horn  in  Barnstable. 

59.  I.     John,  29th  March,  1692,  died  Aug.  24,  1694. 

60.  11.     Mary,  24th  Feb.  1694,  died  in  1722. 

61.  III.  Abiah,  24th  March,  1696,  baptized  Abigail,  married 
Dec.  8,  1715,  Dea.  Samuel  Chipman.     (See  Chipman.) 

62.  IV.  Thankful,  14th  July,  1699,  married  Oct.  11,  1724, 
James  Smith.     (See  Smith.) 

63.  V.  John,  19th  Feb.  1701.  He  was  a  carpenter,  and  was 
extensively  engaged  in  building  in  Barnstable  and  the  adja- 
cent towns.  He  built  the  Meeting  House  at  Marsbpee  in 
1757,  and  in  1762  added  the  high  steeple  to  the  Meeting 
House  in  the  East  Parish  in  Barnstable.  He  was  a  man  of 
sound  judgment,  good  business  habits,  and  exercised  a  wide 
and  controlling  influence.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the  east 
church,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  most  respected  and  ex- 
emplary members.     In  1743  he  was  Lieutenant  of  the  troop 


42  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

of  horse  in  the  County  of  Barnstable,  and  in  1757  Captain. 
The  following  order  has  an  historical  interest,  and  I  there- 
fore copy  it  from  the  original,  preserved  among  Dea.  Hinck- 
ley's papers.* 

"First  Eegiment  in  the  Co.  of  Barnstable,  the  15th  of  August,  1757. 
To  Capt'n  John  Hinckley,  Captaiu  of  the  Troop  in  the  County  of  Barn- 
stable, Greetikg  : 

[L.  s.]  Having  received  intelligence  this  day  from  his  Excellency 
THE  GovEKNOUR  that  a  very  large  body  of  the  French  and  Indian  enemy 
have  made  themselves  masters  of  fort  William  Henry,  near  Lake 
George,  and  have  likewise  invested  fort  Edward ;  and  there  being  reason 
to  apprehend  that  the  enemy  will  penetrate  farther  into  the  country  un- 
less large  reinforcements  are  sent  to  oppose  their  progress,  and  he  has 
ordered  me  to  send  ofif  without  delay  the  Troop  of  horse  belonging  to 
this  Regiment,  being  completely  furnished  with  arms  and  ammunition 
according  to  law,  and  with  what  provision,  &c.,  they  can  carry  to  Sir 
William  Pepperel,  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Province,  wheresoever 
he  shall  be,  and  then  to  put  themselves  under  his  command  and  to  re- 
ceive his  further  orders. 

These  are  therefore  in  his  Majesty's  name,  to  require  you  forthwith 
to  muster  the  Troop  of  horse  under  your  command  compleat  in  arms 
and  with  ammunition  and  provision  as  abovesaid  to  meet  to-morrow  at 
twelve  of  the  clock  at  the  house  of  the  widow  Mary  Chipman  in  Bain- 
stable,  to  be  ready  forthwith  to  march  from  thence  to  Sir  William  Pep- 
perel as  afores'd  wherever  he  be,  and  then  to  put  yourselves  under  his 
command  and  to  receive  his  further  orders.  Hereof  you  may  not  fail. 
Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  the  day  and  year  aboves'd. 

JAMES  OTIS, 

Coll'n  of  sd  Eegiment. 

Dea.  Hinckley  received  a  common  school  education.  His  ac- 
counts are  remarkable  for  their  compactness  and  clearness.  All 
the  accounts  of  the  materials  and  labor  of  building  a  house,  he 
would  condense  into  a  space  not  larger  than  the  hand.  The  fol- 
lowing are  his  entries  respecting  the  building  of  the  steeple  of  the 
east  Meeting  House : 

"Feb.  21,  1762,  then  began  to  cut  timber  for  the  steeple. 
July  the  6,   then  raised  the  steeple."    The  accounts   for  labor  are 

*Among  his  papers  there  is  an  order  from  Gov.  Thomas  Pownal,  dated  Aug.  4, 1758,  by 
which  he  is  "authorized  and  empowered  to  take  upon  you  the  charge  of  seventy  men  and 
to  conduct  them  to  the  regiments  to  which  they  belong,"  &c.  Also  a  letter  from  Hon. 
-Thomas  Hubbard,  dated  Boston,  Oct.  4, 1757,  in  which  he  advises  Dea.  H.  that  he  has 
bought  ten  thousand  feet  of  seasoned  boards,  and  16  m  of  good  shingles  for  tlie  Meeting 
House  at  Marsbpee,  to  be  landed  at  Barnstable. 

Dea.  Hinckley's  mode  of  keeping  the  accounts  of  the  men  that  he  employed  occupied 
but  little  space,  and  was  as  exact  as  any  other  mode.  A  full  weeks  work  he  entered  thus, 
mill  110111 

four  days,  thus,  the  cyphers  representing  absence. 

mill  100110 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    TAMILIES.  43 

set  down  weekly,  noting  the  days  that  each  worked.  The   whole 
amount  of  labor  in  constructing  the  steeple  was  as  follows ; 

Dea.  Hinckley,  40       days. 
"Adino,"  his  son,  4  1-2    " 

"Nic,"  probably  Nicholas  Cobb,  49  " 

*'Jab,"  his  son  Jabez  Hincklev,  68  1-2    " 

<'Ben,"  '  61  " 


223 
Paid  for  Iron,  £16,3 

Hinges  1,10 

11  1-2  m  Shingles,  74,15 

He  married  Sept.  17,  1726,  Bethia,  daughter  of  Joseph  Rob- 
inson, Esq.,  of  Falmouth,  a  descendant  of  Rev.  John,  of  Leyden. 
His  residence  was  a  little  distance  west  of  his  grandfather's. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 
1,  Thankful,  7th  Oct.  1727,  married  Aug.  12,  1745,  David 
Cobb  of  B. ;  2,  Bethia,  1st  Feb.  1730.,  married  Jan.  31,  1754, 
Henry  Cobb;  3,  Martha,  28th  April,  1734,  married  Jan.  15, 
1756,  Mr.  Barnabas  Howes;  4,  Adino,  12th  Dec.  1735,  married 
Dec.  16,  1762,  Mercy,  daughter  of  Solomon  Otis,  Esq.,  and  was 
the  father  of  Solomon,  Adino  and  Robinson  T.  Hinckley,  recently 
deceased;  5,  Hodiah,  6th  Oct.  1738,  married  March  25,  1762, 
Simeon  Jenkins,  father  of  Dea.  Braley  and  others  ;  6,  Jabez,  24th 
Oct.  1741,  married  1764,  Deborah  Wing,  and  died  Feb.  1817. 
His  children  were,  James,  28th  Aug.  1766  ;  Josiah,  8th  April, 
1769;  Anna,  4th  Jan.  1773,  died  young  ;  Anna,  18th  Dec.  1775; 
Joshua,  2d  March,  1779;  Vicy,  7th  Dec.  1785,  single  woman.  7, 
Abiah,  13th  Oct.  1746,  married  Cornelius  Crocker,  (see  Crocker)  ; 
and  8,  John,  13th  Sept.  1748,  father  of  Isaiah,  Charles,  Capt. 
Matthias  Hinckley  and  others  now  living.  He  died  Oct.  1,  1835, 
aged  87.  He  recollected  many  who  had  conversed  with  the  first 
settlers.  Dea.  John  Hinckley,  the  father,  died  April  11,  1765, 
aged  64. 

64.     VI.     James,   9th  May   1704.     He  married  Dorcas  and  re- 
moved to  Falmouth,  where  he  died  in  1746  insolvent.     The 
Hinckleys  at  Truro  I  think  are  his  descendants. 
(28.)     Ebenezer  Hinckley,   son  of  Gov.   Thomas,  born  in 
Barnstable  23d  Sept.  1673,  resided  in  his  native  town  till  1716, 
when  he  removed  to  Braintree.     His  father  gave  him  the  east  part 
of   his  house.     He  is  called  in  deeds  a  yeoman,   and  was  not  dis- 
tinguished in  public  life.*     He  married  Nov.  1706  Mary  Storn  of 
Sudbury.     He  died  Oct.   17,  1721,  leaving  a  widow  and  two  chil- 
dren.    In  his  will  dated  July  5,  1720,  he  devises  to  his  daughter 

*John  and  Ebenezer,  the  two  surriving  sons  oi  Gov.  Hinckley,  would  have  been  enti- 
tled to  more  respect  if  they  had  erected  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  their  father,  instead 
of  quarreling  about  the  division  of  his  estate. 


44         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Rachel  £140  to  be  paid  to  her  when  of  age,  and  a  copy  of  Mr. 
Flavel's  works;  to  his  son  Ebenezer  £160  when  of  age,  and  the 
"three  biggest  books"  mentioned  in  my  father's  will,  his  gun, 
sword  and  iron  back.  The  balance  of  his  property,  about  £300, 
he  devises  to  his  wife  Mary,  who  married  Nov.  5,  1722,  John 
George.     His  children  were : 

65.  I.  Rachel,  born  in  Barnstable  Nov.  1,  1707,  married  May 
27,  1742,  Samuel  Spear,  Jr. 

66.  II.  Ebenezer,  born  in  Braintree  March  14,  1713,  married 
July  11,  1732,  (aged  19?)  Hannah  Nightingale,  whom  he 
survived.  He  was  a  shipmaster,  and  according  to  tradition 
died  in  the  West  Indies.  He  left  seven  children.  1,  Eben- 
ezer, who  married  Ann  Morton,  a  sister  of  the  Hon.  Perez 
Morton,  and  had  Joseph,  who  married  his  cousin  Abigail 
Hinckley  ;  John,  who  settled  in  Albany  and  had  eight  chil- 
dren ;  Lucy,  who  married  Isaac  Prescott ;  Anna,  unmar- 
ried;  Sophia,  married  John  D.  Howard,  Jr.,  of  Boston; 
and  Herman,  unmarried.  2d,  Thomas  was  a  shipmaster, 
settled  at  first  in  Wellfleet  and  afterwards  removed  to  Bos- 
ton. He  married  Susannah  Hewes  of  Wrentham.  He  died 
aged  34  during  the  Revolution,  leaving  a  widow  and  four 
children,  some  of  whom  were  born  in  Wellfleet.  3d,  John 
was  an  auctioneer  in  Boston  and  a  member  of  the  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  in  1772.  He  married 
Abigail  Kneeland  of  Boston,  and  had  Abigail  who  married 
her  cousin  Joseph,  and  had  no  children  ;  Mary  married  Ed- 
ward Church,  merchant  of  Boston,  and  died  Nov.  1858, 
aged  87  ;  John,  who  died  unmarried  in  1855  at  Andover  ; 
Sophia,  Harriet  and  Eliphalet,  died  young.  4th,  Eliphalet, 
a  mariner,  died  unmarried.  5th,  Mary,  died  unmarried ; 
Hannah,  died  unmarried ;  and  Nancy,  who  married  Benja- 
min Gorham. 

(30.)  Benjamin  Hinckley,  son  of  the  second  Samuel,  resi- 
ded at  West  Barnstable  on  a  part  of  the  Hinckley  farm.  I  find 
no  settlement  of  his  estate  on  the  probate  records.  He  was  liv- 
ing in  1745,  aged  79.  He  married  27th  Dec.  1686,  Sarah,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Cobb.  He  had  nine  children,  five  the  record  says 
"dyed,"  and  their  names  and  ages  are  not  recorded,  neither  do 
they  appear  on  the  church  records. 

4  Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

67.  I.  Benjamin,  18th  July  1694,  married  Nov.  2,  1716,  Abi- 
gail, daughter  of  Joseph  Jenkins.  He  died  in  1745,  leaving 
an  estate  apprised  at  £920,13,6.  His  homestead  at  West 
Barnstable  was  valued  at  £380,  but  the  currency  was  then 
depreciated,  a  yoke  of  oxen  being  valued  at  £30,  about 
double  their  value  fifty  years  before.  He  had  a  family  of 
eleven  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  :  1,  Abigail, born 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  45 

July  30,  1718,  married  Nathaniel  Fuller  April  5,  1739?; 
2,  Edmond,  Jan.  30,  1719-20,  married  Sarah  Howland  Dec. 
6,  1744,  and  had  Edmond  Nov.  10,  1745,  Abner,  Nov.  25, 
1747,  Mary,  July  11,  1749,  Enoch,  March  27,1751,  Heman, 
Jan.  27,  1754,  Anna,  Dec.  6,  1757,  and  Benjamin,  Dec.  24, 
1761  ;  3,  Samuel,  Oct.  16,  1721  ;  4,  Joseph,  Oct.  23,  1723, 
married  Mary  Davis  of  Sandwich  Feb.  1751  ;  5,  Benjamin, 
April  28,  1727,  married  Nov.  22,  1750,  Lydia  Phinney,  and 
had  Nymphas  Sept.  13,  1753,  and  probably  others;  6,  Syl- 
vanus,  April  7,  1729,  married  31st  May,  1753,  Sarah  Phin- 
ney, and  had  Zacheus  7  19th  March  1754,  Sylvanus,  26th 
Aug.  1  56,  Prince,  27th  Dec.  1758,  Lydia,  8th  June,  1761, 
Levi,  17th  May,  1764,  Elizabeth,  23d  Sept.  1766,  and  Reli- 
ance, 26th  March,  1769 ;  7,  Nathaniel,  April  7,  1732,* 
married  Joanna  Lewis  Oct.  13,  1761  :  8,  Martha,  April  24, 
1734,  married  Daniel  Fuller  Nov.  1,  1753  ;  9,  Bathsheba, 
April  14,  1736,  married  Nath'l  Ryder  March  7,  1754;  10, 
Timothy,  AprQ  16,1738,  married  Mary  Goodspeed  1766; 
and  11,  Zaccheus,t  Oct.  6,  1740.  I  notice  that  the  mother 
Abigail  was  appointed  guardian  of  her  son  Timothy  March 
12,  1745,  why  it  does  not  appear. 

(31.)  Joseph  Hinckley,  son  of  the  second  Samuel,  married 
21st  Sept.  1699,  by  Col.  Thacher,  to  Mary  Gorham.  He  resided 
at  West  Barnstable  on  the  estate  which  was  his  grandfather's. 
His  house  yet  remains,  and  is  now  owned  by  Levi  L.  Goodspeed, 
Esq.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  it  appears  by  his  will  that  in 
addition  to  his  farming  business  he  was  engaged  in  the  tanning 
and  currying  business.  He  died  in  1753,  aged  81  years.  In  his 
will  dated  11th  Sept.  1751,  proved  Aug.  7,  1753,  he  names  his 
son  John,  to  whom  he  gave  all  his  real  estate  in  the  East  Pre- 
cinct, &c.,  &c.  ;  to  Isaac  lands  at  West  Barnstable  and  at  He- 
bron, Conn.,  a  pew  in  the  West  Meeting  House,  bedding  he  had 
at  College,  latin  books,  tanning  and  currying  tools,  &c.,  &c.  He 
names  his  son  Samuel,  deceased.  To  his  daughter  Mercy  Bourn 
he  devises  his  negro  girl  "Sarah,"  bought  of  Hopkins,  his  biggest 
silver  porringer,  &c.,  &c.  To  his  daughter  Mary  Davis  he  gave 
his  negro  girl  "Anne,"  bought  of  his  brother  Isaac,  &c.  He  also 
names  the  children  of  his  daughter  Thankful,  deceased,  his  grand- 
daughter Mary  Bourne,  grandson  Joseph  Davis,  and  granddaugh- 
ter Mehitabel  Dillingham.  His  negro  servant  "Peg"  to  reside 
with  either  child  she  may  desire.  His  sous  John  and  Isaac  execu- 
tors. He  had  ten  children  born  in  Barnstable,  namely  :  1,  Mercy, 
19th  Aug.  1700,  married  Mr.  John  Bourne  March  16,  1722  ;    2, 


*A  Nathaniel  Hinckley,  called  2d,  married  Not.  24, 1758,  Elizabeth  Chipman.    The 
first  Nathaniel  was  48  at  his  first  marriage,  and  I  may  have  confounded  them. 

fl  think  Zaccheus  lived,  and  that  I  remember  him  as  a  very  old  man ;    but  I  may  be 
mistaken. 


46    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BAKNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

Joseph,  6th  May,  1702,  married  1725,  Mary  Otis  of  Scituate,  had 
a  son  Joseph  Oct.  4,  1738,  probably  died  young,  the  father  died 
Sept.  9,  1738,  the  mother  March  21,  1738-9;  3,  Mary,  25th  Feb. 
1703-4,  married  Dea.  Gershom  Davis  Sept.  23,  1731 ;  4,  Samuel, 
24th  Feb.  1705-6,  died  early  ;  5,  Thankful,  9th  June,  1708,  mar- 
ried James  Davis  Dee.  2,  1727.  She  died  Aug.  24,  1745,  leaving 
seven  children,  the  father  being  also  deceased,  the  children  were 
brought  up  by  their  grandfather  Hinckley ;  6,  Abigail,  30th 
Oct.  1710,  married  Mr.  John  Dillingham  of  Harwich  Jan.  3,  1742, 
she  died  Sept.  9,  1749,  leaving  a  daughter  Mehitabel ;  7,  Eliza- 
beth, 4th  Jan.  1712-13  ;  8,  Hannah,  10th  June,  1715  ;  9,  John, 
16th  Nov.  1717,  called  junior.  He  resided  in  the  ancient  brick 
house  that  belonged  to  Henry  Bourne,  and  was  subsequently  oc- 
cupied by  Rev.  Thomas  Walley  and  the  Russels,  as  a  parsonage. 
He  married  Jan.  24,  1744-5,  Bethia  Freeman,  and  had  eight  chil- 
dren:  1,  Joseph,  Nov.  10,  1745,  died  Nov.  21,  1745  ;  2,  Bethia, 
Aug.  25,  1747,  died  Feb.  23,  1775  ;  3,  Marv,  Aug.  9,  1749,  died 
April  2,  1820 ;  4,  Elizabeth,  April  9,  1752";  6,  John,  Oct.  15, 
1754,  called  "Brick  John"  to  distinguish  him  from  "Farmer  John," 
and  because  he  lived  in  the  ancient  brick  house,  he  married  Dec. 
4,  1778,  Hannah  Ide  of  Rehobeth,  and  was  the  father  of  the  late 
Isaac  Hinckley  and  others  ;  6,  Freeman,  June  27,  1757,  he  was  a 
^silver  smith,  married  Sabra  Hatch  of  Falmouth  May  17,  1771. 
He  died  early  leaving  no  issue,  and  his  widow  became  the  fourth 
wife  of  John  Thacher  ;  7,  James,  April  2,  1760  ;  and  Sarah  Oct. 
28,  1763.  6,  Isaac,  born  31st  Oct.  1719,  Harvard  College  1740, 
was  a  classmate  of  Samuel  Adams  and  other  distinguished  men. 
He  resided  at  West  Barnstable  in  the  house  which  was  his 
father's.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  an  active  patriot.  He 
■was  many  years  town  clerk,  and  one  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town. 
He  died  Dee.  1802,  aged  83  years.  He  married  Dec.  18,  1748, 
Hannah  Bourne,  and  had  1,  Richard,  Oct.  29,  1749  ;  2,  Hannah, 
March  25,  1751  ;  3,  Abigail,  Feb.  13,  1753 ;  4,  Joseph,  March  6, 
1755;  5,  Elizabeth,  April  30,  1757;  6,  Isaac,  June  18,  1760,  an 
enterprising  shipmaster,  removed  to  Hingham  and  has  descend- 
ants;  7,  Charles,  Nov.  1,  1762;  and  8,  Eunice,  July  14,  1765. 

(33.)  Isaac  Hinckley,  son  of  the  second  Samuel,  born  20th 
Aug.  1674,  resided  at  West  Barnstable  for  a  time.  He  married 
for  his  first  wife,  June  6,  1712,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gookin,  of  Sher- 
born.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gookin,  and  was 
born  20th  May,  1690,  and  was  sixteen  years  younger  than  her 
husband.  There  is  no  record  of  his  family  on  the  town  books  or 
settlement  of  his  estate  on  the  probate  records.  He  was  of  Barn- 
stable in  1703,  and  after  that  his  name  disappears. 

(36.)  Ebenezer  Hinckley,  son  of  the  second  Samuel,  born 
Aug.  2,  1685,  resided  in  the  East  Parish,  and  owned  nearly  all 
the   ancient  Allen   estate.     He  married  for  his  first  wife  Mrs. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAAQLIBS.  47 

Sarah  Lewis  June  17,  1711  ;  she  died  March  21,  1737-8,  aged 
46,  and  he  married  for  his  second  wife,  July,  1739,  Mrs.  Thank- 
ful Miller  of  Yarmouth.  He  died  April  12,  1751,  aged  65, 
(gravestones.)  In  his  will  dated  on  the  day  preceding  his  death 
he  made  provisions  that  were  unsatisfactory  to  his  widow  and 
children,  but  they  had  the  good  sense  to  settle  the  trouble  satis- 
factorily among  themselves.  He  bequeathed  to  his  wife  all  the 
property  she  brought  to  him  excepting  her  dock  and  negro  woman, 
and  the  use  of  one-third  of  his  estate  so  long  as  she  remained  a 
widow.  To  his  three  sons,  Eben,  Thomas  and  Samuel,  he  gave 
all  his  real  estate.  To  Eben  his  negro  boy  Boston,  and  his  Ind- 
ian boy,  &c. ;  to  Thomas  and  Samuel  his  negro  boy  "George"  ; 
to  his  daughter  Susannah  Hinckley  his  negro  girl  "Barbara,"  &c. ; 
and  to  his  daughter  Mary  Hinckley  his  negro  boy  "Jethro."  His 
wife's  negro  woman  he  undertook  to  make  the  common  property 
of  his  five  children,  but  that  matter  and  the  clock  was  set  right  by 
the  sons.  His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were :  1,  Ebenezer, 
10th  Sept.  1712,  married  in  1743,  Mehitable  Sturgis  of  Yar- 
mouth, and  had  Sarah  April  19,  1744,  Temperance  Jan.  20, 
1748,  and  Ebenezer  Sept.  23,  1754,  the  latter  married,  had  a 
family,  and  lived  to  great  age — the  mother  died  Nov.  14,  1773, 
aged  53  ;  2,  Daniel,  8th  July,  1714,  died  Aug.  8,  1714 ;  3,  a  son, 
24th  Sept.  1715,  died  Sept.  27,  1715  ;  4,  Thomas,  27th  July, 
•  1717,  married  Nov.  9,-1752,  Phebe  Holmes  of  Plymouth,  and  had 
Daniel  March  20,  1754,  Phebe,  Aug.  8,  1755,  Patience  July  16, 
1757,  Temperance,  Thomas  and  James.  He  resided  in  a  house 
that  stood  opposite  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Solomon  Hinck- 
ley in  Barnstable.  He  died  AprU.  30,  1775,  aged  59  ;  5,  Susan- 
nah, April  18,  1722 ;  6,  Samuel,  7th  Sept.  1727,  a  sea  captain, 
had  the  westerly  part  of  his  father's  estate,  on  which  he  built  a 
splendid  mansion,  married,  and  had  one  daughter  who  married 
Samuel  Allyn.  He  died  early  in  life,  leaving  a  large  estate.  His 
widow  survived  him  many  years,  and  died  in  the  Alms  House  ;  7, 
Mary,  born  12th  April,  1729,  married  Feb.  20,  1752,  Samuel 
Childs. 

(37.)  Thomas  Hinckley,  son  of  the  second  Samuel,  born 
1st  Jan.  1688-9,  resided  at  West  Barnstable.  He  was  a  tanner 
and  died  in  1756.  aged  68,  leaving  four  children,  two  of  whom, 
Mercy  and  Mary,  were  of  feeble  minds  and  incapable  of  taking 
care  of  themselves.  His  real  estate  was  apprised  at  £944,  and 
his  personal  at  £863,5,6.  Seth  Hamblen  was  appointed  guardian 
to  Mercy  and  Mary,  to  each  of  whom  was  assigned  £182,  paid  by 
their  brother  Elijah,  to  whom  four-fifths  of  the  estate  was  set  off, 
and  to  his  sister  Temperance  Otis,  one-fifth.  The  children  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Hinckley,  born  in  Barnstable,  were  :  1,  Seth,  Aug.  17, 
1720,  died  Sept.  20, 1720  ;  2,  Mercy,  Feb.  11,  1721 ;  3,  Temper- 
ance,   Jan.  20,  1725,  married  John  Otis,  Esq.,  Dec.  3,  1741 ;    4, 


48  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES, 

Elijah,  Dec.  1,  1726  j  5,  Mary,  Sept.  30,  1727  f  6,  Isaac,  April 
18,  1731,  died  20tti  Oct.  1731. 

(43.)     Icbabod   Hinckley,  son  of  Ensign  John,  born  Aug. 

28,  1680,  married  for  his  first  wife  7th  Jan.  1702,  Mary  Good- 
speed  ;  she  died  Oct.  1,  1719,  and  he  married  for  his  second  wife 
Aug.  3,  1721,  Mary  Basset,  of  Sandwich.  HiS'  children  born  in 
Barnstable  were:  Mary,  27th  Nov.  1704,  died  2d  March,  1718; 
John,  4th  Jan.  1710-11,  died  Feb.  following;  Benjamin,  19th 
June,  1707;  David,  1st  March,  1709  ;  John,  7th  March,  1712; 
Eben,  7th  July,  1714;  Thankful,  1st  Aug.  1716.;  Marv,  26th 
Sept.  1718;  thankful,  2d  Dec.  1723;  and  Merev,  22d  Nov- 
1726. 

(44.)  Job  Hinckley,  son  of  Ensign  John,  married  15th  Nov. 
1711,  Sarah  Lumbert,  and  had  Hannah,  who  perhaps  married 
Sept.  11,  1742,  Samuel  Claghorn,  and  Huldah  who   married  Nov. 

29,  1739,  Benjamin  Casley,  Jr.,  and  had  a  large  family.  Of  the 
descendants  of  Ensign  John  Hinckley  I  have  little  information. 
Samuel  removed  to  Stonington,  Conn.  Ichabod  and  Job  re- 
mained in  Barnstable.  Jonathan  and  Gershom  probably  re- 
moved. 


ROWLAND. 


Several  of  the  name  of  Howland  come  over  early.  Arthur 
who  settled  in  Marshfield  as  early  as  1643  ;  Henry  of  Duxbury 
1633,  John  who  came  in  the  Mayflower,  1620,  and  Zoar  of  New- 
port 1656,  the  latter  may  have  been  a  son  of  Henry.  As  care- 
fully prepared  genealogies  of  this  family  have  been  published,  it 
will  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  repeat  that  which  is  accesible  to 
those  who  take  an  interest  in  the  families. 

The  Barnstable  family  descends  from  John  Howland  who 
came  over  as  a  servant  or  attendant  of  Gov.  Carver.  His  name  is 
the  thirteenth  on  the  Covenant  made  at  Cape  Cod  Nov.  11,  1620. 
Till  the  recent  discovery  of  Gov.  Bradford's  history,  it  was  a  cur- 
rent tradition  that  he  married  Elizabeth  daughter  of  Gov.  Carver. 
He  married  soon  after  his  arrival  Elizabeth  daughter  of  John 
Tiley,  an  only  child,  her  parents  dying  in  the  first  sickness.  He 
was  after  a  representative,  and  an  assistant  of  the  Governor  in 
1633-4  and  5,  and  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  colony.  He  died 
23d  Feb.  1672-3  aged  over  80.  Excepting  Mr.  John  Alden,  he 
was  the  last  male  survivor  of  the  adult  passengers  in  the  May- 
flower. In  1679  there  were  twelve  living  who  came  over  in  that 
ship.  Samuel  Fuller  of  Barnstable  one  of  the  twelve  died  Oct.  31, 
1683.  In  1690  there  were  three  survivors,  Eesolved  White,  Mary 
Cushman  daughter  of  Isaac  AUerton,  and  John  Cook  son  of  Fran- 
cis. Mrs.  Cushman  the  last  survivor  of  those  who  came  in  the 
first  ship,  died  in  1699,  "over  90  years  old." 

John  Howland  sen'rs  will  is  dated  29th  May,  1672,  in  which 
he  names  his  ten  children  whether  in  the  order  of  their  births,  is 
not  known,  as  no  family  record  has  been  preserved. 

Children  of  John  Howland  born  in  Plymouth. 

The  order  of  their  births  is  not  certainly  known. 

2.  IV.     John,  eldest  son,  born  Feb.  24,  1627. 

3.  I.     Desire,    married   Capt.  John   Gorham   1644,  died    13th 
Oct.  1683.     (See  Gorham.) 

4.  VI.     Jabez,  of  Duxbury,  married  Bethia,  daughter  of  An- 
tony Thacher  of  Yarmouth,  was  a  lieutenant  in  Philip's  war. 


50    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OE  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

afterwards   removed   to   Bristol,    where   he   kept   a    public 
house.     He  had  nine  children  and  has  many  descendants. 

5.  VII.     Joseph,    married  7th   Dec.    1664,    Elizabeth    South- 
worth. 

6.  V.     Hope,  born  1629,  married  John  Chipman.     (See   Chip- 
man.) 

7.  II.     Elizabeth,  married  Sept.  13,  1649,  Ephraim  Hicks,  and 
10th  July,  1651,  John  Dickenson  of  Barnstable. 

8.  III.     Lydia,  married  James  Brown  of  Swansey. 

9.  VIII.     Hannah,  married  Nathaniel  Bosworth. 

10.  IX.     Ruth,  married  Nov.  1664  Thomas  Cushman. 

11.  X.  Isaac,  youngest  son,  Middleboro',  married  Elizabeth 
Vaugham,  he  was  a  soldier  in  Philip's  war,  kept  an  inn  in 
1684,  and  was  often  representative  to  the  Colony  Court,  and 
died  in  1724. 

Lieutenant  John  Howland,  second  of  the  name,  was  born  in 
Plymouth  Feb.  24,  1626-7,  as  he  informed  Chief  Justice  Sewali 
when  at  Barnstable  in  1702.  He  removed  from  Plymouth  to 
Marshfield,  and  thence  to  Barnstable  about  the  year  1658.  His 
farm  at  West  NBarnstable  contained  about  90  acres,  and  in  1672  he 
conveyed  by  deed  the  easterly  half  thereof  to  his  brother-in-law 
Elder  John  Chipman.  A  portion  of  his  estate  is  yet  owned  by  his 
descendants.  He  held  many  town  offices  and  was  lieutenant  of 
the  military  company.  He  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  colony 
in  1658.  There  is  some  evidence  that  in  early  life  he  favored  the 
Quakers.  He  certainly  was  opposed  to  the  intolerant  party  of 
which  George  Barlow  of  Sandwich  was  the  leading  man.  His 
wife  joined  the  church  Nov.  22,  1691.  He  and  two  other  aged 
men,  Joseph  Lothrop  and  James  Lewis,  joined  the  church  on  the 
18th  of  June,  1699. 

He  married  26th  Oct.  1651,  Mary,  daughter  of  Robert  Lee. 
He  probably  had  two  children  born  in  Marshfield,  his  other  eight 
children  were  born  in  Barnstable. 

12.  I.     Mary. 

13.  II.  Elizabeth,  born  17th  May,  1655,  married  John  Bursley 
1673. 

14.  III.     Isaac,  25th  Nov.  1659.     (See  below.) 

15.  IV.  Hannah,  15th  May,  1661,  married  Jonathan  Crocker 
20th  May,  1686.     She  died  previous  to  Feb.  1711. 

16.  v..     Mercy,  21st  Jan.  1663. 

17.  VI.     Lydia,  9th  Jan.  1665. 

18.  VII.     Experience,  28th  July,  1668. 

19.  VIII.  Ann,  9th  Sept.  1670,  married  18th  Sept.  1691, 
Joseph  Crocker. 

20.  IX.     Shubael,  30th  Sept.  1672.     (See  below.) 

21.  X.     John,  SlsfDec.  1674.     (See  below.) 

14.     Isaac  Howland,   son  of  John,  born  25th  Nov.   1657, 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  51 

married  Anne  Taylor  Dec.  27,   1686.     He  resided  at  West  Barn- 
stable, and  had 

22.  I.  Ebenezer,  7th  Sept.  1687,  married  June  26,  1712,  Eliza-" 
beth  Justice  ?  and  removed  to  Sandwich,  where  he  was  living 
in  1730,  and  is  named  by  Mr.  Fessenden  as  the  head  of  a 
family, 

23.  II.  Isaac,  3d  July,  1689,  married  May  14,  1719,  Elizabeth 
Jennings  of  Sandwich.  He  died  8th  Nov.  1751,  aged  63. 
His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were:  1,  Anne,  Sept.  4, 
1721,  married  Joseph  Lumbert  Feb.  6,  1746;  2,  Sarah, 
July  23,  1722,  married  Edmond  Hinckley  Dec.  6,  1744  ;  3, 
Joseph,  May  10,  1726,  married  IClizabeth  Lovell  March 
1763;  4,  Benjamin,  22d  Nov.  1729,  married  Anna  Crocker 
March  15,  1763  ;  5  and  6,  Rachel  and  a  chQd,  twins,  Dec. 
22,  1734;  7,  Lemuel,  Jan.  30,  1740-1,  removed  to  Sand- 
wich, married  Dec.  11,  1765,  Abigail  Hamblin,  died  1805. 

24.  III.     Mary,  Oct.  1691. 

25.  IV.     Ann,  Dec.  1694. 

26.  V.  John,  Feb.  2,  1696,  married  Alice  Hamblen  1728.  He 
died  in  1747  and  his  widow  married  May  22,  1648,  Samuel 
Hinckley.  Children:  1,  Desire,  June  15,1732,  married 
Jonathan  Bodfish  May  3,  1753,  died  April,  1813,  aged  81. 
She  was  the  mother  of  a  remarkable  family,  (see  Bodfish)  ; 
2,   Susannah,  Dec.    22,  1734,  married  Ignatius  Smith   Nov. 

21,  1759  ;  3,  David,  Aug.  8,  1737,  married  Mary  Coleman 
Dec.  15,  1763  ;  4,  Jonathan,  twin  with  David,  removed  to 
Sandwich  where  he  died  in  1812,  aged  75  ;  5,  Deborah,  Oct. 
25,  1739,  married  Nov.  1763,  Richard  Sparrow  of  East- 
ham. 

27.  VI.  Joseph,  July  1702,  married  1st  Rachel  Crocker,  Jan. 
18,  1739,  who  died  May  9,  1742,  and  2d,  Maria  Fuller,  May 
16,  1746,  and  had  1,  Hannah,  Aug.  8,  1738,  married  Chris- 
topher Taylor  Jan.  16,1761;  2,  Mary,  Sept.  9,1740;  3, 
Rachel,  May  2,  1742,  married  Nathan  Jenkins  Dec.  9, 
1762;  4,  Ann,  Sept.  19,  1747. 

28.  VII.  Noah,  baptized  16th  July,  1699,  probably  died  early 
and  therefore  omitted  on  town  record. 

20.     Shubael  Howlaiid,  son  of  John,  born  30th  Sept.   1672, 
*  married  Mercy  Blossom  13th  Dec.  1700.     He  died  in  1737,   and 
in   his  will   names  his   wife  Mercy,    who  died   in   1759,  his   sons 
Jabez  and  Zaccheus,  and  his  daughter  Mercy  Jenkins. 
Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

29.  I.     Jabez,  16th  Sept.  1701,  married  Elizabeth  PerdvalDec. 

22,  1727.  He  died  in  1765.  His  children  were  :  1,  James, 
born  June  30,  1729,  married  Rebecca  Hall,  and  had  Abigail 
Dec.  31,  1754;  Rebecca,  March  26,  1757;  Elizabeth,  Aug. 
11,  1759;  Joseph  and  Jabez,  twins,  Jan.  29,  1762;  Mercy, 


52  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Aug  5,  1767  ;  and  James,  Aug.  7,  1771  ;  2,  Jabez,  Jan.  27» 
1730-1,  killed  in  tlie  French  war;  3,  Elizabeth,  Oct.  26, 
1732,  married  Francis  Wood  Dec.  17,1756;  4,  Mercy, 
Aug.  15,  1734,  a  woman  of  feeble  health  died  unmarried  ; 
5,  Nathaniel,  Oct.  9,  1736,  married  Martha  Thaeher  of 
Wareham,  Dec.  15,  1762,  and  removed  to  Lee;  6,  Ansel, 
Dec.  3,  1738,  a  firm  believer  in  witchcraft,  married  Eliza- 
beth Bodflsh  ;  and  7,  Mary,  Jan.  31,  1741,  married  John 
Bursley. 

30.  II.  Mercy,  21st  May,  1710,  married  Joseph  Jenkins  July 
15,  1736. 

31.  III.  Zaccheus.  No  other  mention  is  made  of  him  on  the 
record.  A  man  of  this  name  married,  had  a  family,  and 
died  very  aged,  though  intemperate. 

21.  John  Howland,  son  of  Lieut.  John,  born  Dec.  31,  1674, 
resided  at  West  Barnstable.  He  died  March,  1738,  aged  64.  In 
his  will  dated  Feb.  8,  1737-8,  and  proved  29th  March,  1738,  he 
gives  to  his  wife  Mary  the  use  and  improvement  of  all  his  lious- 
ing,  lands  and  meadows,  during  her  widowhood,  excepting  suit 
able  house-room  and  firewood  for  his  two  daughters  Mary  and 
Joanna,  so  long  as  they  remain  single,  and  all  his  personal  estate, 
"excepting  what  I  hereafter  dispose  of."  To  his  son  George  five 
shillings,  he  having  already  had  his  portion  by  deed  ;  to  his  son 
John  half  of  the  upland  and  meadow  that  came  by  his  mother, 
and  one-half  my  wearing  apparel ;  to  his  son  Job  the  other  half, 
and  the  remainder  of  his  homestead  ;  and  "my  will  is,  if  my  son 
John  should  fail  of  being  brought  up  to  College,  then  he  shall 
come  in  equal  partner  with  my  son  Job  in  my  real  estate.  To  his 
daughter  Hannah  he  gave  five  shillings,  and  to  each  of  his  daugh- 
ters Mary  and  Joanna,  £30.  His  estate  was  apprised  at  £1088,8, 
corn  being  then  worth  8  shillings  a  bushel. 

He  probably  married  three  times.  1st,  Mary  Lothrop,  Sept. 
8,  1697,  (the  record  says  James,  but  there  being  no  James  How- 
land  I  think  John  was  intended.)  2d,  Yet  Mercy  Shove,  (tho' 
record  says  Josiah)  Nov.  29,  1709  ;  3d,  Mary  Crocker,  June  18, 
1709. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

32.  I.     George,    30th  Dec.  1705,  married  Abigail  Crocker  Oct.  , 
28,  1731,  and  had,  1,   Hannah,  Aug.  4,  1732,  died    Sept.  5,  * 
1732  ;    2,  Seth,  March  17,  1734-5  ;  3,  John,  June   2,  1738  ; 
4,  Shove,  June  18,  1741 ;  5,  George,  April  25,  1743. 

33.  II.     Hannah,  2d  Feb.  1708,  died  young. 

34.  in.     Mary,  11th  Aug.  1711. 

35.  IV.  Hannah,  8th  Jan.  1715,  married  John  Allen  of  Hing- 
ham  Dec.  28,  1752. 

36.  V.  John,  13th  Feb.  1720-21,  Harvard  College  1741,  or- 
dained  at   Carver   Sept.  24,    1746,  (in   the  church   records 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  53 

called  the  church  in  the  south  part  of  Plympton)    died  ia 

1804,    aged  84,   married Lewis,   had  four  sons  and 

three  daughters  who  survived  him. 

37.  VI.  Job,  June,  1726,  married  Hannah  Jenkins  Dec.  6, 
1753,  and  had,  1,  Mary  July  21,  1755 ;  2,  John,  March  31, 
1757  ;  3,  Shove,  Dec.  28,  1759  ;  4,  Hannah,  May  20,  1762  ; 
5,  Job,  July, 24,  1764 ;  6,  Joanna,  July  28,  1766  ;  7,  Benja- 
min, Aug.  7,  1768,  died  young;  8,  Benjamin,  June  18, 
1770  ;  9,  Mehitable,  June  23,  1773  ;  10,  Southworth,  March 
29,  1775;  11,  Timothy,  Sept.  17,  1777. 

38.  VII.  Joanna,  married  Mr.  James  Lewis  April  12,  1750, 
his  third  wife. 

I  find  others  of  the  name  of  Howland  on  the  records  which  I 
am  unable  to  arrange,  not  having  a  copy  of  the  records  of  the 
Sandwich  families.  A  Joshua  Howland  of  Yarmouth  died  in 
1814,  leaving  descendants  ;  but  I  am  unable  to  state  to  what  fam- 
ily he  belonged. 


HOWES. 


SAMUEL   HOUSE,    OK  HOWES. 

Samuel  Howes,  as  he  generally  wrote  his  name,  or  House,  as 
it  is  generally  written  on  the  records,  and  as  his  descendants 
spell  their  name,  probably  came  over  in  1634  with  the  Rev.  John 
Lothrop.  He  first  settled  in  Scituate,  was  a  freeman  Jan.  1, 
1634-5,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  church  there  Jan.  8, 
1634-5.  He  built  the  12th*  house  in  that  town,  situate  between 
the  houses  of  Richard  Foxwell  and  Mr.  Lothrop.  This  he  after- 
wards sold  to  Nicholas  Simpkins.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  Barnstable,  and  probably  came  with  his  brother-in-law  Rev. 
Mr.  Lothrop  in  1639.  In  regard  to  his  residence  in  Barnstable,  I 
can  furnish  few  facts.  He  did  not  remain  long,  for  in  1642  he 
was  a  resident  in  Cambridge.  In  1646  he  had  returned  to  Scit- 
uate, and  was  that  year  appointed  to  gather  the  excise.in  that 
town.  In  1652  and  3  he  was  a  grand  juryman,  and  tho'  ap- 
pointed to  note  the  short  comings  of  his  neighbors,  the  following 
record  shows  that  he,  like  many  others,  did  not  note  his  own. 
"1659,  June,  Samuel  House  is  enjoyned  by  the  Court  to  take 
some  speedy  course  with  a  dogg,  that  is  troublesome  and  danger- 
ous in  biting  folks  as  they  go  by  the  highwaies." 

In  a  deed  dated  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Nov.  13,  1643,  in 
which  he  conveys  to  Joseph  Tilden  fifty  acres  of  upland  and  nine 
acres  of  marsh  land  situate  near  the  North  River  in  Scituate,  he 
styles  himself  a  shipcarpenter,  and  also  in  another  deed  to  Thomas 
Rawlins,  dated  Jan.  22,  1646-7. 

The  fact  that  he  was  a  shipcarpenter,  accounts  for  his  fre- 
quent removals.  Neither  the  records  nor  tradition  furnish  any 
evidence  that  any  vessels  were  built  in  Barnstable  before  1675. 
John  Davis  had  a  large  boat,  or  small  vessel,  at  the  time  of  the 
settlement,   which  was  used  in  the  transporting  of  articles  from 

*In  the  copy  of  the  church  records  this  name  is  written  Watts  House,  a  mistake  in  tran. 
scribing.    Other  records  show  that  Samuel  House  dwelling  was  No.  12. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  55 

Scituate  and  other  places  to  Barnstable.  The  "bark  Desire," 
Capt.  Samuel  Mayo,  appears  to  have  been  the  first  vessel  of  any 
considerable  size  that  hailed  from  Barnstable.  She  is  named  in 
1650.  None  appear  to  have  been  built  at  that  early  period, 
though  there  was  an  abundance  of  material,  and  many  of  the  first 
settlers  were  mechanics. 

Samuel  House  died  in  Scituate  in  1661,  leaving  four  children. 
Samuel  and  Elizabeth  were  appointed  Oct.  1,  administrators  on 
their  father's  estate.  His  estate  in  Scituate  was  apprised  at 
£241,14,  and  in  Barnstable,  by  John  Chipman  and  Tristram  Hull 
at  £249,17,  a  large  estate  in  those  times.  William  Paine,  of  Bos- 
ton, a  man  of  great  wealth,  who  died  in  1660,  bequeathed  "to  my 
kinswoman  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Samuel  House,  £10."  She 
was  his  grandniece. 

Whether  or  not  Samuel  was  a  relative  of  Thomas,  the  ances- 
tor of  the  Howes  family  of  Dennis,  I  have  been  unable  to  ascer- 
tain. His  name  is  also  sometimes  written  House.  Samuel  mar- 
ried Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Hammond  of  Watertown. 
She  was  born  in  England  in  1619,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Watertown  church.  Mr.  Lothrop  has  the  following  entry  on  his 
records :  "Elizabeth  Hammon,  my  sister,  having  a  dismission 
from  the  church  at  Watertown  was  joined  April  14,  1636."  The 
meaning  of  "my  sister"  in  this  record  is  perhaps  doubtful,  though 
in  a  note  in  the  Dimmock  article  I  have  not  considered  it  so.  She 
was  not  then  a  sister  of  his  church  without  she  had  joined  in  Lon- 
don as  early  as  1632.  She  was  at  the  latter  date  only  thirteen, 
which  renders  it  very  doubtful ;  and  if  she  had  been  he  would  not 
have  called  her  '■'■my  sister,"  but  simply  "sister."  No  instance 
occurs  on  his  records  of  his  applying  to  the  brethren  or  sisters  of 
his  church  the  word  my,  without  a  relationship  actually  existed. 
William  Hamn«)nd  came  from  Lavenham,  in  the  County  of 
SufiEolk,  England,  and  it  is  very  improbable  that  his  daughter 
Elizabeth  should  have  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  London.  I 
infer  from  this  that  Ann,  the  second  wife  of  Mr.  Lothrop,  was 
Ann  Hammond,  baptized  14  July,  1616.  In  no  other  manner  can 
the  known  relationship  between  the  parties  be  explained. 
Children  of,  Samuel  House  horn  in  Scituate. 

2.  I.     Elizabeth,  baptized  Oct.  23,  1636. 

3.  II.     Samuel,  there  is  no  record  of  his  birth  or  baptism. 

Born  in  Barnstable. 

4.  III.     Sarah,  baptized  Aug.  1,  1641. 

Born  in  Cambridge. 

5.  IV.     John,  born  6th  Dec.  1642,  baptized  in    Barnstable  May 

18,  1645, 

All  these  children  it  appears  by  the  will  of  the  grandfather 
Hammond,  dated  July  1,  1602,  oneyear  after  the  death  of  Samuel 


56  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

House,  were  then  living  and  ttie  widow  Elizabeth.  According  to 
the  usages  in  the  Old  Colony,  the  widow  Elizabeth  was  entitled  to 
letters  of  administration,  but  for  some  reason  that  does  not  ap- 
pear, administration  was  granted  to  the  two  elder  children,  Eliza- 
beth and  Samuel.  The  final  settlement  I  do  not  find  on  record. 
It  seems  that  some  trouble  arose  ;  for  Aug.  4,1663,  the  Court 
summoned  John  Sutton  and  Mr.  Tilden,  to  give  an  account  of  the 
division  and  disposed  of  the  estate  before  the  next  October  term 
of  the  Court,  if  they  "doe  not  end  it  in  the  interem,"  as  do  rec- 
ord appears,  the  presumption  is,  that  it  was  ended  "in  the  in- 
terem." 

In  what  part  of  Barnstable  Samuel  Howes  settled  I  am  un- 
able to  fix  certainly.  Probably  at  "West  Barnstable,  for  reference 
is  made  to  meadows  owned  by  him  near  Scorton  Creek.  The 
lands  purchased  of  Serunk  or  SeconJce  (Wild  Goose)  Sachem  of 
Scorton,  which  he  confirmed  to  the  town  of  Barnstable  by  deed 
dated  Aug.  26,  1644,  were  at  the  northwesterly  corner  of  the 
town,  and  probably  included  Sandy  Neck,  then  considered  of  little 
value.  Mr.  Freeman  is  mistaken  in  calling  this  the  "first  pur- 
chase." The  Indian  title  to  the  lands  in  the  northeasterly  part  of 
the  town,  (excepting  the  reservation  at  the  corner)  was  the  first 
purchase. 

In  the  deed  of  Seconke  he  bounds  the  lands  conveyed,  easter- 
ly by  the  lands  of  "Pexit  another  Indian."  These  lands  were  at 
West  Barnstable,  and  do  not  appear  to  have  been  an  extensive 
tract.  To  whom  Pexit  sold,  I  do  not  find  stated  on  record.  This 
is  of  little  importance ;  yet  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  show,  that 
every  acre  of  land  in  Barnstable  was  obtained  by  fair  purchase  of 
the  aboriginies.  In  early  times  a  considerable  tract  northwesterly 
from  Dea.  William  Crocker's  farm  was  called  the  "Gov.'s"  land 
and  meadows,  probably  Gov.  Bradford,  for  HincWey  was  not  then 
entitled  to  that  honor.  Samuel  House's  meadows  were  in  the 
same  vicinity,  and  probably  his  lands. 

If  House's  lands  were  in  any  other  portion  of  the  town,  there 
are  records  by  which  the  precise  location  could  be  fixed.  Barn- 
stable, at  the  time  of  House's  settlement,  was  almost  an  unbroken 
wilderness.  A  few  English  had  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Good- 
speed's  Hill  and  Coggin's  pond.  The  Indian  population  was 
numerous.  They  had  villages  and  cleared  lands.  They  however 
frequently  removed  from  place  to  place.  Tradition  says  that  they 
usually  fixed  their  residences  on  the  north  shore  in  the  sum- 
mer and  on  the  south  in  the  winter,  and  there  are  records  which 
partially  confirm  the  tradition.  House  had  been  accustomed  to 
an  active  life,  in  the  busy  marts  of  trade  of  his  native  land  ;  his 
wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  man  of  considerable  wealth,  and  in 
early  life  had  been  accustomed  to  enjoy  all  the  conveniences,  and 
many  of  the  luxuries  of  civilized  life.     He  built  himself  a  shanty 


GENKALOGIOAL   NOTES   OF   BAENSTABLE   FAMILIES.  57 

in  the  forest,  probably  more  than  a  mile  from  an  English  neigh- 
bor. Week  after  week  he  did  not  see  a  white  man,  and  the 
Indians  in  his  vicinity  were  his  constant  and  almost  only  visitors. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  desired  to 
change  his  residence.  He  was  of  Cambridge  in  1642,  having 
probably  removed  from  Barnstable  in  1641. 

His  lands  and  meadows  were  unsaleable  and  he  let  them 
remain.  At  the  time  of  his  death  in  1661,  many  families  had 
then  removed  to  West  Barnstable  and  lands  had  appreciated  in 
value,  and  for  that  which  he  considered  almost  worthless,  his 
heirs  obtained  as  already  stated  a  handsome  sum.  Speculating 
in  wild  lands  was  a  mania  that  in  early  times  prevailed  to  a  very 
considerable  extent ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  many  suc- 
ceeded better  than  House. 

3.  Samuel  House,  the  second  of  the  name,  was  also  a  ship 
carpenter.  His  ship  yard,  probably  his  father's,  was  near  Hobart's 
Landing  in  Scituate.  He  married  in  1664  Rebecca  Nichols, 
daughter  of  Thomas  of  Scituate.     His  children  were : 

6.  I.     Samuel,  1665,  married  Sarah  Pincin. 

7.  II.     Joseph,  1667. 

8.  III.  Rebecca,  1670. 

9.  IV.  John,  1672. 

10.  V.     Sarah,  1678,  married  in  1710  James  Gushing. 
Samuel,  3d,  died  in  1718  and  left  sons  Joseph,  David,  James, 

Samuel   and   John.     As   this  is  not  a  Barnstable  family,   I   shall 
not  pursue  the  inquiry. 


HUCKINS. 


Mr.  Thomas  Huckins,  the  ancestor  of  this  family,  was  born 
in  the  year  1617.  Of  his  early  history  little  is  known.  He  came 
over  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  was  a  resident 
of  Boston,  or  its  vicinity,*  for  he  was  one  of  the  twenty-three 
original  members  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany chartered  in  1638,  and  in  1639  bore  its  standard.  To  be 
the  ensign  of  that  company,  was  a  mark  of  honor.  At  that  time 
aristocratic  notions  had  far  more  influence  than  at  the  present 
time,  and  it  was  very  rare  indeed  that  a  young  man  in  the  twenty- 
second  year  of  his  age  was  elected  to  an  office  of  honor  or  profit, 
without  he  belonged  to  an  influential  family  in  the  mother  country. 

His  name  is  written  Hutchins,  Huckins,  Huchens,  and  Hug- 
gins,  the  latter  being  the  manner  in  which  it  was  pronounced  in 
early  times.  A  Eobert  settled  in  Dover  in  1640,  who  had  a  son 
James  ;  George  in  Cambridge,  freeman  1638  ;  John  at  Newbury, 
1640,  or  earlier ;  and  Joseph  of  Boston,  married  1657.  There 
was  also  a  Richard  Hutchins  who  requested  to  be  admitted  a  free- 
man 19th  Oct.  1630,  and  who  probably  came  over  in  the  fleetwith 
Gov.  Winthrop.  There  is  no  record  that  he  took  the  oath,  and 
Mr.  Savage  infers  that  he  died  that  year, or  returned  home.  The 
names  in  these  early  families  indicate  that  they  were  relatives. 

Among  the  wealthy  and  influential  promoters  in  England,  of 
the  settlement  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  Mr.  Thomas  Hutchins. — 
He  was  an  assistant  of  the  Governor,  while  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  company  were  conducted  in  England.     His  name 

*There  is  some  evidence  that  he  was  of  Dorchester.  In  1638  there  was  a  stream  on  the 
boundaries  between  that  town  and  Dedham,  called  "Hugffins  Creek."  This  was  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  name  was  proaounced  ia  early  times,  and  often  written.  The  name  of  that 
creek  proves  that  a  man  of  the  same  name  resided  in  its  vicinity,  for  all  the  names  of  creeks 
and  places  not  having  well  known  Indian  or  legal  names  are  thus  derived.  Mr.  Richard 
CoUicut,  also  a  charter  member  of  the  Artillery  Company,  to  whom  the  lands  in  Barnstable 
were  first  granted,  was  a  Dorchester  man,  and  his  associates  were  principally  from  that 
town.  Thomas  Huckins*  lot  was  one  of  those  laid  under  the  authority  of  Mr.  CoUicut,  bore 
one  of  the  earliest  dates  of  grants,  Sept.  14, 1640.  This  combination  of  circumstances  may 
have  been  accidental,  but  in  the  absence  of  better  evidence,  I  think  that  it  may  be  safely 
inferred  that  Thomas  Huckins  was  one  of  the  associates  of  Mr.  Richard  CoUicut,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Barnstable. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  59 

appears  in  all  the  records  prior  to  1630  ;  but  after  the  removal  it 
ceases  to  appear.  He  did  not  come  over  ;  but  having  a  pecuniary 
interest  in  the  success  of  the  settlement,  it  is  probable  that  those 
of  the  name  who  did  come  belonged  to,  or  were  connected  with  his 
family.  The  fact  that  our  Thomas  Huckins,  when  a  young  man, 
and  before  he  had  become  in  any  manner  distinguished,  should 
have  been  elected  ensign  of  the  Artillery  Company,  seems  to 
prove  that  he  was  connected  with  influential  families.  To  be  able 
to  trace  our  ancestry  to  the  renowned  in  the  father  land,  adds 
nothing  to  our  own  merit.  When  they  left  their  native  shores 
they  began  as  pilgrims  in  a  foreign  land,  and  resolved  to  be  the 
architects  of  their  own  fortunes  in  life.  No  patent  of  nobility 
granted  to  an  ancestor,  can  confer  so  much  honor  oii  a  man  as  to 
be  able  to  trace  his  descent  from  a  member  of  Mr.  Robinson  or 
Mr.  Lothrop's  church.  These  were  honest  men,  the  other  may 
have  been  a  Sir  John  Fallstaff  or  a  Lord  Jeffries,  distinguished 
only  for  their  crimes  and  debaucheries. 

Mr.  Thomas  Huckins  was  an  exemplary  member  of  Mr. 
Lothrop's  church.  The  criminal  calendar  records  only  one  charge 
affecting  his  moral  character.  He  is  charged  with  having  abused 
a  poor  servant.  No  details  are  given,  and  no  opinion  can  be 
formed  of  the  heniousness  of  the  offence.  The  Colony  Court  con- 
sidered itself  the  guardian  of  the  poor  boys  sent  over  as  appren- 
tices, and  always  lent  a  willing  ear  to  their  complaints.  There 
appears  not  to  have  been  much  foundation,  for  Mr.  Huckins  was 
only  required  to  pay  the  expenses,  as  he  was  obliged  to  do  as  the 
boy's  master  ;  no  fine  nor  punishment  being  imposed  on  him,  and 
we  may  therefore  safely  infer  that  the  oflience  was  not  grievious. 
As  a  business  man  he  perhaps  had  no  superior  in  the  colony,  cer- 
tainly not  in  the  town.  His  neighbor,  Nicholas  Davis,  the  quaker, 
did  more  business  but  was  not  so  careful  or  successful  a  man. 
Mr.  Huckins  had  a  landing  place  or  wharf  near  his  house,  where 
he  discharged  and  received  freights.  He  was  one  of  the  "farmers" 
or  partners  that  hired  the  Cape  Cod  fisheries. 

In  1670  considerable  quantities  of  tar  were  manufactured  in 
the  colony,  and  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  purchasers,  and  in- 
structed to  pay  eight  shillings  for  small  barrels  and  twelve  shillings 
for  large. 

Oct.  4,  1675,  he  was  appointed  Commissary  General  of  the 
Colony,  and  had  the  sole  management  in  procuring  supplies,  and 
forwarding  them  to  the  soldiers  engaged  in  the  Indian  war.*  The 
arduous  duties  of  this  ofBce  he  performed  ably,  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  the  court. 


*Hi8  friend  and  associate,  Mr.  ColUcut,  held  the  same  office  by  appointment  of  the  Mass. 
Colony  during  the  Pequat  war,  and  in  my  notice  of  that  gentleman  I  have  stated  that  the 
business  connected  with  that  office  prevented  him  from  settling  in  Barnstable  as  he  had 
intended. 


60  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Mr.  Huckins  held  numerous  town  and  colonial  offices,  and 
was  a  man  in  whom  the  people  placed  the  utmost  confidence  for 
his  integrity  and  ability.  He  was  propounded  as  one  of  the  free- 
man of  the  Colony  in  1646,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  taken 
the  oath  till  1652.  He  *as  constable  of  Barnstable  in  1 646,  and 
several  years  afterwards ;  he  was  one  of  the  board  of  Selectmen 
in  1668,  '70,  '71,  '72,  '74,  '75,  '77,  and  '78 ;  deputy  to  the  colony 
court  in  1669,  '70,  '71,  '72,  '74,  '75,  '77  and  '78.  June  6,  1671, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  council  of  war  for  the  colony,  and 
in  1676  of  the  town  council.  In  1669,  1670  and  1672,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  committee  to  audit  the  colony  accounts,  and  in 
1677  on  a  committee  to  adjust  the  claims  against  the  colony  for 
expenses  incurred  during  the  Indian  war.  Beside  these  offices 
his  name  appears  as  surveyor  of  highways,  as  a  member  of  the 
grand  and  petit  juries,  and  in  1670  and  1671  he  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Hinckley  were  appointed  by  the  court  "to  look  after  the  minis- 
ter's rate,"  which  at  that  time  was  not  so  readily  paid  as  in  earlier 
times. 

In  addition  to  his  other  duties,  March  1,  1652-3,  he  was 
licensed  "to  sell  wines  and  strong  waters  until  the  next  June 
Court."  June  1,  1663,  he  was  approved  by  the  court,  and  "his 
former  liberty  renewed  to  keep  an  ordinary  atBarnstable."  From 
this  it  appears  that  he  had  formerly  been  licensed  to  keep  a  public 
house,  probably  the  liberty  which  had  been  granted  to  him  in  1653 
bad  been  continued  to  that  time.  He  was  several  years  a  receiver 
of  the  excise  imposed  on  the  importation  of  wines  and  liquors  and 
on  powder  and  shot.  The  return  for  1663  presents  some  note- 
worthy items.  It  appears  that  he  was  captain  of  the  packet  that 
year,  and  that  he  brought  into  the  town  for  himself  35  gallons  of 
wine  and  9  of  brandy  ;  for  Joseph  Lothrop  10  gallons  of  rum  ;  for 
Nicholas  Davis  and  his  man,  4  gallons,  and  one  case  of  liquors, 
and  50  pounds  of  shot ;  for  Trustrum  Hall  100  gallons,  and  six 
cases  of  liquors,  and  one  barrel  of  powder,  and  200  pounds  of 
shot ;  and  for  Mr.  Thomas  Clark  (of  Harwich)  20  gallons  of  rum. 
Calling  the  case  three  gallons,  179  would  be  the  amount  used  in 
Barnstable  in  1663,  or  about  three  gallons  for  every  adult  white 
male.  The  Indians  however  probably  drank  the  largest  propor- 
tion of  the  liquors,  for  the  English  then  used  malt  liquors  as* 
their  common  beverage.     The  same  year  about  the  same   quantity 

*The  quantity  of  malt  liquor  used  in  early  times  was  large.  It  was  a  substitute  at 
meals  for  tea  and  coffee.  There  were  certainly  three  if  not  four  malt  houses,  within  the 
present  limits  o*  the  East  Parish.  Gov.  Hinckley  had  one  that  stood  in  the  little  yard  en- 
closed by  stone  wall  opposite  the  house  of  Mr.  JabezNye;  the  Lewis'  had  one  that  stood 
where  Edward  Phinney  afterwards  built  his  house,  near  the  residence  of  Mrs.  F.  "W. 
Crocker,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Sturgis  had  one  that  stood  to  the  eastward  of  the  house  of  Mr. 
Wm.  W.  Sturgis.  In  addition  the  Crockers  I  believe  had  one  that  stood  near  the  bounds  of 
the  two  parishes.  Thej  were  not  used  exclusively  for  the  manufacture  of  malt,  they  were 
used  as  smoke  houses  for  curing  fish  and  meats  in  the  Indian  mode.  The  natives  had 
smoke  houses  and  the  places  when  put  up  were  hence  called  agamam,  also  shawme,  ehaw- 
met,  sqam,  t&c,  meaning  a  place  where  fish  are  cured  by  smoking. 


GENKALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  61 

of  liquors  were  brought  into  the  town  of   Yarmouth.     The   other 
towns  do  not  appear  to  have  made  returns. 

The  enumeration  of  the  impprtant  offices  which  he  held  proves 
that  he  was  not  only  a  business  man,  but  a  good  business  man, 
and  a  man  in  whom  his  townsmen  placed  implicit  confidence  as  a 
man  of  integrity  and  ability.  Our  annals  furnish  the  names  of 
few  men  who,  taken  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  show  a  finer  record 
than  Thomas  fiuckius.  The  history  of  the  formation  of  the  Artil- 
lery Company  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  liberal  views,  and  an 
opponent  of  the  bigotry  and  narrow  sectarianism  which  ruled  in 
Massachusetts  at  that  time.  The  original  members  of  that  com- 
pany, with  few  exceptions,  were  the  friends  of  Wheelwright,  con- 
sequently were  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  the  government, 
and  it  is  said  that  if  they  had  not  chosen  for  their  captain  Robert 
Reayne,  a  man  presumed  to  hold  different  views,  the  charter  of 
the  company  could  not  have  been  obtained.  After  the  death  of 
Mr.  Lothrop  the  Barnstable  church  ceased  to  act  in  harmony. 
Mr.  Huckins  adhered  to  the  party  that  invited  Mr.  William  Ser- 
geant to  become  its  pastor.  This  faction  belonged  to  the  political 
party  that  in  1656  had  become  dominant  in  the  Colony,  and*  had 
adopted  the  narrow  sectarian  policy  that  had  always  ruled  in 
Massachusetts. 

That  Mr.  Huckins  adopted  the  intolerant  policy  of  the  party 
to  which  he  belonged  does  not  appear.  Though  constable  in  1657, 
he  lived  on  friendly  terms  with  his  neighbor  Nicholas  Davis,  and 
as  the  notorious  Barlow  of  Sandwich  was  employed  to  search  the 
house  of  Davis,  it  may  be  inferred  that  Huckins  declined  to  act 
officially  in  the  case.  In  1662  Mr.  Huckins  cordially  united  with 
the  other  faction  of  the  church  in  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Walley, 
a  man  of  peace  and  an  able  advocate  of  the  tolerant  principles  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Lothrop. 

Mr.  Huckins  owned  a  large  real  estate.  He  did  not  have  the 
grant  of  his  houselot  recorded  until  Feb.  3,  1661,  and  then  the 
record  was  made  to  correspond  with  the  facts  as  they  then  existed. 

"Six  acres  of  upland  granted  (as  appears  per  order  of  town 
bearing  date  ye  14th  7  mo.  1640)  to  his  houselot  butting  ona little 
creek  that  comes  out  of  ye  great  creek  by  Rendevous  Creek  and 
runs  up  into  ye  woods, "(thus  far  seems  to  be  quoted  from  the  old 
grant)  which  is  now  bounded  north  by  Goodman  Blush,  southerly 
by  Goodman  Cob,  and  easterly  partly  by  Goodman  Blush  and 
partly  by  Goodman  Cob.  As  the  roads  were  then  only  rights  of 
way  through  gates  or  bars,  they  are  not  mentioned.  This  land  is 
now  owned  by  Elijah  Lewis,  2d,  Loring  and  Nathan  Crocker. 
It  was  originally  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  lot  of  Dolar  Davis. 
The  "little  creek"  was  afterwards  called  Huckins  Creek.  From 
the  earliest  to  the  present  time  there  has  been  a  wharf  and   land- 


62  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

ing  place  near  its  northern  terminus,  where  it  joins  the  "Great 
Creek."  Nicholas  Davis,  son  of  Dolar,  appears  to  have  been  the 
earliest  -who  transacted  a  mercantile  business  in  that  vicinity. 
His  wharf  or  landing  place  was  on  the  Great  or  Mill 
Creek.  The  name  of  Huckins'  wharf  has  changed  as  often 
as  its  owners  have  changed.  In  modern  the  Lewis'  had  a 
shipyard  thereon,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  "little  creek"  where 
salt  water  flows  has  recently  been  known  as  shipyard  creek.  The 
salt  meadows  terminated  at  the  south-west  corner  of  Huckins'  lot, 
and  from  that  point  the  record  informs  that  little  creek  "runs  up 
into  the  woods."  At  the  head  of  the  meadows  the  "little  creek" 
made  a  sharp  turn  to  the  eastward,  crossing  the  present  wharf 
road  on  the  south  of  Elijah  Lewis,  2d's,  house  and  was  the  outlet 
of  the  surplus  water  of  the  low  lands  as  far  east  as  the  Agricultu- 
ral Hall.  Then  this  tract  was  covered  either  by  ponds,  swamps 
or  a  dense  growth  of  maple,  hornbeam,  &c.,  and  was  of  no  value 
for  agricultural  purposes.  Much  of  it  was  not  included  in  the  ad- 
joining alottments,  and  remained  some  time  as  common  lands. 
At  some  former  time  the  low  lands  on  this  tract  were  covered  by 
ceda?  trees  of  immense  size.  In  some  violent  commotion  these 
gigantic  trees  were  all  prostrated,  and  remaining  for  centuries 
covered  with  water,  peat  accumulated  over  them  and  a  growth  of 
maple,  hornbeam,  &c.,  succeeded.  When  Mr.  Huckins  settled 
there,  a  stream  of  fresh  water  run  all  the  year  on  the  south  of  his 
house,  through  a  morass  impassable  by  teams.  In  this  isolated 
spot  he  kept  an  ordinary,  as  taverns  were  then  called,  for  the 
accommodation  of  travellers.  It  is  however  to  be  presumed  that 
the  lovers  of  "strong waters"  knew  the  paths  that  lead  to  his 
house. 

In  addition  to  his  houselot  he  owned  nine  acres  of  land  in  the 
old  common-field,  two  in  the  new,  adjoining  Mattakeese  pond  ; 
3-4  of  an  acre  of  land  by  the  "horse  prison,"  (near  where  the 
dwelling-house  of  the  late  Mr.  Edward  Gorham  stood,)  11  acres 
of  meadow  at  Sandy  Neck,  and  two  acres  of  marsh,  more  or  less, 
lying  by  his  house,  bounded  westerly  by  the  creek,  easterly  by  ye 
upland,  northerly  to  ye  creek.  These  two  acres  included  all  the 
meadows  on  the  west  of  his,  and  the  Davis  or  Blush  lots  to  the 
creeks,  consequently  he  owned  the  ancient  wharf  or  landing-place, 
and  hence  the  creek  and  wharf  were  called  by  his  name. 

He  also  owned,  in  partnership  with  Nathaniel  Bacon  and 
John  Phinney,  ninety-six  acres  of  upland  and  fresh  meadows  situ- 
ate on  the  east  and  south  of  the  Bursley  farm  at  West  Barnstable. 
He  also  bought  the  farm  of  Isaac  Robinson,  when  the  latter  re- 
moved to  Falmouth. 

Mr.  Thomas  Huckins  married  for  his  first  wife,  in  1642, 
Mary,  daughter  of  Isaac  Wells  of  Barnstable.  She  was  buried 
28th  July,  1648.     By  her  he  had  three  daughters,  two  of  whom  died 


•aENEALOGIOAL   NOT!ES   OF   BAKNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  63 

ia  iafancy.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  3d  Nov.  1648,  the 
widow  Rose  Hyilier  of  Yarmouth,  He  was  east  away  in  his  ves- 
sel in  a  gaie  Nov.  5,  1679,  and  he  and  his  son  Joseph  perished. — 
He  was  in  the  6  2d  year  of  his  age,  and  his  son  24.  The  widow 
Rose  Huclsins  died  in  the  year  1687,  aged  about  71  years. 

I  do  not  fin4  a  settlement  of  his  estate  on  the  Probate  Records. 
His  daughter  Mary  married  Dec.  6,  1666,  Samuel  Storrs,  resided 
on  the  Dexter  farm  at  Scorton  HilL  She  died  24th  Sept.  1 683, 
leaving  seven  children.  The  family  afterwards  removed  to  Wind- 
ham, Conn.  John  resided  in  Barnstable.  He  was  constable  in 
1672.  He  married  Aug.  10,  1670,  Hope,  daughter  of  Elder  John 
Chipman.  He  died  Nov.  10,  1678,  in  the  29th  year  of  his  age, 
leaving  four  daughters.  His  widow  married  March  1,  1682-3, 
Jonathan  Cobb,  and  removed  to  Middleboro,  Hannah  married 
Feb.  24,  1673-4,  James  Gorham  and  had  a  large  family.  She 
died  13th  Feb.  1727-8,  aged  74.     (See  Gorham,  5  IV.) 

Thomas  Huckins,  the  second  of  the  name,  was  a  carpenter. 
He  resided  on  the  Robinson  farm  in  Barnstable,  owned  a  large 
real  estate,  and  was  a  man  of  good  character  and  influence.  By 
an  entry  on  the  town  records  June  1,  1688,  it  appears  that  he 
bought  the  lands  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Walley,  He  also  owned 
the  Great  Neck  at  Cooper's  Pond,  on  the  west  of  Joseph  Bearse's 
land,  on  which  he  built  a  house.  This  tract  is  yet  owned  by  his 
descendants.  He  married  May  1,  1680,  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Elder  John  Chipman.  She  died  Nov.  4,  1696,  aged  37.  For  his 
second  wife  he  married  Aug.  17,  1698,  Sarah,  widow  of  Samuel 
Hinckley.  His  estate  was  settled  Dec.  11,  1714,  and  he  probably 
died  that  year.  His  son  Thomas  administered.  To  John,  the 
eldest  son,  was  set  off  "all  the  homestead,  both  upland  and 
meadow,  together  with  the  dwelling  house,  barn  and  housing,*  and 
orchard  thereon,"  (only  excepting  so  much  meadow  reserved  out 
of  the  same  as  will  yield  hay  enough  to  winter  fifteen  head  of  neat 
cattle  yearly,)  woodland  and  other  property.  To  Thomas  and 
Samuel,  the  other  two  then  surviving  sons,  was  set  off  the  Neck 
Farm,  with  "the  dwelling-house,  barn  and  other  out  housing  there- 
on standing,"  together  with  the  meadow  reserved  out  of -John's 
portion,  woodland  and  other  property.  John  being  the  eldest  son, 
according  to  the  law  at  that  time,  was  entitled  to  a  double  portion, 
consequently  had  one-half  of  the  estate  after  the  widow's  dower 
was  set  off,  and  the  portions  of  the  two  surviving  daughters,  Hope 
and  Hannah,  paid. 

His  real  estate  was  apprised  at  £1,085,12.  Personal,  includ- 
ing carpenter's  tools,  £66,06. 

Joseph,  the  oldest  son  of   the   second  Thomas,  married  18th 


house.    — 
now  used. 


'Housing."    This  word  is  here  used  as  meaning  other  buildings  beside  a  dwelling- 
:.    The  word  seems  to  hare  been  used  in  the  same  sense  as  the  word  "out-house"  is 


64  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Sept.  1702,  Sarah  Lothrop.  He  died  in  1705,  leaving  no  issue. 
His  widow  administered  and  one  third  of  his  estate  was  set  ofif  to 
her,  and  the  remainder  divided  to  his  brothers  and  siS'ters.  The 
widow  married  John  Trap  14th  Oct.  1708. 

James  Huckins,  another  son  of  the  second  Thomas,  died  un- 
married about  the  time  of  the  death  of  his  father.  His  brother 
John  was  appointed  administrator  on  hi»  estate  July  17,  1714. 
His  estate  was  settled,  and  the  property  divided  2Gth  Sept.  1716, 
to  the  same  persons  and  in  the  same  proportions  as  the  father's 
estate  was. 

Samuel  Huckins,  son  of  Thomas,  died  unmarried  in  1718. 
His  will  is  dated  22d  Aug.  1718,  and  was  proved  on  the  20th  Oct. 
following.  He  gave  to  his  brother  Thomas  all  his  land  at  the 
Neck,  where  he  then  lived,  and  all  bis  meadow  lying  north  of  his 
brother  John's  estate.  He  names  "his  mother's  dower"  which  it 
appears  he  owned.  He  gave  legacies  to  his  sisters  Hannah  Huck- 
ins, and  to  the  widow  Hope  Hamblin. 

After  the  decease  of  Samuel  the  old  Huckins  estate  was 
owned  by  the  brothers  John  and  Thomas.  1  do  not  find  that  John 
ever  married,  or  if  he  did  that  he  had  issue.  I  have  not  carefully 
examined  into  the  matter  ;  but  as  his  estate  was  afterwards  owned 
by  the  descendants  of  his  brother  Thomas,  I  infer  that  he  died 
childless. 

Thomas,  the  third  of  the  name,  had  a  large  family,  most  of 
whom  lived  in  celibacy.  James,  the  eighth  child,  born  April  11, 
1730,  died  June  25,  1818,  aged  88.  From  him  I  believe  all  of  the 
name  now  living  descend.  Capt.  James  Huckins,  of  Boston,  is 
his  grandson. 

Thomas,  3d,  married  Rachell  (Snow?)  He  owned  the  large 
Huckins  estate  and  was  a  wealthy  farmer.  His  wife  died  March 
22,  1765,  aged  70.     He  died  March  3,  1774,  aged  86. 

Genealogy  of  the  Huckins  family  : 

1.  Thomas  Huckins  married  Ist  Mary  Wells,  1642,  who  was 
buried  28th  of  July,  1648  ;  2d,  the  widow  Rose  Hyllier,  of  Yar- 
mouth, Nov.  3,  1648,  who  died  in  1687,  aged  about  71  years. 
(By  her  first  husband,  Hugh  Hyllier,  she  had  Deborah  30th  Oct. 
1643,  and  Samuel  30th  July,  1646.)  "Mr.  Thomas  Huckins  was 
cast  away  ye  9  November,  1679,  and  died  in  the  62d  year  of  his 
age.  His  son  Joseph  lost  with  him  at  the  same  time,  aged  24 
years,  1679." — [Barnstable  town  records. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 
Lydia,  4th  July,  1644,  buried  28th  July,  1644. 
Mary,  29th  March,  1646.     (See  Stores.) 
Elizabeth,  27th  Feb.  1647-8.  buried  8th  Dec.  1648. 
John,  2d  Aug.  1649. 
Thomas,  25th  April,  1651. 
Hannah,  14th  Oct.  1653.     (See  Gorham.) 


2. 

I. 

3. 

II. 

4. 

III. 

5. 

IV. 

6. 

V. 

7, 

VI. 

GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  65 

8.     VII.     Joseph,  21st  Feb.  1655,  drowned  Nov.  9,  1679. 

5.  John  Huckins  married  10th  Aug.  1670,  Hope,  daughter  of 
Elder  John  Chipman.  "John  Huckins  died  ye  10  Nov.  1678,  in 
ye  ■29th  year  of  his  age."  (Barnstable  town  records.)  His 
widow  married  March  1,  1682-3,  Jonathan  Cobb,  and  removed  to 
Mlddleboro.' 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

8.     I.     Elizabeth,  1st  Oct.  1671,  married  4th  June,  1695,   Dea. 
John  Lewis,  died  July  12,  1741,  aged  70. 

10.  II.  Mary,  3d  April,  1673,  married  1690  Nathan  Bassett  of 
Sandwich. 

11.  III.  Experience,  4th  June,  1675,  married  Thomas  Lewis, 
son  of  George,  28th  Sept.  1699. 

12.  IV.  Hope,  10th  May,  1677,  married  Thomas  Nelson.  She 
died  Dec.  7,  1782,  at  Mlddleboro',  aged  o?ie  hundred  and 
Jive  years,  six  months  and  twenty  days,  the  longest  liver  of 
any  of  English  descent  born  In  Barnstable. 

6.  Thomas  Huckins  married  for  his  first  wife  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Elder  John  Chipman,  May  1,  1680.  She  died  Nov. 
4,  1696,  aged  37 ;  and  for  his  second  wife  married  Aug.  17, 
1698,  Sarah,  widow  of  Samuel  Hinckley.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Pope.     He  died  In  1714,  widow  Sarah  surviving. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

13.  I.     Hannah,  6th  April  1681,  died  29th  Oct.  1698. 

14.  II.     Joseph,  6th  Oct.  1782.     (See  notice  above.) 

15.  III.  Mary,  13th  June,  1684,  married  Samuel  Bacon  30th 
March,  1704,  and  died  before  1708. 

16.  IV.     John,  1st  May,  1686.     (See  notice  above.) 

17.  V.     Thomas,  1.5th  Jan.  1687-8.     (See  below.) 

18.  VI.     Hope,  21st  Sept.  1689,  married  James  Hamblen. 

19.  VII.     James,  20th  Aug.  1691,  died  1714,  unmarried. 

20.  VIII.     Samuel,  19th  Aug.  1693,  died  1718,  unmarried. 

21.  IX.  Jabez,  20th  July,  1698,  baptized  Jan.  31,  1697-8.  He 
died  June  1699. 

22.  X.  Hannah,  22d  Aug.  1699,  baptized  Aug.  27,  1689.  She 
is  mentioned  in  the  settlement  of  her  father's  and  brother's 
estate. 

17.  Thomas  Huckins,  3d,  seems  to  have  been  the  only  one 
of  his  father's  family  who  perpetuated  the  family  name.  He 
owned  the  whole  of  the  ancient  Huckins  estate,  excepting  the  land 
on  the  wharf  lane  and  in  the  common  fields.     He  married  in  1717 

Kachell ,   who   died  March  22,    1765,  aged  80.     He  died 

March  3,  1774,  aged  86. 


66    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

Children  torn  in  Barnstable. 

Samuel,  Sept.  29,  1718. 
Thomas,  Nov.  29,  1719. 
John,  May  12,  1721. 

Snow^'   I  '^^^'^^  12,  1722-3. 
Joseph,  June  24,  1726. 
.     A  son,  Feb.  7,  1727-8,  died  same  day. 
[.     James,  April  11,  1730,  died  June  25,  1818. 
Elizabeth,  July  9,  1732. 

James  was  the  only  one  of  this  family  that  married.  He  was 
the  father  of  the  late  Capt.  Samuel  Huekins,  the  father  of  Joseph 
and  James,  the  latter  yet  living.  The  family  has  nearly  run  out. 
Celibacy  has  prevailed  more  in  this  family  than  any  other,  in 
Barnstable. 


23. 

I. 

24. 

II. 

25. 

III. 

26. 

IV. 

27. 

V. 

28. 

VI. 

29. 

VII 

30. 

vii: 

31. 

IX. 

HAMMOND. 


This  is  not  a  Barnstable  name,  it  rather  belongs  to  Yar- 
mouth ;  but  on  account  of  its  connection  with  the  whale  fishery, 
and  for  some  other  reason,  it  is  introduced.  The  name  has  more 
aliases  than  any  other.  It  is  written  Hammond,  Hamon,  Hamil- 
ton and  Hambleton. 

Benjamin  Hammond  was  able  to  bear  arms  in  Yarmouth  in 
1643.  Mr.  Farmer  says  he  was  a  son  of  William  of  Watertown. 
Mr.  Savage  adopts  his  opinion,  and  Dr.  Bond  places  the  name  of 
Benjamin  among  the  children  of  "William,  but  says  he  could  not 
have  been  his  youngest  son,  as  stated  by  Farmer.  William  Ham- 
mond does  not  name  him  in  his  will.  From  this,  and  in  the  ab- 
sence of  other  evidence,  it  may  be  inferred  that  he  was  not  a  son 
of  William. 

He  came  from  London  in  the  year  1634,  probably  in  the 
GriflBn,  which  arrived  in  Boston  Sept.  18.  Mr.  Franklin  B.  Dex- 
ter, of  New  Haven,  who  takes  an  interest  in  the  genealogy  of 
this  family,  says  that  it  is  probable  that  his  mother  and  sister 
came  over  with  him  in  the  same  ship.  Elizabeth  Hammond,  wife 
of  William,  came  over  in  the  Francis  from  Ipswich  in  1634,  bring- 
ing with  her  three  children,  Elizabeth  aged  15,  Sarah  10,  and 
John  7. 

Prior  to  1 643  there  is  little  that  is  reliable  respecting  Benja- 
min Hammond.  In  that  year  he  was  a  residentof  Yarmouth,  and 
constable  in  1652.  In  1655  he  appears  to  have  been  a  house- 
holder in  Yarmouth.  In  1669  he  was  a  grand  juror,  and  in  1672 
served  on  an  inquest  at  Plymouth.  In  1673  he  owned  lands  and 
resided  in  Sandwich,  where  he  had  probably  resided  the  preced- 
ing ten  years.  In  1684  he  removed  to  Rochester,  and  there  died 
April  27,  1703,  very  aged. 

It  is  reported  that  he  married  in  1650  Mary,  daughter  of  Mr. 
John  Vincent  of  Sandwich.  This  date  is  uncertain,  for  there  was 
a  Mary  Hammon  in  Yarmouth  in  1648.     As  there  was  only  one 


68  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

family  in  town,  I  thence  infer  that  she  was  the  wife  of  Benjamin. 
I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Franklin  B.  Dexter  for  the  following  list  of 
his  children,  probably  not  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  births  : 
1,  Samuel,  who  married  Mary  Hathaway  of  Dartmouth,  and  died 
in  1728;  2,  John,  born  Nov.  22,  1663,  died  April  19,  1749,  aged 
85,  and  his  wife  Mary  (Arnold)  died  Aug.  3,  1756,  aged  84 ;  3, 
Nathan,  who  married  a  Dexter ;  4,  Benjamin.  He  had  also  three 
daughters,  two  died  young,  and  one  named  Eose  Nov.  22,  1676, 
very  aged. 

This  list  of  his  children  is  imperfect.  The  William  named  in 
the  following  extract  from  the  Boston  Journal,  was  perhaps  his 
oldest  son : 

"It  may  be  interesting  to  our  New  Bedford  and  Nantucket 
friends  to  learn,  as  we  do  from  an  ancient  chronicle  before  us, 
that  the  first  person  who  killed  a  whale  upon  this  coast,  was 
named  William  Hamilton.  He  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  in  early 
life  settled  on  Cape  Cod,  (place  not  stated)  whence  he  removed  to 
Rhode  Island,  he  being  persecuted  for  killing  the  whale  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Cape,  as  one  who  dealt  with  evil  spirits.  Mr. 
Hamilton  died  in  Connecticut  in  1746,  at  the  advanced  age  of  103 
years.  His  children  died  at  the  following  ages :  Joseph,  86 ; 
David,  79  ;  Benjamin,  upwards  of  90  ;  Eliza,  93  ;  Thankful,  102  ; 
Mary,  62." 


HILLIARD. 


TIMOTHY   HILLIARD. 

Timothy  Hilliard  was  one  of  nature's  noblemen— an  honest  man 
a  scholar — a  christian  gentleman.  He  was  born  in  Kensington, 
N.  H.,  in  1746  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1764  ;  appointed 
chaplain  of  Castle  "William  1768,  and  the  same  year  was  elected  a 
tutor  of  Cambridge  College.*  He  was  a  member  of  the  second 
church  at  Reading  ^'1771,  April  10.  This  day  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Timothy  Hilliard  was  ordained  the  pastor  of  this  church,  having 
been  unanimously  chosen  to  that  office  by  the  church  and  congre- 
gation.f'  (Barnstable  church  records.)  He  was  dismissed,  at 
his  own  request,  April  30,  1783,  and  on  the  27th  of  Oct.  following 
he  was  installed  at  Cambridge  as  colleague  of  Dr.  Appleton.  He 
died  May  9,  1790,  aged  43.     Of  his  ancestry  I  know  nothing. 

He  was  married  by  the  Rev.  Simeon  Howard  in  Boston,  Nov. 
7,  1771,  to  Mary  Foster.     His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  : 

Mary,    baptized  Oct.  16,  1772. 

Joseph,       "        June  26,  1774. 

Timothy,    ««        July  21,  1776. 

William,      "        July  12,  1778. 

Charles,      "        Feb.  10,  1780. 

Mr.  Hilliard  was  pastor  of  the  Barnstable  church  during  one 
of  the  trying  periods  in  our  history.  Violent  political  differences 
divided  the  members  of  the  church,  and  for  a  long  time  many  re- 
fused to  unite  with  their  brethren  in  its  ordinances.  Mr.  Hilliard, 
though  a  very  decided   man  in  his  opinions,  by  his  discretion   and 

*Tlie  letter  of  Mr.  Hilliard  accepting  the  unanimous  invitation  of  the  East  Church  and 
Congregationalist  Society  to  become  its  pastor,  is  on  record.  It  is  one  of  the  best  specimens 
of  such  letters  that  I  hare  seen.    It  is  too  long  to  copy. 

jl  copy  this  entry  as  he  wrote  it  in  the  records.  Mr.  Mellen,  his  successor,  used  nearly 
the  same  words  in  recording  his  own  ordination.  Afterwards  Mr.  Mellen  erases  "Rev. 
Mr."  and  interlines  "Mr,"  This  little  matter,  this  straw,  indicates  the  difference  in  ^e 
character  of  the  two  men.  Mr.  H.  was  very  careful  to  give  to  every  man  the  title  which 
belonged  to  him  by  the  usuages  of  scoiety,  and  he  claimed  the  same  for  himself.  Mr.  Mel- 
len was  a  very  modest  man,  and  avoided  all  appearances  or  ostentation.  Mr.  H.  kept  a 
horse  and  rode.  Mr.  M.  always  went  on  foot,  often  to  visit  a  sick  paiishioner  fivemiles  dis- 
tant. 


70  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    E'AMILIES. 

good  management  succeeded  in  reconciling  the  opposing  factions. 
He  held  that  when  a  man  joined  a  church  he  retained  all  his  civil 
rights,  that  a  member  was  not  subject  to  discipline  on  account  of 
his  political  opinions,  only  for  breach  of  covenant  or  immoral 
acts. 

No  pastor  of  the  Barnstable  church  was  ever  more  beloved 
and  respected  by  his  people  than  Mr.  Billiard.  I  have  heard 
those  who  differed  with  him  in  politics  speak  as  kindly  of  him  as 
those  with  whom  he  agreed.  No  man  was  better  qualified  to  per- 
form the  duties  which  Divine  providence  had  allotted  to  him.  He 
was  discreet,  courteous,  affable  in  his  manners,  and  candid  in  all 
his  statements,  never  uttering  a  word  to  which  the  most  censori- 
ous could  object.  His  neighbor,  the  Hon.  Edward  Bacon,  one  of 
the  deacons  of  his  church,  for  a  long  time  refused  to  attend 
church  meetings  on  account  of  the  violent  political  hostility  of 
some  of  the  brethren.  Mr.  Hilliard,  by  his  prudent  management, 
reconciled  the  contending  factions,  and  restored  harmony  and 
good  feeling. 

Those  who  knew  him  will  say,  "he  possessed  an  easy  pleas- 
ant elocution  and  a  devotional  manner,  and  his  discourses  were 
plain  in  language,  and  replete  with  judicious  sentiments,  well  ar- 
ranged, instructive,  and  truly  evangelical.  While  he  was  re- 
spected for  his  talents  and  acquisitions  and  made  himself  pleasing 
in  social  intercourse,  he  also  possessed  an  amiable  temper,  kind 
and  sympathetic  feelings,  and  the  genuine  benevolence  of  the  gos- 
pel."    (Allen.) 

While  at  Barnstable  he  published  two  fast  day  sermons  in 
1774,  and  after  his  removal  to  Cambridge,  in  1785,  a  sermon  at 
the  execution  of  three  persons  ;  in  1788  a  sermon  delivered  at  the 
ordination  of  Rev.  Henry  Ware  ;  in  1789,  two,  one  at  the  ordina- 
tion of  Rev.  B.  Howard,  and  the  other  at  that  of  Rev.  John  An- 
drews.    In  1788  he  published  a  Dudlean  Lecture. 

He  left  Barnstable  on  account  of  his  health.  The  salt  air  he 
thought  had  impaired  his  usefulness,  and  that  it  would  be  impru- 
dent for  him  to  remain.  At  a  parish  meeting  held  April  30, 
1783,  a  committee  was  chosen  to  confer  with  Mr.  Hilliard,  and  en- 
deavor to  induce  him  to  withdraw  his  request  for  a  dismission. 
They  were  authorized  to  grant  him  leave  to  be  absent  for  six  or 
twelve  months,  to  pay  his  expenses  while  absent,  and  that  mean- 
time his  salary  should  continue  and,  if  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  he  had  not  recovered  his  health,  they  would  then  grant  his 
dismission  if  he  so  requested. 

To  this  request  Mr.  Hilliard  made  a  verbal  reply  through  the 
committee  that  waited  on  him.  He  said  he  had  several  times 
travelled  for  his  health,  but  on  his  return  to  Barnstable  he  soon 
found  that  the  climate  was  hurtful  to  him.     His  physician  had. ad- 


GENKALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  71 

vised  his  removal,  that  the  air  of  the  Cape  was  hurtful  to  him, 
and  that  if  he  continued  he  could  not  be  useful,  and  therefore  he 
had  decided  that  it  was  best  for  him  to  leave.  He  desired  to 
thank  the  parish  for  its  kind  offers,  but  under  the  circumstances 
he  could  not  accept  them. 

After  the  report  of  the  committee  was  made,  the  parish  voted 
to  accept  the  request  of  Mr.  Hilliard  to  be  dismissed  from  his 
pastoral  relation  with  the- East  Church  and  congregation  in  Barn- 
stable. 

At  his  ordination  a  settlement  of  £200  was  granted  to  him  in 
addition  to  his  stated  annual  salary.  After  the  vote  had  passed, 
granting  his  dismission,  Mr.  Hilliard  proposed  to  give  up  one 
quarter  of  his  settlement,  £50,  but  the  parish  declined  to  receive 
it.* 

These  proceedings  are  alike  honorable  to  Mr.  Hilliard  and  to 
the  Parish.  At  no  time  since  the  settlement  of  the  town  were  the 
people  poorer  than  in  the  spring  of  1788.  There  was  very  little 
money  in  circulation,  and  to  raise  £100  lawful  money  at  that  time, 
was  a  more  onerous  tax  for  the  Parish  than  $10,000  would  be 
now.  The  love  of  the  people  for  their  pastor  was  greater  than 
their  love  of  money.  To  part  with  him  was  like  parting  with 
what  they  held  as  most  dear  on  earth. 

_*Dea.  Nathaniel  Lewis,  a  man  wliom  I  well  remember,  was  at  that  time  clerk  of  the 
Parish.  He  was  a  shrewd  business  man,  and  at  a  public  meeting  there  were  few  who  could 
get  the  better  of  him  in  an  argument.  He  was  not  a  good  clerk.  I  have  not  copied  his  en- 
tries verbatim,  only  the  substance.  The  meaning  and  intention  of  the  votes  passed  I  have 
given. 


HICKS. 


SAMUEL     HICKS. 

Samuel  Hicks  was  some  time  an  inhabitant  of  Barnstable. 
He  was  admitted  an  inhabitant  3d  Oct.  1662,  but  had  then  resided 
in  the  town  several  years.  In  1670  he  had  removed  to  Yar- 
mouth. He  was  the  son  of  Robert  of  Plymouth,  who  came  in  the 
Fortune  in  1621.  His  mother  Margaret  came  in  the  Ann  in  1623, 
bringing  with  her  four  children,  Ephraim  and  Samuel,  and  Lydia, 
who  married  Edward  Bangs,  and  Phebe,  who  was  prolaably  after- 
wards the  wife  of  George  Watson. 

Samuel  was  able  to  bear  arms  in  Plymouth  in  1643,  removed 
to  Eastham,  and  in  1645  married  Lydia,  daughter  of  John  Doane, 
had  Dorcas  14th  Feb.  1652,  Margaret,  9th  March,  1654,  and 
probably  others.  In  1649  he  was  representative  from  Eastham  ; 
and  not  long  after  removed  to  Barnstable.  His  name  appears  in 
connection  with  some  difficulties  in  the  church  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Lothrop.  He  was  engaged  in  promoting  the  settlement  of 
Dartmouth,  and  removed  to  that  town. 


ISUM. 


JOHN    ISIJM. 

This  name  is  uniformly  pronounced  I-sum,  and  in  a  receipt 
signed  by  him  on  the  town  records  it  is  so  written.  The  following 
anecdote  is  related  of  him.  On  a  list  of  witnesses  his  name  was 
written  Isham.  The  judge  noticed  the  odd  name,  and  supposing 
it  to  belong  to  an  Indian,  said  to  the  sheriff  in  a  gruff  tone, 
"bring  that  old  Indian  I-sham  into  court."  Isum  stepped 
upon  the  witness  stand,  and  the  judge  to  his  surprise  saw  a  well 
dressed,  genteel  man  appear  instead  of  the  old  dirty  and  ragged 
Indian  that  he  expected.  So  great  was  the  contrast  that  he 
apologized  to  Isum  for  his  rudeness.  The  earliest  notice  of  him 
that  I  find  is  in  1677,  but  he  had  been  of  Barnstable  for  some 
years  previous.  Dea.  William  Crocker  gave  him  one  right  in  the 
meadows,  which  indicates  that  Isum  had  lived  with  him  when  a 
boy,  or  perhaps  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  marrying  a  daughter 
of  his  second  wife. 

John  Isum  was  admitted  a  townsman  March  4,  1692.  He 
was  entitled  to  a  share  in  all  the  divisions  of  the  common  lands, 
and  in  the  last  he  had  20  3-4  rights.  He  resided  at  Osterville. 
He  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Robert  Parker,  16th  Dec.  1677. 
She  was  born  March  31,  1664,  consequently  was  not  fourteen  at 
the  time  of  her  marriage.  The  record  of  his  death,  Sept.  3,  1717, 
is  erroneous,  for  his  will  is  dated  June  1,  1713,  and  was  proved 
on  the  10th  of  Oct.  following.  The  will  of  the  widow  Jane  Isum 
is  dated  April  13,  1715,  proved  24th  February,  1719-20.  In  his 
will  he  names  his  three  sons  and  six  daughters,  showing  that  they 
were  all  living  in  1713.  He  appoints  his  wife  Jane  and  his  son 
John  executors. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

2.  I.     Jane,    7th   Oct.    1679,    married    Michael   "Wilson    16th 
April,  1718. 

3.  II.     John,  25th  Aug.  1681. 

4.  III.     Isaac,  Feb.  1682-3.     (See  below.) 


74  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAIINSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

5.  IV".     Sarah,  Dec.   1684,   married  Joshua  Lovell  9th  May, 
1717. 

6.  V.     Mary,   June,  1687,    married  Abel  Crocker  16th   April, 
1718. 

7.  VI.     Hannah,  married  Peter  Blossom  June  9,  1720. 

8.  VII.     Patience. 

9.  VIII.     Joseph. 

10.     IX.     Thankful,  married  Jos.  Butler  of  Martha's  Vineyard 
1725. 

Isaac  Isum,  son  of  John,  married  3d  May,  1716,  Thankful 
Lumbert. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

Isaac,  March  21,  1718. 
.Samuel,  Oct.  26,  1716. 
John,  Aug.  6,  1721. 
Ebenezer,  Aug.  25,  1723. 
Timothy,  May  30,  1725. 
Joshua,  April  14,  1727. 
Daniel,  April  13,  1729. 
.     Abigail,  Feb.  17,  1731. 
This  family  has   nearly  run  out  in  Barnstable,  and  whether 
there   are  any   descendants  in   other  towns   I  am  unable   to   say. 
Mr.  Savage  thinks  the  name  has  been  changed  to  Ishum.     I  no- 
tice that  Isum's  is  so  spelled  in  the  records  of  marriages. 


11. 

I.     1 

12. 

II.    . 

13. 

III. 

14. 

IV. 

15. 

V.     ' 

16. 

VI. 

17. 

VII. 

18. 

VIII, 

THE    INDIANS. 


2.  Paup-mun-muke,  Sachem  of  Massapee. 

3.  Sea-qu-uncks,  Sachem  of  Scorton. 
1.     lyannough,  Sachem  of  Mattakeeset. 

The  Indians  of  Cape  Cod  seem  to  have  been  of  a  different 
race  from  those  that  inhabited  the  other  parts  of  New  England. 
They  were  peaceable,  never  engaged  in  any  wars  against  the  Eng- 
lish, desired  to  have  schools  established,  to  be  instructed  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  christian  religion,  and  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 
Soon  after  the  settlement  a  large  proportion  of  their  number  could 
read,  and  many  could  write.  They  had  religious  teachers  and 
magistrates,  who  held  courts  for  the  trial  of  small  offences  ;  but 
in  the  more  important  cases  were  assisted  by  Gov.  Hinckley  and 
others. 

Notwithstanding  this  apparent  prosperity,  the  attempt  to  civi* 
lize  and  christianize  the  Indians  of  Cape  Cod  was  an  utter  failure. 
As  long  as  they  had  such  zealous  men  as  Bourne,  Cotton,  Tup- 
per.  Treat  and  Hinckley,  to  advise  them,  to  instruct  them,  to 
watch  and  guard  all  their  interests,  and  to  protect  them  against 
the  cupidity  of  the  whites,  and  that  greater  enemy  of  their  race, 
the  seller  of  strong  waters,  they  prospered  ;  but  when  those  men 
were  dead  they  relapsed  into  their  savage  customs  and  associated 
with  the  vilest  among  the  whites  and  negroes  whose  vicious  habits 
they  adopted.  They  soon  vanished  away,  and  gave  place  to  a 
more  civilized,  and  a  more  enlighted  race.  To  protect  the  South 
Sea  Indians,  as  they  were  called,  of  whom  Popmunnuck  was  the 
Sachem,  Richard  Bourne  and  other  friends  of  the  race,  had  the 
plantation  of  Massapee,  a  small  portion  of  their  territory,  set  off 
to  them,  which  was  to  be  an  inheritance  to  them  and  their  poster- 
ity. The  Indian  could  not  sell,  and  the  white  man  was  forbidden 
to  purchase.  Guardians  were  appointed  to  watch  over  and  pro- 
tect them  ;  benevolent  and  charitable  men  provided  funds  for  the 
support  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  teachers  of  the  young,  and 
the  poor  had  provision  made  for  them.  Notwithstanding  all  the 
labors  of  the  benevolent,  the  care  and  expense  that  has  been  be- 
stowed to   preserve,  civilize   and  christianize  the  race,  they  have 


76         GEKEALOGIOAL   NOTES    OF   BARHSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

perished  ;  for  many  years  there  has  not  been  a  pure  blooded  In- 
dian in  the  County — all  have  vanished — the  last  of  the  Massapeea 
is  dead.  Their  plantation  and  their  lands  remain,  claimed  by  a 
mingled  race  of  negroes,  Hessians  and  degraded  English,  in 
whose  veins  course  a  few  drops  of  Indian  blood,  by  virtue  where- 
of, they  claim  the  inheritance  of  the  red  men.  AH  are  not  de- 
graded. There  are  a  few  who  are  honest,  industrious,  temperate, 
but  they  are  the  exceptions.*  A  little  time  since  the  Selectmen 
of  Massapee  were  in  court.  They  managed  their  business  care- 
fully and  well,  were  courteous  and  gentlemanly  in  their  bearing, 
but  the  most  casual  observer  would  notice  that  the  blood  of  the 
negro  preponderated.  Everywhere  the  black  race  adopts  the  hab- 
its and  customs  of  civilization,  more  readily  than  the  red.  The 
Indian  in  his  native  wilds  is  tall,  erect,  of  fine  pcoportions  and 
manly  in  his  bearing,  but  when  in  proximity  with  the  whites  he 
seems,  by  a  fatal  necessity,  doomed  to  fall,  to  become  degraded 
and  an  outcast. 

Hubbard,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  history,  made  the  remark, 
that  the  Indian  must  be  civilized  before  successful  attempts  could 
be  made  to  christianize  him.  All  subsequent  experience  verifies 
the  truth  of  that  remark,  yet  the  over-much  zealous  missionaries 
of  that  time  caused  the  passage  to  be  omitted  in  the  subsequent 
editions. 

Language.  Though  the  Bible  was  translated  into  the  Indian 
tongue,  the  number  of  primary  or  radical  words  in  the  language 
was  comparatively  few.  The  words  were  made  up  of  harsh  con- 
sonant sounds,  very  little  modified  by  the  vowel  sounds.  L  and 
R,  which  smooth  the  harsher  consonant  sounds,  did  not  exist  in 
many  dialects  of  the  language.  Beside  the  guttural  and  nasal 
sounds,  they  had  a  peculiar  whistling  sound  which  cannot  be  rep- 
resented by  any  letters  of  the  English  alphabet,  hence  in  words  in 
which  it  occurred,  no  two  persons  would  probably  spell  them  in 
the  same  manner.  To  represent  this  sound  Cotton  used  qu,  or 
two  0-0  connected.  The  same  word  was  also  used  in  different 
senses.  The  accent  affected  the  meaning,  and  so  did  the  gesture. 
The  word  qunni  or  quinne  as  written  by  Cotton,  others  wrote 
cumma,  cunne,  cona,  cono,  &c.  The  primary  meaning  of  this 
word  is  long,  but  the  speaker  when  he  so  intended  moved  his  hand 
horizontally- — if  he  meant  high  or  tall  he  raised  his  hand,  and  if 
deep  he  lowered  it.  A  thing  that  is  long  is  comparatively  narrow,, 
and  therefore  narrow  things  were  qunni  as  well  as  long.  A  proud 
or  haughty  man  was  called  qunni  because. he  assumes  a  high  posi- 
tion in  society.     The  Indian  name  of   Sandy  Neck  was  Cumma — 

*This  statement  was  in  a  degree  correct  at  the  time  it  was  penned.  But  at  this  period 
the  Masbpee  people  have  made  a  great  adTancement  in  morals  and  intelligence^  and^  com 
pare  favorably  in  social  order  with  the  communities  around  them. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  77 

or  qunni-quid,  thit  is  a  long  point.  The  Indians  often  dropped 
one  syllable  of  the  radical  words  in  the  forming  of  compounds, 
and  sometimes  several  letters  were  interposed.  Cohasset,*  some- 
times written  Conohasset,  is  a  compound  of  qunni  or  cono,  hassum 
a  rock,  and  the  terminal  et,  which  is  a  contraction  of  the  last  syl- 
lable word  AJiteuke  which  is  variously  written ;  thus,  tuck,  tuk, 
muck,  ick,  it,  at  and  et,  the  form  depending  in  some  cases  on  the 
gender  of  the  word  to  which  it  is  annexed.  Ahteuke  may  be  de- 
fined as  meaning  soil,  fields  or  lands,  place  or  country.  This 
word  does  not  occur  in  Williams's  vocabulary,  but  as  he  has  a 
word  of  similar  meaning  not  found  in  Cotton's,  Sannukamuck  he 
gives  as  a  synonym  of  Auke,  earth  or  land.  Williams  uses  W  in 
many  words  that  Cotton  spells  with  an  M,  also  au  for  oh  or  oo. 
Ohkee  (Cotton)  Auke  (Williams)  the  same  word,  a  general  term 
for  earth  or  land.  Ahteuke  (Cotton)  Sanaukamuk  (Williams) 
are  applied  to  smaller  divisions.  The  latter  word  is  a  compound, 
for  kamuck  or  komuck  means  home.  It  is  used  by  Eliot,  Cotton 
and  Williams,  and  in  compounds  the  first  syllable,  ko,  is  often 
omitted.  In  the  names  of  places  this  word  very  frequently  oc- 
curs. Sometimes  the  first  syllable,  but  generally  the  last  in  some 
of  its  varied  forms.  Some  Indian  names  are  easily  analyzed  and 
defined  ;  others  it  is  extremely  difl5cult,  if  not  impossible,  to  as- 
certain with  certainty  the  radical  words  from  which  they  were 
compounded.  This  difficulty  is  increased  by  the  different  manner 
in  which  different  persons  write  the  same  name.  Cotton  does  not 
spell  names  uniformly,  neither  does  Williams  or  Gookin.  On  the 
records  there  is  a  still  greater  want  of  uniformity. 

The  Indians  had  a  name  for  every  inlet  of  the  sea,  every 
point,  every  river,  creek  or  brook  ;  every  pond  and  almost  every 
swamp.  Their  'names  were  all  of  particular  places  of  small  ex- 
tent. They  had  no  general  names.  The  Indians  of  Barnstable, 
Plymouth,  Nantucket  and  Dukes  Counties,  and  a  part  of  Rhode 
Island,  were  subjects  of  one  prince.  The  other  Indian  nations 
called  them  Wampanoags — that  is  eastern,  or  white  Indians. 
Gookin  calls  them  Paw-kan-naw-cuts,  because  their  prince  or  king 
resided  at  a  place  of  that  name,  and  if  he  had  changed  his  resi- 
dence the  name  would  have  changed. 

Sachems  or  Sagamores.  I-yan-nough,  (captain  or  one  who 
imitates)  in  1620  was  the  Sachem  of  the  Mattakeeset  Indians.  He 
was  sometimes  called  Sachem  of  Cam-ma-quid,  (Sandy  Neck) 
because  during  some  part  of  the  year  he  resided  there.  His  terri- 
tory included  what  is  now  known  as  the  East  Parish  in  Barnsta- 
ble, a  part  of  West  Barnstable,  and  the  easterly  part  of  Sandy 
Neck,   South  and  West  Yarmouth,  and  that  part  of  Hyannis  in 

♦Flint  in  liiB  history  of  Cohasset  says  the  meaning  of  the  name  is  "a  fishing  promon- 
tory."   He  is  mistaken.    Namasket  is  a  fishing  place. 


78  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Barnstable  which  is  situate   east   and   northeast   of   Lewis'   Bay. 

Sba-qu-uncks,*  or  Se-cuncke,  (Black  Goose)  inaccurately 
written  on  the  Barnstable  records  Se-runke,  was  the  Scan- 
ton  sagamore,  and  his  territory  extended  into  Barnstable  and  in- 
cluded the  westerly  part  of  Scauton  Neck  and  Great  Marshes. 

Paup-mun-nucice  appears,  by  his  deeds  dated  in  1648  and  in 
1658,  to  have  been  the  Sachem  of  the  South  Sea  or  Massapee  In- 
dians. His  territory  included  all  the  south  part  of  Barnstable, 
(excepting  a  small  tract  at  Hyannis  that  belonged  to  I-yan- 
NOUGH,)  Massapee  and  Falmouth.  He  resided  at  a  neck  called 
Cot-o-ches-et. 

Names  of  Places.  Some  Indian  names  of  place  are  obso- 
lete ;  others  have  been  I'etained,  and  some  have  been  changed  into 
corresponding  or  other  English  names.  The  following  list  illus- 
trates the  practice  of  our  ancestors,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made: 

INDIAN    NAMES.  ENGLISH  NAMES. 

Mai^ta-kee-set,  Old  or  Common  Fields. 

Oum-ma-quid,  Sandy  Neck. 

Oo-a  or  Cotuit,  The  same. 

San  or  8a-tu-ite,  Cotuit  Port. 

Pey^me-chit,  The  same. 

Kok-a^cho-ise,  (The  farrows,)  The  same. 

Cok-a-cho-ise,  (Island)  Little  Oyster  Island. 

Se-po-ese  or  Sepuit,  The  same. 

Oot-a-che-sett,  Obsolete. 

■Sip-nes-set,  Obsolete. 

Was-ko-tus-soo,  Obsolete. 

Mis-tic,  The  Indian  Ponds. 

Skon-ko-net,  The  same. 

Chun-ko-mug,  Oyster  river. 
We-qua-quet,  The  same. 

Tamahappaseeacon,  Tarn's  Neck. 

Tanno^s  Land,  Hyannis. 

Mos-keeh-tuck-qut,  Great  Marshes. 

By  these  names  the  principal  places  in  Barnstable  are  yet 
known.  Within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  attempts  have  been 
made  to  banish  some  of  these  old  names,  by  giving  to  the  Post 
Offices  a  different  one,  namely  : 

To  Santuit,  Cotuit  Port. 

Oyster  Island,  Osterville. 

Mistic,  or  the  Ponds,  Marston's  Mills. 

We-qua-quet,  Centreville. 

If  the  new  names  are  better  than  the  old,  then  something  has 
been  gained  by  the  changes.  Mb^t  of  them  were  effected  by  the 
action   of   a  few  persons.     They   signed  petitions  to   have   Post 


*From  Segnt,  black,  and  Wam-poh-tuk,  goose,  according  to  Cotton.  As  the  name  of 
the  goose  is  a  word  in  imitation  of  its  cry,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  differ.  Or  the  name 
may  be  from  Se-quun-nock,  the  horse  foot. 


GENEALOGICAli    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  79 

Offices  established,  designated  by  the  new  names.  The  Postmas- 
ter G-eneral  took  no  interest  in  the  matter,  and  granted  the  pray- 
ers of  the  petitioners.  The  people  of  these  places  never  took  act- 
ion respecting  the  change.  They  are  objectionable.  They  intro- 
duce confusion  in  the  records  and  in  legal  conveyances.  He  that 
proposes  a  change  of  name  should  show  some  sufficient  season. 
The  only  reason  I  have  heard  urged  is  this,  "the  old  names  are 
Indian."  In  a  critical  point  of  view,  nothing  has  been  gained. 
In  selecting  names  euphony  or  sound,  I  admit,  should  be  regarded. 
Let  any  one  who  has  a  correct  ear  say  whether  Marston's  Mills, 
or  Pondville,  is  a  more  euphoneous  name  than  Mistic  though  it  be 
Indian  ;  Cotuit  Port  than  San-tu-it ;  Osterville  than  Cot-a-cJio-set, 
Bkon-ko-net,  or  even  Skon-ko-mudk ;  or  Centreville  than  Wee-qua- 
quet.  The  Indian  name  of  West  Batnstable,  if  modified  in  form, 
80  that  it  will  apply  to  the  village  instead  of  the  meadows,  will  be 
Mos-ke-tuak-et,  a  very  pretty  name.  Associated  with  those  old 
names,  which  have  become  household  words,  there  are  pleasant 
reminisences  which  endear  them  to  every  son  and  to  every  daughr- 
ter  of  old  Barnstable.  "Why  ruthlessly  sever  them  ?  Even  the 
red  man  associated  with  the  name  the  characteristics  and  the 
memories  of  the  place.  In  all  primitive  languages  there  is  a  cor- 
respondence between  the  name,  and  the  thing  signified.  Names 
were  not  arbitrarily  given.  Hebrew  names  always  have  a  mean- 
ing that  is  significant.  "And  he  named  one  Peleg."  Why,  be- 
cause on  the  year  that  Peleg  was  born  the  Hebrews  did  that  which 
was  signified  by  Peleg — they  "divided  their  lands."  Indian 
names  of  places  were  descriptive.  The  names  of  their  children 
were  often  records  of  events.  When  the  child  grew  up,  if  he  be- 
came remarkable  for  any  particular  trait,  he  assumed  another 
which  was  more  expressive,  and  better  corresponded  with  his  con- 
dition and  station.  Indian  names  are  compounded  of  primitive 
words,  occasionally  extending  to  fifteen  syllables,  too  long  even 
for  an  Indian  to  pronounce,  and  he  therefore  contracted  them, 
sometimes  taking  only  a  single  syllable,  and  sometimes  only  a  few 
letters  of  a  primitive  word. 

Mattakeese  is  compounded  from  matta,  not — in  this  connect- 
ion, old  or  poor — ohkee,  ground  or  fields  ;  ese  or  ise  the  diminu- 
tive term,  meaning  less  or  little.  Mattakeset  is  the  same  with  the 
addition  of  the  terminal  ei,  which  means  "place"  or  "here  is  the 
place,"  which  our  Indians  uniformly  applied  to  places  near  the 
water.  Our  fathers  translated  the  name  literally,  and  called  the 
Indian  fields  "Old  Fields,"  a  name  that  I  have  often  heard  the 
aged  apply  to  them.  In  1647  these  Old  Fields  were  enclosed  by 
a  common  fence,  and  thereafter  were  called  common  fields  be- 
cause so  enclosed.  The  eastern  part  was  called  the  new,  and  the 
western  the  old  common  field,,  because  that  requiring  only  a  few 
rods  of  fence,  was  enclosed  the  year  the  town  was  settled. 


80         GENEAliOGIOAL   NOTES    OF  BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

Within  the  common  fields  there  are  some  localities  of  histori- 
cal interest.  Stony  Cove  (Qus-suTc-a-cup?)  and  Stony  Coveriverr 
(Qus-su7c-tucTc-gut?)  the  boundary  between  the  new  common  field 
and  Yarmouth.  Some  of  the  fields  in  the  vicinity  are  yet  called 
Stony  Cove  lands.  About  half  a  mile  west  of  Stony  Cove,  withia 
the  ancient  bounds  of  Yarmouth,  is  a  place  known  as  Old  Town. 
Here  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bacbilor  and  his  company  attempted,  in  the 
winter  of  1637-8,  to  form  the  first  settlement  within  the  present 
town  of  Barnstable.  There  is  no  recorded  evidence  that  this, 
name  is  connected  with  Mr.  Bachilor's  settlement ;  yet  there  is  no 
reasonable  ground  for  doubting  that  it  is  so  connected.  The 
changing  of  this  boundary  line  explains  the  apparent  error  of 
Gov.  Winthrop  in  stating  that  Mr.  Bachilor  attempted  a  planta- 
tion in  Yarmouth,  for  it  was  Yarmouth  at  that  time.  The  Colony 
Court  ordered  the  line  between  Mattakeese  and  Mattakeset  to  be 
established.  It  was  afterwards  found  that  both  names  apper- 
tained to  the  same  place,  and  that  Stony  Cove  being  the  boundary 
between  I-yan-nough  and  Mas-am-tam-paine,  it  should  also  be  the 
town's.  The  old  writers  say  Mattakeeset  was  partly  in  Barnsta- 
ble and  partly  in  Yarmouth.  This  is  accurate,  if  reference  is  had 
to  dates  prior  to  1642,  but  not  to  subsequent  time,  and  therefore 
the  statements  in  Davis'  edition  of  Morton's  Memorial,  and  in  the 
publications  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  are  inaccu- 
rate, because  they  refer  to  subsequent  events.  "William  Chase, 
always  called  of  Yarmouth,  the  ancestor  of  the  Chase  family  of 
this  County,  afterwards  owned  the  Old  Town  lands,  and  in  Mr. 
Lothrop's  records,  and  the  town  records,  he  is  named  as  having 
been  at  the  settlement,  a  resident  within  the  bounds  of  Barnsta- 
ble though  always  an  inhabitant  of  Yarmouth. 

I-yan-nough' s  town.  A  little  distance  northwesterly  from  Old 
Town,  was  a  swamp  and  fresh  water  pond,  called  by  the  Indians 
^'■Mattakeese  swamp."  On  the  borders  of  that  swamp  lyan- 
nough's  town  was  situated.  It  is  named  by  Winslow,  and  it  was 
there  that  he  and  his  companions  were  so  sumptuously  entertained 
by  lyannough.  This  was  the  summer  residence  of  the  Indians, 
though  they  occasionally  resided  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  har- 
bor at  Sandy  Neck.  Here  were  their  planting  fields,  and  being 
near  the  sea  shore,  where  at  the  last  of  May  and  beginning  of 
June  an  abundance  of  the  species  of  the  crab  known  as  the  horse- 
foot  and  called  by  them  se-quun-nocks,  (black  crabs)  were  taken 
and  used  to  dress  their  corn  fields,  a  practice  that  the  English 
have  continued.  In  the  winter  the  Indians  removed  their  wigwams 
to  the  forest,  because  it  was  less  labor  to  remove  the  house  than 
to  carry  the  wood,  of  which  they  consumed  large  quantities.  They 
usually  removed  to  South  Sea  in  the  winter,  selecting  a  sheltered 
place  in  the  forest  in  which  to  erect  their  wigwams. 

Many  years  ago  the  salt  water  broke  into  Mattakeese  swamp, 


GENEALOGICAI,   NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  81 

and  it  is  now  nearly  overgrown  with  salt  meadows,  and  is  known 
as  the  Perch  Pond,  and  its  outlet  is  the  Eastern  Watering-place. 

The  West  Watering-place,  also  called  Bacon's  Watering- 
place,  is  on  the  dividing  line  between  the  new  and  the  old  Com- 
mon Fields. 

Cum-ma-quid.  (Long  Point.)  This  was  the  Indian  name 
of  the  eastern  part  of  Sandy  Neck,  and  of  Barnstable  harbor.  It 
belonged  to  lyannough,  who  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  resided 
there,  and  hence,  he  is  sometimes  called  Sachem  of  Cum-ma- 
quid. 

Scauton,  called  by  the  English  Scorton  Neck,  is  the  westerly 
part  of  Sandy  Neck.  This  name  is  derived  from  squalk,  the  In- 
dian name  of  an  aquatic  bird,  and  o-tan,  town  or  village-  Within 
the  recollection  of  many  living,  thousands  of  these  birds  built 
their  nests  in  the  swamps  and  thickets  on  Scorton  Neck.  Their 
eggs  were  gathered  up,  and  were  considered  as  good  an  article  of 
food  as  those  of  the  duck.  Scorton  belonged  to  Sea-qu-uncks, 
(Black  Goose)  Sachem  of  the  Scauton  tribe.  The  extreme  west- 
ern portion  of  the  Neck,  is  within  the  present  boundaries  of  the 
town  of  Sandwich,  and  in  that  part  the  Indians,  when  they  sold 
their  lands,  made  a  reservation  yet  known  as  the  Indian  fields. 

Mos-keeh-tuck-qut,  Cotton  says,  was  the  name  of  Sandwich. 
It  was  originally  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  of  the  Scorton 
Sachem,  and  a  small  portion  of  it  is  now  included  within  the  boun- 
daries of  Sandwich.  It  is  a  compound  from  Mos-ke-tu-ash,  hay 
and  tuck-qut,  a  term  which  is  sometimes  applied  to  waters  of  a 
sufficient  depth  to  be  navigated  by  canoes — Mos  is  a  contraction 
of  Mbo-ohe,  much.  The  first  settlers  translated  the  name  into 
Great  Marshes,  and  it  cannot  perhaps  be  improved.  It  means  a 
place  where  there  is  much  hay  ground  or  meadows,  interspersed 
with  creeks  navigable  by  canoes.  This  is  an  exact  description. 
If  the  village  or  residence  of  the  Indians  had  been  intended,  the 
name  would  be  Mos-kee-tuck-et. 

Mis-teake  or  Mistick.  In  order  to  understand  many  Indian 
names,  we  must  endeavor  to  adapt  ourselves  to  his  habits  and 
mode  of  thought.  The  Indian  saw  and  heard,  he  did  not  reason, 
and  in  giving  a  name  he  described  what  he  actually  saw  or  what 
he  actually  heard.  He  often  used  metaphor,  never  abstract  terms. 
He  would  say  "here  is  my  hearthstone,"  "here  I  build  my  fire," 
or  "here  I  sleep,"  meaning  here  is  my  house,  just  as  the  sailor 
says,  "here  I  sling  my  hammock."  The  simple  and  effective  ora- 
tory of  the  Indian  depended  on  the  skilful  use  of  metaphor.  To 
go  to  war  was  "to  raise  the  hatchet,"  or  "to  draw  the  bow,"— to 
make  peace  was  "to  bury  the  hatchet."  To-too  in  his  will  on  the 
records  of  Barnstable,  directs  his  executor  to  "bury  me  as  near  as 
you  ca,n-to  the  feet  of  my  mistress."  The  poetry  and  simple  elo- 
quence of  this  command  can  hardly  be  excelled. 


82  GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

In  the  naming  of  places,  metaphor  was  seldom  employed. 
The  few  radical  words  of  their  language  admitted  of  so  many 
different  combinations,  and  changes  in  form,  that  it  often  is  very 
diflScult  to  decipher  the  meaning  of  names.  They  had  some  gen- 
eral rules  for  compounding,  and  when  the  form  of  the  radical 
words  is  not  essentially  changed,  the  meaning  can  easily  be 
picked  out. 

Mish-ee  signifies  great  when  applied  to  an  animal — if  to  a 
man  the  first  syllable  was  written  mis,  and  if  to  an  estate  mus. 
It  was  sometimes  written  mash  often  mas.  The  name  Mash-pee 
is  from  mish-ee  and  sapee,  river.  Mr.  Holway  who  had  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  Indian  says,  Massapee  (great  river)  is  the  cor- 
rect spelling.  It  is  the  same  as  Mississippi  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  see  in  a  French  dress.  To  those  species  of  fish  that 
alternately  live  in  the  salt  and  in  fresh  water,  the  Indians  pre- 
fixed to  their  names  mish ;  that  is,  to  the  names  of  the  herring, 
the  trout,  the  salmon,  and  also  to  the  sturgeon.  The  reason  of 
this  is,  these  fish  come  from  the  G'reaf  waters  to  the  small  streams 
and  ponds.  They  are  not  natives,  they  are  mtsfeee-fish — and  the 
places  to  which  they  resorted  to  spawn  were  Mish-ee-ah-tedke 
lands.  In  forming  the  compound  name,  the  "h"  was  dropped  be- 
cause it  was  applied  to  an  inanimate  thing  of  a  different  gender — 
and  for  the  same  reason  teake  is  changed  to  tic.  The  two  sylla- 
bles "ee"  and  "ah"  are  dropped  as  unnecessary  in  the  compound. 
It  is  thus  that  the  name  Mistic  is  formed.  It  is  a  common  name, 
and  is  uniformly  given  to  regions  like  that  at  the  head  of  Oyster 
Island  Bay  or  Inlet,  the  First  Herring  River  and  the  Indian 
Ponds.  It  is  applied  to  small  streams  and  to  still  waters,  particu- 
larly where  the  herring  and  the  trout  resort,  and  also  to  the 
places  where  the  salmon,  the  sturgeon,  and  the  bass  are  taken. 

There  is  another  reason,  and  perhaps  the  primary  one.  The 
Indian  always  noted  the  color  of  objects.  Mish-que  was  red. 
The  color  of  these  fish  is  redish,  especially  after  they  are  cured, 
therefore  he  called  them  Mish-que,  that  is  "red-fish."  The  color 
of  the  water  of  all  streams  and  ponds  is  not  the  same.  In  giving 
names  to  streams  and  ponds  he  had  reference  to  the  color  of  the 
water.  Independent  of  other  considerations,  the  First  Herring 
Brook,  on  account  of  the  color  of  the  water,  may  have  been  called 
Mis-tic. 

Co  or  Goa-tu-it.  This  name  has  been  retained.  It  is  de- 
rived from  quin-nee  or  co-no,  long — ah-teuke  fields  and  the  termi- 
nal it  or  et,  place,  meaning  long  fields.  It  appears  by  the  records 
that  when  the  purchase  was  made  by  the  English,  that  there  were 
strips  of  good  land  that  laid  parallel  to  the  river  and  pond. 
These  were  the  planting  fields  of  the  Indians,  and  in  their  sale 
they  reserved  a  large  portion  thereof  for  their  own  use,  calling 
them  Coatuit  or  the  Long  Fields. 


OENEALOGICAL   NOTES  OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  83 

San-tu-ite  or  Sa-ta-ite  is  a  different  name.  It  is  perhaps  the 
same  as  Se-tu-it  or  Sa-te-at,  afterwards  Scituate,  which  Mr. 
Deane  in  his  history  saj's  means  "cold  brook."  The  name  is 
probably  from  San-quoi,  cold,  Sa-pee,  river — and  the  common 
terminal  it  or  et,  aad  means  "cold  brook."  This  name  was  ap- 
plied to  the  pond,  and  the  river  which  issues  from  it — and  proba- 
bly to  the  country  to  the  south  of  Cotuit,  now  called  Cotuit  Port 
and  the  High  Grounds. 

Pi-me-chit  or  Pi-me-ter.  This  is  the  name  of  an  ancient  land- 
ing place  at  the  northwest  extremity  of  Oyster  Island  Bay  or  In- 
let. It  is  a  name  that  does  not  appear  in  the  records  ;  but  has 
been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  Probably  the 
two  last  syllables  are  the  same  as  M.is-teake.  The  land  in  that 
vicinity  was  known  by  that  name.  The  iirst  syllable.  Pi  or  Pey, 
is  perhaps  a  construction  of  pey-o-nat,  to  come,  that  is  a  place 
where  many  come — or  Mistic  Landing.  The  strait  or  bay  near 
this  place  tradition  also  says  was  called  by  the  Indians  Brpd-e- 
nuck,  probably  Paup-mun-nukes  whose  residence  was  in  that  vicin- 
ity. 

Po-po-mon-aucke  is  a  word  that  resembles  Paup-mun-nucke, 
the  name  of  the  Sachem.  Po  is  long  and  narrow  and  refers  to 
water — when  repeated  it  means  very  narrow  or  shallow.  Mon  is 
is  an  abbreviation  of  Monan,  island,  attcke  is  an  abbreviation  of 
ah-teuke,  land,  that  is  a  tract  of  land  surrounded,  or  nearly  sur- 
rounded, by  narrow  shoal  waters,  that  is  an  island  or  peninsula. 
It  is  descriptive  of  the  place  of  residence  of  Paup-mun-nucke  on 
the  neck  which  is  called  Oot-o-che-sett  in  the  records.  It  was  a 
custom  of  Indian  mothers  to  make  the  names  of  their  children  the 
record  of  events.  They  frequently  removed  from  place  to  place, 
and  it  was  customary  to  give  the  child  the  name  of  the  place 
where  he  was  born.  This  furnishes  us  with  the  origin  and  mean- 
ing of  Paup-mun-nuke. 

Wak-a-tass-so  or  Was-ko-tas-soo.  Respecting  this  name  my 
inquiries  have  furnished  no  results.  It  looks  like  a  name  given  by 
the  Indians  to  new  grounds  or  lands  recently  cleared  up,  and  that 
were  in  the  vicinity  of  oyster-beds,  but  of  this  I  am  not  certain. 
i  am  only  certain  of  this,  it  was  near  kok-a-cho-ise,  the  name  of  the 
Narrows  and  of  little  Oyster  Island,  and  as  all  the  other  places 
are  provided  with  names,  I  infer  that  Wak-a-tas-so  was  the  name 
of  the  larger  or  Great  Oyster  Island.  It  was  a  place  where  therd 
was  a  small  Indian  village. 

Cot-a-che-sett.  This  was  the  name  of  a  neck  of  land  contain- 
ing thirty  acre,  southeasterly  from  Mystic  Landing,  and  adjoin- 
ing to  Roger  Goodspeed's  houselot,  that  Paup-mun-nuke  reserved 

Se-po-ese  or  Se-pu-it  is  called  "Little  River,"  a  literal  translation  of  the  name.  It  it 
situate  Dortheasterly  from  San-tu4t  or  Cotuit  Port.  On  its  banks  are  many  handsome 
country  residences.  It  is  not  called  by  the  old  name,  though  the  waters  into  which  is 
empties  and  which  separate  Dead  Neck  from  Oyster  Island,  stUl  retain  the  name. 


84         GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

in  his  sale  of  land  to  the  English  in  1648,  and  the  place  of  his 
residence.  It  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Indian  fields.  This 
name  is  almost  identical  with  kok-a-cho-ise  and  was  the  name  of 
his  Sachemdom,  and  the  name  of  the  small  island  and  narrows,  a 
little  distance  to  the  southeast. 

Se-paw-neS'is-set,  Se-pau-is-set^  or  Sip-nes-et.  This-  is  the 
same  word  that  Williams  says  is  the  superlative  of  se-^j?  river,  and 
defines  as  "a  little  rivulet."  The  name  is  now  obsolete.  It  was 
the  little  brook  that  flows  into  the  bay  at  Oyster  Island  Landing. 

Skun-ko-mug*  or  Chun-ko-muek,  This  name  is  derived  from 
Clvim-koo^  the  Oyster,  and  ko  or  ka-much^  home,  or  place  of  resi- 
dence. In  this  connection  the  meaning  of  the  name  is  '^a  bed  of 
oysters,"  or  reversed,  "-'an  oyster  bed,"  or  '*'a  place  where  oysters 
abound."  This  was  the  name  of  the  river  or  inlet  on  the  east  and 
southeast  of  Oyster  Island  village,  and  which  is  yet  known  as 
Oyster  Island  river.  The  inlet  or  bay  on  the  southwest  was 
sometimes  called  Oyster  Island  bay  and  sometimes  Oyster 
river. 

Ma-nan  or  mo-nan  was  the  Indian  for  island  ;    but  in  the  In- 

*Williams  pves  the  Indian  word  ao-cup,  a  little  cotc  or  creek,  au-cup-waw-ese,  a  very 
little  one.  Cnttou  has  not  this  word.  He  could  have  written  it  aw-qut — the  broad  pound  of 
a  he  represented  by  aw-  Williams,  as  I  have  be/ore  stated,  represents  the  whistling-  sound 
of  the  Indian  by  C.  Cotton  generally  by  qu,  never  by  cm — ^B,  P  and  T,  are  interchange- 
able, sometimes  the  one  is  used  and  sometimes  the  other  in  the  same  word.  Au-qut  fre- 
quently occurs  in  the  names  of  places  on  the  coast,  because  it  refers  to  inlets  into  which  the 
tide  flows.  When  a  creek  was  intended,  tuck  in  some  of  its  forms  was  added,  indicating- 
that  it  was  narrow,  that  there  was  land  on  each  side ;  yet  that  there  was  suflScient  water  to 
paddle  a  canoe.  Mug  or  muck  in  this  case  may  be  the  same  as  qut,  because  the  cove  and 
not  the  land  was  the  home  or  bed  of  the  oyster- 

However,  it  is  a  well  establised  fact;  that,  though  like  Sancho's  island,  it  was  on  the 
main  land,  the  Indians  called  it  an  island,  and  for  nearly  two  centuries  the  whites  called  it 
so,  and  even  to  this  day  many  call  it  an  island.  Geoffraphically  it  is  not  surrounded  by 
water;  that  howeTci  has  noticing  to  do  with  the  fact  that  for  two  centuries  Oyster  Island 
was  the  name  of  place  or  village.  If  we  laugh  at  the  absurdity  of  the  name,  that  does  not 
mend  the  matter  or  change  the  facts.  It  is  not  a  particle  more  absurd  than  the  present 
name.  Oster-VILLE.  "ville"  is  French,  meaning,  as  the  dictionaries  informs  us, 
"town"  or  "city."  Vill  is  an  English  word,  from  villa,  Latin,  and  is  applied  to  the  divis- 
ioDs  of  a  town,  and  is  usually  written  village.  Osterville  is  uniformly  spelled  with  the  "E" 
final,  and  is  French  and  is  to  be  defined  as  French.  Is  Osterville  a  town?  If  so,  who  are 
its  Selectmen?  If  a  city,  where  are  its  municipal  officers?  Where  is  its  city  hall?  Who 
is  its  Mayor?  Ash-u-woo-ham-itt  was  its  last  Mayor,  while  under  Indian  rale.  Oster  is 
still  more  absurd.  It  is  neither  Indian,  Frenph  nor  English.  If  it  be  Latin,  it  is  like  Mam. 
brino's  helmet,  some  rogue  has  cut  off  the  front.  I  am  aware  that  this  is  mighty  small 
criticism ;  my  answer  is,  it  is  in  reply  to  much  smaller — to  that  pseudo  delicacy  which  turns 
up  its  wise  nose  at  Oyster  Island  because  it  was  a  name  derived  fi*om  the  Indian;  but  can 
with  imperturbable  gravity  say  Osterville !  Suppose  some  wise-acre  should  undertake  to 
criticise  the  name  Barnstable,  and  say  it  is  not  a  stable,  therefore  it  is  absurd  to  say  Barn- 
stable.   If  the  baptismal  name  of  a  termagant  be  "Love,"  is  she  a  lovely  scold? 

NOTE.— Since  writing  the  above  I  have  had  an  interview  with  Hon,  Charles  Marston, 
many  years  overseer  of  the  Massapee  Indians-  He  pronounced  several  of  the  Indian 
names  of  places  at  Oyster  Island  and  vicinity,  in  the  manner  they  were  pronounced  by  In- 
dians who  could  speak  their  native  language.  From  the  information  received  of  Mr, 
Marston  I  am  satisfied  that  the  various  or  apparently  various  names  applied  to  Oyster  Is- 
land are  from  the  same  root,  namely,  Churr-koo,  the  Oyster.  As  he  pronounced  the  name, 
there  are  no  letters  in  English  to  represent  the  sound.  The  peculiar  whistling  sound  I  have 
named  and  a  strong  aspirate  occurs  in  this  name,  thus,  Skon-ko-net,  Skun-ka-mug  or  jnuck, 
and  Skunk-net,  are  all  the  same  word,  the  third  syllable  being  a  separate  word— thus, 
Sko-unk-koo  or  Chu-unk-koo— the  terminal  et  or  muck  was  used  only  when  the  land  was 
intended,  not  when  the  river.  He  al^o  informs  me  that  the  name  of  the  tribe  of  which 
Paup-mun-nuke  was  Sachem,  including  the  Mpssapees,  was  Cot-a-chese— the  people,  Cot-a- 
-che-set,  the  place,  which  in  pronouncmg  he  gave  to  the  first  syllables  the  sound  of  Chuu- 
koo,  the  oyster,  as  above  given. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  85 

dian  names,  that  appertain  to  places  in  that  vicinity,  there  is  no 
reference  to  mo-nan.  The  Indian  however  made  no  discrimina- 
tion between  an  island  and  a  peninsula.  The  tract  of  country  which 
has  (Cotacheset)  till  very  recently,  been  known  as  Oyster  Island 
is  a  peninsula,  bounded  on  every  side  except  at  the  northwest  by 
water,  if  Bumps'  river,  a  branch  of  the  Chun-ko-nuck,  be  consid- 
ered its  northern  boundary. 

At  the  division  of  the  town  in  1717  into  two  parishes,  the 
Skun-ka-mug  (Phinney's  mill  stream)  was  made  a  part  of  the 
boundary  line.  It  now  separates  We-qua-quet  from  Skon-ko-net 
(town  records,)  Skun-ka-mag  (Mellen,)  or  C7iMn-A;o-nei  (Cotton.) 
These  I  consider  to  be  only  different  spellings  of  the  same  name, 
all  derived  from  Chun-koo,  the  oyster,  oh-kee,  land,  and  the  ter- 
mmal,  which  means  place.  The  exact  definition  of  the  name  is 
"an  oyster  bed."  The  terminal  qualified  the  meaning.  Instead 
of  meaning  the  oyster  bed  itself,  it  implied  a  village  or  place  near 
to  the  oyster  beds. 

Skun-ko-net,  or  rather  Cot-che-set,  is  bounded  on  the  south  by 
the  Vineyard  Sound,  called  by  our  ancestors  the  south  sea,  south- 
west by,  including  Great  and  Little  Oyster  Island,  by  Oyster  Bay, 
inlet  or  river,  and  northwesterly  by  Mistic.  The  early  settlements 
made  by  the  English  were  at  Sip-nes-set  and  Kok-a-clio-ise  in  the 
south.  In  the  north  part  few  settlements  have  been  made  to  this 
day,  and  excepting  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  mill  privileges 
it  is  covered  by  an  unbroken  forest,  and  still  retains  the  old 
name. 

We-qua-quet.  Several  Indian  names  of  Oyster  Island  have 
been  given,  apparently  different ;  but  on  being  analized  and  ex- 
amined are  found  to  be  essentially  the  same.  We-qua-quet  is  a 
different  name.  In  this  the  change  of  a  few  letters  makes  a  radi- 
cal change  in  its  meaning.  The  town  records  and  the  local  pro- 
nunciation is  Che-qua-quet,*  with  some  unimportant  variations  not 
affecting  the  meaning.  Bourne,  Gookin,  Cotton,  and  the  colony 
records,  change  the  first  syllable  to  We,  making  another  word  of 
the  name.  The  second  syllable  is  quite  uniformly  written  qua, 
though  sometimes  koh.  The  last  syllable  is  written  in  almost 
every  conceivable  form,  qut,  quet,  quette,  quot,  hut,  hunt,  &e. 

After  much  time  spent  in  the  examination,  my  conclusion  is 
that  We-quM-qu  is  the  best  authorized  spelling  of  the  name  of  the 
river  or  harbor,  and  We-quorqustt  of  the  village.  Its  deviation 
and  meaning  is  plain.     It  is  a  compound  of  we-ko-ne,  sweet,  fair. 


*In  the  Coleman  article  1  gave  the  preference  to  this  spelling.  Che-qua-kwau,  an  in- 
telligent Indian  chief  from  the  West,  informed  me  meant  "the  edge  of  the  forest,"  but 
among  the  great  variety  of  spellings  of  the  last  syllable,  I  do  not  recollect  one  that  precise- 
ly corresponds  with  this.  Bourne  and  Gookin,  who  were  familiar  with  the  language,  both 
write  the  name  We.  I  remarked  in  that  article  that  the  authority  of  such  men  was  not  to 
be  disregarded.  I  think  they  were  right.  The  town  records  and  the  local  pronunciation 
probably  had  the  same  origin,  and  we  and  ehe  are  not  so  dissimilar  as  to  render  it  im- 
probable that  they  have  been  confounded. 


86  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

pleasant,  delightful,  &c.,and  of  au-qut,  a  cove  or  inlet  of  the  aea. 
As  the  water  of  the  river  or  harbor  is  salt,  the  Indian,  though  he 
called  it  we-ko-ne,  the  prime  meaning  whereof  is  sweet,  did  not  in- 
tend that  the  word  should  be  so  understood  ;  but  in  some  of  its 
many  other  meanings  ;  that  is  fair  or  pleasant.  Au-qut  has  al- 
ready been  fully  explained  in  a  note.  It  means  a  cove,  not  so 
large  and  deep  as  to  be  called  a  bay  or  a  harbor,  yet  navigable 
for  canoes  and  small  vessels.  We-qua-quet  in  English  would 
therefore  be  pleasant  harbor  or  pleasant  cove. 

By  adding  the  common  terminal  et  or  only  e,  we  have  the 
name  of  the  place  or  village.,  We-qua-quett,  which  literally  trans- 
lated would  be  Pleasant  Harbor  or  village  or  Pleasantville. 

There  is  poetry  in  the  name.  The  Indian  did  not  erect  his 
wigwam  on  the  sea  shore,  but  on  the  margin  of  the  crystal  waters 
of  its  ponds,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  clear  brooks  that  fall  into 
the  We-qua-qut,  the  name  is  sometimes  written  We-koh-quet, 
Here  we  have  an  additional  word,  koh,  a  contraction  of  oh-ke, 
fields,  and  without  calling  the  imagination  to  our  aid  we  may 
translate  the  name  thus,  "Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling 
floods."  The  only  straining  of  the  meaning  of  any  of  the  radical 
words  is  that  of  et,  it  is  rendered  beyond  instead  of  here  or  on  this 
side.  The  unabreviated  Indian  words  are  We-kone,  sweet,  oh-ke, 
fields,  et,  here  in  this  place,  or  on  this  side — au-qut,  enclosed 
waters  or  swelling  floods  at  the  rise  of  the  tides. 

We-koh-quat,  fair  weather,  Cotton,  We-kin-cau-quat,  Wil- 
liams, are  words  that  resemble  We-qua-quett  and  may  be  the  same. 
Cotton  translates  We-ken-eauk-qut  warm  weather.  Quot  or  quat 
is  a  different  word  from  qut  or  quet.  It  means  weather  and  has 
no  reference  to  a  cove  or  to  waters.  I  find  the  last  syllable  of 
the  name  spelt  hut,  hunt,  quutt,  but  not  with  the  broad  sound  of 
quot  or  quat. 

There  is  another  word  from  which  the  name  may  be  derived, 
namely  :  we-quash,  a  torch  or  light — also  the  name  of  the  swan. 
We-quash  also  has  a  meaning,  to  express  which  we  have  no  corre- 
sponding word  in  English,  it  has  therefore  been  anglicised.  To 
we-quash,  or  we-quashing,  is  to  spear  fish  by  the  light  of  a  torch 
placed  in  the  bows  of  a  canoe.  It  is  a  good  sport  on  a  calm 
evening.  The  fish  are  attracted  by  the  light,  and  fall  an  easy 
prey  to  the  sportsman.  Along  the  sandy  beaches  and  in  the  clear 
waters  of  the  We-qua-qut,  the  red  man's  torch  often  spread  its 
flickering  light  over  the  surface,  and  the  white  men,  spear  in  hand, 
often  engages  in  the  same  sport.  If  the  name  is  hence  derived, 
its  equivalent  in  English  will  be  Torch  Light  Cove. 

The  Indians  called  the  swan  We-quash  because  it  sits  so 
ightly  and  gracefully  on  the  water.  Like  the  Torch  Light  Sports- 
man, it  suddenly  darts  down  upon  its  unsuspecting  prey.     If  this 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTJSS    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  87 

bird  gave  its  cognomen  to  the  harbor,  we  have  for  its  name  Swan's 
Cove. 

I  have  thus  rapidly  passed  in  review  the  radical  words  from 
which  We-qua-quet  may  be  derived.  My  own  preference  is  clear- 
ly indicated.  I  may  be  wrong — and,  if  so,  it  will  not  be  the  first 
time.  The  name  affords  a  practical  illustration  of  the  difficulties 
that  environ  the  student  of  the  analogies  of  an  unwritten  lan- 
guage. A  misplaced  letter  changes  the  meaning  of  a  radical 
word,  and  thus  the  inquirer  is  misled.  Words  phonetically  the 
same  have  a  widely  different  meaning,  when  differently  accented, 
or  when  accompanied  by  a  different  gesture.  Cotton  and  Wil- 
liams' vocabularies  are  valuable  aids  ;  but  they  are  collections  of 
compounds  and  of  phrases,  not  of  the  primary  words  of  the  lan- 
guage. Rasles  dictionary  of  the  Canadian  dialects  gives  the  radi- 
cal words,  and  exhibits  many  of  their  combinations  ;  but  though 
printed  in  a  splendid  quarto,  it  is  locked  up  in  old  Provincial 
French  which  the  student  has  first  to  learn,  and  the  work  is  there- 
fore of  little  value  to  the  general  reader.  Schoolcraft's  five 
splendid  folios,  elaborately  illustrated,  is  the  best  work  extant  on 
the  history,  the  language  and  customs  of  the  Indian  tribes ;  but  it 
is  too  expensive  a  book  ever  to  become  popular. 

Whether  We-qua-quet  is  derived  from  we-ko-ne,  the  Indian 
word  for  "sweet,  delightful,  consoling,"  &c. ;  from  we-quash, 
light,  or  a  torch,  also  the  name  of  the  "swan,"  and  hence  associa- 
ted in  his  mind  with  "graceful"  acts,  and  "aquatic  sports,"  or 
from  Me-tuk-que,  (forming  Che-tuk-quet)  "an  orchard,"  or  from 
Wee-koh-quot,  "fair  weather"  is  of  little  importance,  either  is  a 
good  name. 

Looking  at  the  question  from  a  business  standpoint,  We-qua- 
quett  is  better  than  Centerville,  a  vile  .compound  of  Latin  and 
French,  unmeaning,  inappropriate  and  unconnected  with  the 
memories  and  the  associations  of  the  past.  Commercially  it  is 
objectionable,  leading  to  errors  and  mistakes.  A  We-qua-quett 
man  is  in  a  distant  city — he  writes  to  his  family  or  to  his  employ- 
ers, he  omits  to  add  after  Centerville,  "Massachusetts" — there 
are  many  post  offices  of  that  name — the  postmaster  cannot  for- 
ward it  out  of  the  State  in  which  he  resides — he  sends  it  to  the 
dead  letter  office,  and  if  it  contains  no  valuable  enclosures  it  is 
committed  to  the  fitfmes.  If  he  forwards  it  to  an  office  of  the 
same  name  in  his  State,  a  like  fate  awaits  it.  Many  such  mis- 
carriages occur,  and  so  long  as  the  present  name  is  continued  no 
ordinary  care  and  precaution  will  prevent  their  recurrence.  Re- 
turn the  old  name,  and  the  danger  is  lessened,  if  it  is  not  entirely 
removed. 

It  may  be  asked,  "of  what  use?"  Of  what  use  is  the  study 
of  the  Latin,  the  Greek,  the  Hebrew,  the  Chaldee  or  the  Anglo 
Saxon? — the  value   consists  mainly  in  the  mental  discipline  the 


88         GENEALOGIOAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

study  incidentally  affords.  This  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  first 
inquiry.  But  there  is  another  use.  An  English,  French,  or  Ger- 
man savan  would  be  ashamed  to  confess  that  he  was  ignorant  of 
the  history  and  analogies  of  the  words  that  he  has  daily  occasion 
to  use.  Why  should  not  Americans  ?  It  is  not  so.  Goto  Har- 
vard College,  inquire  of  the  learned  President  "What  is  the  mean- 
ing '  of  the  word  Massachusetts  ?" — of  the  professors,  of  the 
tutors,  and  of  the  students — if  you  find  two  that  can  give  you  an 
answer,  and  the  reasons  for  their  opinions,  you  will  find  two  more 
than  there  is  any  reason  to  expect.  Ought  this  to  be  so.  Men 
wUl  spend  hundreds  of  dollars  to  have  their  sons  instructed  in  the 
barbarious  idioms  of  the  middle  ages ;  but  not  to  instruct  them  in 
homespun  words,  which  they  daily  delight  to  repeat. 

These  are  mercenary  considerations  ;  yet  they  are  conclusive. 
In  deciding  such  questions,  utility  is  paramount ;  yet,  if  to  the 
useful,  we  can  conjoin  the  true  or  the  beautiful,  why  should  we 
seek  to  separate  them.  If  a  name  is  barbarous,  diflScult  of  enun- 
ciation, or  has  unpleasant  associations,  we  ought  to  reject  it — it 
should  be  doomed  to  oblivion.  To  such  names  as  Mos-que-tuck-et, 
Mys-tic,  San-tu-it  and  We-qua-quett,  neither  objection  attaches, 
and  no  mercantile  consideration  has  power  to  banish  them  from 
memory. 

In  Drake's  History  of  the  Indians  there  is  an  exquisite  pict- 
ure of  the  last  of  the  Wam-pa-no-ags.  A  beautiful  girl  is  seated 
in  the  shade,  on  the  banks  of  the  We-qua-qutt.  Her  pensive  eye 
rests  on  the  water — sorrow  is  depicted  in  her  every  lineament,  she 
exclaims:  "And  will  the  white  man  still  pursue ?"  Yes,  he  has 
pursued  her  race  till  all  are  gone — he  claims  her  fields,  her  hunt- 
ing grounds  and  her  streams,  he  "still  pursues,"  endeavoring  to 
wrest  from  the  Indian  the.  names  which  he  loved,  to  break  the  sil- 
ver cord  of  affection  which  bound  the  red  man  to  the  home  of  his 
fathers,  and  our  fathers  to  the  country  that  opened  its  bosom  to 
receive  them. 

The  Indian  demands  our  sympathy.  In  his  character  there 
are  pleasant  aspects.  His  erect  form,  his  manly  bearing,  his 
courage,  his  fortitude,  and  his  faithfulness  in  the  performance  of 
his  vows,  are  the  ennobling  traits  in  his  character.  Inferior  in 
the  arts  of  civilized  life,  by  the  inexorable  law  of  nature,  he  was 
destined  to  perish  when  he  came  in  contact  with  a  superior  race. 

Indian  names  of  places  are  the  connecting  links  between  the 
present  and  the  past — all  that  remains  to  remind  us  that  another 
race  once  cultivated  our  fields,  once  roamed  in  our  forests.  Why 
ruthlessly  sever  those  links?  To  save  the  barbarous,  the  un- 
couth, or  those  around  which  unpleasant  associations  are  en- 
twined, no  one  will  plead.  In  other  parts  of  our  country,  among 
our  chief  men,  among  those  who  have  imperiled  their  lives  in  the 
defence  of  liberty  and  the  right,  a  love  for  these  old  names  and  a 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.  89 

desire  to  perpetuate  them  everywhere  prevails.  Nearly  all  the 
States  which  have  recently  been  admitted  into  the  Union,  many  of 
our  ships  of  war,  our  gun-boats,  our  monitors,  and  our  steam- 
ships, have  had  Indian  names  bestowed  on  them. 

I  have  only  one  more  plea  to  enter  for  the  old  name.  To  the 
Indian,  We-qua-quett  was  a  land  of  shady  groves — of  sweet 
waters — of  pleasant  streams — of  manly  sports  ;  our  fathers  were 
well  pleased  with  the  name,  they  adopted  it,  their  children  cher- 
ished' it,  and  their  descendants  have  associated  with  it  the  memory 
of  the  olden  time,  of  those  good  and  true  men  who  drank  its 
sweet  waters,  and  now  rest  beneath  the  green  sod  of  its  shady 
groves.  The  Indian  was  their  brother.  They  knelt  with  him  at 
the  same  altar,  they  prayed  to  the  same  God,  and  believed  him  to 
be  a  joint  heir  with  them  of  a  common  salvation.  They  called 
"Old  Humphrey,"  the  Indian  teacher  at  We-qua-quet,  their 
brother,  they  extended  to  him  while  living  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship, and  they  wept  at  his  grave  because  a  loved  one  of  their 
Israel  had  departed.  Their  affections  were  not  circumscribed  by 
race  or  color — the  good  and  the  true,  he  that  strove  to  walk  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  Master,  they'  called  brother. 


JENKINS. 


Several  of  this  name  came  over  early.  Edward  of  Scituate, 
called  a  servant  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Tilden,  became  a  prominent 
man,  and  died  in  1699.  Henry,  who  settled  in  New  Hampshire 
and  I  died  in  1670.  Joel  of  Braintree.  John  Jenkins,  aged  26, 
took  passage  for  New  England,  July,  1635,  in  the  Defence,  of 
London.  In  September,  1635,  Elizabeth  Jenkins  took  passage  in 
the  Truelove  for  New  England. 

The  John  Jenkins*  who  came  over  in  the  Defence  was  the 
man  of  that  name  who  settled  in  Plymouth,  and  was  admitted  a 
freeman  of  the  Colony  January  3,  1636-7.  At  that  date  he  was 
allowed  to  enlarge  his  grounds  at  Willingsley  in  Plymouth,  show- 
ing that  he  had  been  an  inhabitant  of  that  town  previous  to  the 
date  of  his  being  admitted  a  freeman.  May  5,  1640,  three  acres 
of  meadow  between  the  south  ponds  and  Eel  River,  forty  acres  of 
upland  "thereby  it,"  and  six  acres  of  land  above  Willingsley,  were 
granted  to  him.  Nov.  2,  1640,  six  acres  in  the  Colebrook  meadow 
were  assigned  to  him.  On  the  29th  of  Dec.  1640,  he  bought  for 
£16,10shs  sterling,  of  Anthony  Snow,  a  dwelling-house  and  eight 
acres  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  Willingsley  brook. 

In  June,  1637,  he  volunteered  as  a  soldier  from  Plymouth  in 
the  Pequot  war,  and  in  1645  was  a  soldier  in  the  Narraganset  Ex- 
pedition. He  frequently  was  a  juror,  and  in  1644  was  constable 
of  Plymouth,  and  was  then  called  senior. 

His  early  admission  to  the  freedom  of  the  Colony  indicates 
that  he  was  a  man  known  to  the  first  settlers  before  he  came 
over,  and  a  member  of  an  Independent  Church.  He  was  a  large 
land  owner  and  a  house  holder,  facts  from  which  it  might  be  in- 
ferred that  he  had  a  family  ;  but  the  records  afford  no  evidence 
that  he  was  then  a  married  man. 

In  1646  he  removed  to  Eastham,  his  name  appearing  on  the 
most  ancient  list  of  the  freeman  of  that  town  which  has  been  pre- 
served.    He  did  not  remain  long  in  that  town.     He  was  of  Barn- 

*Two  men  of  this  same  came  oyer  early  and  settled  in  Plymouth.  The  elder  was  made 
a  freeman  soon  after  his  arrival,  and  I  am  thus  enabled  to  trace  him  in  his  wanderings. 
The  other  was  a  younger  man,  early  joined  the  Quakers,  and  settled  in  Sandwich,  wherene 
died  in  1684.    Bishop  lias  a  long  notice  of  him. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BAKN8TABLB    FAMILIES.  91 

stable  in  1652.  His  name  is  on  the  list  of  freeman  in  Barnstable 
in  1558,  1670,  and  in  1684. 

June  7,  1659,  the  Colony  Court  granted  liberty  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Hinckley,  Henry  Cobb,  Samuel  Hinckley,  John  Jenkins  and 
Nathaniel  Bacon,  "to  view  and  purchase  a  tract  of  land  at  Saco- 
nesset,  soe  much  as  they  can  conveniently,  and  they  are  to  have 
each  of  them  a  considerable  portion  thereof  as  the  Court  shall 
think  meet,  and  the  rest  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  Court."  Mr. 
Thomas  Hinckley  and  Mr.  Richard  Bourne  were  authorized  to 
purchase  the  said  lands  of  the  Indians.  Subsequently  others 
were  added  to  the  list  of  grantees  or  proprietors. 

At  the  first  division  of  the  lands  at  Suckinesset,*  Dec.  3, 
1661,  Samuel  Hinckley  signs  for  himself  and  John  Jenkins.  In 
1668  he  was  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  the  plantation,  but  he  did 
not  long  reside  there,  for  four  years  after  he  is  called  of  Barnsta- 
ble. June  4,  1686,  Suckinesset  was  incorporated  as  a  town.  I 
presume  by  the  name  of  Falmouth,  but  it  is  not  so  stated  on  the 
record.  Previous  to  that  date  Suckinesset  plantation  was  annexed 
to  Barnstable,  and  it  seems  difficult  to  fix  precisely  the  status  of 
the  residents  thereon  they  had  to  bear  arms  in  Barnstable,  and  the 
territory  was  in  fact  a  part  of  Barnstable,  as  Maine  was  a  part  of 
Massachusetts  before  it  was  admitted  to  be  a  State  of  the  Union. 

In  1684  John  Jenkins  was  a  freeman  of  Barnstable.  He  had 
deceased  in  1690,  when  his  son  John  of  Falmouth  was  made  a 
freeman  of  that  town.  The  settlement  of  his  estate  does  not  ap- 
pear on  the  Probate  Records.  He  probably  died  during  the  time 
of  the  usurpation  of  Sir  Edmond  Andros,  when  it  was  required 
that  the  estates  of  deceased  persons  should  be  settled  in  the 
Perogative  Court  in  Boston.  This  was  an  arbitrary  act,  and  un- 
popular with  the  people,  and  to  avoid  it,  some  divided  their  prop- 
erty by  deeds,  not  by  will.  John  Jenkins  probably  did  so  ;  but 
as  the  records  are  burnt,  it  cannot  now  be  verified.  He  was  liv- 
ing in  1684 ;  and  probably  died  soon  after,  aged  about  76  years. 

John  Jenkins  married  Feb.  2,  1652-3,  Mary,  widow  of  John 
Ewer  of  Bar|;jstable,  a  young  man  who  died  early  in  1652. 
Whether  or  not  this  was  his  second  marriage,  the  records  afford 
no  evidence.  His  children  are  all  recorded  as  born  in  Barnstable, 
though  in  1668  he  was  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  vSuckinesset. 
Tradition  says  he  resided  at  West  Barnstable  on  the  estate  now 
owned  by  his  descendants,  Dr.  F.  H.  Jenkins,  but  this  is  very 
doubtful,  in  fact  the  records  of  the  laying  out  of  the  lands  furnish 
no  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  tradition.  He  probably  resi- 
ded at  first  on  the  Ewer  farm.     In  1675  the  town  granted  him  an 

*I  prefer  this  spelllBg,  because  it  accords  better  with  the  Indian  worde  from  which  it  is 
compounded.  It  signiiies  a  place  where  black  wampum  is  made.  The  quohaug,  or  round 
clam,  was  formerly  abundant  on  the  shoies  of  Falmouth.  From  the  dark  colored  portion 
of  the  shell  the  black  wampum,  or  Indianmoney,  was  made.  It  was  of  half  the  value  of 
the  white.    It  was  made  in  the  form  of  beads,  and  strung,  and  was  estimated  by  the  fathom. 


92  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

acre  and  a  half  of  land  at  the  head  of  his  farm  for  his  conve- 
nieney.  No  boundaries  are  given,  and  therefore  its  location  can- 
not be  fixed. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

2.  I.     Sarah,  15th  Nov.  1653. 

3.  II.  Mehitabel,  2d  March,  1654-5,  married  Eleazer  Ham- 
blen 15th  Oct.  1675,  and  had  a  family,  was  a  member  of  the 
church,  and  was  living  in  1683. 

4.  III.  Samuel,  12th  Sept.  1657.  This  child  probably  died 
early.  He  is  not  mentioned  afterwards  on  the  records. 
There  was  a  Samuel  Jenkins  in  the  Colony,  but  too  old  a 
man  to  have  been  the  son  of  John. 

5.  IV.     John,  13th  Nov.  1659.     (See  below.) 

6.  V.  Mary,  1st  Oct.  1662,  married  Thomas  Parker  and  re- 
removed  to  Falmouth,  and  had  a  large  family. 

7.  VI.     Thomas,  16th  July,  1666.     (See  below). 

8.  VII.     Joseph,  31st  March,  1669.     (See  below). 

John  Jenkins,  son  of  John,  resided  a  part  of  his  life  in  Fal- 
mouth. In  1690  he  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony,  and 
was  sworn  at  the  County  Court  in  Barnstable  June  24.  The 
twenty  admitted  on  that  day  were  the  last  who  were  sworn  free- 
men of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  About  the  year  1692  he  returned 
to  Barnstable,  and  settled  on  a  small  farm  on  the  north  of  the 
Shoal  pond  in  the  East  Parish.  A  part  of  this  estate  he  bought 
of  Joshua  Lumbert,  and  a  part  was  probably  his  father's.  He  in- 
heirted  all  his  father's  lands  in  Falmouth.  He  was  a  man  of  some 
note,  entitled  to  be  called  Mister,  a  prominent  member  of  the 
church,  and  though  he  resided  in  a  small  house,  and  in  a  retired 
spot,  he  inherited  the  aristocratic  feelings  of  his  English  ances- 
try. 

"He  died  very  suddenly  on  the  8th  of  July,  1736,"  aged  77. 
His  will  is  dated  Dec.  15,  1730,  and  was  proved  on  the  third  of 
Aug.  1736.  He  names  his  wife  Patience,  provides  very  scantUy 
for  her  support,  and  if  she  married  again  she  was  to  have  £30  and 
no  more,  less  than  the  one  hundredth  part  of  his  eslate.  She  did 
not  marry  again,  but  lived  a  widow  till  Oct.  28,  1745,  when  she 
died  aged,  according  to  the  church  records,  "above  seventy 
years." 

To  his  three  sons,  John,  Philip  and  Joseph,  he  bequeathed, 
and  to  their  male  heirs,  in  fee  tail,  "all  my  Waquoit  land,  that  is 
all  my  lands  east  of  the  Mill  or  Five  MUe  river,  so  called,  whether 
divided  or  undivided,  to  be  an  estate  in  fee  tail ;  saving  that  I 
give  liberty  to  my  sons  and  their  said  heirs  to  sell  to  each  other, 
so  that  said  lands  and  meadows  go  not  out  of  the  families  of  my 
said  sons." 

He   orders  that  Dorothy,   the  widow  of  his  son  Samuel,  de- 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  93 

ceased,  shall  be  provided  for  at  his  house  during  her  widowhood, 
or  "so  long  as  she  bears  her  deceased  husband's  name." 

To  his  eldest  son,  John  Jenkins,  he  devised  the  dwelling 
house  in  which  he  then  lived  and  the  land  adjoining,  his  lot  of  land 
to  the  westward  of  the  Great  (or  Cooper's)  pond,  his  cedar 
swamp  near  Shubael  Davis',  all  his  woodland  in  Barnstable, 
meadow,  &c.,  &c. 

To  his  daughter  Sarah  Basset  £20,  &c., — to  his  daughter 
Ruth  West  £95  on  her  husband's  bond  of  Jan.  20,  1729, — to  his 
youngest  daughter  Patience  Jenkins,  £100  ;  to  his  daugbter-in- 
law  Experience  Paine  £20  ;  to  his  daughter  Mary  Studley  £90,  if 
his  executors  think  she  needs  it ;  to  his  daughter  Mehitabel  Chap- 
man £90,  and  to  the  poor  of  the  East  Church  £5.  In  paying  the 
legacies  he  ordered  the  ounce  of  silver  to  be  valued  at  eight  shil- 
lings. He  appoints  his  wife  Patience,  son  John,  and  Joseph 
Lothrop,  Esq.,  executors. 

To  this  will  there  are  two  codicils  annexed.  In  the  second, 
dated  Dec.  15,  1732,  he  says,  that  whereas  his  son  John  became 
surety  for  his  son-in-law  James  Chapmanjn  a  suit  brought  by  Col. 
Bourne,  commenced  before  he  left  the  country,  &c.,  therefore 
£48  to  be  deducted  from  legacy  to  daughter  Mehitabel. 

The  inventory  of  his  estate  is  dated  24th  Aug.  1736.  The 
apprisement  was  not  probably  made  in  silver  valuing  the  ounce  at 
8  shs.  ;  if  so,  he  was  the  most  wealthy  man  in  Barnstable. 

His  personal  estate  apprised  at  £738,11,11 

House,  homestead  and  all  his  real  estate  in  Barnstable,  1,800 
Lands  in  Falmouth,  600 


£3,138,11,11 


And  this  the  legal  instrument  gravely  informs  us  did  not  in- 
clude a  pair  of  old  money  scales  in  the  possession  of  Sackfield 
West. 

He  married  for  his  first  wife  Mary,  daughter  of  Robert  Par- 
ker of  West  Barnstable  ;  and  23d  Nov.  1715,  the  Widow  Patience 
Paine. 

Oliildren  born  in  Falmouth. 

9.  I,  John,  3d,  born  about  the  year  1687,  baptized  Oct.  8, 
1695,  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Jenkins  family  at  Falmouth. 
He  married  3d  Sept.  1708,  Abigail  Whetstone,  or  Whiston, 
of  West  Barnstable.  She  was  a  daughter  of  John  of  Scit- 
uate.  His  children  born  in  Falmouth  were  :  1,  John,  June 
27,  1709,  married  Oct.  30,  1734,  Rebecca  Green  ;  2,  Joshua, 
June  5,  1712,  married  at  18,  Aug.  20,  1  730,  Hannah  Handy  ; 
3,  Abigail,  March  27,  1715,  married  Benj.  Crocker,  Jr., 
May  15,    1738 ;  4,  Mary,  Feb.  10,  1717-18,  married  Sept.  5, 


94  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OP    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

1739,  Eben  Swift.  The  fourth  John  Jenkins  had  James, 
born  Dec.  9,  1735,  died  April  10,  1807,  and  a  daughter 
Ruth.  James  Jenkins,  son  of  the  fourth  John,  married  Oct. 
18,  1762,  Mercy  Price.  She  died  April  10,  1817.  Children 
of  James :  1,  Zilpha,  1763  ;  2,  Mary  ;  3,  John,  May  7,  1766, 
died  at  sea  Nov.  8,  1793;  4,  Weston,  Aug.  21,  1768;  5, 
Rebecca ;  6,  Mehitabel ;  7,  Thankful.  Weston  Jenkins 
married  Oct.  28,  1795,  Elizabeth  Robinson,  a  descendant  of 
Rev.  John  of  Leyden.  He  died  Feb.  13,  1834 ;  she  died 
Oct.  14,1837.  Their  children  were  :  1,  John,  March  18, 
1798;  2,  Rebecca,  March  19,  1800;  3,  Hetty,  May  3, 
1802  ;  4,  Charles,  July  31,  1805  ;  5,  Eliza,  July  4,  1807  ;  6, 
James,  June  24,  1809  ;  7,  Eunice,  July  23,  1812  ;  8,  Har- 
riet, Sept.  20,  1816.  Of  the  family  of  Weston,  the  Hon. 
John  Jenkins  married  twice,  first  Jan.  5,  1825,  and  second 
Chloe,   who  survives.     He  died  Aug.    10,   1859.     Rebecca 

married    J.    H.  Parker,     and     second   Thompson. 

Charles  died  Oct.  29,  1862.  Eliza  married  O.  C.  Swift, 
Esq.  Eunice  married  Rev.  J.  D.  Lewis.  Harriet  Rev.  F. 
Morton. 

10.  II.  Mary,  born  about  1789,  baptized  Oct.  8,  1695,  married 
in  1725  Joseph  Studley  of  Yarmouth. 

11.  III.  Sarah,  born  in  1691,  bap.  Oct.  8,  1695,  married  Jan. 
30,  1722-3,  Wm.  Basset  of  Barnstable,  died  Nov.  1,  1746, 
aged  55. — [Church  Records. 

Born  in  Barnstable. 

12.  IV.     Mehitabel,  25th  Sept.  1694,  married  James  Chapman. 

13.  V.     Samuel,  15th  July,  1697,  married  Dorothy ,  and 

died  early  without  issue. 

14.  VI.  Phillip,  26th  July,  1699,  married  Dec.  13,  1721,  Eliza- 
beth Clark,  and  had  David  born  in  Barnstable  Sept.  22, 
1722,  his  name  thereafter  disappears  on  the  records. 

15.  VII.  Joseph,  13th  Aug.  1701,  resided  in  the  East  Parish 
in  Barnstable  in  the  house  that  was  his  father's  at  Shoal 
Pond.  He  died  Nov.  26,  1745,  in  his  will  dated  four  days 
before  his  death,  he  names  his  wife  Dorcas,  and  his  six 
daughters,  Mary,  Dorcas,  Keziah,  Experience,  Rebecca  and 
Patience.  To  the  three  first  named  he  gives  £30  each,  old 
tenor,  and  to  the  others  £60,  to  be  paid  when  they  should 
severally  arrive  at  21  years  of  age. 

His  personal  estate  was  apprised  £322 

Real  Estate,  2502 


£2,824 
A  pound  old  tenor  was  less  than  half  a  dollar  in  silver 
money,  £30  was  $13.33     He  had  the  tools  of  carpenter,  and 


GENEALtmiCAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  95 

probably  served  an  apprenticeship  at  tiiat  trade.  Sept.  4, 
1748,  the  Widow  Dorcas  Jenkins  was  dismissed  from  the 
East  Church  in  Barnstable,  and  recommended  to  the  first 
church  in  Wallingsford,  Conn.  Their  children  born  in  Barn- 
stable  were:  1,  Joseph,  Nov.  4,  1724;  2,  Mary,  June  11, 
1729;  3,  Dorcas,  April  10,  1781;  4,  Keziah,  March  30, 
1733;  5,  Rebecca,  Aug.  27,  1735,  died  Oct.  following;  6, 
Experience,  March  11,  1738-9;  7,  Rebecca,  Sept.  19,  1740; 
8,  Patience,  Sept.  1,  1742. 

1«.  VIII.  Ruth, 1704,  married  May  7,  1729.  Dr.  Sack- 
field  West  of  Yarmouth.  After  the  death  of  his  father-in- 
law  he  removed  to  Barnstable,  and  occupied  a  part  of  the 
Jenkins  homestead  at  Shoal  Pond,  which  he  afterwards 
owned.  It  is  now  known  as  Dr.  West's  field.  The  Dr.'s 
controversies  with  the  church  occupy  much  space  on  the  rec- 
ords. As  a  physician  he  had  but  little  practice.  His  oldest 
son  Samuel  was  born  in  Yarmouth  March  4,  1730.  When  a 
boy  he  was  employed  in  husbandry  on  the  Jenkins  farm  at 
Shoal  Pond.  Traits  of  genius  were  discovered  in  the  lad  by 
some  gentlemen  of  influence,  and  he  was  sent  to  Harvard 
College,  graduated  in  1754  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
his  class.  Afterwards  the  honorary  degree  of  D.  D.  was 
bestowed  on  him.  He  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  New 
Bedford,  and  died  at  Tiverton,  R.  I.,  Sept.  24,  1807,  aged 
77.  He  was  a  giant  in  intellect ;  able  to  cope  with  Edwards 
in  divinity  and  in  politics  with  the  most  renowned.  He  was 
an  ardent  patriot,  a  member  of  the  Convention  for  forming 
the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the  United  States. 
Being  awkward  and  ungainly  in  his  person,  negligent  in  his 
habits,  and  grossly  defective  and  careless  in  the  tones  and 
inflections  of  his  voice,  his  genius,  his  profound  learning, 
and  his  great  intellectual  power,  failed  to  give  him  popular- 
ity. Men  of  his  character  are  rarely  popular.  The  late  Dr. 
Samuel  Savage  was  as  rough  as  Dr.  West ;  yet,  bemg  a  good 
story  teller  and  a  very  witty  man,  he  was  popular.  Dr.  W. 
was  not,  however,  always  dry  and  logical.  His  wife  Expe- 
rience was  a  very  tall  woman,  in  reply  to  a  question  desiring 
his  opinion  of  early  marriage,  he  said  :  "I  have  found  by 
1-o-n-g  E-x-p-e-r-i-a-n-c-e  that  it  is  good  to  marry."  There 
is  genuine  wit  in  this  reply  ;  but  it  is  the  wit  of  the  logician, 
not  of  the  comedy. 

17.     VII.     Patience,  bap.  Oct.  6,  1717.     Mr.  Jenkins  calls  her 
his  youngest  daughter. 
(7.)'    Thomas  Jenkins,  son  of  John,  born  15th  July,   1666, 

resided   at  West  Barnstable.     In   his  will  dated   Nov.    9,1737, 

proved  Feb.  15,  1745-6,  he  names  his  wife  Mercy  to  whom,  in  ad- 


96  GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

dition  to  thirds,  he  gives  his  best  bed  and  £40.  To  his  son  Eben- 
ezer  he  gives  the  east  end  of  his  house  then  occupied  by  him,  and 
other  property.  To  his  son  Samuel  land  at  Skonkonet,  and  to  his 
son  Josiah  other  property.  To  his  grandson  Thomas,  son  of 
Ebenezer,  land  at  Skonkonet.  To  his  daughter  Thankful  he  be- 
queathed £10,  to  Mary  £10,  Hope  £10,  Experience  £20,  Sarab 
£20.  He  signs  his  will  with  his  mark,  not  always  evidence  that 
the  testator  can  not  write  ;  but  this  will  having  been  made  seven 
years  before  bis  death,  he  was  probably  in  good  health  at  the 
time,  and  this  fact  indicates  that  his  education  bad  been  defect- 
ive. 

His  estate  was  apprised  at  £3,849,16,10.  Among  other  mat- 
ters a  negro  woman  is  apprised  at  £100.  The  cniTency  had  then 
became  much  depreciated  and  to  reduce  these  sum-s  to  lawful 
money  two- thirds  at  least  must  be  deducted.  80  bushels  of  corn, 
wheat  and  other  grain,  in  the  inventory,  is  apprised  at  £49,  four 
times  its  value  fifty  years  earlier.  However,  calling  his  estate 
£1000  in  lawful  money,  he  was  wealthy  for  the  times. 

He  was  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age  when  he  died.  He 
married  24th  Aug.  1687,  Experience,  daughter  of  James  Hamblen, 
Jr.  It  appears  by  his  will  that  he  married  a  second  wife  named 
Mercy . 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

18.  I.     Thankful,  19th  May,  1691,  married  (Isaac?)  Taylor.  ' 

19.  II.  Experience,  28th  March,  1693,  married  John  Pope  Oct. 
3,1717. 

20.  III.  Mercy,  5th  Jan.  1695-6,  married  John  White  23fl 
Dec.  1718. 

21.  IV.  Ebenezer,  5th  Dec.  1697.  He  died  June,  1750,  and  in 
his  will  dated  June  19,  1750,  proved  on  the  5th  of  July  fol- 
lowing, he  names  his  wife  Elizabeth  and  all  his  children. 
His  estate  is  apprised  at  £357,19,4  in  lawful  money.  He 
resided  at  West  Barnstable  in  a  part  of  his  father's  house, 
situate  on  the  estate  now  owned  by  Chipman  W.  Whelden. 
He  married  9th  Nov.  1721,  Judith  White.  She  died  April 
25,  1729,  leaving  an  only  child  Thomas.  He  married  July 
25,  1732,  Elizabeth  Tupper,  who  survived  him.  His  children 
were  :  1,  Thomas,  born  March  8,  1725-6,  married  Thankful 
Wing  of  Harwich  April  23,  1752;  2,  Ebenezer,  July  6, 
1736;  3,  Nathan,  Oct.  21,  1734,  married  Dec.  9,  1762, 
Rachel  Howland,  (father  of  Asa  and  grandfather  of  the 
present  Nathan)  ;  4,  Martha,  Friday  Nov.  4,  1737  ;  and  5, 
Elizabeth,  Friday  May  9,  1740. 

22.  V.     Samuel,  7th  Jan.  1699-10.     (See  below.) 

VI.     Josiah,  16th   April,  1702,  married  in  1737  Mary   Ellis 
of   Middleboro',  and  resided  at  West  Barnstable.     His  will 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLB   FAMILIES.  97 

is  dated  29th  Dec.  1749,  and  was  proved  in  the  following 
February.  He  had  no  children,  and  he  seems  to  have  loved 
his  brothers  and  sisters  more  than  his  wife,  for  he  is  not  lib- 
eral to  her  in  his  will.  The  principal  part  of  his  estate  he 
gave  to  his  brothers  Ebenezer  and  Samuel,  and  legacies  to 
his  sisters  Thankful  Taylor,  Mercy  White,  Hope  White, 
Sarah  Nye,  and  his  cousin  Nathan  Jenkins.  He  had  a 
splendid  wardrobe,  and  appears  to  have  been  a  fashionable 
man  in  his  day. 

24.  VII.     Hope,  5th  July,  1704,  married White. 

25.  (   VIII.     Sarah,  1st  Dec.  1706  married  1737  Lemuel  Nye. 

(8.)  Joseph  Jenkins,  son  of  John,  resided  at  West  Barnsta- 
ble. He  had  lands  at  the  "New  Bridge"  in  1690.  His  will  is 
dated  Jan.  1733-4,  and  proved  Nov.  8,  1734.  He  appears  to 
have  been  a  man  of  good  estate,  and  provides  most  liberally  for 
the  support  of  his  wife  "Lidia."  To  his  daughter  Abigail  Hinck- 
ley he  devises  £10  ;  to  Lidia  Crocker  £25  ;  to  Prudence  Baker  10 
shs.,  and  to  his  unmarried  daughter  Hannah  £60.  To  his  two 
sons,  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  he  devised  all  his  estate,  they  provid- 
ing for  their  mother  and  paying  the  legacies  to  their  sisters.  He 
died  in  1734,  aged  65,  and  his  wife  Lydia  survived  him. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

26.  I.  Abigail,  July,  1695,  married  Benj.  Hinckley  Nov.  2, 
1716,  and  had  eleven  children. 

27.  II.     Bathshua,  July,  1696,  died  young. 

28.  III.  Ann,  May,  1701,  married  Oct.  19,  1721,  Joseph  Loth- 
rop,  and  did  not  survive  long. 

29.  IV.  Joseph,  29th  Feb.  1703.  This  Joseph  is  called  3d  on 
the  records — his  father  was  Joseph  1st,  son  of  John  2d. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  in  1734  he  is  called  junior. 
He  was  published  to  Martha  Phinney  in  1728.  July  15, 
1736,  he  married  Mercy  Howland.  He  died  Jan.  15,  1749. 
His  children  born  in  Barnstable  were  :  1,  Mercy,  May  25, 
1737;  2,  Joseph,  May  3,  1739,  married  Hannah  Foster  of 
Tisbury  Oct.  2,  1787 ;  3,  Bathsheba,  Oct.  22,  1741 ;  4, 
Mary,  March  13,  1742  ;  5,  Abigail,  Sept.  6,  1745  ;  6,  Be- 
thia,  bap.  June  14,  1747  ;  7,  Zaccheus,  8th  Feb.  1748  ;  8, 
Sarah,  bap.  Nov.  26,  1749. 

30.  V.  Lydia,  30th  June,  1705,  married  Nov.  9,  1727,  Corne- 
lius Crocker.     (See  Crocker.) 

31.  VI.  Benjamin,  30th  June,  1707.  He  resided  at  West 
Barnstable  on  the  estate  formerly  owned  by  Rev.  Mr.  Shaw, 
now  owned  by  Dea.  David  Parker.  He  married  Oct.  29, 
1730,  Mehitabel  Blush,  and  had:  1,  Ann,  Oct.  3,  1731, 
married  Isaac  Goodspeed  Oct.  17,  1754;  2,  Hannah,  Jan. 
25,  1734-5,  married  Job  Howland  Dec.  6,  1753  ;    3,  Lydia, 


98    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BAKN8TABLE  FAMILIES. 

March  16,  1735-6,  married  Joshua  Nve  1756 ;  4,  Mehitabel, 
Feb.  24,  1737-8;  5,  Beujamin,  April  12,  1740 ;  6,  South- 
worth,  Nov.  29,  1742;  7,  Timothy,  Jan.  28,  1744;  8,  Be- 
thia,  June  4,  1747;  9,  Sarah,  March  1,  1750-1;  and  10, 
Tabitha,  March  31,  1753. 

32.  VII.     Reliance,  6th  April,  1709,  died  young. 

33.  VIII.  Prudence,  bap.  April  6,  1718,  married  Samuel  Baker 
May  30,  1732,  removed  to  Windham,  Conn. 

34.  IX.  Hannah,  bap.  April  6,  1718,  married  Stephen  Free- 
man Oct.  22,  1736. 

(22.)  Samuel  Jenkins,  son  of  Thomas,  born  7th  Jan. 
1699-1700,  resided  at  first  at  Skonkonet  on  the  estate  given  him 
by  his  father  and  now  owned  by  Lemuel  Lumbard.  When  Icha- 
bod  Hinckley  removed  to  Tolland,  Conn.,  Samuel  Jenkins  pur- 
chased Hinckley's  farm,  which  is  now  owned  by  Dea.  Braley  Jen- 
kins. His  wife  being  half  sister  to  Ichabod  and  a  daughter  of 
Ensign  John  Hinckley  by  his  second  wife.  Widow  Mary  Good- 
speed  (a  daughter  of  John  Davis,  Sen'r)  had  lands  adjoining 
which  she  owned  in  her  own  right.  Samuel  Jenkins  married  Nov. 
9,  1721,  Mary  Hinckley,  and  had  born  in  Barnstable, 

37.  I.  Experience,  Dec.  4,  1722,  married  April  12,  1739,  Lewis 
Hamblen. 

38.  II.     Marv,  Sept.  7,  1725,  died  June  7,  1727. 

39.  III.     Samuel,  Oct.  20,  1727.     (See  below.) 

40.  IV.  Nathaniel,  Dec.  6,  1728,  married  March  30,  1752, 
Maria  Ellis  of  Rochester,  and  had  Alvan. 

41.  V.  Simeon,  Sept.  8,  1733,  married  March  25,  1762,  Ho- 
diah,  daughter  of  Dea.  John  Hinckley,  and  had  Simeon, 
John,  Prince,  Perez,  Braley,  born  1775,  now  living,  Hodiah 
and  Lucy. 

42.  VI.  Lot,  March  13,  1737-8,  married  Oct.  21,  1761,  Mercy 
Howland. 

(39.)  Samuel  Jenkins,  Jr.,  married  March  11,  1749-50, 
Mary  Chipman.  daughter  of  Dea.  Samuel,  and  had, 

I.  Josiah,  Sept.  30,  1750. 

II.  Deborah,  Feb.  2,  1752. 

III.  Abiah,  Jan.  21,  1754. 

IV.  Samuel,  Nov.  23,  1755. 

V.  Mary,  Jan.  16,  1758. 

VI.  Joseph,  June  6,  1760. 

This  family  removed  to  Gorham,  Me.,  and  the  following  fam- 
ily letters,  furnished  by  Charles  H.  Bursley,  Esq.,  of  West  Barn- 
stable, will  be  of  interest.  They  are  good  specimens  of  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  times.  Mrs.  Jenkins  writes  the  better  letter. 
Women  always  do.  They  go  straight  forward,  writing  just  as 
they  converse,  which  is  the  true  art  of  epistolatory  writing. 
These   letters   prove  that  Samuel  Jenkins   and  his   wife  had   re- 


GENEAIiOGICAL    XOTE8    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.  99 

ceived  a  good  common  school  education.  Scarce  an  instance  of 
bad  spelling  occurs  in  either.  Mrs.  Jenkins  writes  her  name  Gen- 
kins,  the  husband  Jenkins.  At  that  time  J  was  called  I  conso- 
nant, and  they  were  formed  alike.  Mrs.  Jenkins'  capital  I's  are 
identical  in  form  with  her  small  g's,  and  the  G  which  she  used  in 
writing  her  name  she  probably  called  J,  or  I  consonant.  No  post 
offices  had  then  been  established,  and  letters  had  to  be  transmitted 
by  private  conveyance.* 

GORHAM,  July  ye  26, 1778. 

Dear  Sisters:  This  with  love  to  you.  hoping  through Divhie good- 
ness it  will  flud  you  all  well,  as  it  leaves  us,  that  is  the  small  family  I 
have  with  me.  None  of  my  children  but  Abiah  are  with  me.  All  my 
sons  are,  if  living,  in  the  army,  and  Molly  (Mary)  is  married  away,  and 
lives  about  a  mile  from  me. 

I  hear  there  are  several  accidents  happened  at  Barnstable,  write  me 
the  particulars.  If  you  have  heard  from  my  brothers  in  Connecticut, 
let  me  know  it.  There  was  here  a  brother  of  one  of  my  neighbors  from 
Stratford  last  winter,  who  informed  me  of  the  death  of  my  brother 
John  (Chipmau).  I  questioned  him  about  it,  and  told  him  he  had 
moved  to  Middletown.  He  said  he  knew  it,  and  he  was  acquainted 
•with  him— he  had  lost  his  fingers  in  a  mill,  he  had  a  son  at  Stratford, 
and  I  might  depend  upon  it,  he  had  been  dead  as  much  as  three  or  four 
years.  May  God  sanctify  this  stroke  of  his  providence  for  good,  and 
may  we  be  ready  also. 

I  am  afraid  what  I  may  hear  concerning  my  sons,  but  I  hope  I  may 
be  prepared,  let  it  be  as  it  will. 

I  should  write  more,  but  it  is  the  Sabbath.  Give  my  love  to  your 
children,  and  my  duty  to  mother  Genkins  and  the  brothers  and  sisters. 
Tell  sister  Hamlen  that  Lewis  and  Perez  were  here  an  hour  or  two ;  and 
Phebe's  sister  Young  came  to  town  last  Sabbath,  and  was  taken  very 
sick  on  Monday.    Yesterday  she  was  very  low  with  the  pleuresy. 

Write  me  everything  you  know  worth  a  writing  by  the  bearer  of 
this  letter.  I  suppose  he  will  stay  only  a  few  hours,  being  on  business. 
I  conclude  with  love  to  you  and  yours  and  all  friends. 

Mary  Genkins. 

Abiah  gives  duty  to  you,  and  love  to  all  cousins. 

This  for  Hannah  and  Elizabeth  Chipman.t 

"For  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Chipman  at  Barnstable.''  "Pr  favor  of  Mr. 
Hanscon."t 

GORHAM,  Jan.  29, 1781. 
Loving  Sister  :  These  come  with  our  love  to  you  and  children, 
hoping  you  are  well,  as  through  Divine  Goodness  we  are,  except  my 
wife  who  has  been  poorly  ever  since  last  March ;  but  is  a  little  better. 
We  rec'd  yours  by  Mr.  Lovell, — was  glad  to  hear  from  you.  And  now 
a  short  account  of  my  family.  Our  children  are  all  except  one  married. 
We  have  seven  grand-children,    Josiah  one  daughter,  Sarah ;    Deborah 

*My  great  grandfather  Delap  was  in  Nova  Scotia  during  the  Revolution,  and  two 
years  elapsed,  during  which  he  found  no  opportunity  to  send  a  letter  to  Barnstable. 

fHannah  Chipman  was  the  eldest  sister  of  the  writer  of  this  letter.  Elizabeth  Chip- 
man  was  the  wife  of  her  brother,  Dea.  Timothy  Chipman.  She  was  a  Basset  from  Sand- 
wich. 

tHanscon.  Two  of  this  name  settled  in  Gorham.  Mr.  Pierce  says  they  came  from 
Scarborough. 


100      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BAENSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

three  children,  Hannah,  Elizabeth  and  Ebenezer ;  Abiah  two,  Josiab 
and  Prudence ;  and  Mary  one  daughter  Abiah.  It  eeems  to  me  that 
they  are  the  prettiest  children  I  see  anywhere.  They  all  live  near  us 
except  Abiah,  who  resides  eighteen  miles  distant.  Mr.  Lovell*  informs 
us  that  sister  Hannah  would  be  glad  to  come  and  live  her  sister.  Were 
she  here  we  should  be  glad ;  but  as  times  are,  it  would  be  diiHcult  for 
her  to  come,  either  by  laud  or  water.  For  me  to  come  by  land  for  her 
would  cost  more  paper  dollars  than  a  few,  and  to  come  by  water  is 
hazardous.  If  there  could  be  some  way  found  out  for  her  to  come  with 
Lovell's  family  I  esteem  it  best.  As  for  my  coming  at  present,  it  is  not 
practicable. 

As  to  news,  we  have  none.  Old  Capt.  John  Phinney,t  formerly  of 
Barnstable,  the  first  settler  in  Gorham,  died  not  long  since  almost  ninety 
years  old.  Let  us  hear  from  you  as  often  as  possible — we  will  do  thie 
same. 

I  am  dear  sister,  your  loving  brother, 

SAM'rL  Jenkins. 

N.  B. — My  wife  has  this  moment  started  a  notion,  that  you  did  not 
know  who  Sam'll  married — ^it  was  Lydia  Dier  from  Truro. 

GOEHAM,  November  22,  1783. 
Dear  Sister  :  This  with  love  to  you  and  yours,  hoping  it  will  find 
you  all  well,  as,  through  Divine  Goodness,  I  and  mine  are  at  present. 
I  have  not  heard  from  you  since  Major  Lewis  came.  I  then  received 
gladly  what  you  sent  me  that  was  my  sisters.  You  cannot  think  how 
greatly  rejoiced  I  was  to  see  one  of  my  old  neighbors,  who  could  tell  me 
everything  I  wanted  to  know  concerning  my  own  family.  Your 
brotherj  had  had  a  long  fit  of  sickness  last  spring,  was  very  low,  and 
has  been  able  to  do  but  a  trifle  this  summer.  He  is  better  this  fall,  but 
not  so  well  as  before.  He  intends,  with  submission  to  Providence,  to 
go  to  Barnstable  this  winter.  The  twentieth  of  June  last  we  had  the 
sorrowful  and  heavy  news  of  our  son  Joseph's  death.  He  died  that 
day,  two  months.  He  had  been  in  the  service  two  years,  and  died  with 
consumption  near  West  Point — a  loud  call  to  us  all.  He  was  carried 
into  the  country  and  was  comfortably  provided  for  during  the  last 
month  or  six  weeks  of  his  life.  What  most  contributes  to  my  comfort 
is,  God  was  pleased  to  give  him  a  time  of  consideration.  He  sent  us 
word  not  to  mourn  for  him,  but  to  prepare  to  follow  him,  for  he  trusted 
the  eternal  estate  was  secured.  You  are  not  a  stranger  to  my  grief, 
though  I  have  been  to  yours. 

Not  from  the  dust  afflictions  grow. 

Nor  troubles  rise  by  chance. 
Yet  we  are  born  to  care  and  woe, 

A  sad  inheritance. 

As  sparks  break  out  from  burning  coals. 

And  still  are  upward  borne, 
So  grief  is  rooted  in  our  souls. 

And  man  grows  up  to  mourn. 
The  rest  of  my  children  that  are  here  are  well.    Joslah  has  gone  to 

*I  am  not  informed  that  either  of  the  Lovells  removed  to  Gorham;  hut  it  appears  by 
this  correspondence  that  one  of  them  did. 

tCapt.  John  Phinney  was  horn  April  8, 1796.  He  died  in  Gorham,  Dec.  29, 1780,  and 
■was  84  years,  8  months  and  11  days  old,  allowing  ten  days  for  difference  between  old  and 
new  style.  Mr.  Pierce,  in  his  history  of  Gorham,  says  he  was  87  at  his  death.  His  wife 
Martha  (Coleman)  died  Dec.  16,  1784,  aged  86  years,  9  mo.,  2  days,  if  the  date  of  her  birth 
on  the  records  is  in  new  style. 

fNamed  Basset  from  Sandwich. 


GENEALOGIOAIi   NOTES   OP    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       101 

^^Bagaduoe."*  Phebe  hath  two  sons  about  six  months  old,  Samuel  and 
Jacob.  Prude  (Prudence,  wife  of  Josiah)  a  daughter  the  same  age, 
named  Polly  (Mary.)  Abiah  lives  a  little  way  off.  Sam'll  has  a  daugh- 
ter about  three  weeks  old  named  Lidia.  Molly  (Mary)  one  five  weeks, 
named  Elizabeth — making  fourteen  grandchildren  I  have  living. 

You  know  not  how  much  I  want  to  come  and  see  all  my  old  friends 
and  relatives.  Give  my  love  to  all  brothers  and  sisters,  cousins  and 
friends.  Tell  cousin  James  Smith's  wifet  I  never  forgot  what  she  said 
to  me,  that  I  must  write  concerning  religion ;  but  I  was  loth  to  write 
that  I  did  not  well  like  my  minister,  though  when  I  came  home,  the 
first  time  I  heard  him,  I  thought  I  could  not  be  content  to  sit  under  him, 
and  it  came  to  my  mind,  "Despise  not  small  things,"  which  made  me  to 
think  I  did  not  well  to  be  uneasy.  He  has  been  dismissed  two  years. J 
We  had  a  minister  ordained  this  month  one  (not  legible)  a  fine  man. — 
I  hope  he  will  prove  a  blessing,  and  that  decayed  religion  will  revive 
under  his  ministry. 

It  has  been  very  much  the  practice  of  the  place  for  parents  to  own 
the  covenant  and  have  their  children  baptized.  There  are  counted  to 
be  near  a  third  of  the  people  to  be  Separate  Baptists,  and  some  of  that 
party  are  become  what  is  called  Shaking  Quakers.  I  think  they  are  a 
most  monstrous  deluded  set  of  people.  The  performances  at  their  meet- 
ings consist  in  dancing,  hideous  bowlings  like  wolves,  standing  on  their 
beads,  pretending  to  speak  in  unknown  languages,  and  the  like  ridicu- 
lous behavior.  I  take  them  to  be  the  people  fliat  Christ  warns  us  of 
when  he  saith,  "Take  heed  that  you  be  not  deceived.  Then  if  any  man 
shall  say  unto  you,  lo  here  is  Christ  or  there  believe  it  not:  for  there 
shall  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  show  great  signs  and 
wonders,  if  it  were  possible  deceive  the  very  elect.  Behold  I  have  told 
you  before,  if  they  say  behold  he  is  in  the  desert,  go  not  forth,  or  in  the 
secret  chamber  believe  it  not." 

Dear  sister,  I  could  write  till  morning,  but  being  very  late  must 
break  off  abruptly,  begging  you  to  send  me  a  letter  by  Mr.  Lewis,§  and 
so  conclude,  very  tired,  with  love  to  you  and  children. 

M.  Genkins. 
To  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Chipman,  Barnstable. 


John  Jenkins,  the  second,  appears  to  have  been  a  resident 
in  Plymouth  in  1644,  and  probably  earlier.  In  1648  he  became 
an  inhabitant  of  Sandwich.  He  married  a  daughter  of  one  of 
the  prominent  Quaker  families  in  that  town.  His  daughter  Eliza- 
beth was  born  in  Sandwich  April  30,  1649,  and  he  had  two  sons, 
Zachariah  and  Job.     He  died  in  1684,  but  his  estate  remained  un- 

*Mre.  Jenkins  wrote  a  very  legible  hand,  but  this  name  I  cannot  make  out.  Capt.  Jo- 
-fiiah  Jenkins  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolution,  was  in  an  engagement  on  Lake  Champlain 
and  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth.  He  married  Prudence  Davis  and  had  Saiah,  two  Marys, 
Aurelia,  Nancy,  Josiah  and  Katharine.    He  died  in  1831,  aged  81. 

fJames  Smith  married  Hannah  Barlow  of  Sandwich.  His  mother  was  a  Hinckley,  and 
perhaps  hence  the  relationship — cousin  to  Samuel  Jenkins. 

JRev.  Josiah  Thacher  of  Lebanon,  Conn.,  graduate  of  Princeton  College,  and  a  decend. 
ant  of  Antony  of  Yarmouth,  was  dismissed  in  1781.  Rev.  Caleb  Jewett  was  ordained  pastor 
of  the  Con.  Society  in  Gorham,  Nov.  5, 1783.  Jewett  gave  no  better  satisfaction  than  Thach- 
er and  his  predecessor,  Lombard. 

§Hajor  George  Lewis  of  Barnstable  removed  to  Gorham.  His  second  wife.  Desire 
Parker,  was  a  neighbor  of  Mrs.  Jenkins  before  she  removed  irom  Barnstable. 


102       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

settled  till  April  2,  1708,  when  an  inventory   thereof  was  made. 
His  house  and  lot  were  apprised  at,  £8,00 

A  piece  of  land  lying  between  the  lands  of  Israel  Garrett,     20,00 
Lands  above  John  Bodflsh's,  16,00 

Meadow  adjoining  Town  Neck,  35,00 

do.  37,00 


£116,00 


All  the  real  estate  was  assigned  to  Zachariah,  he  paying  to 
the  heirs  of  his  brother  Job  Jenkins,  deceased,  £46,  and  to  his 
sister,  Elizabeth  Jenkins,  £52. 

Zachariah  married  and  had  a  large  family.  Job  also  mar- 
ried and  had  issue.  Elizabeth  had  not  married  in  1708.  She 
was  then  59  years  of  age. 

As  this  is  not  a  Barnstable  family  I  omit  details.  In  the 
Cudworth  article  I  referred  to  this  John  Jenkins.  His  history  is 
an  exceedingly  interesting  one.  He  was  fined  £19,10  shillings 
for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity,  attending  quaker  meetings, 
and  other  acts,  involving  no  violation  of  the  public  peace,  or  any 
immortality.  The  law  requiring  all  able  to  bear  arms,  to  take  the 
oath  of  fidelity,  was  an  old  law  that  had  not,  in  1658,  been  en- 
forced for  several  years,  but  as  Gen.  Cudworth,  Isaac  Robinson, 
and  others  among  the  best  men  in  the  Colony  averred,  it  was  re- 
vived and  used  as  a  trap  in  which  to  catch  some  persons  who  had 
conscientious  scruples  against  taking  it.  I  reverence  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  ;  but  I  will  not  therefore  paliate  or  ex- 
cuse their  faults.  Their  proceedings  against  Norton  and  other 
Quakers  at  Plymouth  are  justifiable  in  law,  because  the  Quakers 
were  the  agressors.  Norton  would  fare  no  better  in  a  court  of 
justice  to-day,  than  he  did  in  1658.  The  Quakers  at  Sandwich 
were  not  generally  the  agressors.  They  asserted  their  rights  as 
citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  British  realm.  In  ecclesiastical  mat- 
ters they  adopted  the  same  broad  and  tolerant  views  that  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  had  always  asserted  and  always  maintained.  They 
held  that  the  conscience  was  free  ;  that  man  was  not  responsible 
to  his  fellow  men  in  matters  of  faith,  but  to  God  alone.  The 
fundamental  principles  of  the  Congregational  or  Puritan  polity 
was,  that  a  church  should  consist  of  as  many  members  as  could 
conveniently  meet  together  to  worship,  and  that  when  they  had 
so  met  they  had  a  right  to  elect  their  own  teachers,  elders  and 
other  officers.  Those  rights  were  denied  to  Sandwich  Quakers. 
The  history  of  John  Jenkins,  as  found  in  the  Colony  records,  in 
Bishop  and  other  writers,  exemplifies  the  persecuting  spirit  which 
had  crept  into  the  Colony  in  1658,  defacing  the  fair  record  of  our 
fathers. 

To  pay  the  fines  which  Jenkins  conscientiously  believed  to  be 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.       103 

levied  uajustly,    and   ia  a  persecuting  spirit,  Barlow   seized   two 
cows  and  one  steer,  valued  at,  sterling,  £11,10,00 

Money  in  the  hands  of  James  Skiff,  due  him  for  work,        8,00,00 


£19,10,00 
And  the  pot  in  which  he  boiled  his  victuals.  When  Barlow 
took  the  pot  Mrs.  Jenkins  threw  down  a  piece  of  new  cloth  of 
twice  the  value  of  the  vessel,  and  begged  him  to  take  that,  for,  if 
her  kettle  was  taken,  she  could  not  cook  for  her  family.  Barlow 
refused.  In  levying  his  warrant,  he  maliciously  took  such  arti- 
cles as  would  cause  most  distress  in  the  family — the  cows  which 
gave  milk  for  the  children,  and  the  only  iron  vessel  in  the  house. 
At  that  time  the  local  traders  did  not  sell  iron  ware — a  pot  could 
not  be  purchased  without  sending  sixty  miles  to  Boston.  About 
eighteen  months  after  she  bought  one,  meantime  some  kind  neigh- 
bor lent  her  a  kettle. 

Aug.  17,  1658,  a  special  term  of  the  court  was  held  at  the 
dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Richard  Bourne  in  Sandwich.  Gov. 
Prince,  and  Capt.  Thomas  Willet,  Capt.  Josias  Winslow  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Hinckley,  assistants,  presided.  Sundry  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  had  petitioned  the  court  that  a  special  term  be  held  in 
Sandwich  to  inquire  into  and  redress  their  grievances.  It  was 
alleged  that  John  Jenkius  and  eight  others,  all  Quakers,  had  not 
been  legally  admitted  inhabitants.  In  reply  John  Jenkins  plead, 
"That  though  he  had  lived  at  Sandwich  about  ten  years,  and  had 
three  children  ;  and  the  very  first  year  he  came  he  was  made  a 
Freeman,  and  had  his  voice  in  town  meetings,  and  had  Common 
Privileges ;  yet  he  was  now  denied  his  share  in  Whale  Oyl,  which 
as  a  Freeman  fell  to  him."  Barlow  the  constable  interfered  and 
said,  "He  must  not  speak  for  he  was  no  Freeman." 

Jenkins  in  fact  was  not  a  freeman.  He  claimed  to  be  a  towns- 
man, though  in  his  defence,  as  reported  by  Bishop,  he  uses  the 
word  freeman.  The  decision  of  the  Court  was  that  Jenkins  and 
the  eight  others  "shall  henceforth  have  noe  power  to  vote  in  any 
towne  meeting  till  better  evidence  appear  of  their  legall  admit- 
tance, or  to  claime  title  or  interest  into  any  town  privileges  as 
townsmen,"  according  to  an  order  of  the  Court  dated  third  of 
October,  16.39.  It  was  also  ordered  that  thereafter  no  one  "shall 
be  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  Sandwich  or  enjoy  the  privileges 
thereof,  without  the  approbation  of  the  Church  and  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Prence,"  or  of  one  of  the  assistants. 

By  this  decision  about  one-half  of  the  Quakers  in  Sandwich 
were  disfranchised.  Bishop  refers  to  this  meeting,  and  represents 
it  as  very  disorderly  and  turbulent.  He  however  mixed  up  the 
proceedings  at  two  Courts,  that  of  Aug.  27  and  of  Oct.  2,  1658.^ 
He  says  Major  Winslow  "showed  much  Vehemence  and  Fierceness 
of  spirit  against  them  ;   (the  Quakers)  sometimes  starting  up  and 


104      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BAENSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

smiting  the  Table  with  his  Stick,  then  with  his  Hand,  then  stamp- 
ing with  his  Foot,  like  a  Madman,  saying  he  could  not  bear  it, — 
Let  them  have  the  Strapado,"  The  Court  was  governed  in  their 
decision  by  milder  measures,  yet  more  severe  than  the  occasion 
required.  Nine  were  disfranchised,  and  sixteen  fined  £5  each  at 
the  October  Court,  three  of  whom  in  addition  were  sentenced  to 
imprisonment. 

The  authorities  represented  that  the  Quakers  were  not  then 
the  peacable  and  respectable  people  that  they  have  been  for  the 
last  century  and  a  half  ;  that  they  were  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace ;  and  that  they  entered  into  the  churches  and  claimed  a 
right  to  bear  testimony  against  the  worshipers  as  corrupt  and  anti- 
christian. 

A  careful  analysis  of  all  the  facts,  which  I  have  not  the  time 
to  make,  will  place  the  matter  in  its  true  light.  Some  few  years 
since  a  friend  sat  as  magistrate  to  try  similiar  cases.  The  accused 
were  defended  by  able  counsel,  all  the  facts  were  clearly  estab- 
lished by  testimony,  there  was  no  controversy  in  regard  to  them, 
and  the  law  applicable  to  the  cases  was  clearly  stated.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  trial,  which  continued  two  days,  several  were 
fined  two  dollars  each  and  costs.  They  would  not  pay  a  cent. 
*'They  would  sooner  rot  in  jail."  The  friends  of  some  of  them 
paid  their  fines,  others  went  to  prison,  one  of  whom  was  a  mother 
with  an  infant  child. 

A  censorious  writer  like  Bishop  might  take  the  Barnstable 
case  and  magnify  it,  with  as  much  apparent  truthfulness,  into  one 
of  extreme  intolerance,  persecution  and  cruelty.  The  question  at 
issue  in  the  Court  held  in  Sandwich  on  the  29th  of  August,  1658, 
and  at  the  Court  held  in  Barnstable,  were  precisely  of  the  same 
character,  and  involved  the  same  principles  of  law.  The  Quakers 
at  Sandwich  justified  their  breaches  of  the  peace  by  pleading  con- 
scientious scruples,  and  the  liberty  of  speech.  So  did  the  Come- 
outers  at  Barnstable.  The  decision  was  acquiesced  in  by  the 
prisoners  and  the  people,  and  to  this  day,  if  the  presiding  magis- 
trate wanted  a  favor,  there  are  none  to  whom  he  could  appeal  with 
more   confidence  than  to  those  whom  he  fined  and  sent  to   prison. 

The  decision  at  Sandwich  was  a  fire-brand  thrown  into  the 
community,  stirring  up  the  worst  passions  of  the  human  heart, 
setting  brother  against  brotner,  the  son  against  the  father,  and 
the  daughter  against  the  mother. 

The  reason  of  this  is  apparent.  Gov.  Prince  and  Mr.  Wins- 
low  were  irritable ;  they  could  not  patiently  hear  the  enthusiastic, 
overbearing  and  ill-advised  "testimonies"  of  the  Quakers.  They 
lost  their  temper,  and  with  it  the  power  to  act  prudently  and  dis- 
creetly. The  imfamous  Barlow  at  that  time  had  an  influence,  and 
his   taunting   speeches  irritated  the  Quakers  and  induced  them   to 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       105 

utter  severe  things  against  the  Governor  and  Mr.  "Winslow.  Dur- 
ing the  trial  Capt.  Willett  and  Mr.  Hinckley,  associate  justices, 
sat  quietly  and  took  no  offence.  If  the  other  gentlemen  had  done 
the  same,  it  would  have  been  better  for  themselves  and  for  the 
people  for  whom  they  acted. 

Mr.  Winslow  was  an  honorable  man,  and  as  soon  as  the  irri- 
tation of  the  moment  had  passed,  his  good  sense  resumed  its 
sway.  Of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  proceedings  against 
the  Quakers,  he  was  among  the  foremost  to  condemn  the  decis- 
ions of  the  Court  and  to  restore  those  noble  men  who  had  been 
disfranchised  because  they ,  resisted  the  intolerant  spirit  that 
spread  through  the  Colony  in  1657  and  8. 

Many  charge  the  churches  with  being  the  authors  of  the  in- 
tolerant proceedings  in  Sandwich.  Members  of  the  churches  as 
individuals  acted,  but  not  under  the  authority  of  the  churches  or 
as  members.  The  Plymouth  church  does  not  appear  to  have 
acted,  the  Barnstable,  Yarmouth  and  Eastham,  certainly  did  not, 
and  there  is  no  recorded  evidence  that  Mr.  Leveridge's,  at  Sand- 
wich, did.  The  presumption,  however,  is  that  the  latter  church 
did  take  action.  There  is  evidence,  however,  that  a  portion  of 
the  members  were  opposed  to  the  persecutors,  and  the  factious 
spirit  in  his  church  compelled  him  to  leave  Sandwich. 

That  renegade  Episcopal  minister,  the  drunken  and  vile  Bar- 
low, soon  lost  his  influence  over  the  members  of  the  Sandwich 
church,  to  which  by  pretended  piety  and  zeal  for  its  interests  he 
had  surreptitiously  obtained  admittance.  After  Mr.  Lever- 
idge  left,  the  church,  though  divided  into  two  factions,  the 
Bourne  and  the  Tupper,  discarded  the  intolerant  policy  for  which 
some  of  its  members  had  become  notorious.  From  one  extreme 
they  perhaps  ran  into  the  other.  After  several  had  preached  on 
trial,  Mr.  John  Smith  of  Barnstable,  whose  Catholic  and  tolerant 
principles  had  rendered  him  obnoxious  to  the  majority  in  1658, 
and  who  for  the  same  cause  in  1669  sold  his  estate  in  Barnstable 
and  removed  to  New  York,  returned  in  1671  and  was  soon  after 
invited  to  become  the  pastor  of  the  church  in  Sandwich,  and  was 
ordained.  Thus  in  a  term  of  less  than  twenty  years,  a  complete 
revolution  was  effected  in  public  opinion,  and  that  town  became 
one  of  the  most  quiet  and  orderly  in  the  Colony. 

The  history  of  Sandwich  from  1657  to  the  settlement  of  Mr. 
Smith  is  one  of  unsurpassed  interest.  Mr.  Balies  hardly  refers  to 
the  Quaker  troubles  there,  and  Mr.  Freeman  after  giving  a  few 
extracts  from  Bowden,  a  second  hand  authority,  and  not  always 
accurate,  slurs  over  the  whole  matter  with  the  stale  remark,  "We 
weary  by  such  recitals."* 

*It  would  be  difficult  to  decide  which  is  the  more  objectionable,  the  bad  grammar  or 
the  bad  taste  of  this  remark. 


JONES. 


Ralph  Jones,  the  ancestor,  was  able  to  bear  arms  in  Plym- 
outh in  1643.  He  was  of  Barnstable  in  1654,  and  settled 
at  Scorton.  His  house  stood  on  the  main  land  within  a 
few  feet  of  the  bounds  of  Sandwich.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  owned  lands  with  the  Fuller  families,  with  whom  he 
was  connected  by  marriage.  In  1657  he  was  fined  for  not  regu- 
larly attending  meeting,  not  a  very  henious  offence  for  a  man  who 
resided  six  miles  from  the  place  of  worship.  He  afterwards  be- 
came a  zealous  member  of  the  Quaker  society  in  Sandwich,  and 
suffered  persecution  on  that  account.  He  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  an  early  member,  for  in  1657  he  took  the  oath  of  fidel- 
ity, which  the  Quakers  uniformly  declined  to  do.  His  absenting 
himself  from  the  Barnstable  Church,  however,  indicates  that  he 
early  favored  the  Quakers,  some  of  whom  resided  in  his  immedi- 
ate vicinity. 

In  the  Postscript  to  Bishop's  New  England  Judged  George 
Keith,  in  a  reply  to  the  marvels  of  Cotton  Mather,  tells  a  story 
about  Ralph  Jones,  which  is  not  entirely  apochryphal.  He  says, 
"I  shall  only  add  one  passage  more,  which  I  was  informed  of, 
and  had  it  writ  from  some  of  the  people  of  Barnstable,  how  that 
from  an  honest  man,  a  Quaker,  in  the  Town  of  Barustable,  were 
taken  four  cdws,  with  some  calves,  the  Quaker's  name  being 
Ralph  Jones,  who  is  yet  alive ;  and  these  Cattle  were  taken  away 
by  the  Preacher  of  that  Town,  his  son-in-law,  who  had  married 
his  Daughter,  and  returned  to  the  Priest  as  a  part  of  his  Wages. 
The  Priest  sent  to  Ralph  Jones  to  tell  him,  He  might  have  two  of 
his  cows  returned  to  him  if  he  would  send  for  theTn.  But  he  never 
sent,  and  so  the  said  Priest  used  them  and  disposed  of  them  as 
his  own,  killed  one  of  the  calfs,  and  sent  a  part  of  it  to  his 
Daughter,  that  lay  in  child-bed  ;  she  no  sooner  did  eat  a  little  of 
the  Calf,  but  fell  into  great  trouble  and  cryed,  Return  home  the 
man's  Oows,  I  hear  a  great  noise  of  them  ;  and  so  died  in  that 
Trouble.  The  Priest  alledged,  the  Quakers  had  bewitched  his 
Daughter,  although  it  cannot  be  proved  that  ever  they  had  any 
business  with  her.     But  to  what  evil  construction  will   not  Malice 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    ITAMILIES.       107 

aad  Hypocrisie  aad  Covetousness  bend  a  Thing?  Some  time 
after  the  said  Preacher  killed  some  of  these  Cows  to  be  eat  in  his 
house  saying,  He  would  try  if  the  Quakers  would  bewitch  him  ;  and 
not  long  after  he  died,  even  before  the  Flesh  of  these  Cows  was 
all  eat.  This  passage  is  so  fresh  in  that  Town  that  it  is  acknowl- 
edged by  divers  of  the  neighbors  to  be  true." 

It  is  stated  in  a  note  in  the  margin  that  this  "passage"  was 
first  published  in  London  in  1693,  and  by  Bishop  in  1702,  the 
date  of  the  imprint  of  the  edition  from  which  I  quote.  Ralph 
Jones  died  in  1692,  and  as  he  was  living  at  the  time,  it  must  have 
been  written  as  early  as  that  year.  The  facts  are  not  clearly 
stated.  At  first  reading,  I  understood  the  "passage"  to  mean 
that  the  "Priest"  married  a  daughter  of  Ralph  Jones,  which  was 
not  the  intention  of  the  writer.  He  intended  to  say  that  Ralph 
Jones  a  quaker  resident  in  Barnstable,  had  four  cows  and  some 
calves  taken  by  the  constable  to  pay  his  ministerial  tax.  The 
oflScer  was  the  son-in-law  of  the  minister.  The  latter  offered  to 
give  up  two  of  the  cows  ;  but  Jones  refused  to  send  for  them. 
Afterwards  the  minister  killed  one  of  the  calves,  and  sent  a  part 
of  it  to  his  daughter,  then  lying  in  child-bed.  She  eat  a  little  and 
fell  into  great  trouble  and  desired  her  father  to  return  the  cows, 
and  soon  died  in  consequence  of  the  eating  of  the  veal.  The  min- 
ister charged  the  Quakers  with  having  bewitched  his  daughter  and 
caused  her  death.  Some  little  time  after  the  minister  killed  one 
of  the  cows  to  be  eat  in  his  house,  saying,  he  would  try  if  the 
Quakers  could  bewitch  him.  Before  he  had  eaten  all  the  flesh  of 
the  cow  he  fell  sick  and  died. 

This  is  the  meaning  of  the  "passage."  It  is  in  reply  to  the 
marvles  recorded  by  Cotton  Mather.  The  intention  of  the  writer 
was  to  make  it  appear  that  the  death  of  the  daughter  and  of  the 
father  was  a  judgment  of  God. 

Excepting  the  name  of  Ralph  Jones,  neither  dates  or  names 
are  given.  This  omission  is  ominous  of  evil  intent,  and  if  the 
story  is  a  fabrication  it  is  difficult,  two  centuries  afterwards,  to 
bring  satisfactory  evidence  to  prove  it  untrue,  or  that  the  circum- 
stances in  the  case  have  been  exaggerated. 

After  careful  examination  1  am  satisfied  that  the  cows  were 
taken  in  payment  for  taxes  due  from  Ralph  Jones  by  Dea.  Job 
Crocker,  son-in-law  of  Rev.  Thomas  Walley,  and  constable  of  the 
town  of  Barnstable  in  1676.  I  regret  that  a  man  so  excellent  in 
all  the  relations  of  life  as  Dea.  Crocker  was,  should  have  such 
things  laid  to  his  charge.  As  constable,  he  was  obliged  to  serve 
the  process  and  take  the  cows,  and  to  that  extent  no  blame  at- 
taches to  him.  The  story  says  that  his  wife,  who  then  laid  on 
her  death  bed,  requested  that  the  cows  should  be  returned,  and 
her  father,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Walley,  offered  to  give  up  the  two  that 
legally  belonged  to  him,   the  other  two  legally  belonged  to  the 


108      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

country,  and  the  constable  had  a  right,  I  presume,  to  surrender 
those  also.  Now  if  these  are  the  facts,  the  refusal  or  neglect  of 
Deacon  Crocker  in  returning  the  cows  is  a  blot  on  his  fair  fame. 

The  daughter  died  that  year,  and  the  father  two  years  after. 
That  their  deaths  were,  as  it  is  pretended,  a  judgment  of  God,  to 
punish  them  for  their  guilt  in  being  nccessory  to  the  taking  of  the 
cows  is  nonsense — as  stupid  as  any  of  the  marvels  of  the  unseen 
world  related  by  Cotton  Mather — and  in  reply  to  which  this  and 
other  equally  absurd  stories  are  printed  by  Bishop  in  his  appendix 
to  New  England  Judged. 

There  is  another  side  to  the  story,  I  will  not  say  the  right 
side  ;  but  it  was  this  that  had  the  support  of  the  best  legal  talent 
of  the  times.  The  lands  in  the  Old  Colony  were  granted  to  the 
churches,  on  the  express  Condition  that  a  learned  and  orthodox 
minister  should  be  maintained  in  each  town.  The  ministerial  tax 
was  a  lien  upon  the  land,  and  the  civil  authorities,  until  that  con- 
dition was  changed,  were  bound  to  enforce  it.  The  rental  of  the 
Cape  Cod  fisheries  was  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  a  free 
school,  and  he  that  hired  a  right  to  seine  on  the  shore,  might  with 
the  same  show  of  equity  refuse  to  pay  the  tax,  because  the  school 
was  established  at  Plymouth,  and  he  yras  thus  deprived  of  his 
share  of  the  benefit.  The  original  owners  of  the  lands  and  of  the 
fishing  privileges  in  the  sale  or  lease  imposed  certain  taxes  on 
them,  and  the  right  of  a  Quaker  or  an  Orthodox  to  complain  is 
not  apparent.     The  policy  of  such  taxation  is  another  question. 

Ralph  Jones  was  as  stiff-necked  as  Dea.  Crocker.  When 
Mr.  Walley  informed  him  that  he  would  not  insist  on  his  legal 
rights,  and  that  he  could  take  the  two  cows  to  which  he  was  enti- 
tled, Jones  said,  "No,  your  son-in-law  drove  them  away,  now  let 
him  drive  them  back,  I  wont  go  after  them."  Perhaps  he  was 
right,  but  a  more  conciliatory  course  would  have  exhibited  a  bet- 
ter spirit. 

If  four  cows  and  their  calves  were  taken  to  pay  the  tax,  it 
was  an  exorbitant  sum.  The  market  value  at  that  time  was  about 
£4  sterling,  or  $20  for  each  or  $80  for  the  whole.  Deducting 
one-half,  the  fine  for  not  paying  voluntarily,  left  the  sum  taxed 
$40  in  silver  money,  equal  to  $120  at  the  present  time.  Ralph 
Jones  was  not  a  man  of  wealth,  and  a  part  of  his  estate  was  tax- 
able in  Sandwich.  There  were  about  one  hundred  tax  payers  in 
town  at  that  time,  and  Jones'  proportion  of  the  gross  sum  raised 
to  support  the  ministry  would  not  be  over  the  one  hundredth 
part.  If  his  tax  was  £8  sterling  the  gross  would  be  £800,  a  sum 
equal  to  the  gross  amount  of  Mr.  Walley's  salary  during  the  six- 
teen years  he  was  minister  of  Barnstable.  It  is  preposterous  to 
believe  that  Jones  was  so  taxed,  yet  this  is  a  part  of  the  story, 
and  as  much  entitled  to  credence  as  the  rest  of  it. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       109 

To  aver  that  the  death  of  Mr.  Crocker  and  of  Mr.  Walley 
was  a  judgment  of  God,  in  punishment  of  a  particular  sin,  is  a 
palpable  absurdity.  The  amount  of  the  tax  is  exaggerated.  It 
probably  included  his  town  and  colony  tax,  and  had  probably  been 
in  arrears  for  a  considerable  time.  Jones  refused  to  pay,  as 
others*  at  that  time  did  because  all  the  taxes  were  put  on  one  list. 
Both  parties  were  in  the  fault,  and  the  one  was  as  stubborn  as  the 
other  was  stiff  necked. 

None  of  the  descendants  of  Ralph  Jones  have  been  distin- 
guished in  church  or  state,  or  for  their  great  wealth.  Like  their 
ancestor,  they  belong  to  the  middling  class  of  honest,  induistrious 
farmers  and  mechanics. 

In  his  will  dated  the  11th  of  the  3d  month,  1691,  and  proved 
April  20,  1692,  he  says,  "I,  Ralph  Jones,  of  ye  town  of  Barnsta- 
ble in  New  England,  being  aged  and  weak  in  body,"  disposes  of 
his  estate  to  his  children.  He  does  not  name  his  wife,  and  the 
presumption  is  she  had  then  deceased.  He  says,  "My  mind  and 
desire  is,  that  after  my  decease  my  body  be  decently  buried  by  ye 
advice  and  assistance  of  my  dear  Friends  ye  people  of  God  called 
Quakers  at  their  burying  place  in  Sandwich."  He  refers  to 
meadow  which  his  father  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller  bought, of  John 
Freeman,  and  names  his  seven  sons,  Shubael,  Jedediah,  Ralph, 
Samuel,  Matthew,  John  and  Ephraim,  and  his  daughters  Mercy, 
Mary  and  Mehitabel.  He  appoints  his  son-in-law  John  Fuller, 
the  younger,  and  Edward  Perry,  the  Quaker,  overseers.  The 
witnesses  were  Capt.  Thomas  Fuller,  John  Isum,  and  his  daugh- 
ter Mehitabel  Fuller,  wife  of  John  Fuller,  Jr.  He  signs  with  his 
mark,  showing  that  though  he  might  be  able  to  read,  he  could 
not  write.     His  daughter  Mehitabel  also  signs  "M,"  "her  mark." 

Ralph  Jones  being  himself  an  unlearned  man,  and  residing 
several  miles  from  schools  or  churches,  his  family  had  no  oppor- 
tunity for  acquiring  even  the  rudiments  of  a  good  education. 
Among  his  neighbors  there  were,  however,  men  of  intelligence. 
The  brothers  Samuel  and  Matthew  Fuller,  the  wayward  Mr. 
Thomas  Dexter,  and  Robert  Harper,  the  stalwart  Quaker,  resided 
at  Scorton,  and  their  families  were  well  educated  for  the  times. 
Edward  Perry  and  several  of  the  early  Quakers,  earnest  men  of 
some  intelligence,  were  also  his  neighbors. 

Ralph  Jones  married  April  17,  1650,  Mary  Fuller,  daughter 
of  Capt.  Matthew  Fuller,  then  of  Plymouth.  His  older  children 
were  probably  born  in  Plymouth,  the  earliest  date  on  the  Barnsta- 
ble record  being  27th  A.ng.  1654.  I  have  carefully  examined 
only  the  Barnstable  records.  From  the  Probate  and  the  Sand- 
wich  records   much  information  may   be  obtained  by   those   who 

*For  particulars  of  the  proceedings  in  collecting  ministerial  taxes  see  "Bourman  Fam- 
ily."   Soon  after  this  time  the  laws  were  modified  and  made  more  libeial. 


110       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

take  an  interest  in  the  genealogy  of  the  family.  One  peculiarity 
will  be  noticed.  They  remembered  the  cow  story,  and  for 
several  generations  bore  no  love  to  the  ministry,  and  very  rarely 
invited  the  clergyman  to  solemnize  a  marriage.* 

Children  of  Ralph  Jones. 
3.     I.     Mehitabel,  born  about  the  year  1651,  probably  at  Plym- 
outh.    She  married  John  Fuller,  Jr.,  removed  to  East  Had- 
dam.   Conn.,   had  a  large  family,   and  have  many  descend- 
ants. 

3.  II.     Matthew.     (See  below.) 

4.  III.     Shubael,  27th  Aug.  1654.     He  was  living  in  1692,  and 
is  named  by  Mr.  t'essenden  as  resident  in  Sandwich. 

5.  IV.     Jedediah,  4th  Jan.  1656.     (See  below.) 

6.  V.     John,   14th  Aug.    1659.     He  was  living  in   1692.     Re- 
moved from  Barnstable. 

7.  VI.     Mercv,  14th  Nov.  1666. 

8.  VII.     Ralph,  1st  Oct.  1669.     (See  below.) 

9.  VIII.     Samuel.     (See  below.) 

10.  IX.     Ephraim. 

11.  X.     Mary. 

Matthew  Jones,  son  of  Ralph,  owned  Mr.  Nathaniel  Bacon's 
Great  Lot  at  Cotuit,  Oct.  16th,  1690,  he  exchanged  this  land  for 
thirty  acres  on  the  west  of  John  Dunham's  land  near  Santuit. 

He  married  14th  Jan.  1694-5,  Mercy  Goodspeed,  a  daughter 
of  John,  who  resided  at  Mistic.  She  was  then  only  fifteen  years 
of  age  and  was  his  second  wife,  if  the  records  of  the  births  of  his 
children  are  accurately  recorded.  As  he  had  children  born  in 
1690,  I  call  him  the  oldest  son  of  Ralph,  though  he  may  have 
been  younger  than  John.  Early  marriages  were  common  in  those 
times,  yet  better  evidences  than  the  arrangement  of  the  names  in 
the  father's  will  is  required  to  authorize  stating  that  Matthew 
married  at  18,  and  at  22  took  a  second  wife  who  was  only  15. 

Children  born  iri"  Barnstable. 

12.  I.  Benjamin,  5th  Jan.  1690,  married  Hannah  Gifford  Aug. 
30,  1721.  No  record  of  his  family  appears.  He  was  living 
in  1743,  because  Benjamin,  son  of  Samuel,  was  then  called 
the  younger. 


*Do.wn  to  the  present  time  this  feeling  has  not  been  entirely  eradicated,  especially 
among  the  males.  Simeon  Jones,  son  of  Isaac,  bom  in  1728,  resided  in  the  high  single 
house  just  within  the  bounds  of  Sandwich.  Lemuel,  son  of  Ralph,  lived  on  Scorton  mil. 
-When  both  had  been  drinking  freely  they  resolved  to  swap  estates,  and  deeds  of  exchange 
were  drawn  up  and  executed.  This  exchange  made  Simeon  a  Bai^stable  man,  and  liable 
to  pay  taxes  to  Mr.  Shawi  though  he  pretendedto  be  a  Quaker.  Simeon  inherited  'the  old 
-family  grudge  against  ministers,  and  could  tell  the  cow  story  with  some  embelishments  of 
his  own.  He  was  on  friendly  terms  with  Mr.  Shaw,  but  would  not  attend  his  meetings. 
One  year  a  few  days  before  the  annual  Tha'nksgiving  he  dressed  a  fat  turkey,  which  he  took 
to  Mr.  John  Bursley's  and  said  send  Heman  with  that  turkey  to  Mr.  Shaw.  Tell  the  boy 
to  ask  Mr.  Shaw  if  he  wanted  the  turkey.  He  did  so.  Mr.  Shaw  said  he  did  not  wish  to 
take  it.  But,  said  Herman,  Mr.  Simeon  Jones.'  Oh,  that  alters  the  case,  said  Mr.  S.  Tell 
Mr.  Jones  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  him — and  here  my  boy  is  a  penny  for  you.  -  ,  ■ 


'GENKALOGICAIi   NOTES  OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       Ill 

13.  II.  Ralph,  5th  Jan.  1692,  married  Abigail  Linuell  March 
17,  1721. 

14.  III.     Experience,  let  March  1697. 

15.  IV.     Josiah,  14th  June,  1702. 

16.  V.  Ebenezer,  6th  June,  1706,  married  Hannah  Jones  March 
1,  1732. 

Jedediah  Jones,  son  of  Ralph,  married  Hannah  Davis  18th 
March,  16S1-2. 

CMldren  born  in  Barnstable. 

17.  I.  Shubael,  17th  Julj,  1683.  Jan.  12,  1744,  a  Shubael 
Jones,  Jr. ,  married  Mary  Allen.  This  indicates  that  Shu- 
bael, son  of  Jedediah,  was  then  living.  He  had  a  daughter 
Catharine  May  19,  1744. 

18.  II.  Simon,  5th  April,  1685.  Dr.  Simon  Jones  married 
Hannah  Atkins  March  3,  1735. 

19.  III.     Isaac,  April,  1790,  married  Patience ,  and  had 

Lydia  Feb.  24,  1711-12;  Jedediah,  April  1,  1714,  married 
Mary  or  Mariah  Fuller  of  Sandwich,  April  14, 1737,  and  had 
Nve  and  other  children ;  Patience,  Feb.  10,  1717-18;  Isaac, 
June  16,  1720,  married  Mercy  Goodspeed  Feb.  22,  1751-2, 
and  had  Timothy,  Patience,  Susannah,  Abner,  Goodspeed 
and  Lydia;  Sarah,  Oct.  1,  1724;  Simon,  Ap.  11,  1728, 
married  Hannah  1751,  and  had  Joseph,  Mariah,  Jedediah, 
Simon,  Asa  and  Hannah ;  and  Micah,  Aug.  30,  1732. 

20.  IV.  Timothy,  May,  1692,  married  Elizabeth  Jones,  June  9, 
1720. 

21.  V.     Hannah,  Sept.  1694. 
Ralph  Jones,  son  of  Ralph,  had, 

22.  I.     Deborah,  March,  1696. 

23.  II.     Elizabeth,  25th  Nov.  1698. 

24.  III.  Thankful,  12th  April,  1701,  married  May  23,  1745, 
Timothy  Hallett  of  Yarmouth. 

25.  IV.     Bethia,  9th  April,  1706. 

26.  V.  Cornelius,  30th  July,  1709.  He  was  of  Sandwich  and 
married  July,  1736,  Hannah  Percival  of  Barnstable. 

Samuel  Jones,  son  of   Ralph,  married  Mary  Blish  26th  June, 
1718. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

27.  I.     Joseph,  June  9,  1719. 

28.  II.  Benjamin,  July  14,  1721,  married  Grace  Hoxy  of  Sand- 
wich Nov.  17,  1743,  and  had  Saul  Jan.  16,  1743-4 ;  Mary, 
June  19,  1745;    David,  Aug.  6,    1747;    and   Joseph,   July 

14,  1752. 

29.  III.     Samuel,  April  4,  1723. 

30.  IV.     Mary,  April  13,  1727. 


112       GEWBALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  was  a  Reuben  Jones  who  mar- 
ried July  26,  1739,  Sarah  Percival,  then  of  Sandwich,  and  had 
Deliverance  Oct.  6,  1736,  and  Ephraim  June  20,  1745. 

An  Adams  Jone&  married  Mary  Baker  Oct.  26,  1699. 
Ebenezer  Fuller  married  Martha  Jones  Jan.  1,  1725.  David 
Smith  married  Abigail  Jones  Aug.  13,  1726.  Ebeneaer  Jones 
married  Hannah  Jones  March  1,1732.  (Abigail  and  Hannah 
were  married  by  Mr.  Russell,  and  are  the  only  ones  of  the  name- 
of  Jones  that  I  find  on  record  who  were  married  by  a  clergyman.) 
Reuben  Meigs  married  Rebecca  Jones  Oct.  10,  1732.  Johm 
Jones.  Jr.,  married  Thankful  Jones,  of  Sandwich,  Sept.  22, 1738. 
Michael  Hammet  married  Hannah  Jones  Dec.  1,  1737. 

These  records  indicate  that  there  were  several  families  of  the 
namCj  to  which  no  reference  is  made  in  this  genealogy > 


JACKSON. 


SAMUEL   JACKSON 

Was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Barnstable.  Mr.  Deane  says  that 
he  removed  from  Plymouth  to  Scituate.  He  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's 
church  Feb.  25,  1637-8,  and  came  to  Barnstable  in  October,  1639. 
He  built  his  house  on  the  second  lot  east  of  Calves  Pasture  Lane, 
which  contained  eight  acres,  and  is  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of 
Thomas  and  Benjamin  AUyn.  On  his  removal  from  Barnstable 
in  1647,  he  sold  his  houselot  to  Capt.  Samuel  Mayo  who  resold  it 
to  Mr.  Thomas  Allyn,  whose  descendants  are  the  present  owners. 

Feb.  23,  1644-5,  he  was  "excommunicated  and  cast  out  of 
ye  church  for  Lyeing  and  sundry  suspitions  of  stealing,  as  pinnes 
which  were  John  Russell's  and  divers  other  things  from  others." 

Jan.  31,  1646-7,  "he  acknowledged  his  evils,  renewed  his 
covenant,  and  was  again  received  into  church  fellowship." 

Feb.  10,  at  night,  1646-7.  Removed  from  Barnstable  "to 
live  at  Scituate  beeing  necessitated  thereunto." 

He  married  twice ;  his  first  wife  died  of  consumption  at  Scit- 
uate March  4,  1638.  He  married  Nov.  20,  1639,  Hester,  daugh- 
ter of  Dea.  Richard  Sealis  of  Scituate,  and  a  niece  of  Mr.  Timo- 
thy Hatherly.  After  the  death  of  his  father-in-law  "he  succeeded 
to  his  residence."  His  son  Jonathan  was  a  soldier  in  Phillips' 
war,  and  received  a  grant  of  land  for  his  services.  Jonathan  had 
an  only  son  Jonathan-  born  in  1685,  and  daughters  Sarah  and 
Hannah.  The  second  Jonathan  married  twice  and  had  a  daugh- 
ter Sarah  born  in  1730,  and  Jonathan  born  in  1733.  Jonathan 
third  married  in  1757  and  had  several  children,  among  whom  was 
the  late  Roland  of  Scituate,  and  Dea.  Ward  of  Boston. 

Samuel  Jackson  was  a  freeman  of  the  Colony  in  1644,  and 
died  in  1682,  aged  72  years. 

His  children  were : 

I.     Ann,  baptized  in  Scituate   March  25,  1638,  that  being  the 
first  day  of  the  year  old  style.     It  is  stated  in  the  record  that 


114       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

she  was  then  two  or  three  years  old,  and  if  Mr.  Deane  is  ac- 
curate she  was  probably  born  in  Plymouth. 

Born  in  Barnstable. 

II.  Bethia,  bap.  March  14,  1640-1. 

III.  Hester,  bap.  Feb.  5,  1642-3. 

IV.  Samuel,  bap.  Feb.  7,  1646-7.  Samuel  was  born  in  1645  or 
6,  during  the  time  his  father  was  an  excommunicant.  In  the 
church  records  the  death  of  Samuel  is  entered  as  having  oc- 
curred soon  after  his  baptism.  This  is  probably  the  fact, 
though  the  entry  is  crossed  out  in  the  record. 

v.  Jonathan.  This  son  was  probably  born  in  1647  at  Seituate, 
and  is  the  only  child  named  by  Deane  who  survived  the 
father. 

As  short  as  this  family  sketch  is,  it  is  perhaps  the  fullest  and 
most  accurate  of  the  series.  For  four  successive  generations 
there  was  only  one  male  in  each.  Eleven  names  occur  in  the  four 
generations.  In  the  Crocker  genealogy  143  persons  are  named  in 
the  corresponding  number  of  generations  ;  and  the  list  is  proba- 
bly incomplete. 


LEWES. 


Geol-ge  Lewes,  {.he  ancestor  of  the  Barnstable  family,  ieame 
from  East  G-reenwich^  in  the  County  of  Kent,  England.  He  was 
by  trade  a  clothier,  and  though  called  of  East  Greenwich,  circum' 
stances  make  it  probable  that  he  was  for  a  time  a  resident  in  Lon- 
don and  a  member  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  1632.  He  married 
about  the  year  1626,  Sarah  Jenkins,  a  sister  of  Edward,  who 
afterwards  was  a  resident  in  Scituate.  He  probably  did  not  come 
over  till  after  the  church  iu  London  was  broken  up,  and  the  im- 
prisonment of  Mr.  Lothrop  in  1632.  He  was  of  Plymouth  in  the 
following  year,  and  though  a  member  of  the  church  there,  his 
name  does  not  appear  on  the  tax  lists  of  1633  or  of  1634.  Though 
not  a  man  of  wealth,  he  was  liable  to  pay  at  least  a  poll  tax. 
The  omission  of  his  name  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  sup- 
position that  he  was  taxedasone  of  "Mr.  Hatherlies  men."  That 
gentleman  was  benevolent  and  assisted  many  worthy  men  to  come 
to  New  England,  and,  after  their  arrival,  he  assisted  them  in  pro- 
curing employment  and  comfortable  homes.  Goodman  Lewis' 
name  is  often  associated  with  Mr.  Hatherly's  on  the  records,  and 
he  was  probably  indebted  to  that  gentleman  for  assistance. 

George  Lewes  was  one  of  those  who  were  dismissed  from  the 
church  in  Plymouth  in  1634,  "in  case  they  join  in  a  body  at  Scit' 
uate."  He  became  a  member  at  Scituate  Sept.  30,  1635,  eight 
months  after  the  organization  of  the  church.  It  is  presumed  that 
those  who  were  thus  dismissed  on  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Lothrop,  had 
been  members  of  his  church  in  London  and  were  desirous  to  re- 
unite with  their  former  brethren  in  church-state,  and  again  listen 
to  the  teachings  of  their  aged  and  revered  pastor.* 

Before  October,  1636,  Goodman  Lewes  had  built  a  house  on 
Kent  street,  in  Scituate,  so  named  because  the  residents  thereon 


*The  Rev.  Hiram  Carleton  examined  tliis  subject  with  much  care.  He  Consulted  our 
early  church  records,  Neal,  Crosby,  and  other  reliable  authorities.  He  made  out  a  strong 
case,  showing  that  the  leading  members  of  th'e  London,  Scituate  and  Barnstable  churches 
were  the  same  persons.  The  records  of  the  London  church  cannot  be  found.  The  Londbu 
church  was  broken  up  as  I  have  stated — the  Scituate  church  was  not  a  continuation,  or  re- 
moval of  the  London.  Mr.  Lothrop  certainly  was  of  thM-opinion  when  he  declined  to  par- 
take of  lie  sacrament  with  the  Boston  church,  giving  as'^rsason  that  he  did  not  at  the  time 
of  bis  arrival  consider  himself  a  member  of  a  particular  cBurch. 


116      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

came  from  that  county,  and  were  known  as  "the  men  of  Kent." 
His  lot  was  the  first  south  of  Meeting  House  Lane  and  contained 
five  acres,  and  his  house  built  thereon  stands  No.  18  on  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's  list  of  the  houses  built  in  that  town.* 

On  the  removal  of  Goodman  Lewes  in  1639  to  Barnstable,  he 
sold  to  Richard  Willis  of  Plymouth,  his  dwelling  house  and  lot 
containing  five  acres,  one  acre  and  three-fourths  of  swamp,  and 
tliree  acres  of  marsh  ground,  and  his  right  to  commonage  ("to  be 
procured  by  all  good  wayes  and  meanes,  suite  of  law  excepted") 
for  the  sum  of  £19  sterling.  Willis  sold  the  same  to  Thomas 
Robers,  for  £2 1, 10s  sterling.  The  memorandum  of  these  two 
trades  is  embodied  in  one  instrument  dated  Jan.  9,  1639-40. 
Prior  to  this  date  formal  deeds  were  rarely  executed,  a  memoran- 
dum of  the  sale  was  made  on  the  records,  and  the  same  was  held 
to  be  binding  in  law.  Rev.  John  Lothrop's  deed  of  his  estate  in 
Scituate,  dated  in  1640,  is  one  of  the  earliest  formal  deeds  on 
record. 

George  Lewes's  home  lot  in  Barnstable  was  the  second  west 
of  the  Hyannis  road.  The  lands  on  the  south  side  of  the  high- 
way, between  that  road  and  Freeman  Hinckley's  or  old  Court 
House  Lane,  was  divided  into  five  houselots  of  eight  acres  each, 
or  four  between  Hyannis  Road  and  the  Railroad  Avenue.  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Holmes  and  his  sons  are  the  present  owners  of  the 
Lewes  lot.  He  also  owned  an  acre  of  meadow  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  highway,  with  the  high  hill  on  the  north,  still  known 
as  Lewes  hill.  He  had  ten  acres  of  land  in  the  old  common  field, 
now  owned  by  Solomon  Hinckley  and  Alvan  Howes,  and  four 
acres  of  marsh  at  Sandy  Neck. 

His  lots  were  as  good  planting  lands  as  any  in  the  east  par- 
ish. "Ulti  ma  die  Januarii,  1654"-5,  he  sold  these  four  parcels 
of  real  estate  in  Barnstable,  with  his  dwelling-house,  to  Samuel 
Mayo  for  £28  5  shillings  sterling.  His  deeds,  recorded  in  the 
town  records,  has  an  historical  interest.  Mayo  conveyed  the 
property  to  John  Phinney,  and  he  to  Elder  Henry  Cobb,  and 
other  members  of  the  church  for  a  parsonage,  and  to  induce  Rev. 
Wm.  Sergeant  to  make  Barnstable  his  permanent  place  of  resi- 
dence. As  these  conveyances  are  quoted  in  full  in  the  account  of 
Mr.  Sergeant  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  them  in  this  connection. 

He  owned  three  acres  and  a  half  of  meadow  at  Mystic  Land- 
ing granted  to  him  by  the  town  July  26,  1654.  This  he  sold  May 
27,  1661,  to  John  Thompson. 

His  great  lot  is  thus  described  on  the  records  :  "Sixty  acres 
of  upland  more  or  less  lyeing  by  ye  pond  commonly  called  Row- 
ley's pond,  at  ye  easterly  end   thereof,  running  80  rods  easterly, 

"There  were  two  of  the  name  of  Lewes  in  Scituate,  George  and  John.  Mr.  Deane  calls 
them  brothers.  Mr.  Lothrop  distinguished  them  as  Goodman  Lewis  senior,  and  Goodman 
Lewis  junior.    In  these  ejfitracts  I  have  presumed  that  George  was  the  elder. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.       117 

and  120  southerly   and  northerly,  that  is  to  say,  from  outside  to 
outside." 

This  tract  of  land  he  sold  to  his  sons  Edward  and  John  in 
1652  and  some  part  of  it  is  yet  owned  by  his  descendants. 
Whether  George  Lewis  ever  resided  on  this  land  1  am  not  in- 
formed. His  son  Edward's  house  stood  on  the  northeast  of  the 
pond,  called  at  first  Rowley's,  then  Lewes's,  and  now  Hathaway's 
pond. 

In  1654,  before  the  sale  of  his  estate  to  Samuel  Mayo,  Good- 
man Lewes  had  "let  and  farmed  for  some  certain  years"  the  es- 
tate of  Mr.  Dimmouk,  whose  health  was  feeble.  It  appears 
that  he  occupied  for  a  number  of  years  the  ancient  fortification 
house,  of  which  an  account  has  been  given.  Mr.  Dimmock  owned 
another  estate  at  West  Barnstable,  a  short  distance  east  of  An- 
thony Annable's,  where  he  probably  resided  at  that  time. 

George  Lewes  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony  Jan. 
14,  1636-7.  His  early  admission  shows  that  he  was  a  man  in 
good  standing  and  had  been  known  by  the  colonists  before  he 
came  over.  At  that  time  there  were  few  flocks  of  sheep  in  this 
colony,  and  in  no  town  was  there  sufficient  business  to  give  em- 
ployment to  a  clothier.  Necessity  compelled  him  to  become  a 
planter.  Being  poor,  a  servant's  share  of  five  acres  was  allotted 
•to  him  in  the  division  of  the  lands  at  Scituate — a  quantity  in- 
sufficient for  the  raising  of  stock  product  for  which  there  was  a 
good  demand  at  remunerative  prices.  Elisha,  the  prophet,  had 
twelve  yoke  of  oxen  hitched  to  his  plow,  when  Elijah  met  him  as 
the  bearer  of  a  mission  from  the  Most  High.  He  must  have  had 
a  more  ample  field  in  which  to  turn  than  our  fathers  allotted  to 
their  servants. 

However  industrious  and  prudent  a  man  may  be,  the  income 
to  be  derived  from  five  acres  of  land,  in  a  new  country,  would  be 
insuflScient  to  furnish  a  family  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  In  a 
country  where  land  was  so  abundant  it  would  seem  a  short  sighted 
policy  thus  to  limit  the  quantity  allotted  to  settlers.  They  had 
been  accustomed  to  live  in  villages,  and  the  force  of  habit  had  an 
influence,  and  many  circumstances  peculiar  to  the  times  demanded 
that  the  settlements  should  not  be  too  widely  extended.  Com- 
pact settlements  could  be  more  readily  defended  against  hostile 
attacks  of  the  Indians,  and  all  would  be  nearer  to  "the  mill,  the 
market,  and  the  meeting."* 

Passages  like  the  following  from  the  Colony  records  are  often 
read  with  incredulous  eyes  : 

January  1,  1637-8,  Mr.  Timothy  Hatherly,  Rev.  John  Loth- 
rop,  and  others  of  Scituate,  "complained  that  they  had  such  small 
proportions  of  land  there  allotted  to  them  that  they  could  not  sub- 

*I  find  this  expressive  alliteration  in  the  Yarmouth  Eecords. 


118       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAJRNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

sist  upon  them,"  and  the  Court  on  their  petition  granted  them  the 
lands  between  the  north  and  south  rivers,  on  the  condition  that 
they  make  a  township  there,  settle  all  differences  between  them 
and  Mr.  Vassal,  and  maintain  a  ferry  over  the  north  river.  These 
conditions  were  not  complied  with.  It  seems  singular  to  have  a 
complaint  of  want  of  room  at  that  early  period.  The  same  terri- 
tory now  supports  ten  times  as  many  people,  and  we  have  no 
complaint  that  "the  place  is  too  straite  for  them." 

The  raising  of  stock,  as  above  remarked,  was  then  the  most 
profitable  business  of  the  farmer,  and  they  required  much  land  for 
pasturage,  and  extensive  salt  meadows,  from  which  to  procure 
forage  for  their  cattle.  It  was  the  extensive  salt  meadows,  and 
the  facilities  for  raising  stock,  that  induced  Mr.  Lothrop  and  his 
church  to  remove  to  Mattakeese,  rather  than  to  Sipican  as  they 
first  proposed. 

Goodman  Lewes  was  seldom  employed  in  public  business. 
In  1648  and  '50  he  was  surveyor  of  highways,  in  1649  a  juryman, 
and  in  1651  constable  of  the  town  of  Barnstable. 

He  wrote  his  name  Lewes.  On  the  Colony  records  it  is  some- 
times written  Leyes,  sometimes  Lewis.  His  sons  and  grandsons 
Bpelled  their  name  with  two  e's,  and  it  is  so  uniformly  written  in 
the  early  town  and  church  records.  After  1700  some  wrote  the 
name  Lewis,  and  during  the  last  century  that  has  become  the  uni- 
form orthography.     In  this  article  I  spell  the  name  as  I  find  it. 

There  was  a  George  Lewes  at  Casco  in  1640.  Mr.  Willis 
supposes  he  was  a  son  of  George  of  Barnstable.  Mr.  Savage, 
however,  shows  conclusively  that  he  was  another  man.  In  1649 
there  was  a  George  Lewes  and  a  Richard  Foxwell  at  Scarborough. 
Mr.  Deane  supposes  they  were  Barnstable  men.  Foxwell  cer- 
tainly was  not.  George  Lewes,  Senior,  was  an  inhabitant  of 
Barnstable  June,  1656,  and  in  1661.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
he  left  Barnstable.  It  is  possible  that  he  may  have  been  of  Scar- 
borough in  1659,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  so  aged  a  man  re- 
moved to  the  eastern  country.  His  son  George  was  an  inhabitant 
of  Barnstable  in  1659.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  George  of  Casco 
was  afterward  of  Scarboro',  and  the  records  decidedly  favor  that 
opinion. 

Mr.  Deane  says  George  Lewis  had  sons  Nathaniel,  1645,  and 
Joseph,  1647,  born  in  Barnstable.  These  names  do  not  occur  in 
the  town  or  church  records,  nor  in  the  will  of  Goodman  Lewes, 
though  he  names  all  his  other  children.  He  also  says  that 
Thomas,  son  of  George,  removed  from  Barnstable  to  Swansey, 
and  there  had  Samuel  1672,  and  Hepsibah  1674,  and  that  Joseph 
of  Hingham  was  son  of  George.  These  errors  have  been  copied 
and  perpetuated  by  the  many  who  tave  undertaken  to  write  the 
genealogy  of  the  Lewis  family. 

The  identity  of  the  names  in  the  families  of  George  Lewes  of 


tJENEALOGICAI<    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       119 

Barnstable,  and  Edmund  Lewes  of  Lynn,  misled  Mr>  Deane*  ; 
and,  subsequent  writers,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Savage, 
adopted  his  errors,  without  a  critical  examination.  However 
careful  a  writer  may  be,  mistakes  cannot  always  be  avoided.  The 
records  are  imperfect,  and  the  entries  are  not  always  reliable,  and 
in  every  generation  there  will  be  some  Sarahs  and  some  Methuse- 
lahs  who  set  at  defiance  the  general  laws  of  life.  For  assistance 
in  correcting  the  errors  of  Mr.  Deane,  I  am  largely  indebted  to 
Hon.  Soloraoa  Lincoln  of  Hingham,  and  to  Hon.  James  Savage 
of  Boston,  to  the  latter  for  facts  obtained  by  him  since  the  publi- 
cation of  his  Dictionary. 

George  Lewes  was  not  one  of  the  distinguished  men  of  his 
times.  -"He  was  an  honest  Goodman,  and  got  his  living  by  his 
labor."  He  was  a  sincere  christian,  and  his  constant  purpose 
seems  to  have  been  to  live  in  peace  with  all  men — to  avoid  suits 
at  law,  to  yield  rather  than  contend  with  his  neighbor.  He  was 
not  a  shrewd  business  man,  and  perhaps  not  so  careful  a  manager 
as  many.  He  did  not  hold  that  "the  chief  end  of  man  is  to 
gather  up  riches" ;  but  to  do  good,  to  train  up  his  children  in  the 
way  they  should  go,  to  be  useful  citizens — honest  and  industrious 
men.  His  son  James  was  a  man  of  more  energy  of  character,  of 
more  business  tact,  and  became  a  distinguished  man.  Thomas 
was  in  some  respects  like  his  brother  James.  The  other  sons, 
George,  Edward  and  John,  were  like  the  father — good,  honest 
men — quiet  and  respectable  citizens,  and  their  descendants  to  this 
day  inherit  the  same  good  qualities. 

George  Lewes,  clothier,  from  East  Greenwich,  County  of 
Kent,  England,  married  first  in  England  Sarah  Jenkins,  who  came 

over  with  him,  and  here  died.     He  married  second  Maryf , 

living  in    1670,   whose  family    name  is  not  known.     He  died  in 
Barnstable   in  1662  or  3.     His  older  children  were  born  in   Eng- 
land, and  no  record  of  their  births  having  been  preserved,  the  ar- 
rangement of  their  names  is  problematical. 
1.     I.     Mary,   born  in  England  about  the  year   1623,   married 
Nov.    16,  1643,  John  Bryant  of  Scituate,  and  died  before 
1657,  leaving  a  family  of  seven  children. 

3.  II.  Thomas,  born  in  England,  married  June  15,  1653, 
Mary  Davis,  daughter  of  Dolar.  Thomas  removed  to  Fal- 
mouth, was  proprietor's  clerk,  and  a  prominent  man  there. 

4.  III.  George,  born  in  England,  perhaps  the  older  of  the 
family,   married  Dec.  1,  1654,  Mary,  daughter  of   Barnard 

*It  is  not  easy  to  establish  a  negative  proposition;  but  lie  that  carefully  compares  the 
genealogy  of  the  families  of  Edmund  Lewes  of  Lynn,  and  of  George  Lewes  of  Barnstable, 
will  be  Batisfied  that  Mr.  Deane  erred  in  the  particulars  I  have  referred  to. 

tA  deed  of  George  Lewes  dated  in  1654  is  signed  by  "Mary,"  his  wife.  I  do  not  know 
that  this  justifies  me  in  calling  her  a  second  wife.  In  early  times  many  names  were  held  to 
be  synonyms— thus  Sarah  and  Mary— Elizabeth,  Eliza,  Betsey— Abigail,  Nabby,  Abiah. 
Some  names  were  applied  to  males  or  females,  namely :  Love,  Experience,  Hope,  Melatiah, 
Abiel,  &c. 


120      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   EAKNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

Lumber,  died  20th  March,  1709-10- 

5.  IV.  James,  born  in  1631,  in  England,  married  Oct.  31, 
1655,  Sarah  Lane,  daughter  of  George  of  Hingham,  died 
Oct.  4,  1713,  aged  82  yrs. 

6.  V.  Edward,  probably  born  in  England,  married  9th  May, 
1661,  Hannah  Cobb,  daughter  of  Elder  Henry.  He  died 
March  29,  1703.  She  died  Jan.  17,  1729-30,  aged  90  years, 
3  months,  12  days. 

7.  VI.  John,  born  in  Scituate  March  2,  1637-8,  baptized 
March  11,  1637-8,  an  inhabitant  of  Barnstable  1670,  killed 
at  the  Eehobeth  battle  March  26,  1676. 

8.  VII.  Ephraim,  born  in  Barnstable  July  23,  1641,  baptized 
July  25,  1641.  He  was  living  in  1663,  bntthereis  no  notice 
of  him  after.     He  was  probably  dead  in  1670. 

9.  VIII.  Sarah,  born  in  Barnstable  Feb.  2,  1643-4,  baptized 
Feb.  11,  1643-4,  married  1st  James  Cobb,  26th  Dec.  1663, 
and  2d  Jonathan  Sparrow,  Esq.,  of  Eastham.  She  died  in 
Barnstable  "Feb.  11,  1735,  in  the  92d  year  of  her  age,"  as 
recorded  on  her  grave  stones,  according  to  the  town  records 
92  years  and  9  days. 

Mr.  Deane  says  he  also  had  Nathaniel  1645,  and  Joseph 
1647.  Neither  the  town  colony  or  church  records,  confirm  this 
statement.  Mr.  Savage  rejects  this  addition  but  gives  him  a  son 
Jabez,  who  died  unmarried.     His  authority  I  do  not  lind. 

(3.)  Thomas  Lewes,  son  of  George,  was  born  in  England 
about  the  year  1628.  He  came  over  with  his  father  when  a  child 
of  four  years,  residing  about  three  years  in  Plymouth,  then  re- 
moved with  his  father  to  Scituate,  and  from  thence  to  Barnstable 
in  1639.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the  new  settlements,  be- 
fore public  schools  had  been  established.  Generally  the  children 
of  the  first  comers  were  better  educated  than  the  succeeding  gen- 
erations. The  ministers  of  religion  had,  at  that  time,  small 
parishes  and  smaller  salaries,  and  necessity  compelled  them  to  re- 
sort to  other  employment.  Many  of  the  early  pastors  were 
physicians,  and  nearly  all  of  them  taught  a  school  in  the  winter, 
and  cultivated  their  farms  in  the  summer.  All  of  George  Lewes's 
chUdren  excepting  George  were  well  educated  for  the  times. 

In  the  investigation  of  the  history  of  Thomas  Lewes,  I  have 
been  aided  by  Thomas  Lewis,  Jr.,  Esq.,  and  S.  P.  Bourne,  Esq., 
of  Falmouth.  The  colonial  records,  the  town  and  church  of  Barn- 
stable and  of  Falmouth,  the  Probate  and  the  records  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  Suekenessett  have  been  carefully  examined.  The  re- 
sult of  the  investigation  is  this,  he  was  a  son  of  George  Lewes, 
married  and  lived  in  Barnstable  as  stated,  and  died  in  Falmouth 
after  1703,  but  these  records  fail  to  show  where  he  resided  from 
1670  to  1677.  This  gap  covers  the  period  when  Mr.  Deane  says 
he  was   at  Swansea,  was  Selectman,  &c.,  and  had  by  wife  Han- 


aBNEALOGIOAIi   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       121 

nah,  Samuel,  23d  April,  1673,  and  Hepsibah  15th  Nov.  1674. 
Mr.  Deane's  statement  of  his  removal  to  Swansea  is  apparently 
right ;  but  there  are  other  records  and  other  conflicting  facts. 
Thomas  Lewis  of  Lynn,  son  of  Edmund,  whose  wife  was  Hannah 
Baker,  removed  to  Swansea  about  1670.  I  have  not  space  to 
state  all  the  facts.  The  evidence  in  my  judgment  is  conclusive, 
that  Thomas  Lewis  of  Swansea  was  a  son  of  Edmund  of  Lynn. 
The  subsequent  history  of  his  family  is  known — he  was  not  a  son 
of  George  of  Barnstable. 

Thomas  Lewis,  son  of  George,  resided  in  Barnstable  till 
1 662,  and  probably  till  1668,  for  he  was  in  June  that  year  quali- 
fied as  one  of  the  surveyors  of  highways.  In  1654,  the  year  after 
his  marriage,  he  owned  the  easterly  part  of  his  father's  houselot, 
adjoining  the  lot  of  John  Davis.  "Quinque  Die,  April  lB56,"  he 
bought  for  £20  the  ancient  tavern  and  twelve  acre  houselot  of 
Thomas  Lumbart,  Senior,  bounded  westerly  by  the  lot  of  Mr. 
Robert  Linnell,  northerly  by  the  harbor,  and  easterly  by  the  lands 
of  Thomas  and  Joseph  Lothrop.  This  old  tavern,  the  first  built 
in  Barnstable,,  stood  on  the  houselot  now  owned  by  the  heiys  of 
Ezra  Crowell,  deceased.  He  had  hot  sqld  this  estate  in  April, 
1661.  June  1,  1658,  he  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony, 
and  his  name  is  on  the  lists  of  the  freemen  of  Barnstable,  up  to 
Jifne  4,  1686,  when  Si^ckenesset  was  incorporated  as  a  town. 

He  was  not  one  of  th^  original,  proprietors  of  Suckenesset, 
and  was  not  admitted,  an  inhabitant  residefit  ,ifi  that  plantation 
till  1668.*  He  was  clerk  of  the  proprietors  from  July  ,1685  to 
March  26,  1691,  and  probably  for  a  much  longer  period.  July 
23,  1677,  he  had  lapds  alloted  to  him  at  Little  Neck,  near 
"Wood's  Hole.  On  that  lot  he  had  a  dwellingTJiQuse,  which  he 
_9old  with  the  land  Fe]b,.  25,  1689-10,  to  Jpnathan  H^oh,  Senipr, 
of  "Sacknesset,"  tor^^ten- shillings  in  silver  money."  ,The  dee^  Js 
in  the  handwriting  of  '^Thomas  Lewes,  Senior,"  witnessed  by 
"Samuel  Ganson  and  Matthew  Price,"  and  was  ackppwledged 
before  Col.  John  Thacher  of  Yarmouth,  justice  of  the  peace.  Pep. 
17,  1703,  nearly  fourteen  years  after  it  was  dated.  The  lot  is  de- 
scribed as  No.  4  of  the  Little  Neck  lots,  and  as  extending  "across 
the  Neck  to.  the  Great  Horbpur,  so  called." 

The  handwriting  indicates  that  he  was  a  ready  penman,  and  it 
ean  be  easilv  read  by  persons  familiar  with  manuscripts  of  that  date. 
Few  errors  occur  in  the  spelling,  and  the  conditions  of  the  grant  are 
clearly  stated.     The  small   sum  named  as  purchase  money,   perhaps 

*Since  writine  this  I  find  some  evidence  that  he  was  of  Barnstable  in  the  early  part  of 
the  -fear  1668,  consequently  removed  that  year.  All  the  original  proprietors  at  Suckenes- 
set were  not  residents.  At  least  one-half  of  the  original  grantees  were  non-resident  pro- 
nrietors  Before  Suckenesset  was  incorporated,  June  4, 1686,  strictly  speaking,  all  the  in- 
habitants were  townsmen  of  Barnstable,  and  by  admitting  an  inhabitant  at  Suckenesset, 
steictly  speaking,  was  only  an  admission  that  the  party  had  become  a  proprietor  by  pur- 
^chase  or  otherwise. 


122       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

indicates  that  it  was  deed  of  release  or  exchange,  but  there  is  nothing 
in  the  terms  of  the  sale  that  justifies  that  conclusion.* 

Thomas  Lewes,  son  of  George,  born  in  England,  married  June 
15,  1653,  Mary,  daughter  of  Dolar  Davis. 

Children  horn   in  Barnstable. 

10.  I.     James,  31st  March,  1654.      (See  No.  10.) 

11.  II.     Thomas,  15th  July,  1656.      (See  No.  11.) 

12.  III.     Mary,  2d  Nov.  1659. 

13.  IV.  Samuel,  14th  May,  1662.  Samuel  Lewis  resided  in 
Falmouth — a  prominent  man  of  his  time — a  surveyor  of  lands — 
moderator  at  town  meetings.  Selectman,  &c.,  &c.  I  do  not 
find  that  he  married  and  had  a  family,  neither  do  I  find  when 
he  died.     He  probably  removed  from  Falmouth. 

Benjamin, t  probably  a  son  of  Thomas,  married  Sept.  8,  1702, 
Elizabeth  Crow  of  Yarmouth,  resided  in  Falmouth,  and  had  Judah, 
June  4,  1703  ;  Elizabeth  Jan.  17,  1705.  His  wife  Elizabeth  died 
March  8,  1706-7,  and  he  married  2d  June,  1708,  Hannah,  daugh- 
ter of  Ensign  John  Hinckley  of  Barnstable,  and  had  Samuel  June  4, 
1709,  and  Bethia  Feb.  11,  1710-11.  After  this  date  his  name  dis- 
appears. The  ages  of  his  two  wives  make  it  probable  that  Benja- 
min was  born  before  1670. 

Cornelius  Lewes  of  Falmouth,  married  Sarah  [Green]  Jan.  19, 
1726-7,  and  had  Mioajah  Oct.  25,  1727 ;  a  daughter  Feb.  25, 
1729  ;  Elijah,  May  14,  1730.  Who  this  Cornelius  was  I  cannot 
determine. 

George  Lewes,  son  of  George,  was  a  planter,  and  resided  in  the 
East  Parish  in  Barnstable.  He  was  not  so  well  educated  as  others 
of  the  family,  and  had  not  the  active  business  capacity  of  his  brother 
James  or  Thomas ;  yet  he  was  honest  and  industrious,  a  good  neigh- 
bor, and  a  worthy  member  of  the  church.  His  house  stood  on  the 
south  side  of  the  highway,  on  the  lot  of  land  recently  owned  by  Mr. 
Daniel  Cobb,  deceased.  His  houselot,  containing  five  acres,  with  a 
barn  standing  thereon,  he  bought  Sept.  10,  1656,  of  Barnard  and 
Joshua  Lumbard.  It  was  bounded  north  by  the  highway,  east  by 
the  great  lot  of  Thomas  Lumbard,  south  and  west  by  the  land  of 
Barnard  Lumbard.     This   was  originally   the  land  of  Joshua  Lum- 

*In  this  deed  he  writes  his  name  Lewee,  and  his  son  James,  and  Benjamin  of  Fal- 
mouth, in  a  deed  dated  Oct.  17, 1700,  spell  their  names  in  the  same  manner. 

tThere  is  scarce  room  for  donbt  that  Benjamin  Lewes  was  a  son  of  Thomas.  I  do  not 
give  him  a  serial  number,  because  there  is  no  recorded  evidence  that- he  was  such.  His 
a^e,  the  ages  of  his  wives,  and  the  names  of  his  children,  indicate  that  he  was.  Thomas' 
descendants  appear  to  have  removed  from  Falmouth  betore  1720.  The  present  families 
trace  their  lines  of  descent  from  three  if  not  four  different  branches  of  the  Barnstable  fam- 
ily. 1,  Lothrop ;  2,  Ebenezer ;  3,  David ;  4,  Robinson.  The  descendants  of  Nathan,  Isaac 
and  George,  who  removed  to  Falmouth  earlier,  seem  to  have  disappeared. 

Truth  also  seems  to  require  me  to  give  Hannah  Hinckley  in  marriage  to  Benjamin 
Lewes  of  Falmouth  instead  of  the  man  of  the  same  name  in  Barnstable.  Such  mistakes  are 
unavoidable,  and  in  this  case  it  destroys  all  the  pretty  stories  I  have  told  of  the  honorable 
descent  of  Liza  Townhill  the  reputed  witch. 


OENEALOOrCAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       123 

bard  and  the  lot  contained  six  acres,  on^e  acre  in  the  sale  to  Lewes 
(where  Nathaniel  Gorham's  barn  now  stands)  being  reserved. 

His  farm  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  road.  In  l€54  he  had 
sixteen  acres  bounded  west  by  the  road  to  the  new  common  field, 
north  partly  by  the  land  of  Goodman  Wells,  and  the  Indian  reserva- 
tion, and  easterly  by  the  land  of  Thomas  Huckins,  at  the  "Horse 
Prison-,"  so  called. 

May  19,  1656,  he  bought  for  £20  the  dwelling-house  and  six- 
teen acres  of  land  of  Robert  Shelly,  bounded  east  by  the  road  to  the 
new  common  field,  south  by  the  highway,  west  by  the  Dimmock 
farm,  and  north  by  the  land  of  Goodman  Isaac  Wells.  By  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Shelly  estate  his  farm  extended  on  the  County- road  from 
a  point  a  little  east  of  the  present  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  W.  W. 
iSturgis  to  the  Horse  Prison,  which  stood  near  the  dwelling-house  of 
Edward  Gorham,  deceased. 

Beside  the  above  he  owned  two  lots  of  three  acres  each  at  Sandy 
Neck,  and  his  share  in  the  common  lands.  Jan.  16,  1683,  he  sold 
one-half  of  one  of  the  above  lots  at  Sandy  Neck  to  his  brother  James 
for  one  good  cow,  meadow  then  being  more  highly  valued  than  at 
present. 

Dec.  1,  1654,  he  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Barnard  Lum- 
bard,  a  girl  of  14  years.  He  died  20th  March,  1709-10,  aged  about 
80  years. 

ChMdren  bom  in  Barnstable, 

14.     I.     George,    Sept.    1655,    married  Elizabeth  .      (See 

No.  14.) 

14.  1-2.     Mary,  9th  May,  1657. 

15.  III.     Sarah,  12th  Jan.  1659-60. 

16.  IV.     Hannah,  July,  1662,  died  1667. 

17.  V.     Melatiah,  23d  Jan.  1664,  married  Edward  Gray  of  Yar- 
mouth, July  16,  1684,  his  second  wife. 

18.  VI.     Bathshua,  Oct.  1667,  married  John  O.  Kelley  10th  Aug. 
1690. 

19.  VII.     Jabez,  iOth  June,  1670.      (See  No.  19.) 

20.  VIII.     Benjamin,  22d  Nov.  1678.      (See  No.  20.) 

21.  IX.     Jonathan,  25th  July,  1674.      (See  No.  21.) 

22.  X.     John,  1st  Dec.  1676. 

23.  XI.     Nathan,  26th  July,  1678.      (See  No.  23.) 

24.  XII.     Thankful,  bap.  17th  Sept.  1683,  married  Samuel  Look 
Oct.  19,  1704. 

(5.)  Lieut.  James  Lewes,  son  of  George,  was  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1631.  He  was  a  boy  of  eight  jears  when  he  came  to  Barn- 
stable. James  appears  to  have  improved  every  opportunity  for  ac- 
quiring knowledge.  The  boy  was  the  father  of  the  man  ;  honest, 
i  ntelligent  and  industrious.     At  that  time  no  public  schools  had  been 


124      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF  BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES, 

established  ;  but  a  majority  of  the  first  settlers  were  well  educated, 
and  intelligent — men  of  large  and  varied  experience  in  the  bosiness 
of  life.  The  duty  of  edueating  their  children,  they  held  to  be  second 
only  in  importance  to  their  doty  to  their  God.  No  town  in  New 
England  was  settled  by  a  more  religions,  a  more  virtuous,  or  a  more 
intelligeot  population  than  Barnstable.  Id  snob  a  community,  the 
boy  who  desired  knowledge,  bad  ample  opportunities  to  acquire  it. 
He  bad  to  toil  early  and  late,  bnt  tbe  long  winter  evenings  he  devo- 
ted to  learning.  Around  tbe  spacious  kitchen  fireplace,  brilliantly 
lighted  by  pine  torches,  tbe  village  youth  would  often  cluster,  with 
their  books  and  their  slates,  eager  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  The 
parent,  or  perhaps  the  pastor  of  the  church,  was  their  teacher.  In 
this  manner  many  acquired  an  education  sulBcient  to  fit  them  for  the 
business  of  life. 

When  a  lad  James  was  bound  an  apprentice  to  a  blacksmith, 
and  in  after  life,  when  be  had  become  a  distinguished  man,  he 
thonght  it  not  derogatory  to  his  character  to  blow  tbe  bellows,  or 
swing  the  hammer.  He  was  industrious  and  frugal.  When  h» 
could  not  earn  a  shilling  he  was  content  if  he  earned  a  peony  which 
he  put  to  a  good  use.  By  careful  management  he  accumulated,  a 
good  estate. 

In  the  Goodspeed  article  there  is  a  diagram  of  his  houselots. 
In  1665  his  houselot,  containing  twelve  acres,  was  tbe  lot  on  the 
west  of  Taylor's  lane,  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  F.  W.  Crocker, 
Esq.,  deceased.  To  whom  this  lot  was  assigned  at  tbe  settlement  of 
the  town  I  am  unable  to  state.  It  remains  very  nearly  in  the  same 
condition  that  it  was  in  1655.  The  successive  owners  have  been 
James  Lewes,  his  son  George  Lewes,  who  bequeathed  it  to  his 
daughter  Mercy  Taylor,  and  she  to  her  daughter  Alice,  wife  of  the 
late  Capt.  Isaac  Bacon.     From  him  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 

Williams  of  Boston,  in  paymetft  of  a  debt  of  Isaac  Bacon, 

Jr.     Williams  sold  it  to  the  late  David  Crocker,  Esq, 

In  1665  this  lot  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Wid.  Mary 
Hallett,  and  in  1668  by  her  son-in-law  John  Hathaway  who  had 
bought  of  his  brother-in-law  Josiah  Hallett.  John  and  Josiah 
started  in  life  about  the  same  time  that  James  did,  and  imagined 
they  were  born  to  be  rich.  They  frequented  the  taverns,  acquired 
bad  habits,  and  to  pay  their  bills  sold  from  time  to  time  their  pater- 
nal estates.  James,  by  his  industry  and  frugality,  laid  aside  suffi- 
cient to  purchase  all  their  uplands,  meadows,  and  rights  to  the  com- 
mons. In  1678  he  was  the  owner  of  all  the  lands  between  Taylor's 
lane  and  the  Hyannis  road,  excepting  the  lands  of  John  Davis  on  the 
southwest  corner. 

In  1665   he  owned  three  acres  of  planting  land  in  the  old   com- 
mon field,  and  three  acres  of  meadow  at  Sandy  Neck.     January  29 
1667-8,  three  acres  of  land  on  the  south  of  his  houselot  was  granted 
to  him   by  the  town.     Subsequently  he  purchased   other  real  estate. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       125 

At  the  division  of  the  common  lands  in  1703,  he  was  entitled  to  48 
3-4  shares,  considerably  more  than  an  average.  He  had  then  dis- 
tributed a  large  part  of  his  estate  to  his  children. 

In  1655  his  house  was  on  the  lot  adjoining  Taylor's  lane.  By 
the  purchase  of  the  Hallett  lands  he  became  possessed  of  John  Hatha- 
way's  house,  which  stood  on  a  cross  road  now  discontinued,  and  the 
ancient  Roger  Goodspeed  house.  This  house  is  now  standing,  if  it 
be  justifiable  so  to  speak  of  a  building  that  has  suffered  so  many 
transformations.  In  the  record  of  the  laying  out  of  the  County  road 
in  1686  the  record  says,  after  passing  the  house  of  John  Davis, 
Sen.,  "up  ye  hill  called  Cob's  hill,  by  the  house  and  shop  of  Lieut. 
James  Lewes,  on  south  side  of  sd  way,  too  narrow  at  his  barn  three 
foot,  and  so  sd  road  lying  near  ye  house  of  Wid.  Bacon  on  ye  north 
side  of  sd  way."  The  obvious  meaning  of  this  passage  is  that 
Lieut.  James  Lewis'  house  was  near  Cob's  hill  and  west  of  the  Wid. 
Bacon's  ;  if  so,  he  then  occupied  the  Goodspeed  house,  and  his  shop 
stood  on  where  the  Custom  House  now  stands,  on  the  corner  of  the 
old  way  connected  with  the  road  called  Goodspeed's  outlet. 

No  man  in  Barnstable  brought  up  his  family  better  than  Lieut. 
Lewes.  All  of  his  ten  children  were  well  educated  for  the  times, 
and  all  became  useful  and  respectable  men  and  women.  The  secret 
of  his  success  in  life  is  quickly  told — he  never  neglected  his  business. 
Every  year  he  added  a  field  to  his  estate,  and  though  one  of  the  most 
generous  of  fathers,  he  ranked  among  the  wealthy  in  1703.  His  son 
Ebenezer,  to  whom  he  had  transferred  the  old  Goodspeed  estate, 
was  equally  wealthy,  and  for  his  other  sons  he  had  liberally  provi- 
ded. 

Jan.  18,  1699,  Capt.  Joseph  Lothrop,  aged  about  75,  Mr.  John 
Howland,  aged  about  77,  and  Lieut.  James  Lewes,  aged  68,  old 
men,  all  June  18th,  saith  the  record,  joined  the  church  in  Barnsta- 
ble. 

He  was  admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony  June  1,  1658.  His 
name  often  appears  as  a  juror,  and  surveyor  of  highways.  He  was 
lieutenant  of  the  military  company  of  Barnstable  many  years,  and 
probably  a  soldier  in  Philip's  war,  for  his  heirs  were  proprietors  of  ■ 
Gorham  town.  He  was  one  of  the  Selectmen  in  1679,  '81,  '89,  and 
'90. 

The  will  of  Lieut.  James  Lewes,  Sen.,  is  dated  May  8,  1713, 
proved  Oct.  17,  1713.  To  his  son  George  Lewes  he  gives  "one- 
half  of  my  dwelling-house  and  barn,  and  one-half  of  lands  thereunto 
adjoining,"  and  he  confirms  his  former  deed  of  gift  of  the  other  half. 
He  also  names  his  sons  Ebenezer,  Samuel,  James,  John  and  Joseph, 
and  his  four  daughters,  Sarah  Waterman,  Susanna  Beals,  Mary 
Linkhorn,  and  Hannah  Lumbard.  He  appoints  as  his  executors  his 
four  sons,  Samuel,  James,  George  and  Ebenezer. 

Lieut.  James   Lewes,  son  of  George,  married  Oct.  31,    1655, 


126   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OP  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

Sarah    Lane,  daughter  of  George  of  Hingham.     He   died   Oct.  4, 
1713,  aged  82. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

25.  I.     John,  Oct.  29,  1656,  baptized  by  Mr.  Hobart  of  Hingham. 
(See  below.) 

26.  II.     Samuel,  10th  April,  1659.      (See  28.) 

27.  III.     Sarah,    4th   March,    1660-1,    married   Jan.    6,    1685, 
Thomas  Lincoln,  and  2d  Robert  "Waterman. 

28.  IV.     James,  3d  June,  1664.      (See  below.) 

29.  V.     Ebenezer,   20th  Dec.   1666,   admitted  an     inhabitant  of 
Barnstable,  1691.      (See  29.) 

30.  VI.     George,  1673.      (See  30.) 

31..  VII.     Joseph,  born  1676.      (See  31.) 

32.  VIII.     Susannah,  married  Lazarus  Beals  of  Hingham. 

33.  IX.     Mary,  married  Benjamin  Lincoln  Jan.  17,  1694. 

34.  X.     Hannah,  married  Jediah  Lumbard  Nov.  8,  1699. 

(6.)  Edward  Lewes,  son  of  George,  resided  at  Rowley's  pond, 
now  known  as  Hathaway's  pond.  His  house  stood  in  the  field  near 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  pond.  Jan.  12,  1662-3,  George  Lewes, 
Sen.,  and  Geo.  Lewes,  Jr.,  had  the  great  lot  of  the  father,  by  a 
joint  deed  to  Edmund  Lewes  and  his  brother  John  Lewes.  Edmund 
had  the  northerly  part,  containing  27  1-2  acres.  No  house  is  named 
in  the  deed,  and  the  presumption  is  that  it  was  built  by  Edward. 
In  1697  Edward  Lewes  and  his  sons  Ebenezer,  John  and  Thomas, 
are  called  South  Sea  men,  and  their  proportions  of  the  common 
meadows  in  the  first  and  second  divisions  thereof  were  set  off  to  them 
in  the  easterly  part  of  the  Wequaquet  meadows.  The  families  of 
Edward  Lewes,  Dolar  Davis,  (son  of  John)  and  John  Linnel,  were 
connected  by  intermarriages,  and  their  lands  and  meadows  at  the 
South  Sea  adjoined.  In  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  the  rec- 
ords of  deeds  it  is  difficult  to  trace  the  ownership  of  real  estate.  I 
find  by  the  tax  lists*  of  1737  and  8,  that  although  these  families  were 
called  South  Sea  residents,  they  were  assessed  as  belonging  to  the 
district  on  the  north  side  of  the  town,  not  with  Hyannis  or  Wequa- 
quet. I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  some  of  these  families  resi- 
ded at  the  farm  owned  by  John  Dunn  in  1720,  and  now  known  as 
Dunn's  field,  or  on  the  other  clearings  in  that  vicinity,   subsequently 


♦Twenty  of  tlie  name  of  Lewes  are  found  on  the  Barnstable  tax  list  for  1737,  namely : 
Seth,  son  of  Benjamin,  who  resided  at  Israel's  Pond,  on  Dimmock's  lane ;  Ebenezer,  3d, 
son  of  Samuel,  in  a  house  that  stood  where  Joseph  Cobb's  now  does,  his  brother  schoolmas. 
ter  Joseph  Lewes  was  exempt  that  year ;  Mr.  George  Lewes,  Senior,  lived  near  Taylor's 
lane;  EbenezferLewes,  Esq.,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  and  his  sons  James,  Jr.,  Ebenezer,  Jr., 
Nathaniel  and  George,  Jr.,  and  Capt.  James  Lewes,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Meeting  House;  Dea.  John  Lewes,  son  of  Edward,  and  his  sons  John,  Jr.,  Shubael  and 
James  3d,  at  Cooper's  pond ;  Jonathan,  son  of  the  second  George,  and  his  sons  George  3d, 
and  .Jonathan,  Jr.,  at  Hyannis;  Isaac  and  Thomas,  sons  of  Edward,  and  Thomas,  Jr.,  arid 
Jesse,  sons  of  Thomas,  at  Wequaquett.  Seth's  descendants  removed  to  Cooper's  f  rf>nd 
with  this  exception.  The  Leweses  of  the  present  day  reside  where  their  father's  resided  in 
1737,  and  most  of  them  where  their  ancestors  did  two  centuries  ago.  The  Lewes  are  fond 
of  home. 


CtENEALOUICAL   NOTES   OP   BAKNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       127 

owned  by  the  Colemans.  This  view  of  the  matter  affords  a  satis- 
factory explanation  of  the  apparent  incongruities  of  the  town  and  as- 
sessors' records.  No  more  barren  land  than  George  Lewes'  great 
lot  was  cleared  in  Barnstable,  and  though  Edward  Lewes  may  have 
resided  there  for  a  time,  it  is  certain  that  he  did  not  remain  long. 
It  is  probable  he  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Dunn's  field,  because  the 
meadows  allotted  to  him  were  near  that  field. 

His  house  at  Rowley's  pond  was  afterwards  owned  by  the  eccen- 
tric and  witty  Matthew  Lumbert, — afterwards  it  was  occupied  by  his 
son-in-law  Joseph  Cob,  and  therein  the  curious  gymnastic  feats  of 
his  bewitched  daughters  were  performed.      (See  Cobb.) 

Edmund  Lewes  was  occasionally  employed  as  a  surveyor  of 
lands,  was  on  important  town  committees,  and  sustained  a  good 
character. 

Edward  Lewes,  in  his  will  dated  22d  Feb,  1702-3,  proved  on 
the  6th  of  April  following,  gave  all  his  real  estate  to  his  sons  Shu- 
bael  and  Isaac,  on  the  condition  that  they  support  their  mother  Han- 
nah Lewes,  who  survived  till  Jan,  17,  1729-30,  and  then  died  aged 
•90  years,  3  months,  12  days.  He  also  names  his  sons  Ebeneaer, 
John  and  Thomas,  and  daughter  Hannah,  and  names  his  wife  and 
sons  Isaac  and  Shubael  executors  of  his  will.  Samuel,  Jabez  and 
Ebenezer  Lewes  were  the  witnesses  ;  and  James  and  Jabez  Lewes 
apprised  his  estate  at  about  £200. 

Edward  Lewes  married  9th  May,  1661,  Hannah, .  daughter  of 
Elder  Henry  Cobb.  He  died  March  28,  1703,  aged  nearly  70  years. 
The  town  record  of  his  family  is  incomplete.  The  names  of  his 
younger  children  are  found  in  the  probate  records. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable, 

35.  I.     Hannah,  24th  April,  1662.     Living  in  1703,  unmarried. 

36.  II.  Eleazer,  26th  Jan.  1664.  Admitted  a  townsman  in 
1689,  his  father  and  brother  John  had  meadows  at  South  Sea 
allotted  to  them  in  Eleazer's  right.  He  died  before  1703,  un- 
married. 

37.  III.  John,  1st  Jan.  1666.  One  of  the  South  Seamen  1697. 
(See  No.  37.) 

38.  IV.  Thomas,  March,  1669,  one  of  the  South  Sea  men  1697. 
(See  No.  38.) 

39.  V.  Eleazer.  He  is  named  as  living  at  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1703.  He  is  not  named  as  one  of  the  South  Sea  men  in 
1697,  and  being  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  common  lands  only 
as  an  heir  to  his  father,  he  must  have  been  born  after  1673, 
and  was  not  married  in  1697.  He  died  or  removed  soon  after 
1703,  perhaps  to  Falmouth,  for  an  Ebenezer  Lewes  was  a 
land  holder  in  that  town  1716. 

40.  VI.  Shubael,  married  Dec.  8,  1703,  Mercy,  daughter  of 
Joshua  Lumbard.     He  probably  died  early,  as  his  name   does 


128      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

not  appear  on  the  town  or  probate  records.  His  widow  mar- 
ried Nathaniel  Baker  5tb  Jan.  1719-20,  and  died  Dec.  1, 
1768,  aged  84. 

41.  VII.  Isaac.  He  is  not  named  as  a  proiprietor ;  but  had  his 
share  with  Shnbael  and  Ebenezer  as  the  heirs  of  Edward.  He 
joined  the  church  in  1743,  died  Jan.  25,  1761,  aged  above  70 
— (church  records.)      (See  No.  41.) 

(7.)  John  Lewes,  son  of  George,  born  in  Seituate  March  2, 
1737-8,  bap.  March  11,  was  a  townsman  of  Barnstable  in  1670. 
His  father  conveyed  to  him  Jan.  12,  1662-3,  the  southerly  half  of 
his  Great  Lot  at  Rowley's  Pond.  In  1675  there  was  a  John  Lewes 
in  Sandwich,  probably  the  same  man.  He  was  a  soldier  in  Capt. 
Gorham's  company,  and  was  killed  at  Rehobeth  March  26,  1'776.  '■" 
He  does  not  appear  to  have  had  a  family.  James  Haddeway  after- 
wards owned  his  lands  at  Rowley's  Pond.  There  was  an  ancient 
house  on  the  southeast  of  the  pond,  probably  built  by  a  Lewes. 

(8.)  Ephraim  Lewes,  son  of  George,  born  in  Barnstable  July 
23,  1641,  is  named  as  living  in  1663.  After  that  date  his  name 
disappears  on  the  records.  He  probably  died  unmarried  soon  after 
his  father.     His  name  has  been  kept  in  the  family  to  this  day. 

THIRD     GENERATION. 

(10.)  James  Lewes,  son  of  Thomas,  born  31st  March,  1654, 
removed  with  his  father  to  Falmouth,  Mass.,  and  there  married 
March  27,  1679,  Eleanor  Johnson.*  James  Lewes  is  named  as  a 
land-holder  in  Falmouth  in  1 704. 

Children  born  in  Falmouth. 

42.  I.     John,  Feb.  5,  1680. 

43.  II.     Eleanor,  Aug.  3,  1682. 

44.  III.     Remember,  Dec.  26,  1684. 

45.  IV.     Deborah,  Aug.  20,  1686, 

46.  V.     Ebenezer,  Aug.  22,  1690. 

47.  VT.     Thomas,  Feb.  22,  1691-2. 

48.  VII.     Hannah,  Oct.  14,  1694. 

49.  VIII.     Sarah,  Sept.  1696. 

50.  IX.     Benjamin,  June  13,  1698, 

51.  X.     James,  20th  July,  1700. 

(11.)  Thomas  Lewes,  son  of  Thomas,  (3)  removed  from 
Falmouth  to  Eastham.     He  was  born  in  Barnstable  July  15,  1656. 


*0f  this  family  I  know  nothing.  There  was  a  Thomas  Johhson  of  P.,  early.  Marr 
wife  of  Mr.  Johnson,  admitted  to  the  Barnstable  church  Nov.  6,  1704,  ahd  had  dauehter 
Mary  baptized  Sept.  1, 1706.  ° 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       129 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  on  his  grave  stones  in  the 
ancient  burying  ground  in  Eastham  : 

HERE  LYES   YE  BODY 
OF  THOMAS  LEWES 
DIED  MARCH  YE  19,  1718, 
IN  YE  64 
TH  YEAR  OF  HIS  AGE. 
This  date  is  old  style— March  19,  1719,  N.  S.,  the  two  records 
corresponding  precisely.     The  age  is  right — the  names  of  his  chil- 
dren are  old   family  names,  except  a  few  borrowed  from  the  Bangs 
or   Freeman  family.     His  will  is  dated  Jan.    15,  1712-13,  proved 
April  23,  1718-19.     He  appoints  his  wife  Jane  Lewes  sole  Execu- 
trix, names  oldest  son  Thomas,  sons  John,    George,   Nathaniel  and 
Benjamin,  and   his  four  daughters.     The  widow's  estate  was   settled 
in  the  Probate  Office  April  25,    1720-21,  showing  that  she  survived 
her  husband  about  two  years. 

Thomas  Lewes,  Jr.,  married  Jane ,  who  survived  him. 

The  names  of  his  three  older  children  are  obtained  from  the  Probate 
records.  They  were  probably  born  in  Falmouth  ;  the  other  seven 
in  Eastham.  In  1691  he  is  named  as  a  landholder  in  Falmouth  ;  but 
not  subsequently. 

52.     I.     Thomas,    married  Judith   Smith  of  Harwich,  1722.     He 
died  in  1728,  leaving  several  small  children.     His  widow  mar- 
ried in  Yarmouth  Isaac  Taylor,  Nov.  80,  1733. 
Sd.     11.     John. 
54.     III.     Joseph. 

65,     IV.     A  daughter.     A  Dinah  Lewis  of  Harwich,  married  Oct. 
1727,  John  Savage  of  Tiverton. 

56.  V.     George,  May  6,  1691. 

57.  VI.     Nathaniel,  March  31,  1696. 

58.  VII.     Rebecca,  March  17,  1697-8. 

59.  VIII.     Benjamin,  Oct.  8,  1700. 

60.  IX.     Sarah,  June  2,  1702. 

61.  X.     Apphia,  May  9,  1704.     In  a  petition  to  the  Judge  of  the 
Probate  Court,  dated  April  2,  1726,  she  says  she  is  22. 

(13.)  Samuel  Lewes,  son  of  Thomas,  (3)  resided  in  Fal- 
mouth. He  was  a  prominent  man — a  surveyor, — oiten  selectman, 
moderator  of  town  meetings,  &c.  I  have  no  account  of  his  family. 
A  Benjamin  Lewes  of  Falmouth  married  Sept.  8,  1702,  Elizabeth 
Crow  of  Yarmouth,  and  had,  as  already  stated,  a  family.  He  was  a 
land  holder  in  1704,  moderator  of  a  town  meeting  1710.  This  man 
may  have  been  son  to  Samuel.  There  were  several  Lewes  families 
ia  Falmouth  of  which  I  have  no  account — only  know  that  there  were 
such.   ' 

(14.)     George  Lewes,*  son  of  George,  (4)  born    Sept.  1655, 

*I  hare  mislaid  my  memoranda  respecting  this  family,  and  I  give  it  as  I  find  it  noted 
on  my  book.  As  1  am  unable  to  trace  the  family,  X  do  not  feel  confident  of  the  accuracy  of 
the  aboye. 


130   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BAEN8TABLB  FAMILIES. 

married  Elizabeth .     He  died  in  1683,  and  his  three  children 

are  named  on  the  Probate  records. 

62.  I.     Hannah. 

63.  II.     George. 

64.  III.     Samuel. 

(19.)  Jabez  Lewes,  son  of  George,  (4)  born  in  Barnstable 
10th  June,  1670,  married  20th  Feb.  1695,  Experience  Hamblin. 
His  son  John  is  recorded  as  born  in  Barnstable  27th  Aug.  1696. 
In  1702  he  had  removed  to  Yarmouth,  where  he  had  three  children 
whose  births  are  recorded,  and  the  same  were  baptized  in  the  church 
at  Barnstable  of  which  his  wife  continued  to  be  a  member  all  her 
long  life.  He  had  other  children,  Eleanor  named  in  his  will  and 
Jabez  of  Harwich,  probably  his  son.  In  his  will  dated  Jan.  19, 
1737-8,  proved  1738,  he  names  his  wife  Experience,  eldest  sou 
John,  sons  Elnathan  and  Antipas,  and  daughter  Eleanor  Robbins. 
Jabez  of  Harwich  died  April  6,  1732,  and  for  that  reason  it  is  prob- 
able he  is  not  named.  Jabez  the  elder  was  not  a  prominent  man, 
though  on  the  Probate  records  he  is  called  Mr.,  a  mark  of  distinc- 
tion in  those  days.  He  died  in  1738,  aged  68,  and  the  widow  Ex- 
perience July  26,  1766,  aged  92  years  and  3  months. 

Children  of  Jabez  Lewes. 

65.  I.     John,  born  in  Barnstable  27th  Aug.   1696.   (See  No,  66.) 
Jabez  married  Sarah  Lincoln  Feb.  27,  1723 — had  born  in  Har- 
wich  Thomas,  Dec.  22,  1724 ;  Sarah,  March   4,  1727-8,  and   per- 
haps others. 

Eleanor  married Robbins. 

66.  II.     Elnathan,  born  in  Yarmouth  Aug.  27,  1702.      (See   No. 
67.) 

67.  III.     Antipas,  born  in  Yarmouth  Feb.  3,  1704-5.      (See   No. 
68.) 

68.  IV.     Naomi,  born   in  Yarmouth  July  1,  1708,  married   Jesse 
Lewes  March  8,  1731-2. 

(20.)  Benj.  Lewes,  son  of  George,  (4)  born  in  Barnstable 
22d  Nov.  1675,  married  10th  Feb.  1696-7,  Margaret  Folland  of 
Yarmouth.  In  1691  the  town  agreed  to  raise  £30  to  assist  in  de- 
fraying the  expense  of  procuring  a  new  charter  for  the  colony  of 
Plymouth.  To  raise  this  sum  parcels  of  the  common  lands  were 
sold.  George  Lewes  bought  for  £5  twelve  acres  of  land  at  Crooked 
Pond,  of  late  years  known  as  Lampson's  Pond.  This  tract  of  land 
he  gave  to  his  son  Benjamin,  who  built  his  house  thereon.  It  was 
in  a  solitary  spot  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  about  equally  distant 
from  the  settlements  on  the  north  and  south  side  of  the  Cape.  The 
great  Indian  trail  between  Hyannis  and  Yarmouth  passed  near  his 
house. 

In  his  will  dated  20th  May,  1725,  proved  April  30,  1726,  he. 
names  his  wife,  sons  Seth  and  Benjamin,  and  daughters  Mary 
Pitcher,  Elizabeth   and  Mercy  Lewes.     He  appoints  his  brother  Nar  ■ 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       131 

than  Lewes  his  executor.  In  addition  to  his  estate  at  Crooked 
Pond,  he  had  bought  the  estate  of  Israel  Hamblin  at  Israel's  Pond 
in  an  equally  solitary  spot  in  the  forest.  He  had  conveyed  the 
latter,  and  some  other  property,  equal  to  two-thirds  of  his  estate, 
to  his  son  Seth,  on  the  condition  that  he  would  support  his  par- 
ents during  their  natural  lives.  Such  conveyances  often  lead  to 
trouble,  and  this  was  not  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  The 
final  settlement  of  his  small  estate  occupies  much  space  on  the 
records. 

That  a  man  of  common  sense  should  select  such  a  place  for 
his  residence  is  surprising,  and  perhaps  more  so  that  his  children 
should  follow  in  his  footsteps.  For  some  little  time  Seth  resided 
at  Israel's  Pond,  Benjamin  at  Crooked  Pond,  and  Elizabeth  at 
Half-way.  Connected  by  straight  lines  their  house  would  stand 
at  the  angles  of  an  equilateral  triangle,  and  a  mile  distant  from 
each  other.  Elizabeth  married  at  sixteen  Wm.  Blachford,  who 
came  from  Tower  Hill,  London,  and  all  her  life  was  known  as 
Liza  Tower-hill,  and  a  reputed  witch  in  the  times  when  the  folly' 
of  witchcraft  had  its  firm  believers.  The  solitary  residences  of 
the  members  of  these  families  hdd  an  influence  over  the  minds  of 
the  superstitious,  and  gave  origin  to  many  of  the  thousand  and 
one  marvellous  tales  that  were  told  of  them.  Notwithstanding, 
Btenjamin  Lewes  and  all  the  members  of  his  famUy  were,  as  I 
have  shown  in  another  article,  honest  men  and  women  and  worthy 
members  of  the  church  of  Christ. 

Children  of  Benjamin  Lewes  born  in  Barnstable. 

69.  I.     Mary,  5th  July,  1698,  married  Joseph  Pitcher  1719. 

70.  II.     Seth,  1st  Aug.  1704.     (See  No.  70.) 

71.  III.  Elizabeth,  17th  Jan.  1711-12,  the  reputed  witch,  mar- 
ried Nov.  12,  1728,  Wm.  Blachford.  She  died  July,  1790, 
aged  78,  (Church  Records.)  In  the  two  ai:ticles  which  I 
have  published  respecting  her,  I  said  that  no  stain  rested  on 
her  character  as  a  member  of  the  East  Church  in  Barnstable. 
I  was  mistaken.  Recently  on  looking  over  the  church  rec- 
ords I  found  that  a  complaint  was  made  against  her  Oct.  28, 
1771,  by  Thankful  Gilbert,  the  wife  of  Samuel,  for  abuse. 
Elizabeth  readily  confessed  her  fault,  and  "her  confession 
being  read,  was  voted  to  be  satisfactory,  by  a  large  major- 
ity" of  the  church. 

72.  IV.     Mercvi  3d  March,  1712. 

73.  V.     Benjamin,  14th  July  1716. 

And  another  son  that  died  April  22,  1721. 

(21.)  Jonathan  Lewe^,  son  of  George,  (4)  born  25th  July, 
1674,  married  by  Justice  Allen  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  to  Patience 
llook.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  at  West  Yarmouth,  and 
Lewes  Bay,  on  the  borders  whereof  he  settled,  received  its  name 


132       GENEALOSIOAi    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

from  him.  He  removed  to  Hyannis  in  1711,  and  the  small  bay  at 
that  place  was  also  named  in  honor  of  him.  Tradition  calls  him 
the  first  white  settler  at  Hyannis.  The  Colemans  and  some 
others  were  there  before  him.  He  died  Dec.  11,  1743,  aged  67, 
and  his  widow  Patience  July  4,  1767,  aged  over  80. 

In  his  will  dated  Dec.  8,  1743,  proved  4th  January  follow- 
ing, he  names  his  three  sons  Jonathan,  Melatiah  and  Lemuel ; 
and  his  daughters  Thankful  Bacon,  Bethia  Jean  and  Patience 
Lewes,  and  his  wife  Patience.  To  his  daughter  Bethia,  then  36 
years  of  age,  he  gave  '•'his  great  chamber,  over  his  great  room," 
showing  that  one  of  the  first  houses  built  at  Hyannis  was  a  two 
story  building.  His  grand  daughter,  Mrs.  Eachell  Cathcart,  says 
that  the  Ben.  Hathaway  house  was  her  grandfather  Jonathan's. 
His  oldest  child.  Thankful,  was  born  in  Barnstable,  Bethia, 
George  and  Jonathan  in  Yarmouth,  and  the  other  six  in  Barnsta- 
ble. 

74.  I.  Thankful,  22d  Nov.  1704,  married  Gershom  Lumbard 
17th  March,  1725-6,  he  died  1729,  leaving  a  daughter  Han- 
nah born  25th  Jan.  1726-7.  She  married  2d  Nathaniel 
Bacon  1730;  3d,  Augustine  Bearse,  Sept.  7,  1744.  She 
died  a  widow  Nov.  1774,  aged  70  years. 

75.  II.  Bethia,  27th  Oct.  1706.  She  survived,  unmarried  till 
Oct.  1806,  and  at  her  death  lacked  only  three  weeks  of  be- 
ing 100  years  of  age. 

76.  III.  George,  15th  Oct.  1708,  married  and  removed  to  the 
Vineyard. 

77.  IV.     Jonathan,  30th  Nov.  1710.     (See  No.  77.) 

78.  V.  Jean,  28th  April,  1713,  married  Bays  Hawes  July  1, 
1744,  removed  to  the  Vineyard. 

79.  VI.     Lot,  6th  May,  1715,  probably  died  young. 

80.  VII.  Lois,  22d  Sept.  1718,  Levi  on  Church  Records,  died 
young. 

81.  VIII.     Melatiah,  6th  Feb.  1720.     (See  No.  81.) 

82.  IX.     Patience,  23d  May,  1723,  died  aged,  unmarried. 

83.  X.  Lemuel,  28th  Sept.  1725,  married  March  7,  1750,  Tem- 
perance Bearse,  and  had  a  large  family,  one  of  whom  Ra- 
chel, born  Aug.  22,  1771,  is  now  living — a  great-grand- 
daughter of  George  Lewes,  2d,  who  came  over  about  the  year 
1630.     (For  a  notice  of  this  family  see  No.  83.) 

(23.)     Nathan   Lewes,   son  of   Geo.    (4)   born   26th   July, 
1678.     He  removed  to  Falmouth  before  1733. 

He  married  Aug.   24,  1705,  Sarah  Arey.     She  died  in  Fal- 
mouth, March  17,  1733-4,  and  he  married  2d  Experience . 

He  and  his  wife  were  admitted  to  the  church  in  F.   in  1742,   and 
dismissed  to  East  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  1749. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       133 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

84.  I.     Hannah,  13th  Feb.  1706. 

85.  II.     Daniel,  24th  June,  1708. 

86.  III.     Mary,  11th  Sept.  1710. 

87.  IV.  Sarah,  24th  June,  1713,  married  Benoni  Gray  Sept. 
1,  1732. 

88.  "V.  Nathan,  29th  Oct.  1715.  He  was  a  mariner  and  re- 
moved with  his  father  to  Falmouth  ;  married  June  27,  1737, 
Ann  Weeks  of  F.  Children:  1,  Isaac,  Nov.  1738;  2, 
Sarah,  Jan.  25,  1741  ;  3,  Amasa,  March  5,  1742,  baptized 
in  1743  as  the  child  of  Nathan,  Jr.  ;  and  4,  Frederick, 
March  17,  1745,  the  latter  married  in  1768  Deborah  Gush- 
ing of  Hingham.  Nathan  Lewis,  Jr.,  married.  He  died  in 
1747,  and  his  estate  was  rendered  insolvent.  He  and  his 
wife  Ann  were  admitted  to  the  Falmouth  church  in  1741, 
and  Nathan  Lewis,  the  father  I  presume,  and  his  wife  Expe- 
rience in  1742. 

89.  VI.  George,  son  of  Nathan,  born  18th.  March,  1718-19. 
In  1744,  Bartlett,  son  of  George  and  Bathshuba  Lewis,  was 
baptized  in  Falmouth  and  in  1747  their  son  George.  I  have 
a  memorandum  that  George,  son  of  Nathan,  married  April 
22,  1741,  Susanna  Pope.  This  Susanna  was  probably  the 
wife  of  another  George. 

(25.)  John  Lewes,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  (5)  born  Oct.  29, 
1656,  and  baptized  by  Mr.  Hobart  in  Hingham  where  he  was 
probably  born,  married  Nov.  17,  1682,  Hannah  Lincoln,  daughter 
of  Daniel  of  that  town.  His  wife  died  Oct.  30,  1715,  and  he  died 
Nov.  5,  in  the  same  year,  aged  59.  This  John  has  been  con- 
founded with  John,  son  of  George,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Rehobeth  March  26,  1676. 

Children    born   in  Hingham. 

90.  I.  John,  Oct.  13, 1683,  married  Deborah  Hawke  May  2, 
1716. 

91.  II.  Daniel,  Sept.  29,  1685.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1707,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  Hawke, 
Dec.  11,  1712.  After  graduating  he  taught  the  Grammar 
School  in  Hingham  until  1712,  when  he  was  invited  to  settle 
in  the  ministry  at  Pembroke,  and  was  ordained  there  Dec.  3, 
1712.  He  died  in  Pembroke  June  29, 1753,  and  his  widow 
died  there  June  11,  1755. 

92.  III.     Hannah,  Jan.  10,  1687-8,  married  Martin  Hopkins. 


134       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    i'amILIES. 

93.  IV.  Sarah,  July  12,  1G90,  married  Jacob  Loring  Feb. 
1708-9. 

94.  V.     Susanna,  Jan.  5,  1692-3,  died  Feb.  26,  1692-3. 

95.  VI.     Raciiel,  June  19,  1694,  married  David  Oushiilg. 

96.  VII.     Susanna,  Dec.  9,  1697. 

97.  VIII.     Mary,  June  2,  1700,  died  young. 

98.  IX.  Isaiah",  June  10,  1703,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
1723,  taught  school  in  Hingham  and  Mar'shfleld,  arid 
preached  on  the  Sabbaths.  He  married  June  25,  1730,  Abi- 
gail, daughter  of  Reuben  Winslow  of  Marshfleld.  In  1730 
he  vras  settled  in  the  north  parish  of  Eastham  at  £110  year- 
ly salary  and  £200  settlement,  and  the  parsOiiage  lands. 
In  1747  his  annual  salary  was  increased  to  £75,  new  tenor. 
In  1750-53,  6s  8d,  in  1754  £70,  and  thereafter  £50  sterling. 
In  1785  Rev.  Levi  Whitman  was  settled  as  his  colleague. 
He  died  Oct.  3,  1786,  aged  83  years. 

(26.)  Samuel  Lewes,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  (5)  born  10th 
April,  1659,  married  Dec.  1690,  Prudence  Leonard.  Widow  Pru- 
dence Lewes  died  March  31,  1736,  aged  60. 

Samuel  Lewes  resided  in  the  East  Parish,  Owned  the  estate 
which  his  uncle  John  bought  of  Joshua  Lombard,  next  east  of  El- 
der Henry  Cobb's  great  lot.  '  He  died  Dec.  1726,  aged  67,  intes- 
tate. Letters  of  administration  on  his  estate  wfere  granted  to  his 
widow  Prudence  Lewes  Jan.  25,  1725-6.  The  Inventory  of  the 
estate  by  Stiubael  Dimmock,  James  Cobb  and  Samuel  Bacon, 
amounted  to  £1,551,04,0  in  the  depreciated  Bills  of  Credit  then 
current.  The  homestead  which  contained  about  ten  acres,  and 
the  dwelling-house  thereon,  was  apprised  at  £644.  Mr.  Samuel 
Lewes'  house,  it  appears,  was  the  second  built  on  the  lot,  for 
in  the  division  the  cellar  of  an  old  house  is  named.  He  also 
owned  a  house  and  land  at  South  Sea.  In  the  division,  the 
widow  had  the  improvement  of  one-third  of  the  estate.  The  other 
two-thirds  were  one-half  to  Samuel,  the  eldest  son,  who  took  the 
South  Sea  property  ;  one  quarter  to  Joseph,  who  had  the  easterly 
part  of  the  homestead  ;  and  one  quarter  to  Ebenezer,  who  had  the 
western  part,  adjoining  the  Cobb  land.  The  rest  of  the  estate 
was  divided  in  the  same  proportions  to  the  sons.  The  two  daugh- 
ters. Thankful  and  Hannah  had  each  £146,12,8  "in  good  bills  of 
credit." 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

99.  I.  Samuel,  22d  June,  1700.  He  resided  at  South  Sea,  mar- 
ried Reliance ,  and  had  born  in  Barnstable  :  1,  Su- 
sanna,  Jan.'  19,    1722;    2,  Neh'emiah,   July   4,    1704;"  3, 


WENEALOOICAL   NOTKS   OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       135 

Samuel,.  Apnil  13,  1726;  4,  Leonard,  Oct.  25,  1728  ;  5,  Solp- 
mon,  M^y  31,  1730;  aad  6,  Barnabas,  April  12,  1734. 
im.     II.     David,      )  died  3d  Jan.  1706.' 

[•Twins,  12th  Dec.  1702. 

101.  III.  Joseph,  J  graduate  of  Harvard  College  1724,  and  for 
more  than  sixty  years  taught  school  in  Barnstable.  The 
town  was  divided  into  four  districts,  and  he  taught  alternate- 
ly in  each.  He  studied  theology,  and  preached  on  the  south 
side  of  Barnstable  during  the  winters  of  1727-8,  and  9. 
For  his  services  the  first  winter  he  had  £5,  2s  the  amount  as- 
sessed on  the  South  Sea  people,,  and  on  the  3d  £10.  There- 
after he  does  not  appear  to  have  preached.  He  was  learned, 
a  good  neighbor  and  a  sincere  Christian ;  but  wanting  in 
energy  of  character,  he  never  exerted  much  influence.  In 
his  old  age  he  married  Martha  Davis,  a  twin  daughter  of 
Stephen  Davis,  born    1731,  had  no  children.     He  died  Feb. 

'  1788,  aged  86. 

102.  IV.  Ebenezer,  9th  Aug.  1706.  He  does  not  appear  to 
have  married.  In  his  will  dated  22d  Aug.  1752,  he  is  called 
3d,  and  names  his  brothers  Samuel  and  Joseph,  and  his  sis- 
ters Hannah  Bacon  and  Thankful  Lewis.     He  appoints  his 

.  kinsmen,  Robert  Davis  and  Jonathan  Lewis,  his  executors. 

103.  V.     Thankful,  22d  Jan.  1708. 

104.  VI.  Hannah,  1st  July,,  1710,  married  1738,  Oris  Bacon, 
five  years  younger  than  herself,  and  had  no  issue. 

(28.)  James  Lewes,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  (5)  born  3d  June, 
1664,  married  Nov.  1698,  Elizabeth  Lothrop,  2d,  Mercey  Sturgis 
of  Yarmouth.  She  died  Dec.  7,  1745,  aged  64.  He  died  June 
18,  1748,  ag«d  84.  In  his  will  dated  March  25,  1747,  proved 
June  29,  1748,  he  names  his  daughter  Mary  Dunham,  wife  of 
Gideon ;  his  grand-daughters  Susanna  and  Elizabeth,  daughters 
of  his  son  James,  deceased,  and  his,  son  Jonathan,  to  whom  he 
gives  nearly  all  of  his  estate,  apprised  at  only  £2,300,09,  old 
tenor.  He  names  his  nephew  Nathan  Lewis.  As  five  are  not 
named  in  the  father's  will  it  is  probable  they  died  young. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

105.  I.     Mary,  16th  Aug.  1700,  married  Gideon  Dunham. 

106.  II.  Elizabeth,  8th  May,  1702.  Not  named  in  her  father's 
will. 

107.  III.  James,  9th  July,  1704,  probably  married  Abigail 
Taylor  of  Yarmouth  March  5,  1727,  and  had  two  daughters, 
Susanna  and  Eliz3,beth.  He  was  a  mariner  and  died  in  1730, 
when  he  was  called  4th,  leaving  an  estate  apprised  at  £150. 

108.  IV.  Barnabas,  17th  March,  1706,  not  named  in  father's 
will. 


1S6     GENEALOGTOAL  NOTES  OF  BrAEK-STABLE  TAMIITES, 

109.  V.     Solomon,  26th  June,  1708,  not  named  in  father's  wilL 

110.  VI.     Jonathan,  baptized  May  10,  1713.     (See  110.) 

111.  VII.     Sarah,  baptized  April  14,  1714,  not  named  in  will. 

112.  VIII.     John,  baptized  July  1^,  1719,  not  named  in  will. 

(29.)  Ebenezer  Lewes,  Esq.,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  (5)  born) 
Dee.  20,  l&B-ft,  wa»  a  man  of  wealth  and  one  of  the  most  active 
and  intelligent  business'  men  of  his  time.  He  was  judg.e  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  held  many  mwnieipal  offices. 

He  married  first  Aana  Lothrop,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Barna- 
bas, April,  1691,  and  second  Rebecca  Stargis  of  Yarmottth,  Feb, 
28,  1728.  The  latter  died  April  10,  1734,  aged  65.  Ebenezer 
Lewes,  Esq.,  died  — ■- 

Children  bom  in  Barnstable. 

113.  I.  Sarah,  13th  Jan.  1691-2,  married  Eben.  Hinckley  June 
11,  1711. 

114.  II.  Sasanaab,  17tb  April  1694,  married  July  24,  1712, 
James  Ally n. 

115.  III.  James,  4th  Aug.  1696,  married  1733  Rebecca  Hatch, 
danghter  of  Capt.  Mosea  Hatch,  of  Falmouth,  by  whom  he 
had  Rebecca  born  Aug.  &,  1734,  married  Isaac  Baker  Oct. 
6,  1754  ;  Abigail,  baptized  Dec.  19,  1736,  and  James  May 
4,  1740,  his  wife  died  July  6,  1740,  aged  30.  He  married 
2d  Dorcas  Baker  Sept.  3,  1745,  and  had  Elizabeth  baptized 
June  7,  1747.  His  wife  Dorcas  died  July  5,  1748,  aged  35. 
He  married  for  his  third  wife,  April  12,  1750,  Joanna  How- 
land.  (This  James  I  presume  was  the  one  of  the  name  that 
was  insane,  and  had  a  guardian  appointed  May  13,  1756.) 

116.  IV.  Ebenezer,  9th  May,  1699,  married  Nov.  1736,  Mary 
Coree  of  Long  Island,  and  had  :  1,  Mercy,  Nov.  22,  1732  ; 
David,  Jan.  19,  1739-40  ;  Ebenezer,  Jan"  5,  1742-3  ;  Mar- 
tha, Oct.  21,  1745. 

117.  V.     Hannah,  14th  Feb.  1701. 

118.  VI.  Lothrop,  13th  June,  1702,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege 1723,  died  1773.  Respecting  Mr.  Lothrop  Lewes,  I 
can  obtain  no  information.  His  father  gave  him  20  shillings 
in  his  will. 

119.  VII.     George,  5th  April,  1704.     (See  119.) 

120.  VIII.  Nathaniel,  12th  Jan.  1706-7,  married  Feb.  19, 
1736,  Fear  Thacher,  and  had:  1,  Elizabeth,  July  21,  1737; 
2,  Abigail,  Dec.  24,  1740,  died  young;  3,  Abigail,  Sept.  2, 
1742  ;  4,  Hannah,  Oct.  16,  1744 ;  and  5,  Nathaniel,  June  5, 
1745,  the  latter  a  man  of  note  in  his  day.  Nathaniel,  the 
father,  died  July  7,  1751,  aged  43. 


GENKALOGICAL    NOTES    Or    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.       137 

121.  IX.  .John,  15th  July,  1709,  married  Thankful  Crowell,  of 
Yarmouth,  July  21,  1718,  had  born  in  Yarmouth  :  1,  Lydia, 
March  23.  1718-19  ;  2,  Temperance,  Feb.  7,  1721 ;  3,  Ex- 
perience, all  of  whom  died  in  Oct.  1724  ;  born  in  Barnsta- 
ble, 4,  Jabez,  Aug.  30,  1725 ;  5,  Thankful,  March  18, 
1727;  and  6,  Deborah,  Feb.  19,  1728-9. 

122.  X.     David,      ]  8th  Nov.  1711. 

123.  XI.     Abigail,  J  married  Solomon  Sturgis  Aug.  2,  1732. 

(31.)  Mr.  George  Lewes,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  born  in 
1673,  married  by  Col.  John  Otis  to  Alice  Crocker,  daughter  of 
Josiah  Crocker,  14th  June,  1711.  She  died  23d  Feb.  1718,  aged 
39.  He  died  Nov.  1769,  in  the  96th  year  of  his  age,  and  is 
buried  in  the  old  burying  ground  where  he  has  a  monument.  His 
death  is  also  recorded  in  the  church  records,  and  he  is  there  called 
nearly  96  years  of  age.  He  owned  the  dwelling-house  which  was 
his  father's,  and  in  his  will  divides  his  estate  between  his  daugh- 
ters Mary  and  Anna.  He  gave  his  dwelling-house  to  his  daugh- 
ter Mary,  reserving  a  room  which  he  called  his  "study,"  which 
he  allowed  his  daughter  Anna  also  to  occupy.  Her  husband, 
Hon.  Peter  Thacher,  occupied  it  as  his  office  during  the  sessions 
of  the  Courts.  It  appears  that  Lieut.  James  and  his  sons  bought 
out  John  Hathaway  and  the  Halletts.  The  meadow  and  beach 
near  the  Raft-dock  recently  claimed  by  the  town,  it  clearly  ap- 
pears, was  the  property  of  George  Lewes,  not  the  town's,  and 
that  matter  is  now  forever  set  at  rest. 

Mr.  George  Lewes  was  an  intelligent  man,  of  studious  habits, 
and  associated  with  the  most  influential.  His  name  does  not 
often  appear  as  a  public  officer,  though  he  was  well  educated  for 
the  times,  and  capable  of  performing  duties  to  which  he  did  not 
aspire. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

124.  I.     Sarah,  5th  April,  1712,  died  June  13,  1713. 

125.  II.  Mary,  9th  March,  1713-14,  married  Eben.  Taylor, 
Aug.  16,  1733. 

126.  III.  Anna,  3d  Feb.  1715-16,  married  Peter  Thacher  Oct. 
24,  1735. 

127.  IV.  Josiah,  19th  Feb.  1717-18.  April  20,  1742,  George 
Lewes  was  appointed  administrator  on  the  estate  of  his  son 
Josiah,  mariner.  He  was  then  24  years  of  age,  and  it  is  not 
named  that  he  had  a  family,  in  the  settlement  of  his  estate 
or  in  that  of  his  fathers. 

(32).  Joseph  Lewes,  son  of  Lieut.  James,  born  in  1676, 
removed  to  Hingham.  He  married  Feb.  3,  1702-3,  Sarah  Marsh, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Marsh  of  Hingham.  She  died  Jan.  5, 
1717-18,  and  he  married  for  his  second  wife  Elizabeth  Dixon  of 


138       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Hingham,  a  daughter  of  George  Vickory  of  Hull.  She  died  Sept. 
1,  1736,  aged  45.  Joseph  Lewes  died  in  Hingham  Aug.  22, 
1767,  aged  91.  Lilte  his  brother,  he  had  sixteen  children,  the 
larger  part  married  and  died  in  Hingham. 

Children  of  Joseph  Lewes  horn  in  Hingham. 

128.  I.     Sarah,  Dec.  15,  1703. 

129.  II.  Joseph,  Dec.  1,  1705,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1725.  After  he  had  completed  his  education  he  resided 
in  Boston,  where  he  was  a  merchant.  He  afterwards  re- 
turned to  Hingham,  and  taught  school  many  years.  He  was 
not  a  prominent  citizen.     He  died  Jan.  14,  1786,  aged  81. 

130.  III.  Thomas,  Sept.  30,  1707,  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege 1728.  He  studied  divinity  and  preached  occasionally. 
He  was  not  very  successful  in  life,  owing  to  his  habits.  He 
died  in  Hingham  April  4,  1787.  He  married  Mary  Lawson 
in  1786.  and  had  a  large  family  of  children.  Some  of  his 
descendants  are  verv  respectable  citizens  of  Hingham. 

131.  IV.     Paul,  March  25,  1710. 

132.  V.  James,  Sept.  9,  1712,  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
1731.  He  removed  to  Marshfield,  married  Lydia  Rogers  of 
that  town,  had  five  sons  and  one  daughter.  He  was  a  school 
master  in  Marshfield  many  years  and  was  worn  out  in  the 
service,  and  died  in  that  town. 

133.  VI.  Jonathan,  Dee.  3,  1714,  married  Lydia  Stodder 
1740. 

134.  VII.     Mary,  Sept.  6,  1717,  married  Knight  Sprague  1735. 

135.  VIII.  Elizabeth,  July  14,  1719,  married  David  Beal,  Jr., 
1739. 

136.  IX.     George,  July  23,  1721,  married  Susanna  Hall. 

137.  X.     Samuel,  June  28,  1724,  died  Aug.  17,  1724. 

138.  XI.  Samuel,  Oct.  28,  1725,  married  Sarah  Humphrey 
1750. 

139.  XII.     Israel,  April  19,  1727,  died  July  31,  1727. 

140.  XIII.  Ebenezer,  July  21,  1728,  married  Hannah  Hersey 
Nov.  1751. 

141.  XIV.     Lucy,  Oct.  23,  1730,  never  married. 

142.  XV.     Hannah,  Dec.  3,  1731,  married  Elisha  Lincoln. 

143.  XVI.     Eunice,  May  11,  1736,  died  Sept.  1744. 

(36).  Eleazer  Lewes,  son  of  Edward,  was  a  townsman  and 
proprietor  in  1697.  After  that  date  his  name  disappears  on  the 
records. 

(37).  Dea.  John  Lewes,  son  of  Edward,  resided  at  Cooper's 
Pond,  born  January,  1666,  married  Elizabeth  Huckins  June  4, 
1695.  He  died  March  8,  1738-9,  aged  73,  and  his  widow  Eliza- 
beth Lewes  July  12,  1741,  aged  70. 

Dea.  John  Lewes'  will  is  dated  Aug.  5,  1736,  proved  April 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       139 

25,  1737.  He  names  his  wife  Elizabeth  and  all  his  children.  He 
gives  his  real  estate  to  his  sons  James  and  Shubael,  to  Edward 
£20  in  money,  to  John  5  shillings  and  one-third  of  dock  at  Coop- 
er's island,  he  having  already  received  most  of  his  portion  ;  and 
to  his  son  G-ershora  and  daughters  Elizabeth  Snow  and  Thankful 
Lewes,  legacies. 

Ohildren  born  in  Barnstable., 

144.  I.  Edward,  Sept.  6,  1697,  He  was  not  taxed  in  Barnsta- 
ble in  1737.  He  married  May  14,  1719,  Rebecca  Lothrop, 
and  had :  1,  Mehitabel^  March  4,  1720-21;  2,  Solomon, 
Dec.  22,  1722;  3,  Isaac,  Sept.  27,  1724.  The  latter  mar- 
ried Feb.  10,  1747-8,  Martha  Bearse,  a  member  of  the 
church,  and  used  her  tongue  more  freely  than  the  other 
members  desired,  had:  1,  Lydia,  Aug.  14,  1748;  2,  Solo- 
mon, April  10,  1750;  3,  Lothrop,  Dec.  21,  1757,  (ancestor 
of  several  respectable  families  at  Falmouth)  ;  4,  Isaac, 
April  4,  1758,  (also  of  Falmouth)  ;  5,  Martha,  July  13, 
1761 ;  and  Rebecca  April  5,  1763.  This  family  removed  to 
Rochester  aud  afterwards  to  Falmouth, 

145.  IL     Thankful,  Dec.  6,  1698. 

146.  III.  Elizabeth,  Aug.  28,  1701,  married  Jabez  Show  of  H. 
April  2,1724. 

147.  IV.  James,  June  4,  1703,  married  1st  Abigail  Taylor,  of 
Yarmouth,  March  5,  1727;  2d,  Bethia  Hathaway  April  2, 
1742.  This  I  think  was  the  James  Lewes  who  was  insane  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life. 

148.  V.     Gershom,  Dec.  30,  1704, 

149.  VI.  Shubael,  Dec.  29,  1705,  married  widow  Mary  Snow, 
of  Harwich,  June  5,  1735,  dismissed  to  the  East  Church 
March  28,  1738-9,  and  had  Samuel  baptized  Sept.  11,  1737  ; 
Elizabeth  born  Feb.  2,  1739;  Sarah,  Dec.  8,1741.  Shu- 
bael and  his  brother  John  were  of  Harwich  for  a  little  time. 

150.  VII.  John,  April  28,  1706,  married  Mary  Hopkins,  a 
member  of  the  Harwich  Church  Oct.  6,  1726,  and  had:  1, 
Timothv,  July  25,  1727;  2,  Hannah,  April  17,1729;  3, 
John,  May  29,  1731 ;  4,  Mehitabel,  Sept.  13,  1733.  These 
four  baptized  in  Harwich  Sept.  5,  1735.  5,  Bethia,  Dec.  25, 
1735.  John  Lewes,  Jr.,  was  dismissed  to  the  third  church 
in  Windham,  Conn.,  July  3,  1743,  and  his  wife  Nov.  8, 
1747. 

(38).     Thomas  Lewes,  son  of  Edward,  born  March  1669, 
married  28th  Sept.  1699,  Experience   Huckinw.     He  died  Feb.  9, 


140      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

1754,  aged  74,  and  his  wife  died  Dec.  23,  1733,  aged  65  years,  4 
months,  25  days. 

Children  horn   in  Barnstable. 

151.  I.     Experience,  15th  Ang.  1699. 

152.  11.     Thomas,  let  Aug.  1702. 

1,53.  III.  Jesse,  11th  March,  1705,  married  1st,  Naomi  Lewes 
March  8,  1731-2;  2d,  Feb.  26,  1735-6,  Mercy  Crosby  of 
Harwich,  and  had:  1,  Mary,  Dec.  23,  1736;  2,  Anner, 
March  13,  1738  ;  3,  Naomi,  Jan.  12,  1740,  4,  Thomas,  bap- 
tized Jnly  31,  1743  ;  5,  David,  baptized  July  20,  1746  ;  6, 
Sarah,  baptized  June  18,  1749.  Children  of  Thomas  of 
this  family  were  remarkable  for  longevity — averaging  80 
years. 

154.  IV.  Desire,  14th  Mav,  1707,  married  Stephen  Davis, 
Sen.,  Nov.  12,  1730.     She  died  Feb.  29,  1784,  aged  77. 

155.  V.  Ephraim,  8th  April,  1710,  married  Sarah  Hamblin 
Oct.  7,  1736,  and  had  :  1,  Thankful,  June  5,  1739,  married 
Shubael  Davis,  April  30,  1752  ;  2,  Rebecca,  Oct.  13,  1741 ; 
3,  Jacob,  Jan.  4,  1743-4;  4,  Esther,  baptized  April  3, 
1748.     Sarah  Lewes,  wife  of  Ephraim,  died  June  16,  1764. 

156.  VI.     Abigail,  baptized  24th  Nov.  1717. 

(14).  Isaac  Lewes,  son  of  Edward,  manied  Experience 
Hamblin  13th  Sept.  1732,  perhaps  his  second  wife.  He  died  Jan. 
25,  1761,  aged  tbe  church  records  say  '■'■above  70,"  probably  near- 
ly 80.     His  wife  Experience  died  July  24,  1749,  aged  64. 

Of  Ebenezer,  son  of  Edward,  I  find  little. 

(42  to  51).  These  are  Falmouth  families  of  whom  I  have 
no  information. 

(52  to  61).     Eastham  and  Harwich  families. 

(65).  Jabez  Lewes,  son  of  Jabez,  married  Feb.  27,  1723-4, 
Sarah  Lincoln  of  Harwich.  He  joined  the  Harwich  church  July 
23,  1727,  died  April  6,  1732.  Children  :  Thomas,  Dec.  22,  1724  ; 
Sarah,  March  4,  1727-8  ;  and  Jabez,  baptized  June  23,  1730. 

(66).  Elnathan  Lewes,  son  of  Jabez,  born  in  Yarmouth 
Aug.  27,  1702,  married  Oct.  16,  1735,  Priscilla  Lewes.  He  died 
June  19,  1782,  aged  80.  (Yarmouth  Records.)  He  resided  at 
West  Yarmouth,  and  had  : 

157.  I.  Benjamin,  Sept.  19,  1737,  married  Sarah  Crowell  Dec. 
3,  1767,  and  had  Priscilla  Oct.  26,  1768;  Betty,  July  2, 
1770;  Benjamin,  April  12,1772;  Sarah,  March  6,1774; 
Sarah,  Dec.  17,  1778  ;  Lydia,  May  16,  1781  ;  Ruth,  Sept. 
23,  1783  ;    Edward,  Sept.  29,  1785  ;    and  Nathan,  Oct.   12, 


1788. 

year. 

158. 

'll. 

159. 

III. 

160. 

IV. 

161. 

V. 

24,    1 

GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       141 

He  died   March  26,  1793,  and  his  wife  Sarah   same 

Mary,  Julv  20.  1739. 
Thankfur,  April  16,  1741. 
Priscilla,  April  16,  1742. 

David,  July  16,  1744,  bv  wife  Phebe  had  Susa  July 
1776  ;  Phebe,  July  5,  17'78  ;  David,  May  22,  1781 ; 
Elizabeth,  April  19,  1783 ;  Temperance,  June  2,  1789 ; 
Priscilla,  Jan.  24,  1791  ;  Mary,  March  19,  1793  ;  Sally, 
Oct.  13,  1795;  Richard,  Aug.  15,  1798.  He  married  2d 
Temperance  Lewes,  daughter  of  Lemuel,  and  had  5  other 
children.     He  removed  to  Kennebec. 

162.  VI.  Elnathan,  June  3,1746.  By  his  wife  Thankfu}  he 
had  Mary,  May  21,  1777;  Thankful,  March  2,1779;  and 
Elnathan  May  19,  1781. 

163.  VII.     Antipas,  Dec.  25,  1751. 

164.  VIII.     Naomi,  Feb.  27,  1754. 

165.  IX.  John,  July  23,  1756,  married  Desire  and  had  Mehit- 
abel,  Nov.  26,1786;  Isaiah,  Sept.  10,1788;  John,  Nov. 
30,  1791 ;  and  Simeon,  Dec.  9,  1794. 

(68).     Antipas  Lewes,  son  of  Jabez,  born  in  Yarmouth  Feb. 
3,  1704,  married  Oct.  15,  1730,  Martha  Bearse.     Antipas  Lewis, 
of  Yarmouth,  in  his  will  dated  17th  April,  1740,  proved  June  11, 
1746,  he  names  his   wife  Martha,  his   sons  Timothy   and   Jabez, 
and  his   daughters  Naomi,  Elizabeth,  Martha,  Ruth  and  Experi- 
ence,  the  birth   of  the  latter  not  on  the  town  records.     He  died 
Feb.  11,  1783,  aged  79.     He  resided  at  West  Yarmouth  and  had  : 
Timothy,  born  Sept.  6,  1731. 
Martha,  June  1,  1733. 
Naomi,  Aug.  6,  1734. 
Sarah,  June  24,  1736. 
Elizabeth,  June  28,  1730. 
Ruth,  April  24,  1741. 
.     Jabez,  July  8,  1743. 
I.     Sarah,  Aug.  25,  1746. 

Jabez  Lewis  of  this  family  married  Jerusha ,  and  had 

Timothy  May  12,  1768  ;  William,  Aug.  6,  1771 ;  Naomi,  Jan. 
27,  1773;  Jabez,  Dee.  2,  1775;  Martha,  Sept..  30,  1778; 
Keziah,  Oct.  10,  1781  ;  Jerusha,  Sept.  23,  1784;  James,  April 
22,  1787;  William,  Feb.  20,  1790. 

Timothy  of  this  family  had  fourteen  children,  many  of  whom 
are  yet  living.  Benjamin,  son  and  grandson  of  Benjamin,  had 
five  children. 

I  have  traced  the  descendants  of  Jabez  who  settled  in  Yar- 
mouth down  to  the  present  time. 

On  the  Yarmouth  records  I  find  some  families,  probably  de- 
scendants   of    Jonathan,    who   settled   at  Hyannis.     A  George 


166. 

I. 

167. 

II. 

168. 

III. 

169. 

IV. 

170. 

V. 

171. 

VI. 

172. 

VII 

173. 

vii: 

142       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES. 

Lewis,  by    his  wife  Susannah,  had  Bettv   May  17,  1777;    Lydia, 
Nov.  17,  1780;  and  Susanna  Jan.  15,  1783. 

A  Jonathan  Lewis  by  his  wife  Hannah  had  :  Clement,  Nov. 
15,  1788;  Watson,  Nov.  4,  1789;  Rodman,  Sept.  10,  1791  ;  So- 
phia, Aug.  31,  1793  ;  Asenath,  June  14,  1795  ;  and  Laura,  Dec. 
9,  1796. 

(70).  Seth  Lewes,  son  of  Benjamin,  born  Aug.  1,  1704, 
married  by  Joseph  Doaue,  Esq.,  Oct.  22,  1724,  to  Sarah  Revis. 
His  early  residence  was  at  a  house  built  by  Israel  Hamblin,  near 
a  pond,  on  Dimmock's  lane,  known  as  Israel's  pond — a  solitary 
place  surrounded  by  the  forest,  and  more  than  a  mile  from  a 
neighbor.*  He  probably  did  not  reside  there  many  years.  I 
think  he  owned  the  estate  at  Cooper's  pond,  where  his  son  Benja- 
min afterwards  resided.     Seth  Lewes  died  in  1751,  aged  47. 

The  births  of  his  children  I  do  not  find  on  the  town  records. 
The  baptisms  of  his  children  are  recorded  in  the  church  records. 
Elijah,  bap.  Sept.  27,  1730. 
Thankful,  bap.  Sept.  27,  1730. 
Sarah,  bap.  May  9,  1731. 
Temperance,  bap.  April  7,  1734. 
Mercy,  bap.  Aug.  29,  1736. 
Desire,  bap.  April  15,  1739. 
.     Lovey,  bap.  May  17,  1741. 

I.     Benjamin,  bap.  Oct.  16,  1743,  married   for  his  sec- 
ond  wife   Desire   Bacon,    Jr.,  Jan.  22,  1795,  and   was   the 
father  of  the  late  Capt.  Seth,  and  the  present  Benjamin  and 
Elijah,  and  the  late  Capt.  Robinson  Lewis  of  Falmouth. 

(77).  Jonathan  Lewes,  Jr.,  son  of  Jonathan,  Senior,  of 
Hyannis,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Cobb  of  Barn- 
stable, Oct.  13,  1737,  aged  22  years.  He  was  a  shoemaker  and 
resided  on  the  north  side  of  the  town  after  his  marriage.  His 
wife  was  a  member  of  the  East  Church,  and  died  May  31,  1751, 
aged  36  years.  Jonathan  Lewes,  3d,  was  of  about  the  same  age 
as  Jonathan,  Jr.,  and  both  had  Elizabeths  for  their  wives,  and  it 
is  diflflcult  to  distinguish  their  families. 

Children  of  Jonathan  Lewes,  Jr.,  and  Elizabeth  Cobb. 

182.  I.     Jonathan,  bap.  Sept.  9,  1739. 

183.  II.     Elizabeth,  bap.  June  27,  1742. 

184.  III.     Rachel,  bap.  Dec.  9,  1744. 

185.  IV.     Lot,  bap.  March  15,  1746-7. 


174. 

I. 

175. 

II. 

176. 

III. 

177. 

IV. 

178. 

V. 

179. 

VI. 

180. 

VII 

181. 

vii: 

*Iii  turninp;  oyer  the  leaves  of  the  church  records  my  eyes  rested  on  the  following: 
"1777,  June  2,  Edward  Hawes  departed  this  life  aged  about  37,  suamanus;"  a  modest  man- 
ner of  recording  a  suicide.  Mr.  Hawes  hung  himself  on  a  tree  standing  at  the  corner  of  the 
road  that  leads  to  the  spot  where  Seth  Lewis'  house  stood.  It  long  remained  as  a  monu- 
ment of  the  act.  Mr.  Hawes  sold  his  valuable  estate,  bought  of  the  Paine  family,  to  the 
late  Dr.  Samuel  Savage,  and  received  in  payment  continental  money.  It  soon  after  depre- 
ciated, Hawes  suddenly  became  poor,  and  in  consequence  committed  suicide. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       143 

(81).  Melatiah  Lewes,  sou  of  Jonathan,  married  Abigail 
Bearse  Oct.  1,  1742.     He  died  insolveat  ia  1767. 

CkUdrien  born  in  Barnstable, 

186.  I.  Theodale,  March  1«,  1743,  married  Oris  Cobb  Dec.  6, 
1764. 

187.  II.     WiUiam,  Sept.  18,  1745. 

188.  III.     Levi,  Nov.  27,  1746. 

189.  IV.     Melatiah,  July  27,  1752. 

(83),  Lemuel  Lewes,  soa  of  Jonathan,  born  23d  May, 
1723,  resided  at  Hyannis,  had  a  family  of  eleven  children,  many 
of  whom  were  distinguished  for  their  longevity,  one  of  whom, 
Rachell,  is  now  living  at  the  advanced  age  of  94.  He  married 
March  7,  1750,  Tem'{)erauce  Bearse. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

190.  I.  Richard,  Nov.  26,  1760.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Rev- 
olution, 33  years  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Barnstable,  and  a 
man  much  respected.  He  married  Molly  Lovell  and  has 
children  now  living.     He  died  ia  old  age. 

191.  II.     Elizabeth. 

192.  III.  George,  Sept.  14,  1754,  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution, 
and  duriug  the  latter  part  of  the  life  of  Col.  James  Otis,  he 
was  the  Colonel's  waiters,  and  was  with  him  wherever  he 
went.  He  related  many  anecdotes  of  Col.  James,  and  bis 
son  James  the  patriot,  the  latter  he  called  ''young  Jim,"  the 
commoa  appelation  by  which  he  was  distinguished  by  his 
neighbors  ia  Barastable.  George  Lewes  lost  $1400  by  the 
depreciatioa  of  the  contiaeatal  money.  He  died  ia  1850, 
aged  96. 

193.  IV.  Temperaace,  April  3,  1757,  married  her  relative, 
David  Lewes  of  Yarmouth,  removed  to  Kennebec,  where 
she  has  children  living. 

194.  V.  Lydia,  May  30,  1759,  married  Nathaniel  Buaker  of 
Naatucket. 

195.  VI.     Lemuel,  Sept.  17,  1761,  married  Puella  Lovell. 

196.  VII.  Bethia,  Sept.  23,  1764,  married  1st  Rowland  Hal- 
lett,  and  was  the  mother  of  the  late  Seth  Hallett,  Esq.  She 
married  2d,  Dea.  Sylvanus  Hinckley. 

197.  VIII.     Jonathan,  Sept.  26,  1766,  married Hallett, 

removed  to  Cincinnati.  He  carried  with  him  a  large  family 
of  small  children — lost  one  out  of  his  wagon,  and  did  not 
miss  it  till  he  had  travelled  nearly  a  day,  went  back  and 
found  it. 

198.  IX.     Anna,  July  4,  1768. 

199.  X.     Rachel,  Aug.  22,  1771,  married  John  Cathcart,  and  is 


144       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

now  living.  She  is  the  last  survivor  of  the  professional  mid- 
wives  of  Barnstable.  She  does  not  profess  to  have  been  so 
successful,  or  so  skillful  as  old  madam  Killey ;  but  she 
shows  a  good  record,  few  of  the  present  practitioners  of  the 
obstetic  art  can  show  a  better — 200  children — never  lost  a 
child  or  a  mother.  She  retains  all  her  faculties,  and  few 
would  call  her  a  woman  of  over  75.  She  hears  common 
conversation,  but  speaks  loud  and  strong  herself,  using 
many  gesticulations,  and  makes  freqnent  quotations  from 
the  scripture  and  favorite  hymns.  She  has  been  a  hard 
worker  all  her  days.  She  has  met  with  several  severe  acci- 
dents in  her  life.  Several  years  ago  she  was  run  over  by  a 
wagon,  from  the  effects  of  which  she  yet  suffers.  She  re- 
members when  there  were  only  three  dv^elling-houses  within 
the  present  limits  of  the  village  of  Hyannis. 

200.     XII.     Jean,    born   March    25,    1774,    was  the     youngest 
daughter  of  Lemuel  Lewes. 
(110).     Jonathan  Lewis,   3d,    son  of  James,   bap.  May   1, 

1713,  married  Elizabeth  Corey  of  Southold,  L.  I.,  Dec.  13,  1735. 

The   wife  was   a  member  of   the  church    in  Southold  ;    but  is  not 

named  in  our  records  till  Jan.  31,  1747-8. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

206.  I.     James,  Jan.  25,  1740. 

207.  II.     Barnabas,  Oct.  7,  1743. 

208.  III.     Joshua,  Jan.  9,  1747-8,  bap.  Jan.  31,1747-8. 

209.  IV.     Jonathan,  May  25,  1750. 

(119).  George  Lewes,  son  of  Ebenezer  Lewes,  Esq.,  born 
April  5,  1704,  married  Sept.  12,  1737,  Sarah  Thacher  of  Yar- 
mouth. He  resided  in  the  ancient  dwelling-house  of  Ebenezer 
Lewes,  Esq.,  yet  standing.  He  was  a  hard  working,  industrious 
man,  not  distinguished  in  public  life.  His  children  perhaps  in- 
herited that  energy  and  decision  of  character  from  the  mother. 
In  his  time  the  garden  and  grounds  of  Frederick  W.  Crocker,  de- 
ceased, in  front  of  his  house,  was  a  thick  and  almost  impenetra- 
ble swamp.  He  was  called  junior  all  his  life  ;  his  uncle  George 
outlived  him  twelve  years.  In  his  will  dated  July  19,  1757,  he 
names  his  daughters  Anna  Gorham,  Sarah  Loring,  Temperance 
Lewes,  and  Susanna  Lewes,  and  sons  John,  (executor)  George, 
Josiah  and  James  ;  his  wife  Sarah  and  his  father  Ebenezer  Lewes. 
The  inventory  of  his  estate  amounted  to  £284,60,2.  His  widow 
Sarah  died  April  30,  1762. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

210.  I.     Annah,  Dec.  9,  1728,  married  Nathaniel   Gorham  Oct 
3,  1752. 

211.  II.     Thankful,  Jan.  10,  1729,  died  16th  March,  1729. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OP    BARNSTABLE    FABIILIES.       145 

212.  III.  John,  Oct.  5,  1731,  married  Deborah  Phinney  Oct. 
19,  1752,  and  had  David*  Aug.  10,  1753,  (father  of  the 
late  Capt.  William  Lewis,  the  well-known  ship  builder)  ; 
Peter,  June  7,  1756,  David  and  Peter  lived  in  the  old  house  ; 
Ebenezer,  March  30,  1759,  removed  to  Waquoit;  John, 
Aug.  4,  1763,  removed  to  Waqnoit ;  Deborah,  June  4, 
1766,  married  Thomas  Dimmock  ;  Elijah,  March  23,1769, 
removed  to  Boston  ;  Thacher,  May  3,  1772,  removed  to  Fal- 
mouth ;  Joshua,  Dec.  17,  1775. 

213.  IV.     Thankful,  April  6,  1734. 

214.  V.  Sarah,  July  31,  1737,  married  Otis  Loring  Feb.  20, 
1755,  died  June  23,  1785. 

215.  VI.     Temperance,  Aug.  25,  1739,  died  Sept.  4,  1739. 

216.  VII.  George,  April  9,  1741,  married  Mary  Davis  Oct. 
12,  1760.  She  died  Feb.  1782,  aged  41,  and  he  married  2d 
Desire  Parker.  Major  Geo.  Lewis  was  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  family.  He  removed  to  Gorham,  Maine, 
where  he  died  July  24,  1819,  aged  78  years.  (See  No. 
196.) 

217.  VIII.     Temperance,  June  13,  1743,  died  Jan.  4,  1744. 

218.  IX.  Josiah,  April  29,^1745,  (father  of  the  late  Josiah 
Lewis.)  He  was  a  ship-carpenter.  He,  with  others,  dur- 
ing the  Revolution,  got  off  the  British  ship  of  war  Cumber- 
land cast  ashore  at  the  Cape.  In  attempting  to  bring  her 
into  Barnstable  harbor,  she  caught  on  the  tongue  of  the 
Yarmouth  flats  where  she  remained.  The  place  has  since 
been  known  as  the  old  ship. 

219.  X.     Temperance,  Oct.  20,  1747. 

220.  XI.  Susanna,  Sept.  5,  1749,  married  Jonathan  Davis  of 
Barnstable.  She  was  born  a  few  hours  before  midnight 
Sept.  26,  1749  ;  he  a  few  after,  on  the  27th.  He  died  Sept. 
22,  1840,  aged  91  ;  she  died  Sept.  25,  1841,  aged  92. 

221.  XII.  James,  Aug.  1753,  the  youngest  child,  was  drowned 
Oct-  17,  1773. 

(196).  Major  George  Lewis,  son  of  George,  born  April  9, 
1741,'"  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  family.  He 
married  Oct.  12,  1760,  Mary  Davis,  daughter  of  Hon.  Daniel  Da- 


*David  Lewis  and  his  brother  Peter  resided  in  the  ancient  Lewis  house.  He  married 
twice,  and  died  in  a  fit  when  alone  in  bis  house.  He  was  found  in  the  morning  lying  dead 
en  the  floor  of  his  room,  apparently  having  died  ivithout  a  struggle.  Josiah  Lewis,  a 
brother  of  David,  was  a  shipwright,  and  was  killed  by  a  tree  falling  on  him.  His  children 
were  the  late  Josiah  Lewis,  Joseph  Green  Lewis,  Harvey  Lewis,  and  Hannah  Lewis,  wife 
of  Sylvester  Baker.  Josiah  Lewis,  William  Lewis,  and  Joseph  G.  Lewis,  ship  carpenters, 
bought  about  the  yearl742  the  American  ship  Astrea,  cast  away  at  Billingsgate.  They  got 
her  off,  and  in  attempting  to  bring  her  into  Barnstable  to  repair  she  caught  aground  on 
"the  tongue"  of  the  Yarmouth  iiatB,  where  portions  of  her  timbers  remained  more  than 
fifty  years.  • 

[In  Mr.  Otis  notes,  in  his  own  handwriting,  is  the  endorsement  on  the  margin,  "This  is 
not  right."  It  probably  refers  to  the  ship-wrecked  vessel.  It  conflicts  with  the  statement 
made  in  the  paragraph  218,  IX,  but  as  the  editor  has  no  means  of  ascertaining  which  is  cor- 
rect, both  are  allowed  to  stand  for  what  they  are  worth.]  S. 


146       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

vis.  She  died  Feb.  1782,  aged  41,  and  he  married  second  Desire 
Parker,  daughter  of  Samuel  of  West  Barnstable.  He  died  in 
Gorham  July  24,  1819,  aged  78. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

222.  I.     Mehitabel,  July  21,  1762,  married Crocker. 

223.  II.  Lothrop,  Feb.  13,  1764.  Of  Col.  Lothrop  Lewis,  Jo- 
siah  Pierce,  Esq.,  in  his  history  of  Gorham,  says  :  "Prob- 
ably no  Gorham  man  ever  stood  higher  in  the  estimation  of 
bis  fellow-citizens  than  the  Hon.  Lothrop  Lewis.  His  mor- 
als were  pure,  obliging  and  courteous  in  manner,  prudent  in 
words  and  action,  and  distinguished  for  sound  common 
sense.  His  mind  was  not  brilliant,  nor  its  operations  rapid, 
but  clear  and  persevering."  When  young  he  was  much  en- 
gaged in  surveying  lands.  He  was  often  a  referee  in  impor- 
tant and  diflflcult  cases.  He  held  many  civil  and  military 
oflSees,  and  discharged  their  duties  with  fidelity.  He  was 
Colonel  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry.  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
Deputy  Sheriff,  Selectman,  Representative  to  the  General 
Court,  member  of  the  board  of  war  from  1812  to  1815,  and 
land  agent  of  the  State  of  Maine.  He  died  in  Bangor  Oct. 
9,  1822,  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties.  Col. 
Lewis  was  twice  married,  first  to  Tabitha  Longfellow,  by 
whom  he  had  Stephen  L.  1795,  and  Mary  1796.  His  second 
wife  was  Wid.  Mary  J.  Little,  a  daughter  of  Judge  Prescott 
of  Groton,  Mass.,  by  whom  he  had  Annah,  Catharine  and 
Elizabeth. 

224.  III.  Sarah,  Jan.  13,  1766,  married  Capt.  Eben'r  Pea- 
body. 

225.  IV.     Annah,  March  21,  1768,  married  John  Darling. 

226.  V.  James,  Aug.  21,  1770.  Mr.  James  Lewis  was  a  man 
of  ability,  character  and  property.  About  the  year  1803  he 
became  a  convert  to  Methodism,  and  soon  after  an  earnest 
and  zealous  preacher.  His  great  fluency  of  speech,  power- 
ful voice,  and  evident  sincerity,  drew  together  large  audi- 
ences. He  travelled  extensively,  and  when  past  eighty 
years  of  age  visited  his  relatives  at  the  Cape.  To  the  last 
his  physical  and  intellectual  vigor  remained  almost  unim- 
paired. He  died  in  Gorham  Aug.  20,  1855,  aged  85,  highly 
respected  by  men  of  every  shade  of  religious  belief. 

227.  VI.  Ansel,  Feb.  2,  1773.  A  surveyor  of  lumber  in  Port- 
land. 

228.  VII.  George,  March  28,  1775.  He  was  a  farmer  at 
Bridgton,  Me.,  and  major  in  the  militia. 

229.  VIII.     Daniel   Davis,  July   22,  1777.     A  Baptist  clergy- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.        147 

man,  settled  in  Patterson,  N.  J.,  where  he  died  a   few  years 
ago. 

230.  IX.     Mary,  Sept.  29,  1779. 

231.  X.     Robert,      )  twins  Jan.  12,  1782. 

232.  XI.     Abigail,   j  married  Capt.  William  Prentiss  and  was 
the  mother  of  the  distinguished  orator,  Sargent  S.  Prentiss. 

I  have  drawn  out  this  article  to  a  great  length  without  ex- 
hausting my  materials.  To  tell  the  truth  I  got  wearied  before  I 
had  finished,  and  have  not  written  the  latter  part  with  that  care 
that  I  did  the  first,  I  could  not  do  it — it  would  have  occupied  me 
for  a  year,  and  would  have  made  a  volume.  There  were  eleven 
John  Lewis's  born  within  a  century  ;  to  trace  their  families  with- 
out mixing  them  is  a  Herculean  task. 


LINNEL 


"When  I  commenced  writing  the  history  and  genealogies  of 
the  Barnstable  families,  I  was  aware  that  the  arrangement  of  the 
articles  was  objectionable.  They  were  written,  as  newspaper  ar- 
ticles usually  are,  to  be  read,  thrown  aside  and  forgotten.  The 
width  of  the  colnms  of  a  newspaper  in  not  sufficient  for  the  syste- 
matic arrangement  of  the  genealogies  without  a  smaller  type,  or 
many  abbreviations  are  used.  In  regard  to  these  articles,  my 
present  opinion  is,  that  I  shall  at  some  future  time  revise  them 
and  publish  them  in  a  book  form.  If  I  do  this,  I  shall  print  the 
genealogies  and  the  histories  of  the  families  as  separate  articles. 
The  genealogies  few  will  read,  they  are  tables  for  reference,  and 
it  is  important  that  they  be  printed  in  the  best  possible  form  for 
that  purpose.  The  histories  of  the  families,  separated  from  the 
genealogies,  will  be  more  interesting  to  the  reader,  who  takes  no 
special  interest  in  the  family. 

In  the  Linnel  genealogy  I  have  no  special  interest  to  gratify. 
I  have  carefull}'  collected  and  arranged  all  I  could  find  respecting 
the  early  generations  to  No.  31,  after  that  number  only  a  part  of 
the  families  are  given  ;  to  do  otherwise  would  extend  the  article 
to  a  greater  length  than  is  desirable. 

ROBERT    LINNEL. 

Descendants  of  Mr.  Robert  Linnel  born  in  Barnstable. 

1.  Robert  Linnel,  married  2d  Peninah . 

2.  I.     Sarah,  born  1607,   and   married   1,  Thomas  Ewer.     2d, 
Thomas  Lothrop  Dec.  11,  1639. 

3.  II.     David,  1627. 

4.  III.     Hannah,  married  John  Davis  March  15,  1648. 

5.  IV.     Mary,  married  Richard  Childs  Oct.  15,  1649. 

6.  V.     Abigail,  married  Joshua  Lumbard  May  27,  1651. 

7.  VI.     Shubael,  (or  Samuel). 

8.  VII.     Bethia,  bap.  Feb.  7,  1640-1. 

3  David  Linnel,  married  Hannah  Shelley  March  9,  1752-3. 

9.  I.     Samuel,  born  15th  Dec.  1655. 
10.     II.     Elisha,  born  1st  June,  1658. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       149 

11.  III.  Hannah,  loth  Dec.  1660,  married  Dolar  Davis  3d 
Aug.  1681. 

12.  IV.     Mary,  married  John  Sergeant. 

13.  V.     Abigail,  married  Ralph  Jones  17th  March,  1721. 

14.  VI.     Experience,  married  Jabez  Davis  20th  Aug.  1689. 

15.  VII.     Jonathan,  born  1668,  died  Sept.  8,  1726. 

16.  VIII.     John,  born  1671,  died  9th  Feb.  1747. 

17.  IX.  Susannah,  1673,  married  Eben.i  Phinney  14th  Nov. 
1695. 

15  Jonathan  Linnel  of  B.  &  Eastham,   married   Elizabeth, 
born  1667,  died  26th  July,  1723. 

2,  Rebecca. 

18.  I.     David,  28th  Jan.  1693-4.. 

19.  II.     Elizabeth,  17th  April,  '96,  died  May  17,  1714. 

20.  III.     Hannah,  17th  April,  '96,  married Mayo.     ' 

21.  IV.     Abigail,  1st  July,  '99,  married  Samuel  King. 

22.  V.     Jonathan,  4th  Aug.  1701. 

23.  VI.     Thomas,  12th  Oct.  1703. 

24.  VII.     Elisha,  15th  Feb.  1706-7. 

16  John  Linnel  of  Barnstable,   married  Ruth  Davis   1696, 
died  8th  May,  1748. 

25.  I.  Thankful,  12th  Nov.  1696,  married  James  Bearse  12th 
Nov.  1726. 

26.  II.     Samuel,  16th  Nov.  1699,  died  Sept.  12,  1770. 

27.  III.     John,  15th  June,  1702. 

28.  IV.  Bethia,  14th  May,  1704,  married  Augustine  Bearse  3d 
June,  1728. 

29.  V.     Joseph,  12th  June  1707. 

30.  VI.     Hannah,  10th  July,  1709. 

31.  VII.     Jabez,  31st  July,  1711. 

32.  Jonathan  Linnell,  Jr.,  of  Orleans,  had  a  son  Josiah,  father 
of  the  present  Jonathan  L.,  aged  80,  and  other  children,  but 
I  have  no  record  of  the  family. 

23.  Thomas  Linnel  married  and  had  a  family,  but  I  have  no 
copy  of  the  record.     He  had  several  children. 

33.  I.     Jonathan,  born  1720,  died  June  7,  1794. 
34!     II.     Thomas,  born  1731,  died  Aug.  27,  1817. 

26  Samuel  Linnel,  married  Wid.  Hannah  iScudder. 

35.  I.  Elizabeth,  Oct.  8,  1726,  married  Benjamin  Blossom  of 
Sandwich  1750. 

36.  II.  Hannah,  born  1st  Feb.  1728,  married  Simeon  Jones, 
Jr.,  April  4,  1749. 

37.  III.  Abigail,  born  14th  Jan.  1730,  married  Seth  Good- 
speed  March  13,  1753. 

38.  IV.     Samuel,  born  9th  April,  1733. 

39.  V.     John,  10th  Nov.  1735. 

40.  VI.     Bethia,  17th  April,  1744. 


150       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

27  John  Linnel,  married  Mary  Phinney  Oct.  28,  1734. 
29  Joseph  Linnel,  married  Dorcas  Smith  Nov.  26,  1747. 

41.  I.     Levi,  6th  Feb.  1749,  O.  S. 

42.  II.     Thankful,  30th  July,  1750,  0.  S. 

43.  III.     Dorcas,  27th  July,  1752,  O.  S. 

44.  IV.     Lydia,  21st  Feb.  1754,  N.  S. 

45.  V.     Heman,  28th  Jan.  1756. 

46.  VI.     Sarah,  24th  Dec.  1757. 

47.  VIL     Abigail,  11th  March,  1761. 

48.  VIII.     Rebecca,  9th  May,  1763,  died  AprU  29,  1854. 

31  Jabez  Linnel,  married   Sarah  Bacon,  3d,  Nov.  11,    1736, 
2d,  Wid.  Sa.  Sturgis  Sept.  26,  '51,  died  Jan.  31,  '68. 

49.  I.     Mary,  20th  Feb.  1737. 

50.  II.     Deborah,  8th  April,  '39. 
61.     III.     Elisha,  20th  Oct.  '40. 

52.  IV.     Joseph,  6th  Nov.  '43. 

53.  V.     Jean,  16th  March,  '44. 

54.  VI.     John,  28th  Jan.  '48. 

65.     VII.     Susanna,  baptized  12th  Nov.  '52. 

56.  VIII.     Elizabeth,  baptized  Nov.  17,  '54. 
Deborah  married  Nath'l  Allen  Nov.  6,  1759. 
Joseph  married  Susan  Cobb,  Jr.,  11th  March,  1765. 

33   Jona.    Linnel,    Esq.,    of   Orleans,    married   Experience 
Mayo.     2d,  Wid.  Rachel  Smith  Aug.  28,  1730. 

57.  Experience,  married Hickman. 

58.  Thomas. 

59.  Ruth,  married  Joshua  Hopkins. 

60.  Zerviah. 

61.  Uriah,  removed. 

62.  Samuel,  died  aged  94. 

45,  Heman  Linnel  of  Y.  married  Elizabeth . 

63.  I.     Betty,  Feb.  27,  1793. 

64.  II.     Abigail,  Sept.  27,  1790. 

51,  Elisha  Linnel,  married  Mehitable. 

65.  I.     Moses,  1st  June,  1770. 

66.  II.     Jabez,  12th  Aug.  1773. 

67.  III.     John,  25th  Dec.  1775. 

Mr.  Robert  Linnel,  the  ancestor  of  this  family,  came  over  in 
1638,  settled  in  Scituate  that  year,  and  removed  to  Barnstable  on 
the  following.  The  prefix  of  honor  to  his  name  indicates  that  he 
was  a  man  of  some  wealth  and  consideration  in  his  native  land. 
He  brought  a  letter,  certifying  that  he  and  his  wife  had  been  mem- 
bers in  good  standing  in  the  Congregational  Church  in  London, 
and  recommending  them  to  the  church  in  Scituate,  of  which  they 
became  members  Sept.  16,  1638.  Mr.  Lothrop,  in  making  his 
record,  calls  him  "My  Brother  Robert  Linnel,"  subsequently, 
"My  Brother   Linnel;"  and  in  the  record  of   his  son  Thomas's 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       151 

marriage  "Brother  Larnett."  The  use  of  the  pronoun  clearly  in- 
dicates that  they  were  relatives  by  marriage,  and  were  brothers- 
in-law.  The  Probate  Records  also  show  that  several  of  the  first 
settlers  in  Barnstable  were  also  his  relatives. 

Mr.  Linnel  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King  and  of 
fidelity  to  the  Colony  Feb.  1,  1638-9,  and  was  admitted  a  freeman 
on  the  3d  of  December  following.  He  was  one  of  the  grantees  of 
the  lands  at  Sippican  January  1638-9,  and  a  grand  juror  at  the 
June  term  of  the  Court.  His  early  admission  to  the  privileges 
and  to  the  duties  of  a  citizen,  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  good 
character,  and  that  he  had  previously  been  well  known  by  many 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  colony.  What  his  occupation  was  be- 
fore he  came  over,  does  not  appear  ;  but  it  may  safely  be  assumed 
that  a  resident  of  the  city  of  London  was  not  a  farmer,  the  busi* 
ness  to  which  necessity  compelled  him  to  resort  in  his  old  age. 

Mr.  Linnel  was  nearly  sixty  years  of  age  when  he  came  to 
Barnstable.  His  daughter  Sarah  born,  if  the  Custom  House  rec- 
ord is  reliable,  in  1607,  married  in  England  Thomas  Ewer,  and 
came  over  in  1635.  Her  husband  died  in  1638,  and  she  married 
Dec.  11,  1639,  Thomas  Lothrop  of  Barnstable.*  Mr.  Savage 
calls  Sarah  the  daughter  of  William  Larnet  or  Larned,  of  Charles- 
ton. The  spelling  of  the  name  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  record  of  his 
son's  marriage  favors  that  supposition  ;  but  that  is  not  reliable, 
for  no  Barnstable  name  is  found  spelled  in  so  many  different 
forms.  Whether  Linnel  or  Linnet  is  the  better  spelling,  it  is 
difficult  to  determine.  The  latter  is  the  old  and  common  pronun- 
ciation. 

If  Sarah  was  his  daughter,  he  vras  born  as  early  as  1584,  and 
was  too  old  when  he  came  over  to  enter  vigorously  into  the  busi- 
ness of  pioneer  life,  and  his  age  accounts  for  the  quiet,  secluded 
manner  in  which  he  afterwards  lived.  He  died  27th  Feb.  1662-3, 
an  aged  man,  leaving  a  small  estate  to  his  widow  and  children. 

Though  the  expense  of  transporting  his  large  family  to  New 
England  absorbed  a  large  portion  of  his  estate,  yet  in  the  as- 
signment of  the  lands  in  Barnstable,  he  ranked  among  those  who 
were  called  wealthy.  His  houselot  containing  ten  acres  was 
bounded  northerly  by  the  harbor,  easterly  by  the  lot  of  Thomas 
Lumbard,  southerly  by  the  highway,  and  westerly  by  the  home- 
lots  of  William  and  John  Casely.  He  also  owned  three  acres  of 
planting  land  in  the  Common  Field,  three  acres  of  meadow  at 
Sandy  Neck,  nine  at  Scorton,  a  great  lot  containing  sixty  acres, 
and  rights  to  commonage. 

His  wife  that  came  over  with  him  I  think  died  early,  and    his 

*That  a  boy  of  eighteen  should  hare  married  a  widow  aged  32,  having  several  children, 
seems  improbable ;  but  such  is  the  record.  Though  I  have  what  under  ordinary  circfim- 
stances  I  should  call  the  best  of  authority,  yet  I  state  the  whole  matter  doubtfully.  A  link 
in  the  chain  is  wanting.  Mr.  Linnel  in  his  will  names  four  children,  David,  Hannah,  Abi- 
gail and  Betbia,  and  bis  wife  Jemimah. 


152      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF  BAENSTABLE   FAMILIEIS. 

tridow  Jemimab  was  probably  a  second  wife.  This  is  the  opinioB 
of  Mr.  Savage.  There  i»  no  recorded  evideoce  that  Mr.  Linnel 
married  twice  j  bat  a  variety  of  little  circHmstaBces  make  it  qaite 
certaio.  He  had  six  childFea  that  lived  to  matare  age^  and  a 
daughter  Bethiai  baptized  in  Barnstable  Feb.  7,  1640-1.  His 
daughter  was  probably  by  his  last  wife.  There  was  also  a  Shu- 
bael  Linnel  that  I  name  as  his  sod,  a»d  probably  bora  in  this 
eonntry,  though  there  is  no  record  of  hia  birth  either  in  Scitoate 
or  Barastable. 

Mr.  Linnel  died  a  poor  man.  His  sons  bad  been  nursed  in 
the  lap  of  ease,  and  wanted  that  energy  of  character  which  is  in- 
dispensable for  soccess  in  life.  Wealth  ha»  its  laws  which  oper- 
ate as  invariably  and  as  inexorably  as  the  laws  which  govern  the 
natural  world.  The  idle,  the  lazy,  aad  the  improvident  never  can 
be  rich.  The  parent  may  bestow  wealth,  it  is  soon  dissipated — 
little  will  be  inherited  by  the  grandchildren.  The  tax  lists  ex- 
hibit the  folly  of  bequeathing  wealth  to  thriftless  children,  to 
those  who  have  not  been  educated  to  be  temperate,  honest,  indus- 
trious and  frugal.  Of  the  24  families  who  ranked  as  wealthy  and 
paid  the  highest  rate  of  tax  in  Barnstable  in  1703,  only  16,  or 
less  than  one-half  of  the  families  had  maintained  their  relative  po- 
sition in  society  in  1737,  and  only  three  in  1787.  Of  the  fifteen 
solid  men  of  Barnstable  in  1787,  the  grandchildren  of  only  one 
possesses  the  property  of  the  grandfather  unimpaired.  The  gen- 
eral rule  for  the  descent  of  property  is  this ;  one-third  of  the  chil- 
dren maintain  the  position  of  the  father,  one-sixth  of  the  grand- 
children, and  one-ninth  of  the  great-grandchildren.  Examine  any 
tax-list,  you  will  find  that  only  a  small  minority  of  those  who  pay 
the  highest  taxes,  inherited  their  estates — it  is  the  industrious, 
the  frugal  and  the  energetic,  that  keep  the  wheels  of  business 
prosperity  in  motion,  and  the  parent  who  so  educates  his  child 
confers  a  greater  blessing  on  him  than  he  will  to  devise  him  great 
wealth.  However,  life  has  higher  aims,  higher  aspirations,  than 
money  making.  That  is  an  art  that,  like  making  shoes,  may  be 
learned.  The  wealthiest  man  is  not  the  happiest,  nor  the  best 
member  of  society.  He  is  often  racked  by  care,  and  forgets  the 
duties  he  owes  to  his  God,  his  neighbor  and  his  family. 

Mr.  Eobert  Linnel  in  his  will  dated  23d  Jannary,  1662-3, 
gives  to  his  wife  Jemimah  Linnel  the  use  and  improvement  of  his 
house  and  homelot  so  long  as  she  remains  a  widow,  and  his  furni- 
ture, a  ploflf,  a  cart,  and  two  cows  and  a  calf  forever.  Thomas 
Lothrop  deposed  to  the  will  before  Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley,  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  March  12,  1662-3,  and  in  his  testimony  he 
swears  that  the  words  "and  a  ca^^"  were  put  into  the  will  after 
the  decease  of  Mr.  Linnel  on  the  27th  of  Feb.  1662-3.  To  his 
son  David  he  gives  his  lot  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  contain- 
ing  four   acres   adjoining   John  Caseley's  land,   three   acres   of 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       153 

marsh  at  Sandy  Neck,  and  his  house  and  homelot,  including  the 
swamp  he  bought  of  Thomas  Lewes  after  the  death  or  marriage 
of  his  wife.  To  his  daughter  Abigail  three  acres  of  upland  and 
meadow  in  the  common-field,  on  the  north-westerly  side  of  Matta- 
keese  pond.  To  John  Davis  (who  married  his  daughter  Hannah) 
his  two  oxen,  on  condition  that  he  provided  his  wife  with  wood, 
plowed  her  grounds,  and  mowed  her  meadow  two  years,  if  she  re- 
mained a  widow  so  long,  if  not,  then  to  be  free.  To  his  daugh- 
ter Bethia  one  cow,  "to  have  it  when  my  wife  will." 

Oct.  20,  1669,  "Penniah  Linnet"  complained  to  the  Court 
that  David  Linnit  had  possessed  himself  of  the  house  and  land 
given  her  by  her  deceased  husband,  Mr.  Robert  Linnitt,  and  had 
given  her  no  satisfaction  for  the  same.  The  Court  ordered  that 
he  give  her  satisfaction  for  the  same  before  the  next  March  Court, 
otherwise  the  Court  order  that  he  shall  be  disposed  of  the  same. 
As  no  subsequent  action  was  taken  the  presumption  is,  that  David 
did  make  the  required  satisfaction. 

Mr.  Deane  in  his  history  of  Scituate,  page  305,  mis-quotes 
this  record.  He  substitutes  "son  Robert"  for  David,  and  Mr. 
Savage  copies  the  error.  The  unusual  name  Peninah  in  the  Court 
orders  is  probably  a  mistake  of  the  Clerk. 

The  Home  Lot,  dwelling-house,  and  some  articles  of  perso- 
nal estate,  were  apprised  by  Thomas  Lothrop  and  Thos.  Lewis  at 
£,')5,4,6.  He  owed  Mr.  Thomas  Clark  £1,10  shillings,  and  some 
other  small  debts,  and  the  Court  ordered  March  3,  1662-3,  that 
Joseph  Lothrop  and  Nathaniel  Bacon  "bee  helpful  to  the  Widdow 
Linnel  in  seeing  the  debts  payed  either  out  of  the  whole  or  pte  of 
the  estate." 

In  the  will  (evidently  drawn  up  by  one  not  accustomed  to 
framing  legal  instruments)  Mr.  Linnel  only  names  three  of  his 
children,  David,  Abigail  and  Bethia.  He  names  John  Davis  who 
married  his  daughter  Hannah  then  living,  but  does  not  call  her  by 
name.  He  does  not  name  his  daughter  Mary  who  married  Rich- 
ard Childs.  He  names  neither  Shubael  nor  Samuel  Linnel,  both 
of  whom  were  then  living  if  the  names  are  not  confounded,  and 
supposed  to  be  his  sons. 

Mr.  Linnel  had  sold  his  meadow  at  Scorton  and  his  great  lot 
containing  "three  score  acres,"  or  perhaps  he  had  given  the  same 
to  his  other  children  by  deed  as  their  portion,  a  common  practice 
in  those  times,  and  therefore  not  named  in  his  will.  The  ap- 
prisement  of  his  homestead,  &c.,  at  £56.  may  seem  a  low  price. 
Eight  years  before  Thomas  Lumbard  sold  his  homestead  adjoin- 
ing the  Linnels,  and  fully  as  valuable  for  £20.  Very  few  persons 
at  their  time  were  worth  £100  sterling,  or  £500  in  silver  money. 

The  writer  of  fiction  could  hardly  select  a  more  interesting 
subject  on  which  to  employ  his  pen  than  the  history  of  the  Linnel 
family.     He  need  not  plurne  the  wings  of  his  imagination  and  soar 


154       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

into  the  regions  of  romance  for  incidents — the  8ober  records  of  his- 
tory, and  the  traditionary  lore  preserved  in  the  archives  of  memory, 
would  furnish  him  with  ample  materials.  The  story  of  the  courtship 
and  marriage  of  David  Linuei  and  Hannah  Shelly  had  a  romantic 
interest,  and  if  we  could  divest  it  of  some  of  the  homely  phrases, 
which  Puritan  clerks  have  entwined  around  it,  it  would  embody 
quite  as  much  poetic  feeling  as  that  of  John  Alden  and  Priscilla 
Mullins,  whose  loves  are  immortalized  in  the  poem  of  Longfellow. 
Most  fortunately  for  the  genius  and  reputation  of  the  poet,  paper 
and  ink  were  not  so  abundant  when  Priscilla  courted  John,  as  at 
that  later  period  when  David  and  Hannah  loved  and  married.  John 
had  no  fear  of  incurring  the  penalty  of  the  old  law  respecting  the 
"enveagleingof  men's  daughters  and  maids  under  guardians,"  be- 
cause Priscilla  "made  the  motion  of  marriage"  against  which  no 
law  has  been  made  to  this  day.  The  Pilgrim  fathers  enacted, 
"That  if  any  shall  make  any  motion  of  marriage  to  any  man's 
daughter,  or  mayde  servant,  not  haveing  first  obtayned  leave  and 
consent  of  the  parents  or  master  so  to  doe,  shall  be  punished 
either  by  fine  or  corporall  punishment  or  both  at  the  discretions  of 
the  bench."  Under  this  law  David  and  Hannah  were  censured  by 
the  church,  and  condemned  by  the  magistrates  to  suffer  its  penal- 
ties. 

That  most  eccentric  personage,  Rebecca  Blush,  was  also  one 
of  the  Linnel  family.  The  Curiosity  Shop  created  by  the  invent- 
ive genius  of  Dickens  was  an  inattractive  collection  when  com- 
pared with  "Aunt  Beck's  Museum."  This  has  already  been  de- 
scribed, and  the  story  need  not  be  repeated. 

Elisha  Linnel  of  Yarmouth,  a  second  edition  of  Sir  John 
Fallstaflf,  was  of  this  family.  His  eccentricities  and  witty 
sayings  are  remembered.  In  most  of  the  Barnstable  families  the 
characteristic  peculiarities  of  the  ancestor  have  been  transmitted 
down  to  the  present  generation.  This  remark  will  not  apply  to 
the  Linnel  family. 

David  Linnell,  son  of  Robert,  was  able  to  bear  arms  in  1643, 
consequently  was  born  as  early  as  1627.  He  was  married  March 
9,  1652-3,  by  Thomas  Hinckley,  Esq.,  to  Hannah  Shelley,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  Shelley,  and  then  in  the  sixteenth  yfear  of  her 
age.  Our  ancestors  encouraged  early  marriages.  He  who  mar- 
ried at  eighteen  was  admitted  to  all  the  privileges,  and  required 
to  perform  all  the  duties  of  a  citizen  ;  while,  he  that  remained 
single,  had  to  tarry  till  he  was  twenty-four  to  be  enrolled  as  a 
townsman.  At  the  present  time  the  public  policy  on  which  such 
laws  were  based,  is  not  very  apparent.  Our  fathers,  however, 
did  not  act  from  blind  impulse — they  had  reasons  for  acting, — 
reasons  that  were  cogent,  strong,  and  in  their  judgments  conclu- 
sive for  thus  discriminating  ;  some  were  founded  on  the  circum- 
stances and  necessities  of  the  times — some  on  natural  laws,  which 


GENEALOGICAL,   ISTOTES   OF   BAKITSTABLE   FAMILIES.       155 

©ever  change — aever  cease  to  operate.  They  believed  that  on  the 
maa  who  was  the  head  of  a  family,  more'  powerful  incentives 
operate  to  induce  him  to  be  temperate,  industrious,  honest  and 
frugal,  than  on  the  man  who  lives  in  celibacy.  The  married  man, 
if  there  be  a  spark  of  energy  in  his  character,  that  spark  will 
soon  kindle  into  a  flame,  and  he  will  toil  early  and  late,  he  will 
save  what  he  earns  that  he  may  have  a  house  of  his  own— a  place 
that  he  can  call  home— a  freehold  estate  of  which  he  is  both  land- 
lord and  tenant.  Thus  impelled,  toil  is  no  burden — he  forms  hab- 
its of  industry  and  tl\rift,  and  like  other  habits  they  become  a 
second  nature.  Home  and  its  associations  have,  especially  after 
a  day  spent  in  toil,  more  attractions  for  him,  than  the  haunts  of 
vice  and  dissipation — where  evil  communications  would  corrupt 
his  manners,  uproot  and  destroy  those  germs  of  virtue  early  im- 
planted in  the  mind  by  parental  teachings,  and  subsequently  con- 
firmed by  the  harmonizing  influences  of  the  domestic  circle.  The 
young  man  was  bound  to  his  wife,  to  his  children,  to  his  parents, 
to  his  native  town,  to  the  colony.  He  had  no  inducements  to 
wander.  Land  was  wealth — it  cost  little  save  the  labor  of  rescu- 
ing it  from  the  wilderness — building  materials  were  scattered  over 
the  whole  land,  and  industry  soon  converted  them  into  comfort- 
able dwellings.  Families  were  wanted  to  build  up  towns,  and  to 
give  strength  to  the  colony.  Immigration  had  nearly  ceased  in 
1640  ;  few  came  over  during  the  next  century,  and  for  that  reason 
the  population  of  New  England  at  the  commencement  of  the  Eev- 
olutionary  War  was  as  homogenius  a  race,  as  that  of  any  country 
in  the  world. 

In  early  times  a  large  family  was  considered  a  blessing, 
which  the  early  tax  lists  confirm  and  prove.  As  a  class,  those 
who  paid  the  highest  taxes  had  the  largest  families.  It  is  also  a 
noticeable  fact  that  the  men  of  standing,  influence  and  respecta- 
bility, had  numerous  children.  The  reverse,  at  the  present  time, 
is  perhaps  a  nearer  approximation  to  the  truth.* 

Generally  our  fathers  were  unable  to  give  large  dowers  to 
their  daughters.  They  had  land,  and  herds  and  flocks  ;  but  no 
money.  By  common  consent  or  usage,  the  sons  inherited  the 
lands.  Sometimes  an  unmarried  daughter  was  provided  with  a 
home  at  the  old  homestead.  A  goodly  custom  prevailed,  and  in 
the  families  of  many  farmers  has  come  down  to  the  present  time, 
each  girl  of  the  family  was  allowed  to  take  for  her  own,  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  annual  product  of  wool  and  flax.  This  she  spun 
and  wove  with  her  own  hands  into  cloth,  out  of   which   she   made 

*Ill  one  of  the  small  states  or  circles  of  Germany,  pauperism  had  increased  to  such  an 
alarming  extent  as  to  make  it  probable  that  if  some  check  could  not  be  deyised,  the  whole 

Eopulation  would  be  involved  in  a  compaon  ruin.  A  law  was  enacted  that  no  man  should 
ave  a  certificate  to  marry  granted  to  him  until  he  had  first  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
magistrate  that  he  had  the  means  of  supporting  a  family.  The  law  was  rigidly  enforced, 
and  after  the  lapse  of  one  generation  not  a  beggar  was  to  be  found  in  the  State. 


156       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

bedding  and  other  articles  of  comfort  or  convenience,  that  she 
would  need  at  her  marriage.  The  girl  who  coald  exhibit  the 
greatest  number  of  articles  so  made  was  considered  the  likeliest, 
if  not  the  prettiest  Miss  in  the  neighborhood,  and  could  have  her 
choice  among  the  beaux.  This  custom  partially  compensated  for 
the  unequal  mode  in  which  estates  were  divided  in  those  days, 
and  it  had  one  good  effect,  it  put  the  daughters  of  the  poor  and 
the  rich  on    one    common  level. 

David  Linnel  and  Hannah  Shelley  were  "children  of  the 
Barnstable  Church."  In  consequence  of  some  miscarriages  be- 
tween them,  the  particulars  whereof  are  stated  in  the  church  rec- 
ords, they  were  cut  off  from  the  privileges  of  that  relation  May 
30,  1652,  and  for  the  same  offence,  by  order  of  the  Conrt  at 
Plymouth,  both  were  "punished  with  scourges  here  in  Barnstable 
June  8,  1062."  The  town  had  then  been  settled  thirteen  years, 
and  this  was  only  the  fourth*  ease  that  had  required  the  interpo- 
sition of  the  authority  of  the  magistrates.  All  of  them  were 
offences  against  good  morals,  but  no  magistrate  at  the  present 
day  would  feel  called  upon  to  interpose  his  authority  in  similar 
cases.  To  judge  rightly  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  our  ancestors 
allowed  nothing  that  had  the  appearance  of  evil  to  pass  unnoticed 
and  unrebuked.  In  justice  to  the  memory  of  David  Linnel  and 
Hannah  Shelley  I  will  relate  the  circumstances,  though  I  had  in- 
tended not  to  give  the  particulars. 

Mr.  Robert  Linnel  was  aged  and  had  taken  a  second  wife 
that  "knew  not  David,"  and  cared  little  for  his  well-being. 
Robei-t  Shelley  was  an  easy,  good-natured  man,  and  cared  little 
how  the  world  moved.  He  was  however  an  honest  man,  a  good 
neighbor,  and  a  sincere  christian.  His  wife  Judith  Garnet  was, 
before  her  marriage,  a  Boston  woman — a  member  of  the  church 
there,  proud,  tenacious  of  her  own  opinions,  and  had  very  little 
control  over  her  tongue,  which  ran  like  a  whip-saw,  cutting  every- 
thing it  came  in  contact  with. 

In  1648  some  of  the  sisters  of  the  church  held  a  private  meet- 
ing. Mrs.  Judith  was  not  called — she  took  umbrage,  and  vented 
her  spite  in  slandering   the  members  of  the  church.     She  said 

*The  entries  on  the  town  records  do  not  confirm  the  allegations  on  the  colony  and 
church  records.  These  discrepancies,  I  am  aware,  can  be  explamed  perhaps  satisfactorily. 
Though  the  proceedings  were  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  I  think  they  were 
hasty  and  ill  advised,  and  subsequent  events  go  far  to  prove  that  the  actors  were  so  satis- 
fied. It  is  unpleasant,  however,  to  refer  to  these  cases,  but  the  historian  is  not  authorized 
to  manufacture  his  facts.  He  has  no  right  to  skip  over  matters  of  record.  That  they  were 
small  offences,  the  details  on  the  records  show.  The  complaints  were  against  persons  who 
had  no  friends  to  take  an  active  interest  in  their  welfare.  Six  years  afterward,  according  to 
family  tradition,  a  similar  complaint  was  made  against  Hon.  Barnabas  Lothrop  and  Susan- 
na Clarke,  afterwards  his  wife.  Mr.  Lothrop  had  influential  friends  and  was  able  to  defend 
himself.  The  compliant  was  dismissed  and  no  record  made.  The  case  of  David  Linneland 
Hannah  Shelly  was  of  the  same  character.  Hannah's  mother  was  a  bad  woman,  and 
her  father  an  easv  good  natured  man ;  but  the  daughter  was  not  to  be  blamed  for  the  faults 
of  her  parents.    She  was  rather  entitled  to  sympathy. 


GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES.   157 

"Mrs.  Dimmock  was  proud,  and  went  about  telling  lies ;"  that 
Mrs.  Wells  had  done  the  same,  that  Mr.  Lothrop  and  Elder  Cobb 
"did  talk  of  her"  on  a  day  when  they  went  to  visit  Mr.  Huckins, 
who  was  then  sick  at  Mrs.  Well's  house.  She  continued  to  aflSrm 
these  things  "as  confidently  as  if  she  had  a  spirit  of  Revelation." 
Mr.  Lothrop  in  his  record  adds,  "Wee  had  long  patience  towards 
her,  and  used  all  courteous  intreatyes  and  persuations  ;  but  the 
longer  wee  waited,  the  worse  she  was." 

Nothing  like  it  had  before  happened  in  the  settlement.  The 
story  was  soon  known  to  the  old  and  the  young — it  was  discussed 
in  every  circle — it  was  the  standing  topic  of  conversation  for  six 
months.  The  messengers  of  the  church  waited  on  Mrs.  Judith — 
they  could  not  persuade  her  to  acknowledge  her  fault — she  de- 
nounced Mr.  Lothrop  and  all  who  were  sent  to  her,  in  the  most 
severe  terms  of  abuse.  She  could  find  no  one  to  sustain  her — 
never  could  prove  anything,  and  Mr.  Lothrop  adds,  "was  won- 
drous perremtorye  in  all  her  carriages."  She  was  excommunica- 
ted June  4,  1649. 

Hannah  was  then  only  twelve  years  of  age,  a  time  of  life 
when  the  sayings  of  the  mother  make  a  deep  impression  on  the 
mind.  She  had  heard  her  mother  in  a  loud  and  peremptory  tone 
of  voice  slander  the  best  men  and  women  in  the  settlement.  The 
father  was  a  good  natured,  easy  man,  and  did  not  reprove  his 
wife  for  speaking  ill  of  her  neighbors.  Brought  up  under  such 
influences,  is  it  surprising  that  the  daughter  should  sometimes 
speak  inconsiderately,  loosely,  lasciviously?  I  think  not.  I 
think  the  mother  more  blameworthy,  better  meriting  the  scourges 
than  the  daughter. 

David  and  Hannah  were  summoned  to  appear  at  a  meeting 
of  the  church.  They  attended  May  30,  1652,  and  there  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  congregation  confessed  their  fault.  "They 
were  both,  by  the  sentence  and  joint  consent  of  the  church,  pro- 
nounced to  be  cutt  off  from  that  relation  which  they  hadd  former- 
lye  to  the  church  by  virtue  of  their  parents  covenaunt."  The  act- 
ion of  the  church  was  not  objectionable  ;   but  mark  the  date.  May 

30,  1652. 

The  Court  was  held  in  Plymouth  June  3,  1652,  only  four 
days  afterwards.  Mr.  Thomas  Dexter,  Sen'r,  and  John  Chip- 
man  were  the  grand  jurors  from  Barnstable,  and  it  was  their 
duty' to  complain  of  every  violation  of  law  or  of  good  morals  that 
canie  to  their  knowledge.  The  facts  were  notorious  for  it  is  called 
"a  publique  fame"  on  the  church  records.  They  were  probably 
present  when  the  confession  was  made.  There  were  also  several 
others  beside  the  jurors  who  knew  the  facts.  Thus  far  the  pro- 
ceedings were  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of  the  times. 

In  the  list  of  presentments  made  by  the  "Grand  Enquest" 
dated  June  2,  1652,  neither  David  Linnel  nor  Hannah  Shelley  are 


158       GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

indicted  ;  yet,  on  tiie  next  day,  June  3,  1652,  the  Court  condemn 
"both  of  them  to  be  publicly  whipt  at  Barnstable,  where  they 
live,"  and  the  sentence  was  executed  at  Barnstable  five  days  after- 
wards, that  is  on  the  8th  day  of  Juue,  1652. 

These  proceedings  were  in  violation  of  the  form  of  law  ;  the 
accused  were  not  indicted  by  the  grand  jury — they  were  not  heard 
in  their  defence,  do  not  appear  to  have  been  at  Court,  and  were 
condemned  and  punished  for  a  crime  of  which  they  had  not  con- 
fessed themselves  guilty. 

The  conduct  of  John  Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullins  technically 
was  not  in  violation  of  the  law ;  but  it  was  a  violation  of  its  spirit 
and  meaning.  That  they  should  be  glorified  and  their  praises 
sung  by  the  poet,  and  that  David  and  Hannah  should  be  whipped 
at  the  post,  seems  not  to  be  meting  out  equal  and  even  handed 
justice  to  all.  If  the  Court  had  ordered  Mrs.  Judith  to  have  been 
scourged  in  public  she  would  have  enlisted  but  little  sympathy  in 
her  behalf. 

David  Linnel  inherited,  as  already  stated,  the  homestead  of 
his  father.  That  portion  of  it  that  adjoined  the  public  highway 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  owned  in  1686.  He  may  have  owned 
the  north  part  of  it,  and  the  description  of  it  in  his  will  favors 
that  presumption,  and  there  he  built  his  two  story  single  house, 
with  a  leanto.  He  was  not  a  prominent  man,  and  little  is  known 
of  him.  He  delayed  joining  the  qhurch  till  July  1,  1688,  the  year 
before  his  death.  His  wife  did  not  join.  His  will  is  dated  Nov. 
14,  1688,  and  was  proved  March  9th  following.  To  his  sons 
Samuel  and  Elisha,  and  his  daughters  Hannah  Davis,  Mary,  Ex- 
perience, Susanna  and  Abigail,  he  gives  one  shilling  each.  To 
his  sons  Jonathan  and  John  his  dwelling-house  and  housing  and 
all  his  lands,  both  upland  and  marsh,  the  upland  to  be  divided 
lengthwise,  and  his  son  Jonathan  to  have  his  house  and  to  pay 
his  brother  John  one-half  as  much  as  said  house  shall  be  judged 
to  be  worth  by  indifferent  men  ;  and  both  upland  and  marsh  to  be 
equally  divided  for  quantity  and  quality  between  them,  and  to  be 
unto  them,  and  their  heirs  forever."  He  gave  to  his  wife  Hannah 
the  improvement  of  one-third  of  his  lands  and  the  leanto  room  of 
his  house  during  her  widowhood,  and  appoints  her  sole  executrix. 
His  personal  estate  was  apprised  at  £28,6,6.  In  the  apprisement 
corn  and  barley  are  rated  at  1  shilling  6  pence,  or  25  cents  per 
bushel. 

The  will  of  Wid.  Hannah  Linnel  is  dated  Feb.  2,  1708-9,  and 
was  proved  on  the  5th  of  April  following.  She  names  her  daugh- 
ters Abigail  Linnel,  Mary  Sergeant,  wife  of  John,  Experience, 
wife  of  Jabez  Davis,  Susanna,  wife  of  Eben.  Phinney,  and  her 
grand-daughter  Hannah  Davis,  daughter  of  Dollar.  She  signs 
with  her  mark,  and  appoints  John  Phinney,  Jr.,  her  executor. 

Respecting  Shubael   Linnel  little  is  known.     He  is  named  in 


GENRALOGICAIi    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       159 

1667  as  a  guardian  of  the  children  of  the  second  Thomas  Ewer. 
A  Samuel  Linael  of  Barnstable  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Reho- 
beth,  and  as  the  only  Samuel  Linnel  of  Barnstable  in  1776  was 
Samuel,  son  of  David,  and  as  he  is  named  as  living  in  1688  he 
could  not  have  been  the  man  killed  in  1676.  To  reconcile  these 
conflicting  statements  I  have  supposed  that  there  is  an  error  in  the 
records,  that  Shubael,  the  guardian,  is  the  same  person  who  is 
called  Samuel  in  the  returns  of  the  killed  at  Rehobeth  March  26, 
1676. 

Jonathan  Linnel,  son  of  David,  removed  to  Eastham  about 
the  year  1695,  and  is  the  ancestor  of  the  Linnels  of  that  town  and 
Orleans.  He  was  a  respectable  man  and  accumulated  a  good  es- 
tate, though  he  signs  his  will,  proved  Sept.  19,  1726,  with  his 
mark.  He  names  his  wife  Rebecca.  To  his  son  Elisha  he  gave 
land  in  Harwich  bought  of  Sarah  and  Elizabeth  Rogers,  meadow 
near  Hog  Island,  &c.  To  his  son  Jonathan  the  remainder  of  his 
estate  in  Harwich  and  Eastham.  He  names  his  daughter  Abigail 
King.  To  his  daughter  Hannah  Mayo  he  gave  lands  in  Bridge- 
water  and  Middleboro',  purchased  of  Elisha  Mayo.  He  also 
names  his  grand-children  Elizabeth  Mayo  and  Elizabeth  King. 
His  estate  was  apprised  at  £1,466,15,9,  but  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  a  pound  was  then  only  about  a  dollar  in  silver  money. 
A  pair  of  oxen  was  apprised  at  £15,  or  fifteen  silver  dollars. 
This  branch  of  the  family  has  occupied  a  respectable  position  in 
society.  The  late  Jonathan  Linnel,  Esq.,  was  noted  for  his  busi- 
ness capacity  and  his  ready  wit,  which  sparkled  on  all  occasions. 

John  Linnel,  son  of  David,  is  the  ancestor  of  the  Barnstable 
and  Yarmouth  families  of  the  name.  He  married  Ruth,  daughter 
of  John  Davis.  He  was  a  prudent,  industrious  and  respectable 
man.  He  resided  a  part  of  his  life  on  his  farm  in  the  easterly 
part  of  Chequaquet,  now  called  Hyanuis  Port,  and  a  part,  on  the 
John  Davis  estate.  At  his  death  he  owned  and  occupied  the 
house  that  stood  opposite  the  residence  of  Dea.  John  Munroe, 
now  owned  by  Capt.  Foster.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  who  re- 
moved to  vSouth  Sea,  as  the  south  part  of  the  town  was  then 
called.  He  died  Feb.  9,  (7th  town  record)  1747-8,  in  the  78th 
year  of  his  age,  and  his  wife  Ruth  May  8,  1748,  in  the  75th  year 
of  her  age.  Both  have  monuments  to  their  memory  in  the  old 
grave-3'ard. 

In  his  will  dated  Oct.  1,  1737,  proved  7th  July,  1748,  he 
names  his  wife  Ruth  and  his  daughters  Thankful  Bearse,  Bethia 
Bearse  and  Hannah  Linnel.  In  a  codicil  dated  July  5,  1748,  he 
says  his  daughter  Bethia  is  dead.  To  his  daughter  Hannah  he 
gave  his  great  chamber  and  privileges  in  the  house  so  long  as  she 
remained  single.  To  his  son  Samuel  the  southwest  part  of  his 
farm  or  homestead  at  South  Sea,  containing  twenty-one  acres  of 
upland  and  seven  of  meadow  ;  to  his  son  John  the  middle  portion 


160       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

containing  nineteen  acres  of  upland  and  three  acres  of  marsh  ;  to 
his  son  Joseph  the  remaining  or  easterly  part,  containing  eleven 
acres  of  upland  and  three  of  marsh  ;  and  to  his  son  Jabez,  "All 
his  homestead  farm  lands,  meadows,  and  house  wherein  he  then 
dwelt."  His  wife  Ruth  owned  real  estate  in  her  own  right.  Her 
will,  proved  July  5,  1748,  is  witnessed  by  Solomon  Otis,  David 
Crocker  and  Robert  Davis.  She  refers  to  her  sister  Mercy  Da- 
vis, deceased,  and  to  her  unmarried  daughter  Hannah.  She 
owned  land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hyannis  road,  adjoining  Na- 
thaniel Baker's,  formerly  the  property  of  her  father. 

All  of  the  name  in  Barnstable  and  Yarmouth  are  descendants 
of  John,  son  of  David.  Samuel,  the  eldest  son,  married  in  1725 
the  widow  Hannah  Scadder,  and  had  six  children.  John,  the 
second  son,  married  Mary  Phinney  Oct.  24,  1734.  I  find  no  rec- 
ord of  his  family  ;  I  think,  however,  he  was  the  father  of  the 
John  Jr.,  who  married  the  eccentric  Rebecca  Linnel,  afterwards 
the  wife  of  Elisha  Blush,  and  of  whose  museum  I  have  given  a  full 
account  in  a  former  article.  Joseph,  the  third  son,  married  Nov. 
26,  1747,  Dorcas  Smith.  He  removed  to  Yarmouth  in  1755.  He 
had  eight  children.  Heman,  his  fifth  child,  died  at  the  Alms 
House  in  Yarmouth  Feb.  10,  1848,  aged  92.  His  youngest  child, 
Rebecca,  died  April  29,  1854,  aged  91  years. 

Mr.  Jabez  Linnel,  the  youngest  son  of  John,  was  a  respecta- 
ble man.  He  inherited  his  father's  dwelling-house  on  the  Davis 
estate,  afterward  the  property  of  the  late  Hezekiah  Doane.  Mr. 
Jabez  Linnel  married  Nov.  11,  1736,  Sarah  Bacon,  3d,  and  Sept. 
26,  1751,  Mrs.  Sarah  Sturgis.  She  died  Jan.  31,  1768,  aged  54. 
The  eight  children  of  this  family  did  not  maintain  the  respectable 
position  in  society  of  the  parents.  Elisha,  one  of  the  sons,  born 
Oct.  20,  1740,  was  the  laziest  among,  the  lazy,  and  he  took  no 
offence  when  reproved  for  his  slothful  and  vagrant  habits.  If 
such  notoriety  be  an  honor,  Elisha  would  have  undisputed  claim 
to  be  called  the  champion  of  the  lazy.  He  was  courteous  in  his 
address,  had  a  ready  command  of  language,  and  there  was  always 
a  spice  of  humor  in  his  conversation.  He  was  not  a  mean  beg- 
gar, he  would  not  receive  a  mean  gift,  or  one  that  involved  any 
effort  on  his  part.  He  assumed  that  he  had  a  right  to  beg,  and 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  more  wealthy  to  give.  As  illustrations 
of  his  character  and  manner  I  select  the  following  from  many 
amusing  stories  told  of  him  : 

Nearly  sixty  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  child,  Elisha  called  at 
my  father's  house.  Addressing  my  father,  he  said,  "I  have  no 
corn  in  my  house,  I  pray  that,  out  of  your  great  abundance,  you 
will  give  me  only  half  a  bushel."  My  father,  knowing  Elisha's 
character  and  habits,  said, "I  am  busy  to-day,  if  you  will  go  to  the 
crib  and  shell  it  yourself  you  may  take  '■only  half  a  bushel.' " 
Quoth  Elisha,    "I  will  go  a  leetle  further,  and   if   I  do   not  get   it 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BAKN^ITABLE    FAMILIES.       161 

ready  shelled  I  will  call  on  my  return  and  shell  it."  He  did  not 
call  on  his  return. 

This  anecdote  is  often  told,  and  illustrates  his  indolent  hab- 
its. The  following  shows  his  independent  manner  of  soliciting 
charity : 

He  asked  the  late  Capt.  Nathan  Hallet  to  give  him  some  cod- 
Ash.  Capt.  Hallet  had  just  bought  a  quintal  for  his  own  use, 
that  were  sunburnt  in  curing,  and  though  they  would  break  easy, 
and  therefore  unfit  to  send  to  market,  were  nice  and  good.  He 
gave  Elisha  several.  He  knew  that  Capt.  Hallet  was  using  the 
same  in  his  family,  and  he  could  not  refuse  to  receive  them. 
However,  before  leaving  the  yard  he  dropped  them  beside  the 
fence.  Capt.  Hallett  told  the  story.  A  little  time  after  some 
one  asked  Elisha  if  it  was  true.  "Yes,"  said  Elisha,  "it  is  true. 
Do  you  think  I  will  eat  broken  fish  for  Capt.  Hallet?  I  want  the 
best.     I  have  poor  fish  enough  at  home." 

The  physiological  history  of  this  family  is  full  of  interest  to 
the  student.*  None  of  the  Linnels  were  vicious  men.  The  Lin- 
nel  and  the  Shelly  blood,  however,  did  not  amalgamate.  The  l)is- 
tory  of  the  family  develops  two  distinct  races  in  all  its  genera- 
tions. The  pure  blooded  Linnel  is  an  honest  man,  a  good  neigh- 
bor, and  usually  a  sincere  christian.  The  Shellys  are  easy  and 
good  natured  ;  usually  indolent  and  wanting  in  energy  of  charac- 
ter, and  very  rarely  accumulate  wealth.  These  views  may  seem 
out  of  place.  I  think  not,  for  the  habits  and  character  of  the 
men  suggested  them,  and  I  have  simply  followed  the  lead.  Many 
of  the  remarks  are  general,  however,  and  will  apply  to  other 
families. 

*The  English  aristocracy  furnishes  a  good  illustration.  If  none  were  elevated  from  the 
commonalty  to  the  peerage  the  old  families  would  soon  run  out.  It  is  notorious  that  the 
most  gifted  among  the  nobility  were  not  bom  of  noble  hlood.  The  gentle  and  the  plebian 
blood  that  has  been  infused,  is  all  that  gives  vitality  to  the  aristocracy.  Hereditary  scrof- 
ula and  insanity  has  nearly  dstroyed  the  royal  family. 


LOTHROP. 


REV.  JOHN  LOTHROP. 

This  distinguished  man  was  the  12th  child  of  Thomas  Low- 
thropp,  first  of  Cherry  Burton,  and  later  of  Ellen,  Yorkshire, 
England.  Thomas  was  the  son  of  John,  of  Lowthropp,  a  parish 
in  the  East  Riding  of  York. 

I.     Mr.  John  Lothrop  died  8th  Nov.    1653.     Married,  first 

;  she  died  1633.     Second,  Wid.  Ann  Hammond, 

Feb.  17,  1636-7. 

Children  horn  in  England. 

1.  Jane,  bap.  Sept.  29,  1614,  at  Edgerby,  Kent. 

2.  Ann,  b.  Mar.  12,  1616,  died  1619. 

3.  John,  b.  Feb.  22,  1617-18. 

4.  Barbara,  b.  Oct.  1,  1619. 
6.  Thomas,  b.  1621. 

6.  Samuel, died  19th  Feb.  1701. 

7.  Joseph,  b.  1624,  died  1702. 

8.  Benjamin. 

Born   in  Scituate. 

9.  Barnabas,  bap.  6th  June,  1636,  26th  Oct.  1715. 

10.  A  daughter,  1638,  30th  July,  1638. 

Born  in  Barnstable. 

11.  Abigail,  bap.  2d  Nov.  1639. 

12.  Bathshua,  27th  Feb.  1641,  died  Jan.  8,  1723. 

13.  John,  9th  Feb.  1644,  died  18th  Sept.  1727.  • 

14.  A  son,  1649,  born  25th  Jan.  1649. 

Jane  married  Samuel  Fuller  8th  April,  1635. 
Barbara  married  John  Emerson  19th  July,  1638. 
Abigail  married  James  Clark  7th  Oct.  1657. 
Bathshua  married  Alex.  Marsh. 


GENEALOaiCAL    NOTES    OF    BAKISTSTABLE    FAMILIES.       163 

II.  Thomas  Lothrop   married  Wid.  Sarah   Ewer    11th  Dec. 
1639. 

ChMren  born  in  Barnstable 

14.  Mary,  ith  Oct.  16-10. 

15.  Hannah,  18th  Oct.  '42, 

16.  Thomas,  7th  July,  '44. 

17.  Melatiah,  2d  Nov.  '46,  died  6th  Feb.  1711-12. 

18.  Bethia,  23d  July,  '49,  died  10th  July  1697. 

Mary  married   1st  John  Stearns  20th  Nov.   '56.     2d,  Wm. 
French  6th  May,  1659.     3d,  Isaac  Mixer  1684. 
Bethia  married  John  Hinckley  July,  1668. 

III.  Samuel  Lothrop  married  1st  Eliz.  Scudder  28th  Nov. 
1644.     2d,  Abigail ,  1640,  died  aged  over  100. 

Born  in  Barnstable. 

19.  John,  bap.  Boston  7th  Dec.  1645. 

In  New  London. 

20.  Elizabeth. 

21.  Samuel,  1652. 

22.  Israel,  1659. 

23.  Joseph,  1661. 

24.  Ann,  died  19th  Nov.  1745,  and  three  other  daughters. 
Elizabeth  married  Isaac  Eoyce  15th  Dec.  1669. 

Ann  married  Wm.  Heugh. 

IV.  Hon.  Joseph   Lothrop  married  Mary  Ansel  11th  Dec. 
1650.  / 

Born  in  Barnstable. 

25.  A  daughter,  19th  Nov.  1651,  bur'd  20th. 

26.  Joseph,  5th  Dec.  1652,  died  Oct.  1676. 

27.  Mary,  22d  March,  1654. 

28.  Benjamin,  25th  July,  '57. 

29.  Elizabeth,  18th  Sept.  '59. 

30.  John,  28th  Nov.  '61,  died  30th  Dec.  '63. 

31.  Samuel,  17th  March,  '63-4. 

32.  John,  7th  Aug.  '66. 

33.  Barnabas,  24fh  Feb.  1668. 

34.  Hope,  15th  July,  '71,  died  29th  Oct.  1734. 

35.  Thomas,  6th  Jan.  '73,  died  3d  July,  1757. 

36.  Hannah,  23d  Jan.  '75,  died  Ist  Feb.  1680. 
Mary  married Denes. 

Eliz.  married  Thomas  Fuller  29th  Dec.  1680. 


164       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

V.     Benjamin   Lothrop  mavried  Martha  .     Removed 

to  Charleston. 

37.  Martha,  born  3d  Nov.  1652. 

38.  Hannah,  1.5th  Sept.  '55. 

39.  Benjamin,  bap.  5th  Aug.  '60. 

40.  Mary,  9th  June,  '61. 

41.  Sarah,  born  10th  April,  '64,  died  yonng. 

42.  Elizabeth,  bap.  2l8t  May,  '65. 

43.  Eebecea,  born  14th  Nov.  '66. 

44.  Mercy,  17th  Dec.  '70. 

45.  John,  15th  July,  '72,  died  yonng. 

Martha  married  John  Goodwin  2d  Dec.  1669. 

Mary  married  Wm.  Brown  21st  May,  1679. 

Hannah  married  Henry  Swain  2l8t  Aug.  1679. 
VIII.     Hon.  Barnabas  Lothrop  married  1st  Susan  Clark   1st 
Dec.  1658,  died    28th  Sept.  '97.     2d,  Wid.  Abigail  Dudson, 
died  21st  Dec.  1716. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

46.  John,  7th  Oct.  1659,  died  April  1666. 

47.  Abigail,  18th  Dec.  '60. 

48.  Barnabas,  22d  March,  '62-3,  died  11th  Oct.  1732. 

49.  Susanna,  28th  Feb.  64-5. 

50.  John,  1667,  died  23d  Oct.  '95. 

51.  Nathaniel,  23d  Nov.  '69,  died  1700. 

52.  Bathshna,  25th  June, '71. 

53.  Anna,  10th  Aug.  '73. 

54.  Thomas,  7th  March,  74-5,  died  13th  Oct.  '75. 
5$.  Mercy,  27th  June,  '76,  died  3d  July,  '77. 

56.  Sarah. 

57.  Thankful,  26th  May,  '79,  2d  June,  1752. 

58.  James,  bap.  30th  March,  '84,  died  young. 

59.  Samuel,  bap.  14th  June,  '85,  died  young. 
Abigail  married  Thomas  Sturgis,  1680. 
Susanna  married  Capt.  Wm.  Shurtleff. 

Bathsbua  married Freeman. 

Anna  married  Eben.  Lewes  April  1691. 
Sarah  married Skefif. 

Thankful  married  John  Hedge  25th  Jan.  1699-10. 
XII.     Capt.  John   Lothrop  married   1st  Mary  Cole,  Jr.,  3d 
Jan.  1671-2.     2d  Wid.  Hannah  Fuller  9th  Dec.  1698. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

60.  John,  5th  Ang.  1673,  died  1716. 

61.  Mary,  27th  Oct.  '75. 

62.  Martha,  11th  Nov.  '77. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES,       165    * 

63.  Elizabeth,  16th  Sept.  '79. 

64.  James,  3d  Julv,  '81,  died  young. 

65.  Hannah,  13th "March,  '82-3. 

66.  Jonathan,  14th  Nov.  '84,  died  young. 

67.  Barnabas,  22d  Oct.  '86. 

68.  Abigail,  23d  April,  '89. 

69.  Experience,  7th  Jan.  91-2. 

70.  Bathshua,  19th  Dec.  '96. 

71.  Phebe,  Sept.  1701,  by  2d  wife. 

72.  Benjamin,  8th  April,  1704,  by  2d  wife. 
Mary  married  James  Howland  8th  Sept.  1697. 
Elizabeth  married  James  Lewes  Nov.  1698. 
Hannah  married  John  Cobb  25th  Dec.  1707. 
Phebe  married  Elisha  Thacher. 

XVI.  Thomas  Lothrop,  Jr.,  was  living  in  1697. 

XVII.  Melatiah  Lothrop  married  Sarah  Farrah  20th  May, 
1667,  died  23d  May,  1712. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

73.  Thomas,  22d  Aug.  1668. 

74.  Tabitha,  3d  April,  '71. 

75.  Isaac,  23d  June,  '73. 

76.  Joseph,  15th  Dec.  '75,  died  Feb.  11,  1747-8. 

77.  Elizabeth,  23d  Nov.  '77,  died  Feb.  21,  1763. 

78.  lehabod,  20th  June,  '80. 

79.  Shubael,  20th  April,  '82. 

80.  Sarah,  5th  March,  '83-4. 

Tabitha  married  Shubael  Dimmoek  4th  May,  1699. 

Eliza,  married  Hope  Lothrop  17th  Dec.  1696. 

Sarah  married  1st,  Jos.  Huckins  18th  Sept.  1702.     2d,  John 

Troop  14th  Oct.  1708. 
XIX  to  XXIV.     Connecticut  families. 
XXIII.     Jos.  Lothrop,  son  of  Sam'l,  had 

Joseph. 

Barnabas. 

Solomon,  and  four  daughters. 

Solomon  had  one  son  Joseph,  D.  D.,  of  West  Springfield. 
Dr.  Joseph  had  sons  Solomon,  Seth,  Joseph,  Hon.  Samuel,  and 
Dwight.  The  late  Rev.  John  Lothrop,  D.  D.,  of  Boston,  was  also 
descendant  of  Samuel.     [Deane.] 

XXVIII.     Benj.    Lothrop   townsman    1683,    find    no   more 
respecting  him. 

XXXI.     Samuel  Lothrop  married  Hannah  Crocker  1st  July, 
1686. 


*    166       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

81.  Mary,  19th  Oct.  1688. 

82.  Hannah,  11th  Nov.  1690,  died  1751. 

83.  Abigail,  10th  Aug.  '93. 

84.  Benjamin,  16th  April,  '96. 

85.  Joseph,  10th  Nov.  '98. 

86.  Samuel,  28th  April,  1700. 
Mary  married  Daniel  Davis. 
Hannah  died  unmarried  1751. 
Abigail,  single. 

XXXIV.  Hope  Lothrop  married  Eliza.  Lothrop   17th  Dec. 
1696. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstahle,  Falmouth,  and  Sharon,  Ct. 

87.  Benjamin,  18th  Oct.  1697,  died  16th  June,  1758. 

88.  John,  3d  Oct.  '99,  died  Oct.  1752. 

89.  Rebecca,  25th  Nov.  1701. 

90.  Sarah,  31st  Dec.  '03,  died  1731. 

91.  Ebenezer,  1st  May,  '06,  died  Sept.  1752. 

92.  Ichabod,  20th  June,  '08,  died  Oct.  1752. 

93.  Solomon,  10th  Sept.  '10,  died  5th  March,  1758. 

94.  Elizabeth,  20th  Jan.  '12. 

95.  Maltiah,  20th  Feb.  '14,  died  1787. 

96.  Mary,  29th  June,  '16. 

97.  Joseph,  12th  Sept.  '20. 

98.  Hannah,  19th  Nov.  '22. 

XXXV.  Thomas  Lothrop  married  Experience  G-orham  23d 
April,  1697,  died  23d  Dec.  1733.  2d,  Deborah  Loring  3d 
June,  1736. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

99.  A  son,  10th  Jan.  1697-8,  died  3d  Feb.  next. 

100.  Deborah,  21st  April,  '99. 

101.  Mary,  4th  April,  1701. 

102.  James,  9th  Aug.  '03,  died  April  1748. 

103.  Thomas,  8th  July,  '05. 

104.  Ansel,  July,  '07. 

105.  Joseph,  8th  Dec.  '09,  died  1761. 

106.  Seth,  March,  '12. 

107.  John,  bap.  27th  June,  '25. 

108.  Lvdia,  bap.  27th  June,  '25. 

109.  Elizabeth,  bap.  27th  June,  '25. 

110.  Mehitabel,  bap.  27th  June,  '25,  died  Nov.  1764. 

111.  Rebecca,  bap.  27th  June,  '25. 

112.  Ansel,  born  25th  July,  1725. 

Lydia  married  Eben.  Bacon  17th  Jan.  1734. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       167 

Eliza,  married  Thos.  Witherel  of  S.,  14th  Aug.  1738. 

Rebecca  married  Jos.  Hatch  of  ToUend  16th  May,  '34. 
XXXVI  to  XLV.     Charlestowii  families. 
XLVIII.     Barnabas    Lothrop,   Jr.,    married    Eliza.  Hedge 
14th  Nov.  1687,  died  18th  Sept.  1747. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable, 

113.  Mercy,  1st  March  1689,  died  30th  July,  1741. 

114.  Elizabeth,  15th  Sept.  '90,  died  14Ch  Feb.  1768. 

115.  Barnabas,  10th  Nov.  '92,  died  6th  April,  1693. 

116.  Nath'l,  28th  Feb.  '93-4. 

117.  Lemuel,  26th  Dec.  '95. 

118.  Barnabas,  8th  Feb.  '97-8. 

119.  Susannah,  8th  Oct.  '99. 

120.  Thankful,  24th  Sept.  1701. 

121.  Sarah,  22d  AprU,  '3.  .    ' 

122.  Mary,  15th  July,  '5. 

123.  Kembel.  21st  June,  '8,  died  March  29,  1734. 
Elizabeth  married  Henry  March  14th  Dec.  1711. 
Susannah  married  Mr.  John  Sturgis  12th  Nov.  1730. 
Sarah  married  Jeremiah  Howes. 

L.  "John  Lothrop,  ye  son  of  Esq."  Barnabas  Lothrop, 
married  Elizabeth  Green  of  Charlestown.  She  marrried  2d 
Thomas  Crocker  23d  Dec.  1701.  She  died  Aug.  1,  1752, 
aged  89. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

124.  Elizabeth,  3d  Sept.  1692,  died  11th  Nov.  1694. 

125.  Barnabas,  23d  Nov.  1694,  died  11th  Dec.  1714. 

LI.     Nathaniel  Lothrop,  son  of  Esq.  Barnabas,  married  Be- 

thia .     She  married  2d  Robert  Claghorn  6th  Nov. 

1701,  died  Oct.  1731,  aged  about  60. 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

126.  John,  28th  Oct.  1696. 

127.  Hannah,  bap.  21st  April,  1700. 

LX.     John  Lothrop,    (son  of  Capt.  John)  married  Esther 


Children  born  in  Boston. 

128.     Joseph. 

LXVII.  Barna.  Lothrop,  son  Mr.  John,  married  1,  Be- 
thia  Fuller  20th  Feb.  1706,  died  26th  Oct.  '14.  2,  Hannah 
Chipman  25th  Dec.  1718,  died  11th  June,  '48.  3,  Thankful 
Gorham  3d  Feb.  1743-4. 


168       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

129.  John,  25th  Aug.  1709. 

130.  Hannah,  6th  July,  '12. 

131.  Jonathan,  28th  Sept.  '19,  died  9th  Dec.  1784. 

132.  Barnabas,  29th  June,  '21. 

133.  Samuel,  5th  Oct.  '28. 

134.  Mary,  12th  Mar.  '47. 

LXXII.  Benj.  Lothrop,  son  of  Mr.  John,  married  1,  Ex. 
Howland  of  P.  22d  Dec.  1727.  2,  Experience  Bnrsley  30th 
April,  1730. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

135.  Mary,  22d  April,  1731. 

136.  Joseph,  no  date,  died  unmarried. 

137.  Benjamin,  1st  July,  1741,  insane. 

Mary  married  N'at'han  Foster  21st  May,  1753. 
LXXIII.     Thomas  Lothrop,  son  of  Melatiah,  was  living  in 
1711,  aged  43. 

LXXV.     Isaac   Lothrop,  son  of  Melatiah,  married   

, had  : 

138.  Melatiah,  and  probably  others. 

LXXVI.  Hon.  Joseph  Lothrop  married  Abigail  Childs  14th 
Jan.  1695. 

Only  child  born  in  Barnstable. 

139.  Mehitabel,    22d  Oct.  1701,  died   17th  March,   married  Dr. 
John  Eussel  12th  April,  1722. 

LXXTX.  Shubael  Lothrop.  I  find  no  record  of  his  fam- 
ily. 

LXXXIV.  Benjamin  Lothrop  married  Mercy  Baker  26th 
May,  1720. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

140.  Nathaniel,  8th  April,  1723,  died  young. 

141.  Elijah,  18th  Nov.  1724. 

142.  Elizabeth,  bap.  3d  Dec.  1727,  died  young. 

143.  Moley,  bap.  31st  Aug.  1729. 

144.  Elizabeth,  bap.  9th  May,  1731. 

LXXXV.     Joseph  Lothrop  married  Rebecca  Parker  1725. 

145.  Eebecca,  bap.  20th  July,  1729,  died  young. 

146.  Joseph,  bap.  12th  May,  1732. 

The  latter  born  after  the  death  of  the  father. 

LXXXVI.     Samuel  Lothrop  married    Experience  . 

I  find  no  family  on  record. 

CII.     James  Lothrop   married  Patience  Coleman  20th  Jan. 

1732,  died  Feb.  1788. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       169 

Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 

147.  Deborah,  15th  April,  1733. 

148.  Mary,  6th  April,  '35. 

149.  James,  15th  March,  '37. 

150.  Martha,  bap.  21st  June, '41. 

151.  Ebea'r,  bap.  16th  May,  '43. 

152.  David,  bap.  7th  Oct.  '44. 

Deborah  married Turner  of  Plymouth. 

Mary  married  Joseph  Thomas  5th  Dec.  1750. 

Martha  married  Sam'l  Baker  20th  April,  1761. 

James,  the  father,  drowned  at  sea  April  1748. 
cm.     Thomas   Lothrop  married  Deborah  Loring  of  Hiog- 
ham,  3d  June,  1736. 

153.  Thomas,  born  1738. 

The  father  died  early.  His  son,  the  late  Col.  Thomas'  Loth- 
rop of  Cohasset,  had  sons  John,  Peter  and  Anson.  [Deane.]  I 
think,  however,  that  Thomas  CIII  married  Mary  Parker  Sept.  16, 
1736,  and  remained  in  Barnstable. 

CV.     Joseph   Lothrop  married  Deborah   Perkins  of  Plymp- 

ton,  1768. 

154.  Rebecca,  Dec.  20,  1758. 

155.  Deborah,  1760. 

156.  Temperance,  June  17,  '61. 

The  latter  after  the  death  of  the  father. 
CVI.     Seth  Lothrop  married  Mary  Fuller  of  B.llthrAug.l737, 
died  Jan.  16,  '63.     2d,  Mary  Fuller  of  S.,  8th  Aug.  1763. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable. 

167.  Nathaniel,  27th  Dec.  1737. 

158.  Joseph,  1st  May,  1740. 

169.  John,  5th  April,  '45. 

160.  Thankful,  18th  Feb.  '46-7. 

161.  Mary,  24th  March,  '48-9. 

162.  Benjamin,  bap.  1st  July,  '53. 

163.  Seth,  5th  Dec.  '56. 

164.  Thomas,  4th  July,  '62. 

165.  Thankful,  2d  Aug.  '41. 
Mary  married  Edward  Childs. 

CXXVI.  John  Lothrop  married  1,  Hannah  Hadaway,  died 
Aug.  2,  1741.  2,  Thankful  Landers  of  Wareham,  to  which 
town  she  removed  in  1752. 

Children  born  in  Barnstable, 

166.  Hannah,  April  18,  1728, 

167.  Mary,  June  20,  '30. 

168.  Nathaniel,  Sept.  22,  '32. 


170       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES . 

169.  Joseph,  July  10,  '35. 

176.  Lot,  Nov.  17,  '37. 

171.  Barnabas,  Oct.  17,  '40. 

172.  Bethia,  bap.  Oct.  6,  '45. 

173.  Abigail,  bap.  April  12,  '52. 

CXXXI.     Jonathan    Lothrop   married    1,    Mary    Thacher, 
Dec.  12,    1751,  died  May  11,   '61.     2d,  Eunice   Cobb,  June 


27,  1762. 


Children  horn  in  Barnstable. 


174.  Joseph,  (O.  S.)  9th  Oct.  1752. 

175.  Rebecca,  (N.  S.)  29th  Oct.  '55. 

176.  Mercy,  10th  July,  '58. 

177.  Thomas,  9th  April,  '63. 

178.  Jonathan,  13th  Feb.  '66. 

179.  David,  20th  June,  '70. 

CXXXII.     Gen.  Barnabas  Lothrop  married   Mrs.  Thankful 
Gorham  Feb.  3,  1743,  N.  S. 

Oliildren  born  in  Barnstable. 

180.  Hannah,  4th  March,  1745,  Mondav. 

181.  Mary,  12th  March,  '47'  Thursday." 

182.  Barnabas,  27th  Jan.  '49,  Friday. 

183.  Abigail,  8th  April,  '52,  Sunday. 

184.  Isaac,  (N.  S.)  8th  Feb.  '54,  Thursday. 

185.  John,  23d  Nov.  '55. 

186.  Isaac,  6th  Sept.  '57. 

187.  Deborah,  bap.  30th  Dec.  '59. 

188.  Benjamin,  4th  April,  '62. 

189.  Rachel,  5th  May,  '65. 

I  omitted  to  write  the  history  of  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley,  be- 
cause I  did  not  feel  competent  to  do  justice  to  his  memory.  For 
the  same  reason  I  should  have  omitted  a  memoir  of  Rev.  John 
Lothrop,  had  not  a  friend  on  whose  judgment  I  rely,  urged  me  to 
print  the  facts  I  have  collected. 

Of  the  early  life  of  Mr.  Lothrop  little  is  known.  I  have 
been  unable  to  ascertain  the  year  of  his  birth,  the  place  of  his  na- 
tivity, or  the  school  at  which  he  was  educated.  The  Eev.  Dr. 
John  Lothrop,  late  of  Boston,  in  a  memoir  published  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  second  series  of  the  Mass.  Historical  Society's  pub- 
lications, says  that  there  is  "no  doubt  that  Oxford  was  the  place 
of  Mr.  Lothrop's  public  education."  He  refers  to  Wood's 
AtJience  et  Fasti  Oxonienses,  published  in  1691,  as  his  authority. 
Wood  professes  to  record  the  names  of  those  "who  have  been  ad- 
mitted to  one  or  two  academical  degree  or  degrees,  in  the  ancient 
and  most  famous  university  of    Oxford."     He  names   "Mr.  John 


OENEALOmCAL   NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       171 

Lothrop,"  not  however  in  the  list  if  those  educated  at  that  univer- 
sity. Mr.  Savage,  who  has  given  much  attention  to  the  subject, 
and  has  personally  examined  the  records  of  several  of  the  col- 
leges, says  tradition  is  the  authority  for  the  statement  that  Mr. 
Lothrop  was  educated  at  Oxford.  Deane,  in  his  history  of  Scitu- 
ate,  states  that  Mr.  Lothrop  was  educated  at  Oxford.  He  relied 
on  Dr.  Lothrop  as  his  authority,  who  evidently  mistakes  the 
meaning  of  the  passage  in  Wood's  Fasti.* 

The  ancestor  of  the  family  wrote  his  name  John  Lothropp. 
All  his  sons  omitted  the  final  p.  His  son  Samuel  sometimes 
wrote  his  name  Lathrop,  and  many  of  his  descendants  in  Con- 
necticut and  Western  Massachusetts  so  spell  the  name.  In  the 
records  we  find  the  name  written  Lathropp,  Lothrop,  Lathrop, 
Laythrope,  and  Lawthrop.  In  Wood's  Fasti  the  name  is  written 
Lathrop  and  Lowthrope-f  Calamy,  Neal,  Crosley,  Winthrop  and 
Prince,  write  the  name  Lathrop.  The  name  indicates  that  the 
family  belong  to  an  old  English  stock.  La  is  Saxon,  Lo  is  Eng- 
lish, and  both  have  the  same  meaning ;  that  is,  look,  see,  behold, 
observe.  Shakespeare  and  other  old  writers  use  the  word  in  both 
forms.  In  the  Bible  it  is  written  lo,  thus  :  "Lo,  here  is  Christ," 
Matthew  xxiv  ;  "Lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles,"  Acts,  xiii ;  and 
by  Pope,  "Lo,  the  poor  Indian."  Throp  or  thrope  is  the  Saxon 
word  for  village  or  town,  and  the  compound  word  Lothrop  means 
see  the  village.  Surnames  were  originally  discriptive  terms. 
The  first  who  took  the  name  of  Lothrop  probably  resided  at  a 
place  from  whence  sonfe  town  or  %tliage  coul|l  be  seen. 

After  Mr.  Lothrop  had  graduated  from  his  College  he  took 
boly  orders,  and  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Egerton,  in  the 
County  of  Kent,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city  of  London.  He 
was  married  as  early  as  1620,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  had  been 
ordained  at  least  five  years  when  he  renounced  holy  orders,  and 
separated  himself  from  the  church  of  England. 

In  1624  Mr.  Lothrop  removed  to  London,  and  was  chosen 
the  successor  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Jacob,  the  first  pastor  of  the  first 
Independent  or  Congregationalist  Society  in  London.  Wood, 
speaking  of  Mr.  Jacob,  says  he  "was  a  Kentish  man,  born  in 
1563,  entered  a  commoner  in  Saint  Maries  Hall  1579,  aged  16  ; 
took  the  degree  in  arts  and  holy  orders,  and  became  beneflcied  in 
his  own  country,  He  was  a  person  most  excellently  well  read  in 
theological  authors,  but  withal  a  most  zealous  puritan  ;  or,  as  his 
son  Henry  used  to  say,  the  first  Independent  in  England."  The 
historian  adds,  ■'■'■Ilenry  Jacob,  educated  in  the  low  countries 
under  Thomas  Erpenius,  the  famous  critick,  vras  actually  created 

*I  feel  confident,  ufter  a  carefnl  examination  of  the  authorities  on  which  Dr.  Lothrop 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Deane  relied,  that  the  Rev.  John  Lothrop,  of  Barnstable,  was  not  educated 
at  Oxford.    Christ's  College,  Cambridge  was  probably  his  alma  mater. 

fDr.  Lothrop  says  Lathrop.    I  find  the  name  also  written  by  "Wood,  Laythrope. 


172       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Bachelor  of  Arts  by  virtue  of  the  letters  of  the  chancellors  of  the 
university,  written  in  his  behalf.  He  was  soon  after  elected  pro- 
bationer fellow  of  Merton  College,  and  is  hereafter  most  deser- 
vedly to  be  inserted  among  the  writers  in  the  2d  volume  of  thia 
work."     \_AthencB  et  Fasti  Oaxe7i.^ 

He  was  one  of  the  puritans  who  fled  from  the  persecution  of 
Bishop  Bancroft.  At  Leyden.  Mr.  Jacob  conferred  with  Mr. 
Robinson,  and  embraced  his  peculiar  sentiments  of  church  disci- 
pline, since  known  by  the  name  of  Independency.  In  1616  he 
returned  to  England,  and  Mr.  Neal  in  his  history  of  the  Puritans 
infers  that  he  imparted  bis  design  of  setting  up  a  separate  con- 
gregation, like  those  in  Holland,  to  the  most  learned  puritans  of 
those  times,  it  was  not  condemned  as  unlawful,  considering  that 
there  was  no  prospect  of  a  national  reformation.  Mr.  Jacob 
having  summoned  several  of  his  friends  together,  and  obtained 
their  consent  to  unite  in  church  fellowship  for  enjoying  the  ordi- 
nances of  Christ  in  the  purest  manner,  they  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  first  Independent  or  Congregational  church  in  England." 

This  statement  of  Mr.  Neal  is  perhaps  not  historically  exact. 
There  were  Independents  in  England  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Wicklifife.  The  first  Independent  Church  organized  in  England' 
was  that  at  Scrooby,  by  Bradford,  Brewster,  Robinson  and' 
others,  in  1606.  As  this  church  consisted  only  of  a  few  mem- 
bers, and  in  a  few  years  after  its  organization  I'emoved  to  Ley- 
den, perhaps  it  is  not  entitled  to  the  honor  of  being  called  the 
first  in  England  ;  certainly  not  if  permanency  is  considered  ani 
element  in  arriving  at  a  right  conclusion.  Mr.  Neal  knew  the 
history  of  the  Scrooby  church,  yet  did  not  consider  it  entitled  to 
the  honor  of  being  called  the  first.  This  is  an  interesting  fact, 
because  many  of  the  members  of  the  Barnstable  church  had  been 
members  of  the  church  in  Southwalk,  London.  Mr.  Jacob  had' 
resided  some  at  Leyden  prior  to  the  year  1616,  and  was  fa- 
miliar with  the  discipline  and  government  of  Mr.  Robinson's 
church,  and  adopted  its  forms  and  its  covenant  ini  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church  in  London. 

When  in  1620  a  part  of  the  church  at  Leyden  removed  tO' 
Plymouth,  they  carried  with  them  the  old  Scrooby  covenant,  and 
recognized  the  form  of  church  government  adopted  by  the  Inde- 
pendents in  Holland  and  England.  The  famous  compact  drawn 
up  and  signed  on  board  of  the  Mayflower,  called  by  eminent  legis- 
lators the  first  written  constitution,  was  borrowed  from  this  church 
organization  with  some  slight  variations  to  adapt  it  to  their  wants' 
as  a  civil  community.  The  first  church  in  Salem,  in  Charlestown,, 
the  second  in  Boston,  the  Scituate  and  Barnstable  churches,  had 
essentially  the  same  covenant.  Very  few  of  the  first  settlers  of 
the  Massachusetts  Colony  had  belonged  to  Independent  churches 
in  England  or  Holland.     The  large  majority  were  Separatists  or 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       173 

Puritans,  as  nick-named  by  their  opponents.  There  was,  how- 
ever, little  difference  between  them  in  matters  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice. The  Plymouth  people  were  more  Catholic,  more  tolerant  to 
those  who  differed  from  them  in  opinion. 

Neal  thus  describes  the  manner  in  which  the  first  Independ- 
ent Church  was  formed  in  London.  '"Having  observed  a  day  of 
solemn  fasting  and  prayer  for  a  blessing  upon  their  undertaking 
towards  the  close  of  the  solemnity,  each  of  them  made  open  con- 
fession of  his  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  then  standing  to- 
gether they  joined  hands,  and  solemnly  covenanted  with  each 
other  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  to  walk  together  in  all 
God's  ways  and  ordinances,  according  as  he  had  already  revealed, 
or  should  further  make  known  to  them." 

"Mr.  Jacob  was  then  chosen  pastor  by  the  suffrage  oj  the 
brotherhood,  and  others  were  appointed  to  the  office  of  deacons, 
with  fasting  and  prayer,  and  imposition  of  hands."  Mr.  Jacob 
continued  with  his  people  about  eight  years  ;  but  in  the  year  1624, 
being  desirous  to  enlarge  his  usefulness,  he  went  with  their  con- 
sent to  Virginia,  where  he  soon  after  died. 

Upon  the  departure  of  Mr.  Jacob  the  church  chose  Mr.  Loth- 
rop  pastor.  Mr.  Jacob  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  first  Independ- 
ent Church  in  England,  Mr.  Lothrop  the  second.  The  early  wri- 
ters do  not  furnish  an  account  of  the  exercises  at  the  installation 
of  Mr.  Lothrop  ;  but  the  presumption  is  that  he  was  inducted  into 
office  as  Mr.  Jacob  was,  and  as  he  subsequently  was  at  Scituate, 
by  the  election  of  the  brethren,  by  fasting,  by  prayer,  and  by  the 
imposition  of  hands. 

In  the  few  simple  details,  already  given,  we  have  the  history 
of  a  movement  which  has  already  produced  most  remarkable  re- 
sults,— the  leaven  which  is  leavening  the  whole  lump  of  the  chris- 
tian and  the  political  world.  The  essential  principle  of  Indepen- 
dency is,  it  asserts  the  manhood  of  the  race,  that  the  power  is  in 
the  church  and  congregation,  not  in  ministers  nor  in  bishops,  or 
popes,  not  in  kings  or  parliaments,  but  in  the  people.  It  is  es- 
sentially democratic,  and  a  man  cannot  long  be  an  Independent  in 
his  religious  faith  and  not  be  a  republican  in  politics,  an  asserter 
of  the  rights  of  the  people,  in  opposition  to  the  power  of  lords 
spiritual  and  lords  temporal. 

I  am  aware  that  it  may  be  said  that  the  offices  of  the  church 
at  Southwalk,  London,  were  from  necessity  installed  by  the  mem- 
bers thereof,  because  no  churches  or  ministers  could  be  invited  to 
assist,  there  were  none  to  invite.  It  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  this 
to  say  that  in  1635,  when  Mr.  Lothrap  was  ordained  pastor  of 
the  Scituate  church,  there  were  churches  and  ministers  that  might 
have  been  invited,  but  none  were.  The  members  of  the  church 
elected,  ordained  and  installed  its  own  officers,  and  this  funda- 
mental principle   of  Independency  or  Congrfegationalism  is  ac- 


174       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

knowledged  and  acted  upon  to  this  day.  Ministers  and  churches 
by  their  delegates  are  invited  to  assist  at  ordinations,  not  to  or- 
dain,  though  some  careless  writers  speak  of  councils  as  the  or- 
daining power.  Though  Independents  differ  among  themselves  in 
matters  of  faith  and  practice,  especially  the  Baptists  and  Unitari- 
ans, yet  they  all  subscribe  to  these  fundamental  principles,  name- 

That  a  church  should  consist  of  as  many  members  as  can  con- 
veniently meet  together  for  worship. 

That  when  so  met  they  have  power  to  elect  the  officers  of  the 
church  and  install  them. 

JMr.  Lothrop  was  pastor  of  the  London  church  eight  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  learning,  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  tolerant  in 
his  ox)inions,  ever  treating  those  who  differed  from  him  with  kind- 
ness and  respect.  The  subject  of  baptism  vras  the  cause  of  un- 
easiness in  England  and  after  he  came  to  New  England.  While 
the  pastor  of  the  Barnstable  Church  he  published  a  tract  in  Lon- 
don, in  which  he  states  his  own  views  with  clearness,  and  sup- 
ports them  with  much  vigor  of  thought  and  sound  reason.  In 
England  a  member  of  his  church  carried  his  child  to  be  baptized* 
by  the  parish  minister.  Some  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  congregation 
insisted  that  the  child  should  be  re-baptized  because  the  other  ad- 
ministration was  not  valid.  This  opened  the  question,  whether 
or  not  the  parish  churches  of  England  were  true  churches.  Mr. 
Lothrop  and  the  leading  members  of  the  church  acted  discretely, 
and  resolved  not  to  make  any  declaration  on  the  question  at  issue, 
because  if  they  were  to  declare  by  their  vote  that  the  parish 
churches  were  not  true  churches  of  Christ,  it  would  be  inviting 
the  persecution  of  the  Bishops  who  were  waiting  to  find  an  excuse 
for  breaking  up  and  dispersing  this  little  congregation. 

"Upon  this  some  of  the  more  rigid,  and  others  who  were  dis- 
satisfied about  the  lawfulness  of  infant  baptism,  desired  their  dis- 
mission, which  was  granted  to  them  ;  these  set  up  by  themselves, 
and  chose  Mr.  Jessey  their  minister,  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  first  Baptist  congregation  that  I  have  met  in  England.  But 
the  rest  renewed  their  covenant  to  walk  together  in  the  ways  of 
God,  so  far  as  He  had  made  them  known,  or  should  make  them 
known  to  them,  and  to  forsake  all  false  ways.  And  so  steady 
were  they  to  their  vows  that  hardly  an  instance  can  be  produced 
of  one  that  deserted  to  the  church  of  England  by  the  severest  per- 
secutions."    (Neal). 

April  29,  1632,  Mr.  Neal  states  that  Mr.  Lothrop's  congre- 
gation was  discovered  by  Ibmlinson,  the  Bishop's  pursuevant,  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Humphrey  Barnet,  a  Brewer's  clerk  in  Black 
Fryers,  where   forty-two   of  them  were  apprehended,   and  only 

*I  haye  not  a  copy  of  ^eal  to  -which  I  can  turn  to  Terify  the  accuracy  of  this  statement. 
Dr.  Lathrop  uses  the  word  re-baptize,  which  is  not  consistent  with  subsequent  statements. 


tJENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       175 

eighteen  escaped.  Of  those  taken  some  were  confined  in  the 
clink,  others  in  New  Prison  and  the  Gate  House,  where  they  con- 
tinued about  two  years,  and  were  then  released  on  bail,  except 
Mr.  Lothrop,  for  whom  no  favor  could  be  obtained  ;  he  therefore 
petitioned  the  King  (Charles  I,  Archbishop  Laud,  having  re- 
fused every  favor,)  for  liberty  to  depart  from  the  Kingdom, 
which  was  granted."  Mr.  Nathaniel  Morton,  author  of  New  Eng- 
land's Memorial,  was  personally  acquainted  with  •Mr.  Lothrop, 
and  had  a  better  opportunity  to  be  accurately  informed  than  Mr. 
Neal.  Several  of  those  confined  with  Mr.  Lothrop  were  after- 
wards his  neighbors  and  friends,  and  it  would  be  surprising  if  he 
did  not  know  the  exact  facts.  He  says,  "Mr.  Lothrop  was  some 
time  preacher  of  God's  word  at  Egerton,  in  Kent,  from  whence 
he  went  to  London  and  was  chosen  pastor  of  a  church  of  Christ 
there.  He  was  greatly  troubled  and  imprisoned  for  witnessing 
against  the  errors  of  the  times.  During  the  time  of  his  imprison- 
ment his  wife  fell  sick,  of  which  sickness  she  died.  He  procured 
liberty  of  the  Bishop  to  visit  his  wife  before  her  death,  and  com- 
mended her  to  God  in  praj'er,  who  soon  after  gave  up  the  ghost. 
At  his  return  to  prison  his  poor  children,  being  many,  repaired  to 
the  Bishop  to  Lambeth,  and  made  known  unto  him  their  miser- 
able condition  by  reason  of  their  good  father,  his  being  confined  in 
close  durance  ;  who  commiserated  their  condition  so  far  as  to  grant 
him  liberty,  who  soon  after  came  over  into  New  England  and  settled 
some  time  at  the  town  of  Scituate,  and  was  chosen  pastor  of  their 
church,  and  faithfully  dispensed  the  word  of  God  amongst  them. 
And  afterwards,  the  church  dividing,  a  part  whereof  removed  to 
Barnstable,  he  removed  with  them,  and  there  remained  until  his 
death.  He  was  a  man  of  a  humble  and  broken  heart  and  spirit, 
lively  in  dispensation  of  the  word  of  God,  studious  of  peace,  fur- 
nished with  godly  contentment,  willing  to  spend  and  to  be  spent 
for  the  cause  of  Christ.  He  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord  November  8, 
1653  " 

Mr.  Neal,  who  is  usually  accurate  and  reliable,  says  Mr. 
Lothrop  petitioned  King  Charles  for  his  release  and  liberty  to  de- 
part the  Kingdom.  Mr.  Morton  states  that  after  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Lothrop  his  poor  children,  being  many,  repaired  to  the 
Bishop  at  Lambeth,  who  commiserated  their  condition  and  grant- 
ed liberty  to  their  father.  It  may  be  that  Mr.  Lothrop  petitioned 
King  Charles,  and  that  his  children  went  to  the  Bishop  at  Lam- 
beth, but  it  is  not  probable  that  King  Charles  ordered  the  release 
of  Mr.  Lothrop  on  the  condition  that  he  would  depart  the  King- 
dom. 

This  was  in  1634.  The  exact  date  is  not  given,  but  a  near 
approximation  may  be  made  to  it.  Mr.  Lothrop  and  forty-two  of 
the  members  of  his  church  and  congregation  were  arrested  April 
29,  1632,  and  refusing  to  take  the  oath  '■'exofficio"  were  cast  into 


176      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIE8. 

prison,  where  they  remained  about  tvro  years.  The  forty-two 
were  then  released  on  bail ;  but  that  privilege  was  denied  to  Mr. 
Lothrop,  and  he  remained  in  prison  "'two  foil  years,"  that  is  till 
April  29,  1634,  probably  till  May.  About  the  time  the  forty-two 
were  released  his  wife  fell  sick,  and  the  Bishop  permitted  him  tO' 
visit  her.  Very  soon  after  this  visit  she  died,  either  in  April  or 
May,  1634,  leaving  six  children  to  be  taken  care  of  and  supported 
by  Mr.  Lothrop's  friends.  Thomas,  the  eldest  son,  was  then 
thirteen  years  of  age,  and  Benjamin  perhaps  not  over  two.  Jane 
was  older  than  Thomas,  and  perhaps  Barbara  was  also.  Their 
friends  had  willing  hearts,  but  were  oppressed  and  poor,  and  ut- 
terly unable  to  help  the  families  of  all  who  had  been  imprisoned 
by  the  tryanny  of  Archbishop  Laud.  According  to  tradition,  the 
children  for  some  little  time  had  no  home,  and  were  obliged  to 
beg  bread  in  the  streets  of  London.  Their  friends  being  unable 
to  protect  them  and  to  provide  for  their  wants,  sent  them  to  the 
Bishop  of  Lambeth,  who  had  charge  of  Mr.  Lothrop.  He  cotild 
not  resist  this  touching  appeal  to  his  mercy,  granted  their  re- 
quest, and  ordered  the  release  of  the  father.  This  was  in  May  or 
the  beginning  of  June,  1634.  Immediately  after  his  enlargement 
he  made  arrangements  to  come  to  New  England.  The  Griffin 
and  another  ship  arrived  at  Boston  Sept.  18,  1634,  with  about 
two  hundred  passengers,  among  whom  were  Rev.  John  Lothrop 
and  thirty  of  his  followers,  Eev.  Zachariah  Symms,  and  the  fa- 
mous Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson.  Six  weeks  was  an  average  passage 
in  those  times,  consequently  Mr.  Lothrop  left  London  about  Aug. 
1,  1634.  In  the  same  ship  there  came  over  a  copy  of  the  com- 
mission granted  to  the  two  Archbishops  and  ten  others  of  the 
council,  to  regulate  all  plantations. 

The  object  of  this  commission  was  to  embarras  puritan  minis- 
ters desirous  of  coming  to  New  England.  All  passengers  were 
required  to  obtain  a  certificate  from  the  minister  or  the  magis- 
trates of  the  town  in  which  they  resided,  of  their  good  character 
and  conformity  to  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, and  that  they  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  supre- 
macy and  were  no  subsidy  men. 

I  am  aware  that  King  Charles  the  first  made  duplicity  a 
study,  and  practiced  it  when  and  wherever  he  thought  it  would 
subserve  his  interests,  but  his  object  in  1634  in  passing  the  order 
in  council  was  to  prevent  puritan  ministers  from  leaving  England, 
and  it  is  very  improbable  that  he  should  at  the  very  same  time  or- 
der the  release  of  Mr.  Lothrop  on  the  condition  that  he  leave  the 
Kingdom.  I  give  the  statement  of  Mr.  Neal,  and  that  of  Mr. 
Morton.  The  latter  is  undoubtedly  accurate.  It  is  in  conform- 
ity with  tradition,  and  records  preserved  by  one  of  his  grandchildren. 
It  is  in  conformity  with  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Lothrop  himself, 
as  recorded  by  Gov.  Winthrop.     In  October,  1634,  before  his  set- 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       177 

tleraent  in  Scituate,  he  wa8  in  "Boston  upon  a  sacrament  day,  after 
the  sermon,  &c.,  desired  leave  of  the  congregation  to  be  present  at 
the  administration,  &c. ;  but  said  he  durst  not  desire  to  partake  in 
itjbecause  he  was  not  then  in  order,  (being  dismissed  from  his  for- 
mer congregation,)  and  he  thought  it  not  fit  to  be  suddenly  ad- 
mitted into  any  other,  for  example  sake,  and  because  of  the  de- 
ceiptfulness  of  man's  heart." 

In  order  to  take  the  required  oaths,  Mr.  Lothrop  had  to  re- 
nounce his  orders  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  came  to  New  Eng- 
land as  a  private  individual.  Mr.  Anthony  Thacher,  who  had 
been  rector  at  Old  Sarum,  entered  his  name  on  the  lists  April  6, 
1635,  as  a  tailor,  and  many  distinguished  men  who  came  over 
about  that  time  had  to  resort  to  similar  subterfuges  or  take  pas- 
sage in  the  ships  without  having  their  names  entered  on  the  list  of 
passengers.  Mr.  Lothrop  probably  did  not  enter  his  name  be- 
cause he  could  not  take  the  oath  of  conformity.  The  Rev.  Hiram 
Carleton  labored  to  show  that  the  West  Barnstable  church  was  a 
continuation  of  the  first  church  in  London, — that  it  removed  first 
to  Scituate,  then  to  Barnstable.  In  proof  of  that  position  he 
quoted  from  Neal,  Crossley,  and  other  early  writers,  passages 
which  seemed  to  favor  that  supposition  ;  but  the  above  quotation 
from  Winthrop  sets  that  theory  at  rest.  Mr.  Lothrop  himself 
states  that  he  was  dismissed  from  the  church  in  London,  conse- 
quently his  church  did  not  remove,  though  thirty  of  his  followers 
came  over  with  him,  and  some  had  come  previously,  and  many 
came  subsequently  and  were  afterwards  members  of  his  church  in 
Scituate  and  in  Barnstable,  The  church  in  London  was  not 
broken  up  when  Mr.  Lothrop  left,  for  he  states  in  his  records  that 
in  1638  his  brother  Robert  Linnel  and  wife  brought  over  to  him  a 
letter  of  dismission  from  the  church  in  London. 

I  should  be  pleased  to  endorse  the  beautiful  theory  of  Mr. 
Carleton,  but  the  above  facts  prove  conclusively  that  the  Barnsta- 
ble church  is  an  offshoot  of  the  London,  not  the  church  itself. 

No  list  of  the  passengers  that  came  in  the  Griffin  or  the  other 
ship  has  been  preserved.  The  names  of  the  thirty  followers  who 
came  with  Mr.  Lothrop,  and  settled  with  him  at  Scituate,  some  of 
whom  followed  him  to  Barnstable,  it  would  be  pleasant  to  record. 
Many  of  the  thirty  were  women  and  children.  Of  Mr.  Lothrop's 
six  children  three  probably  came  with  him  :  Jane,  his  oldest  child, 
Thomas  and  Barbara.  Jane  must  have  been  a  woman  grown  at 
the  time,  for  she  was  married  to  Samuel  Fuller  April  8,  1635, 
about  six  months  after  her  arrival.  Barbara  was  perhaps  the 
next  older  child,  and  Thomas  was  then  thirteen  years  of  age. 
The  three  other  children,  Joseph,  Samuel  and  Benjamin,  proba- 
bly remained  in  England.  The  younger  children  were  often  left 
behind  till  a  home  was  provided  in  New  England. 

Mr.  Lothrop  was  a  learned  man  ;  but  he  could  not  have   had 


178       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

leisure  to  attend  to  the  systematic  education  of  so  numerous  a 
family,  and  there  are  circumstances  that  indicate  that  a  portion 
of  his  children  were  educated  in  England.  Thomas,  the  elder, 
was  a  good  mathematician  and  a  skilful  surveyor  of  lands. 
Joseph  had  a  good  English  education,  had  read  the  laws,  was  a 
good  conveyancer,  and  a  superior  clerk.  Samuel  associated  with 
the  best  men  in  Connecticut,  and  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of 
learning  and  good  parts.  Of  Benjamin  I  have  no  information. 
Mr.  L.'s  children  born  in  New  England  were  well  instructed,  but 
their  education  does  not  appear  to  have  been  so  thorough.  Bar- 
nabas wrote  an  old  English  hand.  Some  of  the  best  executed 
manuscripts  I  have  seen  were  executed  by  him.  Every  letter 
drawn  in  the  most  approved  style,  carefully  executed,  and  as  eas- 
ily read  as  a  printed  page.  Like  all  who  so  write,  he  executed 
very  slowly,  and  when  compelled  by  circumstances  to  write  rapid- 
ly, he  wrote  a  hand  difficult  to  decipher.  John  was  only  nine  at 
the  death  of  his  father,  he  was  then  in  England  probably  at 
school.  As  he  was  afterwards  a  sea  captain,  he  left  little  from 
which  an  opinion  can  be  safely  drawn  respecting  the  thoroughness 
of  his  education. 

Mr.  Timothy  Hatherly,  one  of  the  merchant  adventurers,  in 
prosperity  and  in  adversity,  was  a  staunch  friend  of  Mr.  Lothrop. 
He  was  honest,  frank  and  truthful ;  and  his  too  confiding  spirit 
led  him  to  believe  that  others  were  like  himself,  till  he  found  by  a 
bitter  experience  that  the  wicked  sometimes  assume  the  cloak  of 
piety.  He  was  one  of  the  Forefathers,  came  to  Plymouth  in  the 
Ann,  had  his  house  burned  at  the  fire  in  1623,  and  returned  to 
England  that  year.  He  came  over  again  in  1631  in  the  ship 
Friendship  as  the  agent  of  his  associates,  and  arrived  in  Boston 
July  14.  After  finishing  his  business  he  returned,  and  the  next 
year  took  passage  in  the  ship  Charles  of  Barnstable,  sailing  April 
10,  1632.  There  is  no  record  that  he  was  a  member  of  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's  church  in  London,  but  the  probability  is  that  he  was,  and 
that  by  leaving  London  early  in  April  he  escaped  imprisonment. 
The  Scituate  church  was  a  reunion  of  "many  who  had  been  in 
covenant  before."  The  church  was  organized  Jan.  8,  1634.  Mr. 
Hatherly  and  his  wife  joined  on  the  next  Sabbath,  Jan.  11. 

He  was  connected  with  all  the  great  financial  transactions  of 
the  Colony.  The  purchase  of  the  ships  Friendship  and  White 
Angel  was  attended  with  great  loss.  Mr.  Isaac  Allerton  was 
then  the  agent  of  the  Colony,  and  Mr.  Hatherly  and  his  associ- 
ates presumed  that  he  was  acting  in  his  official  capacity  ;  but  he 
had  no  authority,  and  the  loss  falling  on  Mr.  Allerton  individu- 
ally he  was  unable  to  respond  for  his  proportion  of  the  loss,  and 
for  other  losses  on  transactions  in  which  he  was  individually  en- 
gaged.    Mr.    Hatherly's   claim    against  him  amounted  to  2000 


■QEiNEALOGIDAL,    NOTES   OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       179 

pounds  sterling,    nearly  all  of  which  was  lost  by  himself  and   the 
other  partners. 

Notwithstanding  his  severe  losses  in  his  efforts  to  promote 
the  common  interests  of  the  colonists,  Mr.  Hatherly  was  ever 
i-eady  to  assist  the  poor  and  the  distressed,  particularly  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  at  Scituate  and  his  beloved  pastor.  ~  Adversity 
binds  men  by  stronger  ties  than  prosperity.  It  awakens  a  sym- 
pathy not  satisfied  with  the  commonplace  words  of  consolation — 
it  opens  the  purse  as  well  as  the  heart. 

In  1634  Independency  had  seen  its  darkest  days  in  England. 
It  had  then  numerous  adherents  among  the  lowly  and  many 
powerful  friends  in  high  places.  King  Charles,  instigated  by 
the  infamous  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had  adopted  ex- 
treme measures  to  crush  non-conformity  ;  but  like  all  extreme 
measures,  their  tendency  was  to  strengthen  what  they  were  in- 
tended to  destroy.  The  mass  of  the  people  held  that  the  King 
had  usurped  power,  in  violation  of  their  reserved  rights  and  those 
of  parliament,  and  felt  justified  in  opposing,  by  all  constitutional 
means,  his  arbitrary  acts. 

John  Lothrop  and  his  followers  were  held  by  the  people  to 
be  martyrs  in  the  cause  of  Independency.  No  persecutions — no 
severity  that  their  enemies  could  inflict,  caused  him,  or  a  solitary 
one  of  his  followers  to  waver — they  submitted  without  a  murmur 
to  loss  of  property,  to  imprisonment  in  loathsome  jails,  and  to  be 
separated  for  two  long  years  from  their  families  and  friends, 
rather  than  to  subscribe  to  the  forms  of  worship  that  Charles  and 
his  bigoted  prelates  vainly  endeavored  to  force  on  their  con- 
sciences,and  compel  them  to  adopt.  No  power  could  thus  compel, 
they  considered  it  far  more  glorious  to  suffer  for  the  cause  of 
Christ  and  his  visible  church  than  to  submit  to  arbitrary  power, 
though  with  submission  came  worldly  wealth  and  temporal  dis- 
tinction. 

From  these  men  three-fourths  of  the  present  inhabitants  of 
Barnstable  descend.  Ought  they  to  be  ashamed  of  their  ances- 
try? Is  there  one  of  them  so  vile  as  to  wish  that  he  could  trace 
his  descent  from  the  chivalry,  the  cavaliers,  or  some  sprigg  of  no- 
bility whose  blood  '-Has  coursed  thro'  scoundrels  ever  since  the 
flood."  If  there  be  such  a  one,  he  had  better  take  the  poet's  ad- 
vice and 

"Go  and  confess  his  family  is  young. 

Nor  own  his  fathers  have  been  fools  so  long." 

But  there  is  another  standpoint  from  which  Mr.  Lothrop  and 
his  followers  appear  more  honorable  as  men — more  lovely  as 
christian  brethren.  They  denounced  Popery  as  the  great  harlot 
of  Babylon ;  but  they  never  denounced  the  doctrines  of  the 
church  of  England  as  anti-christian,  or  asserted  that  the  parish 
churches  were  not  true  churches,  and  that  the  members  thereof 


180      GENEALOGlOAt   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

were  not  true  christians— they  warred  against  the  forms  and  cere- 
monies that  the  English  church  had  borrowed  from  Rome,  against 
its  Bishops  and  Archbishops,  its  prelatical  rule,  and  claim  to  hind 
men's  consciences.  They  contended  that  the  gospel  should  be 
preached  in  its  purity,  as  it  was  in  the  apostolitic  times,  before 
councils  and  synods  and  forged  creeds  by  which  to  bind  men's 
consciences;  that  the  Bible  was  the  only  creed,  and  that  chris- 
tians should  "covenant  with  each  other  in  the  presence  of  Al- 
mighty God,  to  walk  together  in  all  God's  ways  and  ordinances, 
according  as  He  had  already  revealed,  or  should  further  make 
known  unto  them,  and  to  forsake  all  false  ways;"  that  man  was 
hot  responsible  to  his  fellow  man  in  matters  of  conscience,  but  to 
God  alone,  and  that  the  life  is  the  evidence  of  faith,  as  the  fruit 
is  of  the  goodness  of  the  tree. 

The  first  Baptist  church,  as  already  stated,  was  an  offshoot 
from  Mr.  Lothrop's  church.  They  were  then  known  as  ana  bap- 
tists, and  in  England  were  persecuted,  tortured,  imprisoned,  and 
put  to  death.  In  Massachusetts  they  were  also  imprisoned,  put 
in  the  stocks,  whipped,  and  banished  from  the  colony.  Mr. 
Lothrop,  though  he  did  not  sanction  immersion,  never  in  London, 
or  Scituate,  or  Barnstable,  refused  them  christian  fellowship, 
neither  did  any  member  of  his  church.  The  mode  of  baptism  they 
considered  as  non-essential,  respecting  which  no  christian  had  the 
right  to  judge  his  brother. 

When  that  hydra-headed  monster,  Quaker  persecution, 
stalked  through  New  England  Mr.  Lothrop  had  gone  to  his  flnal 
rest.  Had  he  been  living,  he  would  have  stood  side  by  side  with 
the  ancient  members  of  his  church,  Hatherly,  Cudworth,  Isaac 
Robinson,  John  Smith,*  and  many  others  who  had  listened  to  his 
teaching,  and  learned  toleration  in  the  school  of  persecution. 

The  beauty  of  the  system  of  christian  faith  and  practice 
taught  by  Mr.  Lothrop,  commends  itself  to  the  common  sense  of 
mankind.  He  was  a  Calvinist,  but  he  followed  John  Calvin  no 
farther  than  Calvin  followed  the  oracles  of  God.  He  maintained 
not  only  the  independence  of  the  churches,  but  of  the  individual 
members,  asserting  the  manhood  and  equality  of  the  race,  and 
laying  the  foundation  of  the  christian  church  on  its  broadest  Ijasts, 
the  individual  heart. 

Mr.  John  Lothrop,  though  he  received  the  doctrines  of  the 
reformed  churches,  and  adopted  the  forms  of  church  government 
of  the  blessed  John  Robinson,  was  an  independent  thinker.  He 
received  no  doctrine  on  the  faith  of  others,  he  examined  for  him- 
self, decided  for  himself.  Though  bold  and  decided  in  his  denun- 
ciations of  the  arbitrary  acts  of  the  bishops,  he  was  as  meek   as 

*I  regret  that  I  cannot  add  the  name  of  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley ;  but  no  man  more  seri- 
ously regretted  his  own  course  in  after  life  than  he  did.  He  was  not  the  severe  man  that 
his  opponents  represented  him  to  be.    See  "Hinckley"  and  "Cudwortli." 


GENEALOGICAL.    NOTKS    OF    BAKN8TABLE    FAMILIES.       181 

the  lamb  in  reproving  the  faults  of  his  brethren,  and  the  children 
of  his  church. 

Creeds  and  confessions  of  faith  he  rejected.  The  Bible  was 
his  creed.  All  others  he  considered  traps  or  snares,  to  catch  men, 
bind  their  consciences,  make  them  nominal,  not  true  members  of 
the  church  of  Christ.  The  Athanasian  creed  received  by  the  re- 
formed churches  as  the  foundation  of  the  doctrines  taught  in  the 
scripture,  he  did  not  hold  to  be  binding  on  his  conscience.  That 
creed,  approved  and  sanctioned  by  synolds  and  councils  of 
learned  divines,  was  the  handiwork  of  a  fallible  man,  and  as  such 
was  not  to  be  received  as  a  binding  authority. 

Justification  by  faith  was  the  foundation  on  which  he  built 
his  religious  system.  Being  an  independent  thinker,  and  a  plain, 
practicable  man,  he  took  a  common  sense  view  of  religious  truth, 
and  adapted  his  system  to  the  nature  and  wants  of  men.  The 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  and  election  as  taught,  and  as  illus- 
trated by  him  in  his  discipline,  few  will  condemn  as  heretical. 
Faith  he  considered  the  germ  which  produced  the  spiritual  man, 
the  christian.  It  had  a  higher  mission  than  the  salvation  of  the 
individual,  its  influence  saved  others.  In  his  essay  on  Baptism 
he  teaches  that  by  the  faith  of  the  men  who  brought  the  sick  of 
the  palsy  to  Christ,  "the  man  sick  of  the  palsy  was  healed."  In 
his  argument  in  favor  of  infant  baptism,  his  main  reliance  is  on 
the  efficacy  of  faith.  He  says,  "The  faith  of  the  parents  induce 
them  to  carry"  their  infants  to  Christ's  ordinance,  confessing  orig- 
inal sin,  believing  God  is  their  God,  and  the  God  of  their  seed, 
showing  the  need  their  infants  have  of  Christ,  and  so  leading  the 
infant  in  the  house  of  God  to  grow  up  in  his  courts,  at  the  soles 
of  Christ's  feet."  At  the  commencement  of  his  essay  he  also 
teaches  that  baptism  by  water  is  only  symbolic,  that  "they  only 
put  on  Christ  who  are  baptized  by  spirit,"  the  infant  being  inca- 
pable of  acting  for  itself,  and  incapable  of  being  baptized  into  the 
Holy  Spirit,  yet  by  the  baptism  by  water,  becomes  a  participant 
in  the  faith  of  the  parent,  the  promise  being,  "to  them  and  their 
seed,"  and  that  infants  are  of  the  Kingdom,  thro'  the  good  pleas- 
ure of  the  father. 

The  practice  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  was  to  baptize  the  chil- 
dren on  the  Sabbath  next  following  their  birth.  I  have  noted  in- 
stances that  children  born  on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath  were 
carried  two  miles  the  same  day,  and  at  the  most  inclement  season 
of  the  year,  to  be  baptized.  In  recording  the  deaths  of  children 
it  was  also  his  practice  to  note  the  fact,  if  they  died  unbaptized. 
I  infer  from  these  facts  that  he  had  not  entirely  discarded  the 
popular  theology  of  his  times.  He  certainly  believed  and  taught 
that  infants  that  had  received  the  ordinance  of  baptism  were 
saved  ;  but  it  is  not  certain  that  he  held  that  the  unbaptized  in- 
fant in  all  cases  was  saved.     The  logical  inference  to  be  drawn 


182       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

from  his  essay   and  his  practice  is,  that  the  baptized  infant  was 
saved,  the  unbaptized  was  not.* 

Whatever  exceptions  we  may  take  to  Mr.  Lothrop's  theologi- 
cal opinions,  all  must  admit  that  he  was  a  good  and  true  man,  an 
independent  thinker,  and  a  man  who  held  opinions  in  advance  of 
his  times.  Even  in  Massachusetts  a  half  century  has  not  elapsed 
since  his  opinions  on  religious  toleration  have  been  adopted  by 
the  legislature,  accepted  by  the  people,  and  incorporated  into  the 
organic  law  of  the  State.  Respecting  faith  "the  world  will  disa- 
gree." It  is  spiritual  in  its  essence,  seen  only  by  God,  and  He 
alone  is  its  judge,  and  in  His  hands  we  may  safely  commit  its 
keeping.  Legislation  never  did,  never  can  restrain  errors  of 
opinion.  Truth  and  free  discussion  are  the  only  weapons  that 
will  avail,  in  banishing  error  from  the  world. 

Mr.  Lothrop  fearlessly  proclaimed  in  Old  and  in  New  Eng- 
land, the  great  truth  that  man  is  not  responsible  to  his  fellow- 
man  in  matters  of  faith  and  conscience,  a  truth  that  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  religious  and  political  liberty.  Differences  of  opin- 
ion he  tolerated,  he  kindly  reproved  the  wayward,  and  gently 
led  the  lambs  of  his  flocks.  During  the  fourteen  years  that  he 
was  pastor  of  the  Barnstable  church,  such  was  his  influence  over 
the  people  that  the  power  of  the  civil  magistrate  was  not  needed 
to  restrain  crime.  No  pastor  was  ever  more  beloved  by  his 
people,  none  ever  had  a  greater  influence  for  good. 

The  line  to  which  the  power  of  the  magistrate  and  of  the 
church  extends,  is  clearly  defined  in  his  records  of  church  disci- 
pline. It  is  the  acts  of  the  individual  which  makes  him  responsi- 
ble. Business  men  never  rely  on  professions,  why  should  magis- 
trates or  pastors?  The  greatest  sinner  will  assume  to  be  the 
greatest  of  saints,  in  order  to  compass  his  ends.  The  only  safe 
rule  for  all  is,  "by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

To  become  a  member  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  no  applicant 
was  compelled  to  sign  a  creed  or  confession  of  faith ;  he  retained 
his  freedom  ;  he  professed  his  faith  in  God  ;  and  promised  that  it 
should  be  his  constant  endeavor  to  keep  His  commandments,  to 
live  a  pure  life,  and  to  walk  in  love  with  the  brethren. 

On  minor  points  of  doctrine  much  freedom  of  opinion  was 
permitted.  The  subject  of  baptism,  as  already  stated,  was  from 
the  first  a  cause  of  uneasiness  in  the  church.  About  the  year 
1644  Mr.  Lothrop,  or  some  of  his  friends,  published  a  tract  of 
seven  pages,  written  by  him.  I  have  not  seen  the  original.  It 
was  written  in  catechetical  form.  Hanbury,  in  his  work,  furnish- 
es the  following  synopsis.     I  should  much  prefer  an  exact  copy. 

*This  I  belieTe  to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  line  of  argument  adopted  by  Mr.  Lothrop. 
Of  its  soundness  I  express  no  opinion.  The  facts  in  the  case  I  feel  confident  are  these.  The 
kindly  spirit  of  Mr.  Lothrop  rejected  the  horrid  doctrine  of  infant  damnation,  and  to  avoid 
it  he  maintained  that  the  infant  was  saved  by  the  faith  of  the  parent,  and  through  the  good 
leasure  of  the  Father. 


GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       183 

The  head  line  of  the  work  is  "Queries  concerning  Baptism." 
In  his  address  to  the  reader  IMr.  Lothrop  says :  "What  I  have  re- 
ceived by  hearing  and  seeing,  I  desire  to  manifest  in  defence  of 
the  Baptism  and  Form  we  have  received ;  not  being  easily  moved, 
but  as  Christ  shall  more  manifest  himself  ;  which  I  cannot  con- 
ceive to  be  in  the  dipping  the  head,  the  creature  going  in  and  out 
of  the  water.  The  form  of  Baptism  doth  more  or  less  hold  forth 
Christ.  Baptism  declares  Infants  to  be  Virgins ;  the  Supper  de- 
clares Believers  to  be  Sponses." 

Mr.  Lothrop  assumes  that  Infants  are  of  the  Kingdom, 
through  the  father's  good  pleasure  ;  that  they  are  ingredients  of 
the  "many  nations  whom  the  fciaviour  shall  sprinkle;  that  they 
are  of  the  spouse,  or  church,  washed  in  Christ's  blood,  as  were 
those  of  old,  or  the  vines  of  Egypt,  even  of  those  who  were  all 
baptized  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea." 

"Bap^tism,  under  the  Gospel,  is  the  church's  office  ;  done  in 
the  name  of  the  Three,  by  the  power  or  authority  of  Christ :  They 
only  put  on  Christ  who  are  baptized  into  or  unto  Christ,  by  the 
spirit,  not  all  that  are  baptized  by  water.  No  one  is  fully  bap- 
tized without  pouring,  sprinkling  and  washing ;  not  dipping  of 
the  head,  any  more  than  whole  wafers  in  the  supper ;  bread  there 
is,  but  no  breaking,  showing  forth  Christ's  sufferings  ;  so  whole 
rivers  show  not  forth  Christ's  sufferings,  pouring  him  out  like 
water,  besprinkling  all  his  raiment.  As  by  their  faith  who 
brought  him  to  Christ,  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy  was  healed  ;  so 
the  faith  of  the  parents  induceth  them  to  carry  their  Infants  to 
Christ's  ordinance,  confessing  original  sin  ;  believing  God  is  their 
God,  and  the  God  of  their  seed  ;  showing  the  need  their  Infants 
have  of  Christ ;  so  leading  the  infant  in  the  house  of  God,  to 
grow  up  in  his  courts  at  the  soles  of  Christ's  feet.  To  dip  an  in- 
fant, there  is  a  dim  light  of  Christ.  For  a  creature  to  go  in  and 
out  of  the  water  ;  the  dipper  to  dip  down  the  head  ;  is  no  show- 
ing of  Christ  at  all.  Sweating  water  and  blood,  then  was  Christ 
buried  by  baptism  !  Being  under  the  wrath  of  the  Father,  all  his 
waves  were  over  him  ;  there  were  the  elect  buried  with  him,  hav- 
ing communion  with  him  in  his  death ;  when  many  came  afore- 
hand  to  anoint  his  body ;  it  being  manifest  to  believers,  when 
they  are  baptized  by  the  spirit,  dying  unto  sin  and  rising  again 
unto  newness  of  life  ;  but,  when  Christ  was  buried  by  Nicodemus 
in  the  dust,  there  was  no  need  of  showing  forth  that  burial,  nor 
his  resurrection ;  seeing  he  was  seen  after  his  resurrection. 
Christ  died  for  sin,  and  rose  again  for  our  justification  ;  so  be- 
lievers die  to  sin,  and  rise  to  newness  of  life  ;  justifying  them- 
selves to  others,  that  they  are  risen  with  Christ." 

"The  two  seals  under  the  Gospel  are  of  one  nature ;  but 
washing  makes  us  capable  of  eating  ;  so  circumcision  made  them 
capable  of  eating  the  passover.     There,   say  such  as  be  called 


184       GESTEALOGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMIUEg. 

Anabaptists,  why  do  not  children  eat  the  supper?  Children  were 
not  capable  of  eating  the  passover  before  they  were  capable  of  in- 
struction ;  asking  the  parents  what  it  meant ;  so  the  children  of 
the  church  are  not  capable  of  the  supper,  before  they  can  examine 
themselves :  Wherefore  let  such  as  deny  Infant  Baptism,  and  go 
into  the  water,  and  dip  down  the  head,  and  eonie  out,  to  show 
death  and  burial,  take  heed  that  they  take  not  the  name  of  the 
Lord  in  vain  ;  more  especially  such  as  have  received  baptism  in 
their  infancy." 

The  above  is  not  a  specimen  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  style  of  wri- 
ting. It  is  disconnected  passages,  extracted  by  Mr.  Hanbury 
from  the  tract  to  show  the  manner  in  which  Mr.  Lothrop  treated 
the  subject.  Isolated  passages  are  brought  together,  and  there  is 
a  want  of  connection  and  a  want  of  clearness. 

Mr.  Henry  Jessey  was  the  successor  of  Mr.  Lothrop.  In 
1635  Mr.  Neal  says  he  was  invited  to  be  pastor  of  the  congrega- 
tion, this  his  modesty  led  him  to  decline  for  some  time,  but  after 
many  prayers  and  much  consideration  he  accepted  the  invitation 
and  continued  in  this  post  until  his  death.  Soon  after,  the  con- 
troversy respecting  baptism  arose.  After  much  deliberation  he 
changed  his  sentiments.  Palmer  says  ''his  first  conviction  was 
about  the  mode  of  baptism.  Tho'  he  continued  two  or  three 
years  to  baptize  children,  he  did  it  by  immersion.  About  1644 
the  controversy  about  the  subjects  of  baptism  was  revived  in  his 
church,  when  several  of  them  gave  up  infant  baptism,  as  did  Mr. 
J.  himself."  "He  was  in  June,  1645,  baptized  by  Mr.  Hansard 
Knollys." 

It  would  seem  a  matter  of  fair  inference  that  this  little  tract 
of  Mr.  Lothrop's  was  printed  by  some  of  those  members  of  the 
church  who  were  opposed  to  Mr.  Jessey 's  tendencies,  and  those 
of  a  portion  of  the  church  towards  the  I?aptists.  The  expression 
"To  dip  an  infant  there  is  a  dim  light  of  Christ,"  shows  clearly 
that  it  was  written  after  Mr.  Jessey  had  adopted  the  practice  of 
baptizing  infants  by  immersion. 

Antiquarians  have  not  recorded  the  list  of  the  members  of 
Mr.  Lothrop's  church  and  congregation  in  London,  nor  of  the 
forty-one  who  were  imprisoned  with  him  in  1632,  nor  of  the 
"thirty  followers"  who  came  over  with  him  in  1634.  As  this  is  a 
subject  in  which  antiquarians  feel  a  deep  interest,  I  propose  to 
examine  it.  I  do  not  expect  to  arrive  at  a  very  satisfactory  re- 
sult. My  object  is  to  clear  off  irrelavant  matter,  and  endeavor 
to  lay  a  foundation  on  which  future  inquirers  may  safely  build. 

Respecting  the  forty-one,  we  may  from  the  known  facts  safe- 
ly infer  that  they  were  adult  male  members,  and  that  the  eighteen 
who  escaped  were  also  adult  male  members.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  accounts  that  we  have,  or  in  the  circumstances  involved,  that 
militates  against  this  theory.     We  know  that  the  members  of  Mr. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OE    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       185 

Lothrop's  family  were  not  imprisoned.  He  was  the  leader, the  man 
against  whom  the  bishops  had  the  strongest  enmity,  and  if  they 
allowed  his  family  to  go  free,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  families 
of  other  members  were  incarcerated.  As  a  question  of  policy  it 
was  inexpedient ;  it  would  have  been  in  violation  even  of  the 
spirit  of  the  arbitrary  orders  in  council,  and  even  of  the  customs 
prevalent  in  those  intolerant  times.  This  point,  I  think,  may  be 
set  down  as  certain,  that  on  the  29th  day  of  April,  1632,  Mr. 
Lothrop's  church  and  congregation  consisted  of  at  least  sixty 
male  adult  members. 

Of  the  eighteen  that  escaped  from  thepursuevantsof  the  Bishop, 
it  is  probable  that  they  all  came  to  New  England.  It  is  certain  that 
most  of  them  did.  Some  came  to  Plymouth,  some  to  Salem,  and 
others  settled  in  Boston  and  the  adjacent  towns.  As  no  list  of  their 
names  has  been  preserved,  we  cannot  trace  them  with  certainty,  yet 
we  are  in  possession  of  records  from  which  safe  inferences  may  be 
drawn. 

Mr.  Lothrop  arrived  in  Boston  Sept.  18,  1634,  O.  S.,  and  soon 
after  be  and  most,  if  not  all  those  who  came  over  with  him  went  to 
Scituate,  wliere  there  was  a  small  settlement  of  his  old  friends,  who 
welcomed  him  and  invited  him  to  become  their  pastor.  No  perma- 
nent settlement  appears  to  have  been  made  in  Scituate  before  1633  or  4. 
There  is  a  deed  on  record  by  which  it  appears  that  lands  had  been 
enclosed  there  as  early  as  1628.  Mr.  Lothrop  furnishes  a  list  of  the 
houses,  and  gives  the  dates  when  built.  This  is  an  authentic  and 
reliable  document.  He  says  that  when  he  came  to  Scituate  "about 
the  end  of  Sept.  1634,"  only  nine  houses  had  been  erected,  "all 
small  plaine  pallizadoe  Houses."*  Below  I  give  the  list.  The 
dates  immediately  following  each  name  is  the  date  of  admission  to 
the  Scituate  Church. 

In  the  preceding  genealogy  it  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  his 
deposition,  dated  April  4,  1701,  that  Thomas  Lothrop  was  born  in 
1621.  In  that  paper  he  states  that  he  is  "about  80  years  of  age," 
and  that  he  is  a  son  of  Mr.  Lothrop.  The  latter  in  his  will  calls 
Thomas  his  "eldest  son,"  and  from  the  general  expression  in  the 
will  I  inferred  that  he  was  his  first  born,  and  that  1621  was  the  true 
date  of  birth.  From  these  I  inferred  that  Mr.  Lothrop  was  married 
in  1620,  and  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Edgerton  in  Kent,  as  early  as 
1619.  ♦ 

That  deposition  is  seemingly  good  authority,  though  it  involves 
some  conclusions  hard  to  be  believed,  one  of  which  I  have  named  in 
this  and  former  papers,  namely,  that  on  the  11th  of  Dec.  1639, 
Thomas  Lothrop,  a  boy  of  eighteen  summers,  married   Sarah  Ewer, 


*The  pailisade  house  was  not  the  building  known  as  a  log  houBe.  Two  parallel  rows  of 
holes,  about  four  inches  apart,  were  bored  into  the  sills,  and  corresponding  ones  into  the 
plates  of  ihe  building.  Into  these  small  poles  were  inserted,  and  the  space  between  filled 
with  stones  and  clay.    It  thus  appears  that  no  framed  houses  had  then  been  put  up. 


186       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

a  widow  aged  32,  and  having  at  least  four  children  then  living,  and 
that  his  sister  Jane  maiTied  Samuel  Fuller  at  the  tender  age  of  12  or 
13  years. 

A  careful  re-examination  of  the  direct  and  collateral  testimony 
leads  to  the  following  conclusions  :  That  Mr.  Lothrop  wag  an  older 
man  than  I  had  supposed  him  to  be,  born  as  early  as  1590,  probably 
settled  at  Edgerton  in  1615,  and  married  as  early  as  1616.  This 
view  explains  some  matters  otherwise  involved  in  doubt,  and  under- 
mines the  foundation  on  which  rests  the  evidence  of  the  early  mar- 
riages of  some  of  his  children. 

Mr.  Deane  states  that  the  leading  men  among  the  first  settlers 
of  Scituate  came  from  the  city  of  London,  and  the  adjoining  county 
of  Kent ;  that  the  principal  street  in  the  town  on  which  they  built 
their  dwellings  was  called  Kent  street,  and  that  the  men  themselves 
were  called  "the  men  of  Kent"  to  distinguish  them  from  the  settlers 
who  came  from  other  parts  oi  England.  These  facts  are  well  estab- 
lished by  tradition  and  by  records,  and  are  confirmed  by  subsequent 
investigations  of  the  individual  histories  of  the  men.  A  few  were 
farmers,  or  planters,  as  they  were  called  after  their  arrival ;  but  the 
majority  were  mechanics  and  tradesmen.  Nearly  all  of  them  were 
well  informed,  intelligent  men.  A  few  only  were  rich  in  this 
world's  goods  ;  but  all  had  laid  up  ti-easures  where  "neither  moth 
nor  rust  doth  consume." 

It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Lothrop  immediately  after  he  had 
"renounced  holy  orders  in  the  church,"  went  to  London.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  known  to  the  Independents  scattered  through  the 
county  of  Kent,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  had  preached  occasionally 
to  little  congregations  in  most  of  the  towns.  His  church  and  con- 
gregation in  London  were  not  probably  all  residents  in  that  city,  but 
in  the  neighboring  towns  and  villages.  In  those  early  times  men, 
and  even  delicate  women,  thought  it  no  cross,  but  a  "blessed  privi- 
lege" to  walk  ten  or  fifteen  miles  in  the  morning  to  attend  meeting 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  return  in  the  evening.  In  the  mild  season  of 
the  year  they  took  their  stockings  and  shoes  in  their  hands,  to  be 
put  on  when  they  arrived  near  the  meeting  house,  and  removed  again 
on  their  return.  This  custom  they  brought  with  them  to  New  Eng- 
land, and  in  many  of  the  country  towns  it  was  continued  to  a  period 
within  the  memory  of  many  now  living. 

Some  of  them  came  over  soon  after  Mr.  Lothrop  went  to  Lon- 
don in  1624,  and  settled  in  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts.  Mr. 
Lothrop  went  to  Scituate,  where  nine  families  of  his  friends  had 
settled.  Many  of  those  who  had  settled  in  other  parts  of  the  Colony 
sold  out  soon  after  and  removed  to  Scituate,  to  enjoy  the  preaching 
of  their  old  pastor.  Many  came  over  from  Sandwich  in  1635  and 
settled  at  Scituate.  We  here  see  the  cause  of  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  town  in  1635  and  6,  and  the  reason  why  the  place  soon  became 
"too  straite  for  their  accommodation." 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       187 

The  towns  in  New  Plymouth  were  settled  by  churches.  The 
pastor  was  the  master-spirit  to  whom  all  looked  for  direction  in  tem- 
poral, as  well  as  in  spiritual  affairs.  Our  fathers  were  hopeful  in 
regard  to  the  future.  They  hoped  to  build  up  a  State  in  which  re- 
ligion would  be  the  hand-maid  of  science,  of  virtue  and  free  govern- 
ment. Their  theory  of  church  discipline,  that  all  power  originates 
in  the  consent  of  the  individual,  they  designed  to  engrafi)  into  their 
political  institutions.  They  hoped  that  all  would  be  church  mem- 
bers, all  freeman,  and  all  have  equal  political  rights.  To  reduce 
this  theory  to  practice,  the  leading  minds  in  the  Colony  labored  in- 
cessantly. They  seemed  to  forget  that  men  have  to  deal  with  the 
actual,  with  what  is,  not  with  what  they  would  have.  Men  cannot 
control  the  circumstances  by  which  they  are  surrounded.  If  relia- 
ious  liberty  had  been  the  only  motive  that  induced  men  to  come  to 
New  England,  and  if  only  such  men  as  Lothrop,  Brewster,  and 
Hatherly,  had  come  over,  there  would  have  been  less  difficulty  in 
realizing  the  fondly  cherished  hopes  of  our  ancestors.  The  fisheries 
annually  attracted  thousands  of  men  to  the  coast,  and  many  deserted 
from  the  vessels  and  sought  refuge  in  the  Colonies.  Trading  ves- 
sels annually  visited  the  Colonies,  bringing  passengers  who  had  led 
scandalous  lives  at  home.  Though  not  wanted,  an  asylum  could  not 
be  denied  to  deserters  or  passengers,  and  they  found  employment  at 
first  as  servants  and  afterwards  became  townsmen  and  freeholders, 
and  to  these  the  freeman  were  soon  obliged  to  yield  a  share  of  politi- 
cal power. 

Mr.  Lothrop  found  nine  families  at  Scituate,  friends  that  he  had 
known  in  England.  They  had,  Sept.  30,  1634,  built  nine  ^'■palUzado 
houses,"  as  temporary  residences,  to  be  replaced  by  more  substantial 
ones  when  they  had  the  time  and  means.  From  the  time  Mr.  Loth- 
rop came  to  October,  a  period  of  two  years,  there  were  thirty-one 
houses  built,  and  in  1637  nine,  making  the  whole  number  of  dwell- 
ing houses  fifty-six.  The  Meeting  House  was  finished  and  dedicated 
Nov.  10  and  11,  1636. 

To  Mr.  Lothrop's  list  of  the  houses  I  add  the  dates,  if  known, 
when  the  builders  came  over,  and  the  dates  of  their  joining  his 
church.  The  serial  numbers  indicate  the^order  in  which  the  houses 
were  built,  the  date  next  following  each  name,  the  time  when  the 
party  came  over,  and  the  last,  the  time  when  he  joined  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's church.  In  order  to  compress  as  much  information  as  I  can 
into  each  line,  the  following  abbreviations  are  used  :  K,  signifies 
Kent,  or  County  of  Kent ;  L,  London  ;  S,  Scituate  ;  B,  Barnsta- 
ble ;  Grd.  Goodman  ;  an  interrogation  point  means  doubtful. 

"The    Houses  in  ye   plantation   of  Scituate  att  my  Comeing 
hither,  onely  these  wch  was  aboute  the  end  of  Sept.  1634, — all  wch 
small  plaine  pallizadoe  Houses." 
1,  Mr.  Hatherlyes,  1623  &  1632,  L.,  Jan.  11,  1634-5,  S. 


188       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES, 

2,  Mr.   Cudworthes,  a  1632,    L.,    Jan.    18,    1634-5,    B.   S.     Sold 
(1636)  to  Gd.  Ensigne, S. 

3,  Mr.  GillsoDs,  a  1632,  K.?  Jan.  8,  1634-5,  S. 

4,  Gd.  Anniballs,  1623,—  Jan.  8,  1634-5,  B. 

6,  Gd.  Rowlyes,  1632,  K.  ?  Jan.  8,  1634-5,  B.      (See  No.  23.     No 
record  of  sale.) 

6,  Gd.  Turners,  1628,  K.?  Jan.  8,  1634-5,  S.     Sold  (1636)  to  Gd. 
Jackson,  a  1634,  K.  ?  Feb.  25,  1637-8,  B. 

7,  Gd.  Cobbes,    (see  32),  1632,  K.  Jan.  8,  1634-5,  B.     Sold,    Ist, 
Gd.  Eowlye,  2d,  Wid.  Vinal. 

8,  Gd.  Hewes,  1632,  Wales, S.     Sold    (1636)  Gd.   Cooper, 

a  1632  K.? B. 

9,  Edward   Fosters,  1632,   L.  ?    Jan.   8,    1634-5,    S.     "Since   my 
comeing  to  Octo.  1636." 

10,  My  Honse,  Sept.  18.  1634,  L.,  Jan.  8,  1634-5,  B. 

11,  Gd.    Foxwells,    (see    50)    1630,  —  Jan.  8,1634-5,    B.     Sold 
(1636)  to  Henry  Bourne,  a  1634,  —  Jan.  25,  1634-6,  B. 

12,  Samuel   House,   Sept.    18,    1834,    L.,    Jan.    8,  1634-5,   B.   & 
S. 

13,  Gd.  Chittenden's,  1635,  K.  Feb.  12,  1636-7,  S. 

14,  Gd.  Lumber's,    (see  27)   1630,  L.?   Ap.    19,    1635,    B.     Sold 
(1636)  to  Gd.  Winter,  a  1634,  L.  Ap.  9,  1637,  S. 

15,  My  Sonns,  son-iu-law    Sam'l   Fuller,  1620,    Leyden    Nov.    7, 
1636,  B. 

16,  Gd.  Haites,  1635,  K.  Ap.  19,  1635,  S.     Sold    (1636),  to  Mr. 
Bower. 

17,  Gd.  Hatches,  1635,  K. S. 

18,  Gd.  Lewice,    Senior,  a    1634,  —  B.     Sold   to  Gd.  Dorkins?  a 
1634,  —  probably  Thos.  Dimick,  B. 

19,  Goody  Hinckley,  1635,  K.         B. 

20,  Mr.  Tilden,  a  1628,  K. S. 

21,  *  *  *     The    Smiths,  Gd.    Hoit's    brother, 

S. 

22,  Gd.  Lewice,  Junior,  a  1635,  K. S. 

23,  Gd.  Rowleyes  new  house,  on  his  lot,  —  See  No.  5,  — 

24,  Mr.  Vassels,  1630,  L.  Nov.  28,  1636,  S. 

25,  Gd.  Stockbridge,  ve  wheeler,  1635,  L.         S. 

26,  Gd.  Stedmans,  1635,  L.  July  17,  1636,  S. 

27,  Gd.  Lumber's,  uppon  his  lot,  1630,  see  No.  14,  — 

28,  Meeting  House, see  above  — 

29,  Isaac  Robinson's,  1629,  Leyden  Nov.  7,  1636,  B.     Sold  (1637) 
to  Gd.  Twisden. 

30,  Mr.  Cudworth's  house  on  his  lott,  1632,  L.  ?  see  No.  2,  — 

31,  Brother  Turners,  on  his  lott,  1628,  —  see  No.  6,  — 

32,  Brother  Cobb's,  on  his  lott    1632,  —  see  No.  7,  — 

33,  Gd.  Hewes,  on  his  lott,  1634,  —  see  No.  8,  — 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       189 

34,  Gd.  Lewice,  on  his  lott,  1632,  —  see  No.  18,  —     bold  to  Gd. 
Williams— 1632,  K.? S. 

35,  Gd.  Lewice,  Junior,  his  new  house,  1635,  see  No.  18,  — 

36,  Gd.  Kenrick's,  a  1634,  K.  Ap.  9,  1637,  S. 

37,  Mr.  Besbetcli,  1635,  K.  Ap.  30,  1637,  S. 

38,  The  young  master,  Edward  Fitsranriolphs,  a  1634,  K.?May  14, 
1737,  B.     bold  to  Gd.  ISyllice,  a  1634,  K.?  Dec.  24,  1637,  S. 

39,  Robert  bihelieyes,  1632,  K.?     May  14,  1637,  B. 

40,  John  Hanmers, S.       bold  to  Gid.  H. 

41,  Henry  Ewells,  1635,  K.  Ap.  3,  1636,  B.     Sold  toGd.  Merritt, 
a  1628,  S. 

42,  Mr.  Hatches  new  House, 

43,  George  iSuttens, 

44,  Hrotlier  Crocker,  Jr.,  a  1634,  L.  Dec.  25,  1636,  B. 

45,  John  Emniersons,  a  1634.  L.  ?  S. 

46,  Gd.  Holmes, S. 

47,  John  Hainners  on  the  cliffe, 

48,  Gd.  Bird,  1628, S.,  1637. 

49,  Issiac  Robinson's  new  house,  1629,  Leyden.  see  No.  29,  — 

50,  Gd,  Foxwell's,  on  his  lot,  1630,  —  see  No.  11.  — 

51,  My  house  on  the  lott,  erected  iSept.  27,  —  see  No.  10,  — 

52,  Thomas  Lapphams, K.?  Ap.  24,  1636,  S. 

53,  Gd.  Edenton's, S. 

54,  Gd.  Hylands, K.     S. 

56.  Gd.  Rawlings,  1630,  —  S. 

56,  William  Parkers.  S. 

57,  Gd.  Lewice,  ISenior,  — 

To  tliese  I  add  church  members. 
Robert  Linnel,  1638,  L.  Sept.  16,  1638,  B. 
W  illiam  Belts,  Oct.  25,  1635,  B. 
Thomas  Lothrop,  Sept.  8,  1634,  May  14,  1637,  B. 
Christopher  Winter,  Dec.  24,  1637,  S. 
Thos.  King,  L.  1635.  Feb.  25,  1637-8,  S. 
Thos.  Boiden,  Ipswitch,  1634,  May  17,  1635.  8. 
Whole  number  that  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  Scituate,        63 
Of  these,  26  were  females,  26 

Males,  or  heads  of  families,  37 

Removed  to  Barnstable  in  1639,  20 

Leaving,  1 7 

Of  this  number  several  bad  removed  to  other  towns,  some  had 
deceased,  and  only  eleven,  namely.  Syllice,  Hatlierly,  Foster,  Tur- 
ner, Vassel,  King,  Lapham,  Chittenden,  John  and  Christopher  Win- 
ter, and  Steadman,  of  the  male  members,  were  left  in  church  state, 
when  Mr.  Lotlirop  removed,  that  is,  it  does  not  appear  by  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's records  that  either  of  these  eleven  had  deceased  or  removed 
from  Scituate  in  Oct.  1639,  though  it  does  not  appear  by  subsequent 


190      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

records  that  more  thau  half  of  the  number  were  left  in  churcli  state. 
Of  these  eleven  Vassal  was  of  London,  but  probably  not  a  member 
of  Mr.  Lothrop's  eliurch  in  that  city.  He  was  the  sou  of  John  Vas- 
sal, aldermau  of  London  and  one  of  the  original  patentees  of  the 
Massachusetts  Colony,  and  an  assistant  of  the  Governor.  Hatherly 
was  for  a  time  a  merchant  in  London  aud  probablv  a  member  of 
Mr  Lothrop's cliuich;  but  it  is  proliable  that  Devon  was  his  native 
County,  and  Barnstaple  in  tliat  shire  was  the  port  where  he  fitted  his 
ships  and  wheie  he  was  principally  engaged  in  business.  It  is  very 
doubtful  wliether  any  of  those  who  came  over  in  the  Chailes  and 
White  Angel  were  Kentish  men.  Wliy  should  they  travel  two  hun- 
dred miles  across  the  country  to  Barnstaple  when  they  could  take 
passage  from  London  or  some  of  the  adjacent  ports. 

It  is  evident  that  one  page  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  records  is  missing, 
that  is  the  list  of  admission  to  the  church  from  163M  to  1643,  for 
many  of  the  naujcs  of  members  of  the  church  in  Karnstable  are  not 
on  the  list  of  admissions.  To  the  twenty  above  named  who  removed 
from  Scituate  to  Barnstable  the  following  six  must  be  added  :  Wil- 
liam and  John  Casely,  John  Crocker,  Thomas  Lumbert,  Isaac 
Wells,  and  Thomas  Hinckley,  making  26  families  from  Scituate. 

Barnstable  was  incorporated  June  14,  1639,  N.  S.  Thirteen 
families  had  then  settled  in  the  town,  namely  :  Rev.  Joseph  Hull, 
his  son  Trustram,  and  his  son-in-law  John  Bursley,  making  one 
family,  Thomas  Shaw,  Austin  Bearse,  Henry  Coggin,  James  Ham- 
lin, William  Tilly,  Thomas  Aliyn,  Lawrence  Litchfield,  T'homas 
Huckins,  John  Smith,  Roger  Goodspeed,  John  Scndder  and  Na- 
thaniel Bacon.  Mr.  John  Mayo  and  his  son  Samuel,  were  early 
inhabitants,  Mr.  Mayo  having  a  house  when  Mr.  Lothrop  came. 
Smith,  Bacon,  Bursley,  T.  Hull,  and  S.  Mayo,  were  not  house- 
holders June  1639.  If  to  the  above  he  added  Ahram  Blush.  Dolar 
Davis,  Thos.  Hatch  and  John  Hall,  who  came  in  afterwards,  it 
completes  the  list  of  townsmen  as  recorded  Jan.    1643-4. 

There  were  at  least  fifteen  dwelling-houses  in  Barnstable  in 
June,  1639.  Some  who  belonged  to  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  came 
before  October.  Mr.  Dimmock  had  built  in  June;  and  Thomas 
Lumbert  and  Isaac  Wells  probably  had.  Nearly  all  of  Mr.  Hull's 
company  appear  to  have  been  from  the  west  of  England,  mostly 
from  Devonshire  and  Somersetshire,  perhaps  a  few  came  from 
Wales,  on  the  opposite  coast  of  the  Bristol  Channel.  Barnstaple 
was  the  most  convenient  port  for  these  men,  and  our  Barnstable 
derived  its  name  from  its  'Devonshire  namesake,  probably  because 
that  was  the  town  from  which  the  first  settlers  sailed. 

Yarmouth  obtained  its  name  in  the  same  manner.  The  lead- 
ing men  among  the  first  settlers  were  from  Norfolk  County,  of 
which  Yarmouth  was  the  principal  seaport,  hence  the  name. 

Some  particulars  respecting  Mr.  Lothrop's  residence  in  Scituate 
already  given,  I  shall  repeat,  in  order  to  give  a  connected  narrative 


GENEALOGICAL   KOTES    OP   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       191 

of  events.  He  arrived  m  Boston  Sept.  18,  1634,  and  stopped  nine 
days  in  that  town  to  confer  witii  friends  and  decide  respecting  tiis 
future  movements.  He  met  with  many  who  bad  known  liim  in  tiis 
native  land  ;  all  had  heard  of  his  labors,  and  liis  sacrifices  for  the 
cause  of  Independency,  and  all  most  cordially  welcomed  him  to  the 
shores  of  New  England.  Gov.  Winthrop  notes  his  arrival,  and 
commends  the  modesty  and  the  reserve  of  one  who  had  so  promi- 
nently, so  ably,  and  so  fearlessly,  upheld  the  Puritan  faith. 

Many  who  had  heard  him  proclaim  the  truth  of  eternal  life  in 
Kent,  and  m  London,  had  previously  come  to  New  England,  and 
were  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  scattered  in  divers  places  in  the 
Massachusetts  and  in  the  Plymouth  Colonies,  tseveral  had  set  down 
in  Scituate,  and  they  invited  Mr.  Lothrop  to  visit  them.  On  the 
27th  of  September  he  went  down  to  that  place,  and  was  most  enthu- 
siastically welcomed  by  former  brethren  and  urged  to  again  become 
their  pastor.  The  kindly  reception  which  was  extended  to  him,  and 
the  cordial  welcomes  with  which  he  was  greeted,  were  most  gratify- 
ing to  his  feelings,  and  he  resolved  that  Scituate  should  be  his  future 
home — the  fold  into  which  he  would  gather  together  the  estrays  of 
his  scattered  flock.  His  grateful  heart  believed  that  the  hand  of  God 
had  opened  this  door  for  him, — had  at  last  given  him  a  resting 
place  from  his  toils.  Here,  protected  by  law,  he  could  build  up 
church  institutions,  and  here  he  and  his  family  could  dwell  together 
in  peace,  surrounded  by  the  loving  friends  of  his  youth.  Willing 
hands  quickly  built  a  house  for  his  family,  of  "meane"  proportions, 
and  of  "meaner"  architecture,  yet  it  was  a  shelter  from  the  storm — 
a  place  that  he  could  call  his  own — a  blessing  from  "Him  who  had 
not  where  to  lay  His  head."  Mr.  Lothrop  had  probably  passed 
four  years  of  his  life  a  student  at  Christ's  College,  Cambridge.  To 
this  day  the  magnificent  proportions,  the  gorgeous  splendors,  and  the 
architectural  beauties  of  its  ancient  edifices  command  the  admiration 
of  every  beholder.  Until  his  imprisonment  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  reside  in  well  built  and  well  furnished  dwellings.  He  could  most 
truly  say  his  house  in  Scituate  was  "mearae."'  Tue  w^alls  were  made 
of  poles  filled  between  with  stones  and  clay,  the  roof  thatched,  the 
chimney  to  the  mantle  of  rough  stone,  and  above  of  cob-work,  the 
windows  of  oiled  paper,  and  the  floors  of  hand  sawed  planks.  Mr. 
Lothrop  elsewhere  calls  such  structures  booths,  and  says  they  were 
open  and  cold,  and  in  winter  a  high  piled  fire  had  constantly  to  he 
kept  burning.  All  the  houses  in  the  village  were  alike — there  was 
no  opening  for  pride  to  claim  supremacy.  Mr.  Lothrop  believed 
that  every  event  of  life  is  ordained  of  God  for  good, — he  was  there- 
fore content,  and  the  two  years  that  he  dwelt  under  a  thatched  roof 
was  perhaps  the  happiest  period  of  a  well  spent  life.  With  better 
built  and  better  furnished  houses  came  strifes  and  contentions,  ren- 
dering his  abode  in  Scituate  unpleasant,  and  from  which,  in  his  let- 
ter to  Gov.  Prence,  he  states,  "I  desire  greatly  to  be  released." 


192       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Nov.  6,  Dec.  25,  and  Jan.  8,  1634,  O.  S.,  were  set  apart  as 
"days  of  humiliation."  No  meetinghouse  had  been  built,  and  the 
meetings  were  held  at  Mr.  Cud  worth's  house.  To  organize  a  church 
was  the  object  of  those  meetings.  Jan.  8,  as  the  preceding  fast 
days  had  been,  was  spent  in  humbling  themselves  before  God  in 
prayer,  and  at  night  thirteen  who  "had  in  covenaunt  before,  joyned 
in  covenaunt  together." 

Monday,  Jan.  19,  1634,  O.  S.,  January  29,  163.5,  N.  S. ,  was 
also  set  apart  as  a  day  of  humiliation  at  Mr.  Lotbrop's  house. 
Seventeen  had  then  joined  in  church  covenant — eleven  male  and  six 
female  members.  Eight  of  the  eleven  were  householders  when  Mr. 
Lothrop  came  to  Scituate,  and  the  other  three  were  himself,  Samuel 
House,  who  probably  came  over  with  him.  and  Richard  Foxwell, 
whocame  to  Massachusetts  in  1630.  At  this  meeting  John  Lothrop 
"was  chosen  pastor  by  the  votes  of  the  brethren,  and  by  them  in- 
vested into  office."  The  mode  in  which  he  was  inducted  is  not  par- 
ticularly stated  ;  hut  it  is  evident  that  the  same  forms  were  adopted 
as  at  the  installation  of  Mr.  Jacob  in  London.  The  neighboring 
churches  were  not  invited  to  be  present  and  assist.  They  held  that 
the  neighboring  churches  were  true  churches  of  Christ,  and  thej'  had 
a  high  respect  for  the  talents  and  piety  of  the  ministers ;  but  they 
wished  by  their  example  to  vindic?te  the  great  principle  of  Inde- 
pendency, that  all  power  in  the  churches  originates  on  the  consent 
of  the  individual  members.  The  day  was  spent  in  fasting,  in 
humiliation,  and  in  prayer.  Mr.  Lothrop  was  elected  pastor  by 
the  brethren  of  the  church,  and  he  was  invested  in  office,  with 
prayer,  and  by  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  those  who  had  elected 
him.  This  is  pure  Independency.  It  is  now  merged  into  Congre- 
gationalism, a  system  of  church  government  essentially  the  same, 
and  differing  originally  only  in  one,  perhaps  non-essential  particu- 
lar :  Congregationalists  then  held  that  churches  had  the  right  to 
give,  and  the  right  to  extend  to,  or  to  withhold  from  neighboring 
churches  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and  consequently  to  with- 
draw it  from  one  that  did  not  walk  orderly. 

Of  the  thirty  followers  who  came  over  with  Mr.  Lothrop  it 
does  not  appear  that  many  were  heads  of  families.  Samuel  House, 
or  Howes,  was  a  ship  carpenter.  Thomas  Prior,  who  came  over, 
says  Deane,  in  the  same  ship  with  Mr.  Lothrop,  brought  a  part  of 
his  family  with  him,  the  remainder  came  in  the  Hopewell  in  1 636. 
He  died  in  June,  1 639,  and  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  member 
of  the  church.  Henry  Bourne  probably  came  with  Mr.  Lothrop, 
but  having  no  list  it  is  unprofitable  to  conjecture.  During  the  win- 
ter of  1634-.5,  few  additions  were  made  to  the  population.  In  the 
summer  of  1635  several  families  from  Tenterden  and  other  places  in 
Kent  came  over  in  the  Hercules  from  Sandwich  and  settled  in  Scitu- 
ate, and  a  number  came  in  from  neighboring  towns ;  but  the  popu- 
lation did  not  increase  that  year  sufficiently  to  warrant  the  building 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF   BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       193 

of  a  meetiDg  house.  Mr.  Hatherly  and  Mr.  Gibson  had  good  es- 
tates ;  but  most  of  the  other  settlers  were  poor  men,  and  relied  on 
their  own  strong  arms  for  success  in  life. 

The  church  had  increased  in  members  and  strength.  Aug.  13, 
1635,  after  a  "day  of  humiliation,"  Henry  Cobb  was  elected  the 
first  deacon  of  the  church,  and    on  the  15th  of  December  following 

"was   invested  into    the  office," that   is,   ordained,  as  all  officers 

were,  with  prayer,  and  by  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  elders 
and  brethren. 

In  1636  the  town  rapidly  increased  in  population.  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's  old  friends  scattered  in  various  towns,  sold  out  their  estates  and 
removed  to  Scitnate.  The  increase  gave  strength  to  the  plantation  ; 
but  it  brought  with  it  much  privation  and  suffering.  The  people 
were  also  anxious  to  procure  "helpes  in  the  ministry,"  their  first  and 
their  last  care  ;  and  they  feared  that  the  Indians  on  their  borders 
would  prove  treacherous.  To  avert  these  threatening  calamities 
Friday,  April  7,  1636,  was  observed  as  a  day  of  humiliation. 

The  congregation  had  at  this  time  so  largely  increased  that 
there  was  no  building  in  the  town  sufHeiently  spacious  for  its  ac- 
commodation. Notwithstanding  their  poverty,  and  the  scarcity 
that  prevailed,  they  resolved  to  build  a  meeting  house.  On  the 
2d  and  3d  days  of  August  the  frame  was  raised,  and  it  was  com- 
pleted and  dedicated  Thursday,  Nov.  10,  1636.  The  following 
day  a  fast  was  held  at  the  meeting  house  "for  a  blessing  upon 
their  consultation  aboute  the  Lawes  for  settling  the  State  of  this 
Patent."  * 

Connected  with  the  last  record  there  is  a  statement  that  some 
difference  of  opinion  existed  among  the  members,  which  were  by 
the  mercy  of  God  reconciled  April  27,  1637.  On  what  subject 
the  members  differed  is  not  stated.  We  may  however  infer  what 
caused  the  difficulty  by  the  text  from  which  Mr.  Lothrop  taught 
on  that  day  :  "And  Abram  said  unto  Lot,  let  there  be  no  strife, 
I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my  herdsmen  and 
thy  herdsmen,  for  we  are  brethren."  Gen.  13  :8.  This  text  fur- 
nishes the  key  that  unlocks  the  door. 

The  raising  of  stock  was  then  the  most  profitable  business 
pursued  in  the  Colony.  Many  in  England  had  sent  over  cattle, 
and  put  them  out  for  half  the  increase.  It  was  a  business  that 
required  no  capital,  and  the  poor  could  successfully  compete  with 
the  rich.  The  quantity  of  meadow  land  was  limited,  and  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  country  for  keeping  cattle  and  horses  depended  on 
the  amount  of  fodder  that  could  be  laid  up  for  winter.  As  each 
claimed  an  equal  right  in  the  meadows,  dissentions  naturally  arose 
"between  my  herdsmen  and  thy  herdsmen."  We  find  them  com- 
plaining at  this  early  period  that  the  "place  was  too  straite  for 
them."  The  meaning  of  this  is,  there  was  but  little  cleared  land 
in  Scituate  adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain,  and  though  there  was 


194       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OE    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

sufficient  pasturage  in  the  woods  for  their  cattle  during  the  mild 
season  of  the  year,  they  were  in  winter  straightened  for  fodder. 
This  was  the  prudential  reason  that  induced  Mr.  Lothrop  and  a 
majority  of  his  people  to  remove  to  Barnstable.  In  his  letters  to 
G-ov.  Pi-euce,  which  will  presently  appear,  he  states  the  matter 
with  much  clearness,  and  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  recapitulate 
his  reasons. 

There  was  another  cause  of  uneasiness  and  "difference  in 
judgment."  About  this  time  Mr.  William"  Vassall  removed  to 
Scituate.  He  was  a  son  of  John  Vassall,  an  aldermen  of  London, 
and  the  brother  of  Samuel,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  that  city.  He 
was  dissatisfied  with  the  policy  of  the  leading  men  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  was  a  latitudinarian  in  his  opinions  and  had  strong 
radical  tendencies.  He  had  known  Mr.  Lothrop,  in  London,  and 
sympathized  with  him  in  his  views.  There  was  however,  a  wide 
difference  in  the  characters  of  the  two  men.  Mr.  Lothrop  was 
firm,  yet  gentle,  discreet,  cautious,  and  though  always  open  to 
conviction,  and  a  constant  seeker  for  new  light,  he  formed  no 
opinions  hastily.  Mr.  Vassall,  though  brought  up  under  aristo- 
cratic and  conservative  infiuences,  was  most  radical  in  his  views 
and  opinions.  He  was  firm,  often  over-bearing  and  in  all  his 
undertakings  exhibited  a  strong  disposition  to  lead,  never  to  fol- 
low. N  He  often  acted  from  impulse,  and  though  a  man  of  noble 
and  generous  feelings,  a  man  of  learning,  a  ready  writer,  and  a 
man  of  wealth,  his  impulsive  nature  unfitted  him  to  act  prudently 
in  the  hour  of  trial  and  difficulty. 

A  mutilated  passage  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  records,  unfortunately 
mixed  up  with  another  record,  by  one  of  the  transcribers,  however 
shows  the  standing  of  Mr.  Vassall  at  this  time.  Dec.  28,  1636, 
(probably  this  is  the  true  date)  the  records  say  "Divers  of  the 
people  having  some  dissatisfaction  to  Mr.  Vassall,  and  he  with 
them,"  but  it  does  not  clearly  appear  that  they  were  reconciled 
and  that  they  settled  their  differences  and  renewed  their  covenant 
till  Nov.  20,  1637. 

Mr.  Deane  gives  a  full  account  of  Mr.  Vassall,   and  copies 
•his  numerous  letters,  written  after  Mr.  Lothrop  left  Scituate.     In 
those  letters  the  wayward  character  of  the  man  is  clearly  exhibit- 
ed.    He  soon  removed  to  Barbadoes,  where  he  died  before  1655. 

I  have  made  many  quotations  from  the  church  records.  The 
passages  to  which  I  shall  hereafter  refer  are  of  a  similar  tenor. 
The  careful  examination  of  these  and  other  records  has  satisfied 
me  that  Neale,  Crosley,  Deane,  and  other  writers  on  ecclesiastical 
history,  are  mistaken  in  saying  that  the  subject  of  baptism  caused 
uneasiness  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  London,  in  Scituate,  and  in 
Barnstable  ;  and  that  the  first  Baptist  church  in  England  sepa- 
rated itself  from  Mr.  Lothrop's  congregation  in  London.  If  not 
in   this  article,  I  have  in  other  papers  made  similar  statements. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       195 

I  was  misled  by  the  authority  of  great  names,  and  if  this  is  my 
only  mistake  I  am  thankful. 

I  regret  that  I  was  unable,  at  the  commencement  of  this  arti- 
cle, to  make  the  following  statement : 

The  subject  of  baptism  was  not  the  chief  cause  of  uneasiness 
in  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  London,  in  Scituate,  or  in  Barnstable. 
Every  cause  of  trouble  or  inquietude  that  occurred,  he  seems  to 
have  named  and  made  a  special  subject  for  prayer  at  the  frequent 
fasts  which  he  observed.  If  the  mode  of  baptism  was  a  subject 
of  such  deep  dissention  as  to  rend  his  church,  it  is  most  surpris- 
ing that  a  man  who  noted  the  most  trivial  events  should  not  have 
recorded  one  of  so  vital  importance  as  this.  Mr.  Lothrop  could 
not  record  events  that  did  not  occur,  and  that  is  the  true  solution 
of  the  question. 

The  difficulties  in  the  London  church  occurred  ten  years  after 
Mr.  Lothrop  left ;  that  is,  diiring  the  time  that  his  successor,  Mr. 
Jessey,  was  the  pastor.  Mr.  Jessey,  as  already  stated,  became  a 
baptist,  and  his  church  was  the  first  baptist  church  in  England. 
Mr.  Lothrop's  "Queries  respecting  baptism"  were  written  in  Barn- 
stable about  the  year  1644,  and  published  by  some  of  his  old 
friends  remaining  in  London  very  soon  afterwards.  Mr.  Lothrop^ 
sent  some  of  his  children  to  England  to  be  educated,  and  had 
maintained  a  correspondence  with  old  and  new  friends  in  London. 
They  would  naturally  write  to  him  for  his  opinions  on  a  subject  in 
which  they  felt  a  deep  interest.  This  is  not  only  a  legitimate  in- 
ference from  known  facts,  but  the  dates  show  beyond  contro- 
versy that  the  division,  or  rather  the  transformation  of  the  First 
Independent  church  in  London  to  the  First  Baptist,  occurred  not 
during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Lothrop,  but  ten  years  after  he  left. 
This  view  enables  us  to  explain  satisfactorily  the  apparently  con- 
tradictory statements  in  Neale,  Crosby, .and  other  writers  on  the 
ecclesiastical  history  of  the  times. 

Respecting  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  in  Scituate^  I  cannot  en- 
dorse all  the  statements  of  Mr.  Deane,  for  it  is  evident  that  the 
mode  of  baptism  was  not  the  chief  nor  one  of  the  causes  of  dis- 
sension among  his  people.  I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  differ  from 
so  respectable  and  generally  so  reliable  an  authority.  Mr.  Loth- 
rop names  many  minor  causes  of  dissension  and  trouble,  but  does 
not  directly  nor  indirectly  refer  to  baptism  as  one  of  the  causes. 
Contemporaneous  authorities  do  not  name  it, — do  not  furnish 
any  collateral  evidence  in  its  support,  and  it  therefore  seems  to  be 
folly  to  attempt  to  perpetuate  the  error  that  "the  mode  of  baptism 
was  the  chief  cause  of  dissensions  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  church." 

In  Barnstable,  the  mode  of  baptism  caused  no  dissension. 
The  subject  is  referred  to  only  once  on  Mr.  Lothrop's  records. 
"John  Allen  and  Elizabeth  Bacon  marry ed,  alsoe  by  him 
(Thomas  Hinckley)    Oct.  10,  1650,  both  Anabaptists."     At  that 


196       GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

time  the  doctrines  of  the  Anabaptists  were  not  tolerated  in  the 
Massachusetts  Colony.  The  most  bitter  words  of  denunciation 
were  applied  to  members  of  that  sect,  and  many  suffered  impris- 
onment and  stripes.  In  the  sister  Colony  a  magistrate  could 
not  have  been  persuaded  to  officiate  at  the  marriage  of  Anabap- 
tists, yet  Gov.  Hinckley,  who  has  been  stigmatized  as  an  intoler- 
ant man,  did  officiate,  and  Mr.  Lothrop  records  the  event  without 
comment.* 

It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  this  in  giving  farther.  Mr. 
Lothrop  believed  that  sprinkling  was  the  mode  of  baptism  taught 
in  the  Word  ;  but  he  did  not  condemn  the  brother  who  believed  in 
immersion. 

THE  FIRST  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 

Dec.  22,  1636,  the  first  Thanksgiving  day  was  celebrated. 
The  exercises  at  the  Meeting  House,  and  subsequently  at  the 
homes  of  his  people,  are  thus  noted  in  the  church  records  : 

"Beginning  some  halfe  an  hour  before  nine,  and  continued 
until  after  twelve  a  clocke,  ye  day  being  very  cold,  beginning 
with  a  short  prayer, — then  a  psalm  sang, — then  more  large  in 
prayer, — after  that  another  psalm,  and  the  Word  taught, — after 
that  prayer, — and  then  a  psalm.  Then  making  merry  to  the 
creatures,  the  poorer  sort  being  invited  by  the  virtue." 

The  quaint  expressions  of  this  synopsis  of  the  doings  on  their 
first  day  of  thanksgiving  are  suggestive  of  the  habits,  condition, 
and  feelings  of  the  people.  It  has  been  fashionable  to  call  our 
Pilgrim  ancestors  a  gloomy,  austere  race,  who  held  that  any  and 
all  indulgence  in  "creature"  comforts  was  sinful.  It  is  pleasant 
to  note  that  Mr.  Lothrop  thought  it  no  sin  "to  make  merry." 
"To  everything  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to  every  purpose 
under  Heaven."  "A  timg  to  mourn,  and  a  time  to  dance."  The 
God  of  nature  has  ordained  that  the  young  shall  indulge  in  inno- 
cent sports, — they  are  necessary  to  develop  their  physical  powers 
to  make  them  healthy  and  strong,  and  to  fit  them  for  usefulness 
in  life.  Thus  Christianity  gives  a  cheerful  tone  to  the  character, 
and  fits  a  man  to  enjoy  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  blessings. 
The  bigot  can  draw  no  line  of  distinction  between  the  use  and  the 
abuse  of  a  thing, — he  cannot  see  that  the  one  is  virtue,  the  other 
vice.  Our  ancestors  were  not  bigots.  They  thought  it  no  sin  to 
match  their  skill  in  athletic  sports,  or  test  their  strength  in  wrest- 
ling. Their  children  played  at  games  which  had  come  down  from 
a  remote  English  ancestry,  and  which  continue  to  delight  the 
young  of  the  present  generation. 

Some  of  the  second  and  third  generations  were  bigoted   and 

"There  is  an  old  saying,  "contraries  meet,"  and  it  is  founded  on  a  deep  knowledee  of 
the  laws  of  the  human  mind.  If  the  Baptist  denomination  be  viewed  from  the  stand  point 
of  baptism,  we  call  its  members  narrow,  exclusiTe,  intolerant;  yet  from  other  standpoints 
the  denomination  holds  to  the  broad  and  enlightened  views  of  its  mother  church. 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       197 

intolerant.  Tlie  lamp  of  the  fathers  which  had  burned  so  bril- 
liantly enlightening  all  their  paths,  now  burned  with  an  uncertain 
and  flickering  blaze.  The  forms  of  religious  truth  remained,  but 
the  spirit  whicli  animated  the  fathers  had  fled. 

Mr.  Lolhrop  taught  that  Christianity  was  a  system  adopted 
to  man's  nature  and  state,  and  because  it  was  so  adopted,  its 
tendency  was  to  make  a  man  better,  to  make  him  happier  here 
and  happier  hereafter.  He  did  not  teach  that  the  christian  must 
hate  ail  that  he  loved  before  his  conversion,  that  all  amusements 
or  "making  merry  to  the  cieature"  were  in  and  of  themselves  sin- 
fu)  ;  only  when  they  lead  direct  and  inevitably  to  sinful  habits,  or 
when  they  inflicted  a  wrong  on  the  neighbor. 

Oct.  i6,  1637,  another  day  of  thanksgiving  was  held.  The 
€xercises  at  the  Meeting  House  were  the  same  as  on  the  previous 
year.  Thanks  were  given  for  "two  particulars:  1,  Kor  the  vic- 
tory over  the  Pequcts.  Ye  2,  For  Reconciliation  betwixt  Mr. 
Cotton  and  the  other  ministers."  After  the  service  the  poorer 
were  invited  to  dine  with  the  richer,  and  make  themselves  merry. 

Fast  days  continued  to  be  held  from  time  to  time.  June  22, 
1637.  for  success  in  the  war  against  the  Fequots,  for  composing 
differences  among,  the  brethren  in  the  Bay,  and  for  help  in  the 
niinistry  at  Sciluate.  Feb.  22.  1637-8.  At  a  fast  held  on  that 
day  Kdward  and  Foster  and  Thomas  Besbetch  were  chosen  dea- 
cons and  invested  into  ofHce. 

REMOVAL      TO      MATTAKEESE. 

At  five  days  of  fasting,  and  at  other  meetings  of  the  church, 
the  subject  of  removal  was  discussed.  At  first  they  intended  to 
remove  to  Sippican,  now  Rochester,  but  June  13,  1639,  it  had 
been  decided  to  remove  to  Mattakeese,  now  Barnstable. 

As  1  have  already  in  the  Dimmock  and  other  articles  extract- 
ed from  the  colony  and  church  records  the  notices  given  respect- 
ing the  settlement  of  Barnstable,  I  shall  not  again  copy  the  pa- 
pers in  full,  excepting  Mr.  Lothrop's  letters,  of  which  1  have 
printed  only  short  extracts. 

In  1638  the  Colony  Coart  granted  the  lands  at  Sipican,  now 
Rochester,  to  several  members  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  church,  where  he 
and  a  majority  of  his  people  proposed  to  remove,  and  form  a 
town.  Feb.  22  of  that  year  was  a  fast  day  appointed  by  the 
church,  the  especial  object  being  to  take  measures  respecting  the 
removal  to  Sipican.  The  matter  is  not  named  again  in  the  church 
records  till  January  23,  1638-9.  where  after  a  season  of  humilia- 
tion and  prayer  it  was  agreed,  that  those  who  had  resolved  to  re- 
move to  Sipican  be  divided  into  three  companies  "in  this  service, 
for  preventing  of  exceptions."  They  elected  their  town  commit- 
tees to  have  the  care  and  direction  of  the  settlement,  to  make  or- 
ders to  be  observed  in  beginning  of  the  settlement,  and  for  the 


198      OENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES, 

after  management  of  it»  affairs.  Tbey  also  sought  the  guidance 
of  God  to  procure  more  spiritual  help  for  those  who  were  about 
to  remove,  and  also  for  their  brethren  who  were  to  remain  io 
iScituate. 

The  summer  of  the  year  1639  was  very  dry,  and  partls'  on  that 
account  a  clay  of  huiniliatiou  was  observed  June  13,  O.  fS.  They 
prayed  that  God  would  direct  aud  provide  for  them,  being  "iu  the 
point  of  reinoveall."  The  place  to  which  they  were  about  to  re- 
move is  not  named,  but  Mattakeese  was  undoubtedly  intended;  for 
on  the  26th  of  the  same  mouth  a  fast  was  held  "■For  the  presence 
of  God  to  goe  with  us  to  Maitakeese." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1637,  or  beginning  of  1638,  the  date  is 
not  given  on  tlie  colony  records,  the  lauds  at  Mattakeese  were 
granted  to  Mr.  Richard  Collicut,  and  a  company  mostly  from  the 
town  of  Dorchester.  Mr.  Collicut  was  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
Massachusetts  Colony,  aud  was  prevented  from  giving  his  personal 
attention  to  the  settlement  of  the  town.  The  Plymouth  Colony 
Court  became  impatient  at  the  long  delay,  voted  that  if  Mr.  Colli- 
cut and  his  associates  did  not  organize  a  town  before  the  June 
Court,  1639,  the  lands  would  be  granted  to  other  associates.  At 
the  assembling  of  the  June  Court  no  town  had  been  organized,  and 
June  4,  O.  S.,  14th  new,  Mattakeese  was  incorporated  as  a  town 
and  named  Barnstable,  and  the  lands  granted  to  Rev.  Joseph  Hull 
and  Eider  Thomas  Dimmock,  as  a  committee  of  their  associates. 
At  that  time  tliere  were  about  fifteen  families  settled  in  the  town. 
The  fact  that  the  Plymouth  Court  was  impatient  on  account  of  the 
delay  of  Mr.  Collicut  was  well  known  to  Mr.  Lothrop  in  the  spring 
of  1639,  in  fact  a  number  of  families  from  Scituate  had  then  re- 
moved to  Mattakeese,  and  as  the  extensive  salt  meadows  at  the 
latter  place  made  it  a  more  desirable  residence  than  ISippican.  Mr. 
Lothrop  and  his  people  changed  their  purpose  very  soon  after  the 
meeting  held  Jan.  23,  1638-9. 

The  following  letters  of  Mr.  Lothrop  to  Gov.  Prence  were  pre- 
served among  Mr.  Winslow's  papers.  No  especial  care  appears 
to  have  been  taken  in  their  preparation.  They  are  interesting 
documents  relative  to  the  early  history  of  Barnstable,  and  the  best 
specimens  preserved  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  style  of  writing  : 

riRST     LETTER. 

'To  the  right  worthy  and  mtteh-honoured  Mr,  Prince,  our  endearoured  gov- 
ernor of  Plimouth, — Grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  be  multiplyed. 

My  dear  and  pretious, 
Esteemed  with  the  highest  esteeme  and  respect,  above  every  other 
particular  in  these  terril;oryes:  being  now  in  the  roome  of  Godj  and  by 
him  that  is  the  God  of  gods,  deputed  as  a  god  on  earth  unto  us,  in  re- 
spect of  princely  function  and  calling.  Unto  whom  wee  Ingenuously 
confesse  all  condigne  and  humble  service  from  us  to  bee  most  due. 
And  if  we  knowe  our  hearts,  you  have  our  hearts,  and  our  best  wishes 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       199 

for  you.  As  Peter  said  in  another  case,  doe  wee  in  this  particular  say, 
It  is  good  for  us  to  be  heere :  (wee  meau  under  this  septer  and  govern- 
meutj  under  which  wee  can  bee  best  content  to  live  and  dye.  And  it  it 
bee  possible  we  would  have  nothing  for  to  separate  us  from  you,  un- 
lesse  it  be  death.  Our  souls  (I  speak  in  regard  of  many  of  us)  are 
tirmely  liucked  unto  your  worthy  selfe,  and  unto  many,  the  Lord's 
worthyes  with  you.  Wee  shall  ever  account  your  advancement  ours. 
And  1  hope  through  grace,  both  by  prayer  and  practice,  wee  shall  en- 
deavour to  our  best  abilitye,  to  advance  both  the  throne  of  civill  digui- 
tye,  and  the  kingly  throne  of  Christ,  in  the  severall  administrations 
thereof  in  the  midst  of  you.  Hereunto  (the  truth  is)  we  can  have  no 
firmer  obligation,  than  the  straite  and  stroiige  tyes  of  the  gospell.  If 
we  have  no  more,  this  would  alwayes  be  enough  to  binde  us  close  in 
discharge  of  all  willing  and  faithful  duetye  both  unto  you  and  likewise 
unto  all  the  Lord's  anointed  ones  with  you.  But  seeing  over  and  above, 
out  of  your  gratious  dispositions  (thro'  the  grace  and  mercy  of  the 
Highest)  you  are  pleased  to  sett  your  faces  of  favour  more  towards  us, 
(though  a  poor  and  contemptable  people)  than  towards  any  other  par- 
ticular people  whatsoever,  that  is  a  people  distinct  from  yourselves. 
As  wee  have  had  good  and  cleare  experience  hereof  before,  and  that 
from  tyme  to  tyme ;  so  wee  now  againe  in  the  renewed  commiseration 
towards  us,  as  most  affectionate  nurseing,  fathers  being  exceeding  will- 
ing and  readye  to  gratifye  us,  even  to  our  best  content,  in  the  pointe  of 
removeall ;  Wee  being  incapacitated  thereunto,  and  that  in  divers 
weighty  considerations,  some,  if  not  all  of  which,  are  well  known  bothe 
to  yourselfe,  and  to  others  with  you.  Now  your  love  being  to  us  trans- 
cendent, passing  the  love  you  have  shewn  to  any  without  you,  wee  can 
soe  much  the  more,  as  indebted  unto  our  good  God  in  praises,  soe  unto 
yourselves  in  services.  We  will  ever  sett  downe  in  humble  thankfuU- 
neas  in  the  perpetual  memory  of  your  exceeding  kindnesse.  Now  we 
stand  stedfast  in  our  resolution  to  remove  our  tents  and  pitch  elsewhere. 
If  wee  cann  see  Jahovah  going  before  us.  And  in  very  deed,  in  our  re- 
moveing,  wee  would  have  our  principal  ende  God's  own  glorye,  our 
Sion's  better  peace  and  prosperitye,  and  the  sweet  and  happie  regiment 
of  the  Prince  of  our  Salvation  more  jointly  imbraced,  and  more  fully 
exalted.  And  if  externall  comfortable  conveniences  as  an  overplus, 
shall  bee  cast  in,  according  to  the  free  promise  of  the  Lord,  wee  trust 
then,  as  wee  shall  receive  more  compleate  comfort  from  him,  so  he  shall 
receive  more  compleate  honour  by  us:  for  which  purpose  we  humbly 
crave,  as  the  fervencye  of  your  devotions,  soe  the  constancye  of  your 
wonted  christian  endeavours.  And  being  fully  perswaded  of  your  best 
assistance  herein,  as  well  in  the  one  as  in  the  other,  wee  will  labour  to 
wait  at  the  throne  of  grace,  expecting  that  issue  that  the  Lord  shall 
deeme  best. 

In  the  intrim,  with  abundance  of  humble  an  unfeigned  thankes  on 
every  hand  on  our  parts  remembered,  wee  take  our  leave,  remaining, 
obliged  forever  unto  you,  in  all  duety  and  service. 

JOHN    LOTHEOrP. 

From   Scituate,  the  28  of   this  7th  month,  [,9ep«em6er]  1638.     (Oct.  8, 
1638,  N.  S.) 

N.  B. — Three  names  are  subscribed  beneath  the  name  of  Mr.  Loth- 
ropp:  Anthony  Aniball,  Henry  Cobb,  Isaac  Eobinson;  to  which  are 
added  the  words,  "In  behalf  of  the  church."     [Superscribed  thus :] 

To    the    right   worthy  and  much-reverenced  Mr.  Prince,   Governor  at  Pti- 

mouth. 


200       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 
SECOND     LETTER. 

'To  the  right  worthy  and  much-reverenced,  Mr.  Prince,  governor — Grace, 
mercy  and  peace  be  forever  multiplied. 

Sundry  circumstances  of  importance  concurring  touching  the  pres- 
ent state  of  myself  and  the  people  in  covenant  with  me,  presse  nie  yett 
againe  to  sett  pen  to  paper,  to  the  end  that  the  busyness  in  hand  nnight 
with  greater  expedition  he  pressed  forward,  if  it  may  be :  not  willing  to 
leave  any  lawful  means  unattempted,  that  we  are  able  to  judge,  to  be 
the  means  of  God,  that  soe  we  might  have  the  more  comfort  to  rest  in 
the  issue  that  God  himself  shall  give  in  the  use  of  his  own  means.  Yett 
I  would  be  loth  to  be  too  much  pressing  herein,  least  the  more  haste  on 
our  part  should  occasion  the  less  speed,  or,  over-spurring,  when  by 
reason  of  abundance  of  freeness,  there  needs  none  at  all,  I  should  dis- 
hearten, and  so  procure  some  unwillingness.  Rut  considering  your 
godly  wisdome  in  discerning  our  condition,  and  presuming  of  your  love 
unfeigned  to  us-ward,  which  cannot  but  effect  a  readiness  on  your  part, 
in  passing  by  and  covering  of  our  infirmitye,  I  am  much  emboldened, 
with  all  due  reverence  and  respect,  both  to  your  place  and  person,  to  re- 
salnte  you. 

The  truth  is,  many  grievances  attend  mee,  from  the  which  1  would 
be  freed,  or  att  least  have  them  mittigated,  if  the  Lord  see  it  good. 
Yett  would  I  raither  with  patience  leave'  them,  than  to  grieve  or  sadd 
any  heart,  whose  heart  ought  not  to  be  grieved  by  nie,  much  lesse 
yours;  whom  I  honour  and  regard  with  my  soule,  as  I  do  that  worthy 
instrument  of  God's  honour,  together  with  yourselfe,  Mr.  Bradford,  be- 
cause I  am  confident  you  make  the  advanceing  of  God's  honour  your 
chiefest  honour.  And  the  raither  I  would  not  bee  any  meanes  to  grieve 
you,  inasmuch  as  I  conceive  you  want  not  meanes  otherwise  of  grief 
enough.  But  that  I  be  not  too  tedious,  and  consequently  too  grievous. 
The  principal  occasion  of  my  present  writing  is  this ;  Your  worthy 
selfe,  together  with  the  rest  joyned  and  assisting  in  government  with 
you,  much  reverenced  and  esteemed  of  us,  having  gratiously  and  freely 
uppon  our  earnest  and  humble  suits,  granted  and  conferred  a  place  for 
the  transplanting  of  us,  to  the  end  God  might  have  the  more  glorye  and 
wee  more  comfort :  both  which  wee  have  solidd  grounds  to  induce  us  to 
believe,  will  be  effected  :  For  the  which  free  and  most  loveing  grant,  we 
both  are  and  ever  remain  to  bee.  by  the  grace  of  the  highest,  abundant- 
ly thankeful.  Now  here  lyes  the  stone  that  some  of  the  breathren  here 
stumbel  att;  which  happely  is  but  imaginarye,  and  not  real,  and  then 
there  will  be  no  need  of  removeall.  And  that  is  this,  some  of  them 
have  certaine  jelousies  and  fears,  that  there  is  some  privie  and 
undermineing  and  secrett  plotting  by  some  there,  with  some  here,  to 
hinder  the  seasonable  successe  of  the  work  in  hand,  to  witt  of  our  re- 
moveall, by  procuring  a  procrastination,  in  some  kinde  of  project,  to 
have  the  tyrae  deferred,  that  the  conveniencye  of  the  tyme  of  removeing 
beeing  wore  out  before  we  can  have  free  and  cleare  passage  to  remove, 
that  so  wee  might  not  remove  att  all.  But  what  some  one  particular 
happely  with  you,  with  some  amongst  us  here,  may  attempt  in  this 
kinde  for  private  and  personal  ends,  I  neither  know,  nor  care,  nor  fear 
forasmuch  as  I  am  fully  perswaded  that  your  endeared  selfe,  and  Mr. 
Bradford,  with  the  rest  in  general,  to  whom  power  in  this  behalfe  be- 
longeth,  are  sincerelye  and  firmelye  for  us,  to  expeditt  and  compleate 
the  busyness  as  soon  as  may  be,  so  that  our  travells  and  paines,  our 
costs  and  charge,  shall  not  be  lost  and  in  vaine  herein,  nor  our  hopes 
frustrated.  Now  the  trueth  is,  I  have  been  the  more  willing  to  endite 
and  present  these  feew   lines,  partly  to   wipe  away  any  rumour  that 


GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       201 

might  bee  any  wayes  raised  upp  of  distrustfullness  on  our  partes  espec- 
ially, to  clear  my  owne  innoceucye  of  having  any  suspition  herein ;  as 
alsoe  to  signifye  since  the  place  hath  been  granted  and  confirmed  unto 
us;  some  of  the  breathren  have  sold  their  houses  and  lands  here,  and 
have  put  themselvt'S  out  of  all.  And  others  have  put  out  their  im- 
proved grounds  to  the  half  increase  thereof,  upon  their  undoubted  ex- 
pectation forthwith  as  it  were  to  begin  to  build  and  plant  in  the  new 
plantation.  Wherein  if  they  should  be  disappointed,  it  would  be  a 
means  to  east  them  into  some  great  extremitye.  Wherefore  let  me  in- 
treate  and  beseech  you  in  the  bowells  of  the  Lord,  without  any  offence, 
both  in  this  respect,  as  also  for  other  reasons  of  greater  importance, 
which  I  will  forbear  to  specif  ye :  To  do  this  further  great  curtesey  for 
us,  to  make  composition  with  the  Indians  for  the  place,  and  priviledges 
thereof  in  our  behalf,  with  that  speed  you  cann :  and  wee  will  freely 
give  satistaction  to  them,  and  strive  to  bee  the  more  enlarged  in  thanke- 
fulnesse  to  you.  I  verily  thinke  wee  shall  never  have  any  rest  in  our 
spiritts,  to  rest  or  stay  here ;  and  I  suppose  you  thinke  little  *  * 
otherwise,  and  am  therefore  the  more  confident  that  you  will  not  neglect 
any  opportunitye,  that  might  make  for  our  expedition  herein.  I  and 
some  of  the  breathren  have  intreated  our  brother  John  Coake,  who  is 
with  you,  and  of  you,  a  member  of  your  congregation,  to  bee  the  best 
furtherance  in  such  occasions,  as  either  doe  or  may  concerne  us,  as  pos- 
sibly he  may  or  cann,  who  hath  alsoe  promised  unto  us  his  best  service 
herein.  Thus  wishing  and  praying  for  your  greatest  prosperitye  every 
wayes,  I  humbly  take  my  leave. 

Bemaining  to  be  at  your  command  and  service  in  the  Lord. 

JOHN  LOTHROPP. 

From  Scituate,  Feb.  18,  1638.     (Feb.  28,  1639,  N.  S.)     [Superscribed 
thus :] 

To  the  right  worthy  and  much-honored   Governor  Prince,  att  his  house  in 
Plimouth.     Oive  these  I  pray. 


EEV.    JOHN   LOTHROP   REMOVBD  TO   BARNSTABLE. 

On  the  29th  of  June,  1639,  O.  S.,  (July  9,  new),  the  pioneer 
company  left  Scituate  for  Mattakeset.  Their  purpose  in  removing 
thus  early  was  to  secure  a  winter's  supply  of  provender  for  their 
cattle,  and  to  build  houses  for  themselves,  and  for  the  larger  com- 
pany, who  were  to  remain  in  Scituate  till  the  annual  crop  had  been  se- 
cured. Mattakeeset  was  incorporated  as  a  town  June  14,  1639, 
new  style,  and  called  Barnstable  or  Bastable,  as  the  name  was  com- 
monly pronounced,  and  frequently  written.  It  received  its  name 
from  'Raxnstaple  in  Devonshire  in  England,  the  port  from  whence 
many  of  the  first  settlers  took  their  departure  from  their  native  land. 
The  English  town  is  still  called  Barnsiopfe.  Capt.  John  Smith  and 
many  old  writers  uniformly  spell  the  name  Bastable,  a  circumstance 
that  indicates  that  both  names  were  originally  the  same.  The  usage 
of  more  than  two  centuries  has  established  a  different  -orthography ; 
which,  if  it  were  desirable,  cannot  now  be  changed. 

A   church  had  been  established,  but   does  not   appear   to   have 


202       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

been  legally  organized,  of  which  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hull,  who  had  re- 
moved the  preceding  May  from  Weymouth,  was  the  pa'Stor,  and 
Rev.  John  Mayo  the  teaching  elder.  No  meeting  house  had  been 
built,  and  tradition  points  to  the  large  rock  near  the  dwelling-house 
of  Mr.  Edward  Scudder  as  the  place  where  he  and  his  followers 
held  their  first  meetings  for  public  worship.  That  rock  formerly 
stood  on  the  bluff  on  the  south  side  of  the  road.  It  was  gradually 
undermined  by  the  washings  of  the  rains,  and  finally  rolled  down  to 
its  present  position  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  It  is  not 
stated,  in  any  ancient  record,  that  the  first  settlers  assembled  around 
that  rock  for  public  worship,  yet  the  tradition  seems  to  be  reliable. 
The  first  Meeting  House  was  built  in  1646,  and  prior  to  that  date 
the  meetings  were  either  held  in^  private  dwelling-houses  or  in  the 
open  air.  Mr.  Lothrop  states  in  his  records  that  the  meeting  on 
Sunday,  May  26,  1644,  was  held  in  the  open  air.  It  is  probable 
that  all  the  meetings  of  the  congregation  prior  to  May  10,  1646, 
were  so  held  when  the  weather  was  mild  and  pleasant,  because  there 
was  uo  building  in  the  plantation  sufficiently  spacious  to  accommo- 
date all,  for  none  of  the  people,  who  were  physically  able,  absented 
themselves  from  public  worship.  A  stern  necessity  thus  comes  to 
our  aid  in  establishing  the  truth  of  the  tradition.  A  large  part  of 
the  rock  was  split  off  and  used  for  the  foundation  of  the  Jail,  yet  a 
large  mass  remains,  and  like  Plymouth  Rock,  should  be  preserved  as 
a  memento  of  the  fathers. 

If  the  truth  of  this  tradition  be  admitted,  it  indicates  that  Barn- 
stable Rock  was  not  far  from  the  centre  of  the  settlement  made  in 
the  spring  of  1639.  Mr.  Hull  probably  pitched  his  first  tent  on  the 
land  adjoining  Coggin's  Pond,  that  he  afterwards  sold  to  Samuel 
Hinckley.     This  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  the  Rock. 

The  early  settlers  selected  their  houselots  in  places  convenient 
to  water,  wood,  and  the  salt  meadows,  and  usually  set  their  dwell- 
ings in  locations  sheltered  from  the  north  and  northwest  winds. 
They  built  in  two  neighborhoods — one  in  the  vicinity  of  Good- 
speed's,  now  Meeting  House  Hill,  and  the  other  near  Coggin's 
Pond.  The  houselots  were  laid  out  in  paralleograms,  and  contained 
from  eight  to  twelve  acres  each.  I  have  before  remarked  that  the 
lots  that  were  longest  east  and  west  were  probably  laid  under  the  au- 
thority of  Mr.  CoUicut ;  but  on  a  careful  examination  of  the  land  I 
find  that  the  nature  of  the  country  required  that  they  should  be  so 
laid  out,  aud  hence  the  supposition  that  they  were  laid  by  Mr.  CoUi- 
cut does  not  appear  to  be  warranted  by  the  facts  in  the  case,  or  by 
the  subsequent  acts  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  spring  of  1640. 

A  portion  of  the  first  settlers  built,  in  1639,  substantial  frame 
houses,  one  of  which  yet  remains,  the  Goodspeed  House,  and  Mr. 
Lothrop's  also,  built  a  few  years  after  the  settlement.  Mr.  Hull, 
Mr.  Mayo,  Thomas  Lumbert,  Mr.  Dimmock,  Elder  Cobb,  and  a 
few   others,  put   up  frame  houses,    the  others  temporary  buildings, 


SENEALOGIOAL    XOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       203 

such  as  have  been  described  as  first  built  in  Scituate.  No  log 
houses  were  built,  because  the  timber  was  not  adapted  to  such  use. 
Saw  mills  had  then  been  erected,  and  hand  sawed  lumber  was  not 
expensive.  Houses  of  one  story  about  20  feet  square,  with 
boarded  walls,  and  a  thatched  roof,  were  put  up  for  £5,  equal  to  $20 
in  silver  money.* 

As  the  better  class  of  substantial  frame  houses  cost  only  20  or  £25, 
the  industrious  and  the  prudent  were  in  a  few  years  provided  with 
comfortable  residences,  fully  as  comfortable  as  many  of  the  more  ele- 
gant structures  of  the  present  day.  They  were  all  built,  except  the 
fortification  houses,  in  one  style,  two  stories  high,  about  20  by  26 
feet  square  on  the  grouud,  with  very  sharp  roofs,  because  a  flat  roof 
covered  with  straw  or  thatch  could  not  shed  water.  The  posts  were 
twelve  or  fourteen  feet  long,  the  lower  story  finished  about  seven 
feet  in  the  clear,  and  the  upper  about  six.  They  all  fronted  due 
south,  and  the  great  room  or  parlor  occupied  the  southeast  corner. 
This  room  was  usually  about  16  feet  square,  and  was  occupied  for  a 
kitchen,  dining  room,  and  parlor.  A  bed  often  occupied  the  north- 
east corner,  and  the  looms  the  southeast.  The  sills  were  hewn  from 
the  largest  trees  of  the  forest,  and  projected  into  the  room  forming  a 
seat  on  the  south  and  east  side.  The  floor  was  laid  on  sleepers  that 
rested  on  the  ground,  and  it  came  up  even  with  the  lower  part  of  the 
sill,  so  that  on  entering  the  front  door,  which  was  at  the  southwest 
corner,  you  stepped  down  about  a  foot.  The  fireplace  was  on  the 
west  side,  and  occupied  the  whole  space  from  the  doorway  to  within 
about  a  foot  of  the  north  side  of  the  room,  and  was  usually  four  feet 
deep.  The  fire  was  kindled  in  the  center,  leaving  ample  chimney 
corners  (a  luxury  now  unknown)  where  the  younger  members  of  the 
family  had  comfortable  seats  in  cold  weather,  and  could  gaze  at  the 
stars  through  the  ample  flue.  The  oven  opened  into  the  back  part 
of  the  fireplace  on  the  left  hand  side.  The  place  of  the  mistress  of 
the  house  was  on  the  right  hand  side,  near  the  low  suttle  in  the  cor-  , 
ner.  The  master's  place  was  a  large  armed  chair  or  round-a-bout 
placed  directly  in  front  of  the  fire.  The  fashionable  now  discuss  the 
merits  of  furnaces  and  patent  stoves  ;  but  if  you  have  a  plenty  of 
wood,  and  want  to  enjoy  good  health,  and  take  comfort  in  cold  win- 
ter weather,  build  an  old-fashioned  fireplace — there  is  no  stove  equal 
to  it. 

The  rear  of  the  lower  floor  contained  a  small  room  at  the  north- 
west corner  having  a  small  fireplace,  and  was  sometimes  called  the 
kitchen,  but  rarely  occupied  for  that  purpose.  A  small  room,  some- 
times occupied  as  a  bedroom  and  sometimes  for  other  purposes,  was 
on  the  east,  and  at  the  northeast  corner  a  narrow  pantry  or  closet,  in 
which  was  a  trap-door  opening  into  the  cellar. 

The  second  story  was  divided  nearly  in  the  same-manner  as  the 


»This  was  the  price  paid  William  Chase  for  building  the  old  Hallet  house  which  has 
been  described. 


204       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

lower.  A  large  square  chamber  occupied  the  space  directly  over  the 
parlor,  with  lodging  rooms  on  the  rear.  The  garret,  which  was 
spacious,  was  occupied  by  the  servants,  and  as  a  general  place  of  de- 
posit. Some  of  the  early  settlers  kept  their  bee-hives  in  the  garret, 
placing  them  on  a  shelf  on  the  outside  in  the  summer,  and  removing 
them  inside  in  winter. 

Very  little  was  expended  to  please  the  eye.  Paint  was  un- 
known, and  excepting  the  seams  between  the  boards,  few  rooms  were 
ever  plastered.  White  sand  from  the  beach  supplied  the  place  of 
carpets,  and  the  furniture  was  of  rude  domestic  manufacture. 

Mr.  Lothrop  and  the  large  company  arrived  in  Barnstable  Oct. 
11,  1639,  O.  8.,  Oct.  21,  new,  bringing  with  them  the  crops  which 
they  had  raised  in  Scituate. 

Though  they  had  much  to  do  to  prepare  for  the  winter,  yet 
they  did  not  forget  their  duty  to  God.  Oct.  31,  1639,  O.  S.,  was 
set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer.  It  was  the 
first  fast  day  observed  in  Barnstable,  the  special  object  whereof  was, 
"For  the  grace  of  our  God  to  settle  us  here  in  church  estate,  and  to 
unite  us  together  in  holy  walking,  and  make  us  faithful  in  keeping 
Covenaunt  w'th  God  and  one  to  another." 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  and  the  Rev.  John  Mayo  were  both  resi- 
dents in  Barnstable  when  Mr.  Lothrop  came,  but  there  is  no  record 
that  a  church  had  been  organized.  Mr.  Hull  was  the  leading  man 
in  the  plantation — the  lands  had  been  granted  to  him  and  Mr.  Dim- 
mock  as  a  committee  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  their  associates ; 
he  had  procured  an  act  of  incorporation,  had  established  a  civil  com- 
munity, and  had  exercised  his  gifts  as  a  preacher  before  any  of  Mr. 
Lothrop's  church  came.  Very  soon  after  we  find  him  an  exile,  a 
wanderer,  a  persecuted  man.  In  my  account  of  Mr.  Hull  the  de- 
tails are  given.  However  great  may  be  our  veneration  for  Mr. 
Lothrop  and  his  followers,  our  sympathies  are  irresistably  enlisted 
on  the  side  of  poor  Mr.  Hull.  The  historian  finds  it  a  difficult  mat- 
ter to  explain  ;  he  cannot  ''make  bricks  without  straw." 

On  the  11th  day  of  Dec.  1639,  O.  S.,  the  first  day  of  Thanks- 
giving was  observed  in  Barnstable.  The  public  service  was  at  poor 
Mr.  Hull's  house.  The  special  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  give 
thanks  to  God  for  his  exceeding  mercy  in  bringing  them  safe  to 
Barnstable,  preserving  their  health  in  the  weak  beginnings,  "of 
their  plantation  and  in  their  church  estate."  The  day  was  very 
cold,  and  after  the  close  of  public  service  they  divided  into  "three 
companies  to  feast  together,  some  at  Mr.  Hull's,  some  at  Mr. 
Mayo's,  and  some  at  Brother  Lumberd  Senior's." 

During  the  first  winter  they  had  no  lack  of  food.  Fish  were 
abundant  in  the  waters,  wild  game  visited  the  coast  in  immense 
flocks,  and  the  woods  were  filled  with  deer  and  other  animals  that 
tested  the  sportman's  skill.  Of  the  forty-five  families  then  in  Barn- 
stable not  more  than  ten,  probably  not  more  than  eight,   had  com- 


OENEALOOICAL   NOTES   OF   BABNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       205 

fortable  two  story  frame  houses.  Three-fourths  of  the  families  oc- 
cupied tenements  that  poorly  sheltered  them  from  the  storms. 

Mr.  Lothrop  was  no  better  provided  for  than  the  mass  of  his 
followers.  He  built  a  small  house  where  Eldridge's  hotel  now 
stands.  It  was  two  stories  high  and  a  frame  house,  was  occupied 
many  years.  During  the  first  winter  it  was  open  and  cold,  and  not 
so  comfortable  a  residence  as  an  ordinary  barn  at  the  present  time. 
Hills  protected  him  from  the  cold  northwest  wind  ;  but  the  north- 
easters buffeted,  in  all  their  fury  against  his  frail  tenement. 

1640.  During  the  winter  of  1639-40,  there  was  little  sickness 
in  the  plantation  and  no  death  occurred.  The  bills  of  mortality 
kept  by  Mr.  Lothrop  show  that  Barnstable  was  one  of  the  most 
healthy  towns  in  the  Colony.  During  the  year  1639  there  was  no 
deaths  ;  in  1640,  3  ;  '41,  10  ;  '42,  2  ;  '43,  1 ;  '44,  4  ;  '45,  1 ;  '46, 
4  ;  '47,  0  ;  '48,  3  ;  '49,  5  ;  '50,  3  ;  '51,  1  ;  '52,  1 ;  and  to  Nov. 
1653,  1,  making  38  in  all.  Of  these  8  were  still-born,  23  children, 
and  7  of  mature  age.  Two  of  the  latter  were  drowned  at  Nauset. 
In  the  spring  of  1640  there  were  45  families,  and  taking  the  usual 
average  of  5,  it  gives  225  as  the  number  of  inhabitants.  In  1653 
the  number  of  families  had  increased,  and  three  hundred  is  not  a 
high  estimate  of  the  number  of  inhabitants.  If  the  average  number 
of  inhabitants  be  called  only  250  during  the  whole  period,  it  shows 
that  the  average  annual  mortality  was  only  one  in  each  one  hundred. 
For  so  long  a  period  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  parallel  case  can  be 
found. 

The  greatest  mortality  was  in  1641.  The  spring  was  unusually 
cold  and  wet, the  whooping  Qough  prevailed, and  several  children  died  of 
that  disease.  In  1647  there  was  sickness  in  every  family,  scarce  an 
individual  escaped,  yet  no  death  occurred  in  the  plantation  that  year. 
In  1649  the  chin  cough  and  the  whooping  cough  prevailed  among 
children  and  there  were  some  cases  of  small  pox.  Though  the 
deaths  amounted  to  five  that  year,  most  of  them  appear  to  have  died 
of  other  diseases.  Mr.  Lothrop  was  confined  to  his  house,  and  un- 
able to  attend  to  the  duties  of  the  ministry  for  seven  weeks  by  a 
cough  and  "a  stitch  in  his  side." 

The  statistics  show  that  the  first  settlers  of  Barnstable  had  an 
abundance  of  nutritious  food,  were  comfortably  clothed,  and  lodged, 
during  the  first  period  of  fifteen  years. 

Of  the  cereals,  they  had  rye,  barley,  and  some  wheat,  and  an 
abundance  of  Indian  corn  ;  all  the  vegetables  now  generally  culti- 
vated, excepting  the  potato ;  pork,  poultry,  and  venison  ;  and  of 
fish  and  grain  they  had  a  great  abundance.  They  were  not  able  to 
add  much  to  the  stock  of  clothing  which  they  brought  over.  They 
raised  flax,  and  manufactured  some  linen  cloth.  *  *  *  * 
It  was  many  years  before  wool  was  raised  in  sufiicient  quantities  to 
supply  the  domestic  demand.  Deer  and  other  skins,  which  the  na- 
tives understood  the  art  of  dressing  in  a  superior  manner,  they  sub- 


206   GENEALO&IOAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

stituted  for  woollen  cloths  in  making  their  outside  gafments.  Many 
of  the  first  settlers  were  tanners  and  shoemakers,  and  none  suffered 
for  want  of  covering  for  the  feet. 

In  the  course  of  three  years  all  had  comfortable,  though  not 
elegant  houses.  The  poorer  kinds  were  one  story,  and  the  walls  and 
floors  were  of  hand-sawed  boards.  The  favorite  locality  was  fhe 
Southeastern  declivity  of  a  hill,  near  to  wood  and  water.  They  dug 
into  the  hill-side,  and  the  bank  was  a  support  to  the  stone  chimney 
and  oven.  The  seams  between  the  boards  were  "daubed"  with  mor- 
tar or  clay,  and  the  walls  were  banked  up  as  high  as  the  windows  in 
winter,  with  drift  from  the  sea-shore  which  kept  out  the  cold  winds. 
Many  of  the  better  class  of  houses,  were  built  on  side-hills.  The 
Nathaniel  Bacon  house  was  so  built,  the  timber  of  which  was  as 
sound  after  two  centuries  as  on  the  day  it  was  hewn.  Not  being 
covered,  it  became  thoroughly  seasoned,  and  impervious  to  rot. 

The  first  settlers  of  Barnstable  had  little  whereof  to  complain. 
None  but  the  idle  and  improvident  lacked  the  conveniences  of  life. 
They  were  happy  aad  contented — a  law  unto  themselves — vice  did 
not  obtain  a  foothold  in  their  little  community. 

Mr.  Lothrop  was  as  distinguished  for  his  worldly  wisdom  as  for 
his  piety.  He  was  a  good  .business  man  and  so  were  all  his  sons. 
Whenever  one  of  the  family  pitched  his  tent,  that  spot  soon  became  a 
center  of  business,  and  land  in  its  vicinity  appreciated  in  value.  It 
is  the  men  that  make  a  place,  and  to  Mr.  Lothrop's  in  early  time^ 
Barnstable  was  more  indebted  than  to  any  other  family. 

The  division  of  the  common  lands  was  the  subject  that  mainly 
engrossed  attention  in  the  winter  of  1639-40.  April  26  was  set 
apart  as  a  day  of  fasting  to  invoke  the  divine  blessing  on  their  efforts 
to  divide  the  lands  quietly  and  justly.  In  many  settlements  the  di- 
vision of  the  lands  had  been  the  cause  of  much  angry  discussion  and 
ill  feeling.  Mr.  Lothrop  and  the  other  leading  men  were  prudent 
and  discreet,  and  the  following  rule  adopted  26th  of  March,  1640, 
O.  S.,  April  5,  1640,  N.  S.,  "by  the  general  consent  of  the  in- 
habitants," was  satisfactory  to  all  interested. 

"One  third  part  to  every  houselot  equally  ;  one  third  to  the 
names  that  are  immovable  ;  and  the  other  third  according  to  men's 
estates."  * 

This  rale  was  adhered  to  in  all  the  subsequent  divisions  of  the 
common  lands.  Its  meaning  at  the  present  time  may  not  be  appar- 
ent;  but  it   was  well  understood  .at  the  time.     The  division  was  not 

*The  houselots  were  afterwards  called  "tenement  rights" — that  is  a  lot  of  land  of  six  or 
more  acres  set  off  to  an  individual,  with  an  agreement  that  a  house  should  be  built  thereon. 
If  a  man  owned  a  houselot  and  neglected  to  build  thereon,  he  had  no  right  to  the  common 
lands  by  virtue  of  his  owner&hip ;  out  the  right  being  worth  more  than  it  would  cost  to  put 
up  a  tenement,  few  forfeited  their  rights.  Ifa  man  put  up  a  house  on  the  common  land, 
such  house  did  not  give  him  a  tenement  right.  By  names  immovable  is  to  be  understood 
accepted  townsmen,  those  who  intended  to  reside  permanently  in  the  town.  Bj  mens  es- 
tate was  intended  personal  estate. 


GENEALOGICAt,   NOTES    OP    BAR^fSTABLE    FAMILIES.       20t 

made  till  June^;  1641,  after  the  whole  Itidian  title  in  the  East  Pariah 
had  been  purchased,-  except  a  small  reservation.* 

At  the  fast,  April  25,  Mr.  John  Mayo  was  ordained  a  teaching 
elder  of  the  church,  otherwise  an  assistant  or  associate  pastor.  The 
forms  adopted  were  those  of  pure  independency.  The  church  elected 
Mr.  Mayo  and  invested  him  into  the  office.  The  neighboring  pas- 
tors and  churches  were  not  formerly  invited  by  their  delegates  to  be 
present  and  assist,  because  such  invitations  would  be  a  concession 
that  each  church  had  not  the  sole  right  to  ordain  its  own  officers. 
Mr.  Lothrop,  Mr.  Hull,  and  Elder  Cobb,  in  the  presence  of  the  con- 
gregation, laid  their  hands  on  Mr.  Mayo  and  publicly  announced 
that  they  thereby,  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  themselves  and  their 
brethren,  invested  him  into  the  office  of  Teaching  Elder. 

Beside  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Mayo,  and  the  division  of  the 
common  lands,  another  subject  was  a  special  matter  for  considera- 
tion at  the  April  fast :  the  providing  of  a  place  to  hold  meetings. 
The  settlers  were  neither  prepared  or  able  to  put  up  a  meeting  house. 
The  Indian  title  to  only  a  small  portion  of  the  territory,,  less  than 
one-half  of  the  East  Parish,  had  then  been  extinguished.  The  set- 
tlement would  necessarily  have  to  extend  west  and  south,  and  a  point 
that  would  then  be  central  would,  in  a  few  years,  be  far  on  one  side. 
Several  were  intending  to  remove  to  the  farm  or  "great  lots"  as  soon 
as  the  division  was  made,  and  among  these  were  some  of  the  most 
substantial  men,  namely :  Anthony  Annable,  Samuel  Hinckley, 
William  Crocker,  John  Bursley,  Edward  Fitzrandolphe,  John 
Smith,  Thomas  Shaw,  Roger  Goodspeed,  and  others. 

Under  the  circumstances  a  temporary  arrangement  had  to  be 
made.  In  cold  and  stormy  weather  the  meetings  were  held  at  pri- 
vate houses,  and  none  were  of  sufficient  size  comfortably  to  accom- 
date  a  congregation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty,  the  average  attend' 
ance. 

The  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  house  were  low  and 
damp,  and  had  not  been  drained  or  cleared  of  bushes,  and  the  people 
desired  a  drier  and  more  central  location.  Mr.  Lothrop  had  a  large 
family,  and  the  meetings  frequently  held  at  his  house  were  inconve- 
nient, and  the  people  desired  that  their  pastor  should  have  a  larger 
and  better  residence.     It  was,  therefore,  proposed  that  Mr.   Lothrop 

*There  were  many  changes  in  the  ownership  of  the  houselots  between  1640  and  1654. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  the  lots  between  Calves  Pasture  Lane  and  Jail  Hill,  in  fact  as 
far  east  as  the  Hyannis  road.  Joseph  Lothrop  was  a  young  man  in  1639,  and  was  not  a 
townsman  till  after  1644,  and  conseciuently  was  not  an  original  proprietor,  and  was  not  en- 
titled to  a  houselot.  That  called  his  in  1654  was  originally  laid  out  to  one  of  the  first 
comers.  James  Neighbors  was  not  an  original  proprietor.  He  purchased  his  lots  also. 
These  three  lots  I  think  were  originally  laid  out  to  John  Hall,  Henry  Eowley,  and  John 
Smith,  or  perhaps  on  the  eastern  to  Barnard  Lumbard.  Mr.  Lothrop  probably  bought  the 
western  lot  for  his  son  Joseph,  and  therefore  it  was  called  his.  Mr.  Lothrop's  will  was  not 
signed  or  executed  by  him,  yet  it  was  admitted  to  probate,  no  objections  being  made,  the 
understanding  probably  being  that  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Lothrop  the  land  should  be  Jo- 
seph's, and  there  is  some  eyidence  that  he  built  his  first  house  where  Judge  Day's  now 
stands.  His  house  in  1686  was  on  the  eastern  declivity  of  Jail  Hill,  where  the  Berry  house 
now  stands.  Mrs.  Lothrop  lived  till  Feb.  25, 1687-8,  and  during  the  25  years  she  was  a 
widow  appears  to  have  resided  in  Mr.' Lothrop's  "new  house." 


208      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF  BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

should  build  a  larger  house  in  a  pleasant  location,  and  nearer  the 
then  center  of  the  settlement,  with  a  room  sufficiently  large  to  ac- 
commodate the  members  of  the  church  at  their  meetings,  and  with 
the  other  rooms  so  arranged  that  all  the  lower  floor  could  be  occu- 
pied on  the  8abbath. 

Mr.  Lothrop's  new  house  was  21  feet  on  the  front  or  south  side, 
and  29  feet  on  the  east  side.  The  chimney  was  on  the  west  side, 
the  oven  projecting  outside  of  the  wall.  The  front  posts  were  eleven 
feet  high,*  and  the  rear  five  and  one-half  feet,  between  the  sill  and 
the  plate.  As  the  floors  were  laid  even  with  the  lower  side  of  the 
sills,  which  were  a  foot  square,  the  lower  rooms  were  about  6  feet  6 
inches  in  the  clear,  between  the  summer  beam  and  the  floor.  The 
framing  of  the  front  room  corresponded  with  the  height  of  the  rear 
posts,  consequently  the  front  posts  extended  about  three  and  one-half 
feet  above  the  chamber  floor,  making  a  half  story  in  front. 

The  first  alteration  was  made  by  adding  a  room  on  the  west ; 
the  second,  by  lengthening  the  front  posts,  making  the  building  two 
full  stories  on  the  front ;  the  third  was  made  by  the  late  Isaac  Chip- 
Inan,  who  raised  the  rear  up  to  two  stories  ;  and  the  fourth  or  last 
by  converting  the  west  part  of  the  house  into  a  public  library  room. 
The  original  part  of  the  house  remains,  excepting  the  finish,  as  it 
was  when  occupied  by  Mr.  Lothrop. 

Mr.  Lothrop's  Great  Lot  was  sold  to  John  Scudder.  The 
dwelling-house  of  the  Widow  Sally  Otis  stands  on  its  northwest  cor- 
lier  bound,  and  it  extended  from  the  bound  "twelve  score  poles  into 
the  woods."  It  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  lot  owned  by  Jabez 
Lumbard,  and  on  the  east  by  Mr.  Dimmock's  great  lot,  the  boundary 
on  the  east  being  the  land  now  owned  by  Mr.  Joshua  Thayer. 

His  grant  in  the  common  field  was  on  the  east  of  the  Indian  res- 
ervation, adjoining  the  Reed  Swamp,  and  is  frequently  referred  to 
as  Mrs.  Lothrop's  land.  His  "Great  Marsh"  is  not  described,  but 
it  may  be  safely  inferred  that  it  was  the  meadow  near  the  outlet  of 
Rendezvous  Creek  afterwards  owned  by  his  sons  Joseph  and  Thomas. 

In  1661  his  son  Joseph  entered  on  the  town  records  the 
boundaries  of  the  land  on  which  Mr.  Lothrop  built  his  second  house. 
Why  the  meadow  "on  the  east  adjoining  to  Rendevous  Creek,"  and 
the  grant  in  the  commonfield,  are  called  Mr.  Lothrop's,  and  the 
houselot  Joseph's,  I  am  unable  to  explain  with  certainty.  As  Mr. 
Lothrop's  new  dwelling-house,  built  about  the  year  1644,  is  now 
standing,  and  has  recently  been  fitted  up  as  a  dwelling-house  and  a 
public  library,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  elegant  buildings  in  the 
village  its  history  at  the  present  time  is  one  of  especial  interest. 

*In  some  instances  the  rafters  indicate  that  the  low  leantoe  on  the  rear  was  a  part  of  the 
original  house ;  hut  this  is  not  certain  evidence,  new  rafters  may  have  been  put  in  when  the 
addition  was  made.  This  is  certain  in  regard  to  the  William  Allen  house,  where  hoth  sets 
how  remain.  The  style  of  the  house  of  1680  is  outward  hj;  the  same,  as  the  remodled  house 
of  the  first  settlers ;  but  the  two  may  readily  he  distinguished.  In  the  old  house  the  front 
posts  are  spliced,  while  in  the  later  Duilt  houses  they  are  not. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       209 

The  description  given  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  will  of  the  situation  of 
the  house  in  which  he  then  dwelt  and  "the  ground  belonging  there- 
unto," applies  to  the  lot  recorded  in  1661  as  the  property  of  his  son 
Joseph.  Between  Rendevous  Lane  and  Mr.  Lothrop's  first  lot  there 
were  three  houselots,  the  western  is  called  Joseph  Lothrop's,  and  the 
other  two,  in  1654,  were  the  property  of  James  Neighbors.  Up  to 
the  year  1703  no  house  had  been  built  on  either  of  the  two  last 
named  lots  near  the  present  County  road.  The  Russell  house,  now 
owned  by  Mr,  Frederic  Lewis,  built  about  the  year  1723,  was  the 
first  erected  on  the  road  between  the  two  houses  named  in  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's will.  July  21,  1666,  James  Neighbors  sold  these  two  lots  to 
Thomas  Lothrop,  and  describes  them  as  bounded  westerly  by  the 
land  of  Joseph  Lothrop  and  easterly  by  the  ancient  highway  to  Ren- 
devous Landing.  The  western  boundary  was  the  raiige  of  fence 
running  north  and  south  between  the  dwelling  house  and  estate  of 
Mr.  Walter  Chipman  and  the  Sturgis  estate.  He  conveys  three 
acres  of  meadow  adjoining  on  the  north,  bounded  easterly  by  Barn- 
ard Lumbard's  meadow,  and  westerly  by  Joseph  Lothrop's.  The 
northern  boundary  is  not  named  in  the  deed  ;  but  in  the  record  of 
Joseph  Lothrop's  meadow  he  states  that  he  is  bounded  on  the  south 
by  the  meadow  that  was  Goodman  Neighbors  and  north  by  Mrg. 
Lothrop's,  and  easterly  by  Rendevous  Creek.  This  is  an  indirect 
mode  of  arriving  at  a  conclusion,  yet  it  is  perfectly  conclusive,  for 
no  other  lot  of  land  but  that  called  in  the  records  of  1654  and  1661 
Joseph  Lothrop's  had  a  lot  of  meadow  on  its  east  side,  extending  to 
Rendevous  Creek,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Lothrop  in  his  will. 

He  did  not  build  his  second  house  on  either  of  the  lots  owned 
by  James  Neighbors,  nor  did  he  build  on  the  lot  of  his  son  Thomas 
on  the  west  of  Rendevous  Lane ;  because  the  meadow  attached  to 
that  lot  was  not  bounded  by  Rendevous  Creek,  and  was  a  long  dis- 
tance from  the  "island"  named  as  a  part  of  the  boundary  of  Mr. 
Lothrop's  meadow.  It  is  unnecessary  to  continue  the  examination 
of  the  records.  A  plan  of  the  lots  as  originally  laid  out  would  make 
it  apparent  that  Mr.  Lothrop's  new  house  was  built  on  the  land  de- 
scribed in  the  records  as  Joseph  Lothrop's. 

That  the  house  now  known  as  the  Sturgis  Library  building  was 
the  new  house  named  in  Mr.  Lothrop's  will  and  built  about  the  year 
1644,  hardly  admits  of  a  doubt.  Its  history  from  year  to  year  can- 
not be  traced  by  written  records ;  but  we  have  equally  good  evi- 
dence. It  was  built  in  the  style  in  which  all  the  first  settlers  built, 
not  in  the  style  of  1680  or' of  any  later  period.  It  was  better  built 
than  any  of  the  old  houses  which  I  have  examined.  The  workman- 
ship was  better.  It  was  larger,  being  about  25  feet  in  front  and 
deeper  in  the  rear.  Its  large  sills,  sleepers  of  the  lower  floors,  origi- 
nally laid  on  the  ground,  thirteen  feet  posts,  with  cock  tail  tenans, 
its  inch  and  a  quarter  matched  boarding,  sharp  roof  with  legers 
across  the  rafters,   are  the  unmistakable  characteristics  of  the  frame 


210       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAKNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

houses  of  the  first  settlers.  The  Goodspeed  house,  built  in  1639, 
was  framed  and  built  in  the  same  style, — so  was  Mr.  Lothrop's 
house  and  the  Nathaniel  Bacon  house,  built  in'  1642.  The  Geo. 
Allen  house  in  Sandwich,  built  in  1646,  and  another  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  said  to  be  older  were  constructed  in  the  same  style. 
The  William  Allen  house,  which  has  been  particularly  described  in 
a  preceding  article,  exhibits  in  its  construction  evidences  that  it  was 
built  a  little  later,  and  so  did  the  John  Bursley  house  at  West  Barn- 
stable. The  style  of  building  in  1680  was  a  modification  of  the  old, 
yet  in  some  of  the  details  essentially  different. 

The  person  who  takes  an  interest  in  antiquities,  and  notes  the 
mode  of  building,  at  different  periods,  cannot  be  easily  deceived  in 
regard  to  the  age  of  a  house.  He  that  counts,  the  annual  layers  in 
the  grain  of  the  oak,  reads  a  record  of  its  age  which  there  cannot 
possibly  be  a  clerical  error.  The  style  of  building  is  not  so  particu- 
lar a  record,  but  it  is  almost  equally  as  good  evidence.  The  Loth- 
rop  house  has  now  stood  220  years,  and  every  antiquarian  will  re- 
joice that  it  is  to  be  preserved  another  century. 

Mr.  Lothrop  died  on  the  year  that  the  Colony  Court  ordered 
that  each  man's  possessions  should  be  bounded  and  recorded  in  the 
town's  books,  (1653.)  The  earliest  records,  made  in  pursuance  of 
the  Court  Order,  were  in  1654,  the  year  following  his  decease.  In 
his  will  he  names  "the  house  I  first  lived  in,  in  Barnstable,  with  the 
ground  belonging  thereunto,  and  the  marsh  joyning  to  the  lower  end 
thereof,  which  butts  and  bounds  upon  the  creek  northward."  Also, 
"the  house  where  I  now  dwell,  and  the  ground  belonging  thereto, 
with  the  marsh  land  that  lyeth  on  the  east  beside  Rendevous  Creek, 
and  also  my  grant  in  the  Commonfield."  He  also  orders  that  his 
"great  lott,  and  his  great  marsh,  shall  be  sold  to  some  particular 
person." 

Excepting  his  second  houselot,  and  his  "great  marsh,"  the 
situation  and  boundaries  oi  the  lots  he  names  in  his  will  are  well 
known. 

1.  The  houselot,  originally  assigned  to  him,  and  on  which  he 
built  "the  house  he  first  lived  in,  in  Barnstable,"  is  now  owned  by 
Messrs.  Waterman  &  Eben.  H.  Eldridge,  and  Mr.  Lothrop's  house 
stood  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  their  hotel.  The  Eldredges  own 
the  whole  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  lot,  and  part  of  the  adjoining  lots  on  the 
east.  It  was  in  1654  bounded  south  by  the  present  County  road, 
west  by  the  highway  to  Rendevous  Creek  Landing,  north  by  said 
creek,  and  east  partly  by  the  meadow  of  Capt.  John  Dickinson,  and 
partly  by  George  Lewes'.  It  contained  about  twelve  acres,  nine  of 
upland  and  three  of  salt  meadow.  The  ancient  boundaries  remain 
to  this  day,  excepting  on  the  east,  the  Dickinson  and  some  other 
meadow  now  being  included  in  the  Eldridge  lot.  The  general 
course  of  Rendevous  Creek  is  from  north  to  south,  but  at  the  foot  of 
Mr.  Lothrop's  lot  it  makes  a  sharp  turn  to  the  east.     Why  it  was 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       211 

called  by  this  Freuch  name  I  have  no  certain  information,  but  it  was 
probably  so  called  because  it  was  the  place  where  the  first  settlers 
agreed  to  rendevuse  or  meet.  Up  to  about  the  year  1812  Rendevous 
Lauding  was  a  center  of  business.  There  was  a  landing  and  wharf 
on  Mr.  Lothrop's  land  on  the  south  and  another  on  the  north  side, 
on  the  land  laid  out  to  Elder  Henry  Cobb.  Mr.  Josiah  Lewis  had  a 
shipyard  on  the  north,  and  after  his  decease  the  late  Mr.  Charles 
Dimraock  continued  the  business  till  1812.  One  of  the  last  vessels 
built  there  was  the  brig  Russell.  She  was  rigged  and  ready  for  sea 
when  launched.  It  is  now  more  than  fifty  years  since  any  business 
has  been  done  at  Rendevous  Landing,  and  though  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  Court  House  only  a  few  aged  persons  know  where 
that  landing  was. 

Mr.  Lothrop's  first  house  was,  a  two  story  frame  house, 
built  in  the  ancient  style,  and  about  22  feet  by  26  on  the 
ground.  It  was  taken  down  in  1824.  It  had  been  enlarged 
and  remodeled  at  least  twice,  a  room  had  been  added  on  the  west, 
and  a  leantoe  on  the  rear.  The  frame  was  of  large  timber  and  cov- 
ered with  inch  and  a  quarter  planks  ;  but  the  walls  not  being  plast- 
ered, or  mulched,  and  the  roof  being  covered  with  thatch,  Mr.  Loth- 
rop  had  good  reasons  for  complaining  that  it  was  "open  and  cold." 

After  he  built  his  new  house  it  was  occupied  several  years  by 
tenants.  Henry  Rowley  appears  to  have  been  the  occupant  immedi- 
ately after  Mr.  Lothrop.  Hon.  Joseph  Lothrop  was  the  last  owner 
of  the  family  name.  He  died  in  1748,  and  divided  his  large  estate 
to  his  five  grand-children  of  the  name  of  Russell,  and  children  of  his 
only  daughter  and  child  Mehitable,  who  died  in  1747. 

When  "the  ancient  house,"  as  it  is  called  in  the  Probate  Rec- 
ords in  1748,  was  taken  down,  the  memorial  brick  was  found  on 
which  was  inscribed  the  date  of  the  building  of  the  house,  1639,  but 
no  accurate  copy  of  the  inscription  can  now  be  obtained.  No  one 
took  a  sufiB^cieut  interest  In  that  memento  of  the  past,  and  it  was  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  chimney  of  the  present  hotel. 


[At  this  point  Mr.  Otis  abruptly  ceased  from  writing,  in  con- 
sequence of  engrossing  cares  and  anxieties,  and  never  resumed 
the  work  for  which  he  had  so  much  enthusiasm  and  fullness  of  in- 
formation. In  order  that  this  record  of  the  old  families  of  Barn- 
stable may  be  complete,  the  publishers  of  the  Patriot  will  en- 
deavor to  procure  sketches  of  those  of  the  first  comers  not  em- 
braced in  the  foregoing  papers — some  ten  or  twelve  in  number — 
which  will  make  a  full  and  comprehensive  record  of  the  early  his- 
tory of  this  ancient  town, — a  municipality  which  has  contributed 
as  much  to  the  patriotism  and  jurisprudence  of  the  State  as  any 
within  its  borders. — C.  F.  Swift.] 


CONTINUATION 


OF 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES 


OF 


BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES, 


PREFATORY    REMARKS. 


The  writer  of  the  succeeding  brief  sketches  approaches  the 
task  with  sincere  misgivings.  He  does  not  assume  to  have  had 
the  opportunities  for  acquiring  information  respecting  the  Barn- 
stable families,  even  if  he  has  the  ability,  and  enthusiasm  for  the 
work,  which  Mr.  Otis  possessed  in  so  remarkable  a  degree.  Yet 
desiring  to  see  these  sketches  continued  to  the  end,  and  no  native 
of  the  town  being  found  who  will  undertake  the  work,  he  will  en- 
deavor to  compile  some  account  of  the  remaining  first  comers, 
whose  history  Mr.  Otis  has  left  unwritten,  so  that  the  series  may 
be  rendered  in  some  degree  complete.  The  genealogical  tables, 
however,  will  not  be  usually  traced  beyond  the  second,  or,  at  the 
most,  the  third  generation.  The  authorities  upon  which  the  writer 
will  rely,  are  the  colonial,  town  and  church  records,  Savage's 
Genealogical  Dictionary,  Pierce's  Colonial  Lists,  and  the  preced- 
ing pages  of  Mr.  Otis.  c.  f.  s. 


LOTHROP    FAMILIES. 


[CONTIKUED.J 

The  male  descendants  of  Rev.  John  Lothrop  are  not  now- 
numerous  in  Barnstable,  though  many  of  them  are  widely  scat- 
tered throughout  New  England.  Of  his  sons,  Joseph  and  Barna- 
bas were  men  of  wide  influence  and  a  good  deal  of  ability. 


Thomas,  the  eldest  son  was,  as  before  stated,  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1621.  He  joined  his  father's  church  in  Scituate  14th  May, 
1637,  being  then  but  16  years  of  age  ;  married,  according  to  Sav- 
age, 11th  Dec.  1639,  Sarah,  widow  of  Thomas  Ewer,  being  then 
about  18  years  of  age.  His  posterity  are  given  in  Mr.  Otis's 
Notes.  He  was  named  in  the  list  of  inhabitants  of  the  town  in 
1640,  and  again  in  1670.  In  1661,  Nov.  29,  he  was  one  of  the 
committee  for  laying  out  the  land  in  Sacconnessett.  He  was  a 
respectable  and  useful  man,  but  not  equal  in  ability  to  his 
brothers,  Joseph  and  Barnabas. 

Joseph,  also  born  in  England,  besides  being  a  civilian  of  dis- 
tinction was  a  military  officer  of  merit.  He  was  deputy  to  the 
colony  court  in  1667,  and  for  18  years  afterwards.  In  1676, 
Lieut.  Lothrop,  as  he  was  then  styled,  was  the  Barnstable  mem- 
ber of  the  council  of  war,  consisting  of  one  member  from  each 
town  in  the  colony,  during  King  Philip's  uprising  ;  and  again  in 
1685.  In  company  with  his  brother  Barnabas,  in  1676,  he  acted 
as  agent  for  the  settlement  of  Rochester.  He  was  Register  of 
Deeds  and  Register  of  Probate  in  1702  and  succeeding  years, 
Sheriff  from  1715  to  1721,  and  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  1701  and  several  years  following. 

Barnabas,  bap.  at  Scituate,  where  he  was  born,  6th  June, 
1636,  was  a  civilian  of  much  prominence.  He  was  a  deputy  to 
the  colonial  court  in  1675,  continuing  in  that  office  until  1685,  in- 


216   GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

elusive;  in  1675  was  also  one  of  tlie  conncil  of  war  to  devise 
measures  for  repelling  the  attacks  of  hostile  Indians ;  was  the 
Barnstable  member  of  the  Select  Courts  in  1676  ;  an  agent  for  the 
settlement  of  the  new  town  of  Rochester  in  the  same  year ;  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  1692  and  several  years  fol- 
lowing ;  Judge  of  Probate  Court  1702  to  1714.  Besides  these 
local  offices,  lie  was  an  assistant  to  the  governor  from  1681  to 
1686,  inclusive.  Upon  the  union  of  Plymouth  Colony  with  that 
of  Mass.  Bay,  he  was  selected,  under  the  new  charter,  by  the  in- 
fluence of  Increase  Mather,  it  is  said,  in  company  with  his  neigh- 
bor and  friend.  Gov.  Thomas  Hincliley,  as  one  of  the  Councillors 
of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  under  the  administration 
of  Sir  William  Phipps.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  comment  upon 
the  make-up  of  this  new  Council,  and  many  were  inclined  to  think 
that  Gov.  Hinckley  and  his  friends  were  not  disinclined  to  sur- 
render the  Plymouth  charter  and  to  become  life  members  in  the 
new  and  consolidated  government.  The  fact  that  the  governor, 
Mr.Lothrop  and  Mr. Walley, recently  of  Barnstable,  were  three  out 
of  four  of  the  members  of  the  Council  from  what  had  been  the 
Plymouth  colony,  gave  some  color  to  this  impression.  Men  were 
in  those  days  as  suspicious  and  jealous  of  the  acts  and  motives  of 
public  officers  as  they  now  are  ;  human  nature  still  remains  the 
same  as  of  yore.  But  there  is  no  good  reason  for  the  imputation 
that  Gov.  Hincklev  was  not  true  to  the  interests  of  the  colony. 
It  was,  at  best  a  struggling  and  feeble  community.  It  was  un- 
able to  raise  funds  to  sustain  an  agent  to  guard  its  interests  in 
England,  and  it  came  very  near  being  annexed  to  New  York. 
Mr.  Mather  did  the  best  thing  in  his  power  for  the  colony,  by 
securing  its  union  with  Massachusetts ;  and  he  provided  for  its 
prominent  men  by  having  them  named  as  members  of  the  new 
council.  It  is  strong  evidence  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  standing  and 
influence,  that  he  should  have  been  called  to  this  honorable  and 
responsible  position.  He  died  in  1735  in  the  79th  year  of  his 
age. 

JoHK,  the  youngest  son  of  Rev.  John,  was  probably  born  in 
Barnstable,  about  the  year  1642.  He  was  not  in  public  life.  He 
married,  in  1672,  Mary  Cole  of  Plymouth. 


LITCHFIELD. 


LAWRENCE    LITCHFIELD. 

Lawrence  Litchfield  was  one  of  the  company  from  Seituate 
who  came  to  Barnstable  in  the  spring  of  1639.  He  settled  beside 
Coggins's  (now  known  as  Great)  pond,  near  the  estate  of  Gov. 
Hinckley.  He  did  not  remain  here  long.  In  1646  he  was  again 
in  Seituate,  where  he  died  in  1650.  He  is  thought  to  be  the  pro- 
genitor of  all  of  that  name  now  in  New  England,  but  none  of  them 
are  now  within  the  limits  of  Barnstable. 


LOMBARD. 


This  name  is  variously  written,  and  members  of  the  family 
of  the  same  derivation  severally  call  themselves  Lombard,  Lum- 
bard,  Lambard,  Lambert,  Lumbert  and  Lumber.  The  Barnstable 
Lombards  came  from  Tenterton,  Kent  County,  England.  There 
were  four  or  five  of  the  name  in  Barnstable  in  the  early  period  of 
its  settlement,  but  there  are  only  a  few  remaining  there  at  the 
present  time. 

THOMAS    LOMBARD. 

Thomas  Lombard  was  born  in   Tenterton,   Kent,    about  the 

year  1610,  and  was  married  as  early  as    1630,    to   Joyce . 

Early  marriages  were  common  in  those  days,  the  first  settlers   not 


218       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

unfi'equently  becoming  heads  of  families  before  reaching  their 
majority.  He  came  over  in  the  Mary  and  John,  in  1630,  settling 
in  Dorchester.  He  requested  to  be  made  a  freeman  19th  Oct.  of 
that  year,  and  was  admitted  18th  of  May,  1631.  He  removed  in 
a  few  years  to  Scituate,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  company 
who  came  to  Barnstable.  In  Mr.  Lothrop's  diary,  in  speaking  of 
the  arrival  of  his  immediate  company  in  town,  it  is  recorded  : 
"After  praises  to  God  in  public  were  ended,  as  the  day  was  cold, 
we  divided  into  three  companies,  to  feast  together,  some  at  Mr. 
Hull's,  some  at  Mr.  Mayo's  and  some  at  brother  Lombard,  Sr's." 
These  were  presumably  the  three  largest  and  most  eligible  houses 
in  the  settlement,  and  this  passage  indicates  the  standing  and 
means  of  their  possessors.  In  1639  the  court  record  states  that 
"Thomas  Lumbert*  is  allowed  to  keep  victualling,  or  an  ordinary, 
for  the  entertainment  of  strangers,  and  to  draw  wines  in  Barn- 
stable." 

BERNARD     LOMBARD. 

Bernard,  brother  of  Thomas,  was  also  born  in  Tenterton,  and 
probably  came  to  Dorchester,  in    1630.     He   was   in    Seituate   in 

1634,  and  he  and  his  wife  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  19th  April, 

1635.  He  came  to  Barnstable  in  the  fall  of  1639,  and  his  house- 
lot  was  near  the  site  of  the  old  mill,  towards  the  shore.  In  1660 
he  was  appointed  by  the  colony  court  to  lay  out  lands  granted  to 
inhabitants  of  Eastham ;  and  in  1665  to  lay  out  100  acres  of  land 
in  Chatham  allowed  to  Wm.  Nickerson.  He  was  one  of  the  seven 
persons  in  town  in  1664  having  the  prefix  of  "Mr.,"  a  title  which 
at  that  time  signified  that  its  possessor  was  a  man  of  public  and 
social  consideration.  He  was  also  ensign  of  the  military  company 
in  Barnstable  in. 1652,  a  place  of  distinction  in  those  days.  lia 
1667  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  committee  to  lay  out  lands  in 
Succanessett.     He  died  about  1667,  aged  not  far  from    60   years. 

Mr.  Savage,  in  his  Biographical  Dictionary,  asserts  that  the 
Thomas  Lombard  who  came  to  Dorchester  in  1630  was  father  of 
the  Thomas  who  also  came  to  Barnstable  in  1639.  Thev  were, 
most  probably  one  and  the  same.  The  genealogy  of  the  family 
is  involved  in  so  many  obscurities  that  I  do  not  feel  competent  to 
trace  it  out,  and  rather  than  give  it  in  an  imperfect  form  prefer 
not  to  undertake  the  task. 

The  Truro  family  of  the  name  is  derived  from  Thomas.  This 
branch  has  made  its  mark  in  the  financial  and  commercial  circles 
of  the  country  as  few  names  have  done.  In  the  Western  States 
hardly  a  town  exists  that  has  not  had  intimate  business  relations 
with  the  banking  firm  of  Lombards. 

*The  early  records  show  that  the  name  was  originally  spelt  "Lumbert,"  but  the  usase 
has  many  years  since  changed.  ^ 


MARSTON. 


JOHN    MARSTON. 

There  was  a  John  Marston  In  this  town  as  early  as  1657, 
when  be  married  Martha,  daughter  of  Bernard  Lombard,  having 
two  sons.  He  removed  to  Swansey  about  1660.  There  was  prob- 
ably no  connection  between  John  and 

BENJAMIN   MAKSTON. 

Benjamin,  the  progenitor  of  those  of  the  name  in  this  town 
and  county,  came  from  Salem.  He  was  an  energetic  and  enter- 
prising citizen.  He  received  from  the  town,  in  1738,  extensive 
mill  privileges,  in  the  village  which  since  that  time  has  been  known 
as  "Marston's  Mills,"  and  devoted  himself  to  dressing  the  fabrics 
of  those  who  brought  to  his  establishment  the  products  of  their 
wheels  and  looms.  By  his  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Goodspeed, 
April  26,  1716,  he  had  John,  Feb.  25,  1717  ;  Patience,  Jan.  1, 
1720  ;  Benjamin,  Jan.  2,  1725  ;  Nymphas,  Feb.  12,  1728  ;  Lydia, 
March,  1731  ;  Prince,  March  24,  1736  ;  and  John,  Dec.  3,  1740. 
Nymphas,  the  third  son  of  Benjamin,  was  a  man  of  talent,  public 
spirit  and  distinction.  He  graduated  at  Yale,  and  represented 
Barnstable  in  the  Legislature  in  1765.  He  sat  with  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  and  General  Sessions,  in  1774,  at  the  time  of  the 
suspension  of  the  courts  by  "the  Body  of  the  People,"  and  fully 
sympathized  with  the  patriots  who  resorted  to  that  extreme  meas- 
ure, and  in  the  measures  of  resistance  to  Great  Britain 
which  followed  he  contributed  his  full  share,  both  by  precept  and 
by  monetary  accommodations,  making  large  advances  from  his 
private  means.  It  is  related  that  on  one  occasion,  the  soldiers 
called  out  from  below  for  the  defence  of  Falmouth,  on  fheir  return 
home  called  upon  him,  and  after  accepting  his  bountiful  hospitali- 
ties, gave  vent  to  their  patriotism  by  firing  a  salute  in  the  house, 
thereby  shattering  the  plastering  in  the  dining  room.  He  re- 
marked that  his  guests  were  quite  pardonable,  if  they  would  only 
carry  out  their  zeal  in  shattering  the  ranks  of  the  common  enemy  ; 
and  suffered  the  marks  of  the  explosion  to  remain  during   the   re- 


220       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

mainder  of  his  life.  He  was  elected,  with  Shearjashub  Bourne,  a 
delegate  to  take  into  consideration  the  proposed  constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  died  Feb.  11,  1788,  leaving  no  issue. 
From  Prince,  fourth  son  of  Benjamin,  Ist,  was  Nympbas,  who 
graduated  at  Harvard  1807,  and  after  service  as  Senator, and  Judge 
of  Probate,  died  May  2,  1864.  Few  men  have  enjoyed  a  greater 
degree  of  popularity  and  influence  than  Judge  Marston,  and  his 
success  as  an  advocate  was  something  marvelous.  His  brother 
Charles  also  filled  many  high  and  responsible'  posts — Representa- 
tive, Senator,  Executive  Councillor  and  Sheriff.  Charles's  son, 
Hon.  George,  whose  recent  lamented  decease  is  fresh  in  the  recol- 
lection of  this  generation,  was  in  his  day  Representative,  Judge 
of  Probate  and  Attorney  General  of  Massachusetts. 


MAYO. 


REV.  JOHN  MAYO. 

Although  this  is  an  Irish  name,  the  subject  of  the  following 
sketch  was  born  in  England  and  graduated  from  an  English  uni- 
versity. He  came  over  probably  about  1638,  and  in  1639  was  in 
Barnstable,  where  he  was  ordained  a  teaching  elder  in  connection 
with  Rev.  John  Lothrop.  He  was  a  freeman  in  1640.  In  1646 
he  removed  to  Eastham  and  subsequently  took  charge  of  the 
church  in^hat  town,  where  he  continued  until  1655,  when  he  was 
settled  over  the  second,  or  North,  church  in  Boston.  In  1673  in 
consequence  of  advanced  age  and  infirmities,  he  went  again  to 
Barnstable,  and  there  and  at  Eastham  and  Yarmouth  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life  with  his  children,  dying  at  the  latter  place  in 
May,  1676.  He  was  a  man  of  prominence  as  a  minister,  and  in 
1658  preached  the  annual  election  sermon.  His  vrife  was  named 
Tamosin,  or  Tamsin  ;  she  died  in  Yarmouth   in    1682.     His   chil- 


GENEALOGICAL,    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       221 

dven,  all  of  whom  were  born  in  England,  were:     Hannah,    Sam- 
uel, John,  Nathaniel  and  Elizabeth. 

SAMUEL  MAYO. 

Samuel,  son  of  Rev.  John  was  in  Barnstable  in  1639.  He 
adopted  the  profession  of  mariner,  running  a  packet  for  some 
time  between  the  Cape  and  Boston.  He  afterwards  became  con- 
nected with  some  members  of  the  Sandwich  church  in  the  purchase 
of  Oj'ster  Bay,  Long  Island.  There  was  a  wide  difference  among 
the  Sandwich  settlers  on  theological  points,  but  in  this  instance 
the  minister,  Rev.  "William  Leverich,  and  his  sympathizers,  were 
the  liberal  and  tolerant  wing,  and  were  in  the  minority.  Mr. 
Leverich  and  his  associates  resolved  upon  removal,  and  Mr.  Mayo 
conveyed  their  goods  and  effects  to  the  new  settlement.  The 
Dutch  were  then  our  enemies,  and  under  a  warrant  from  an  officer 
of  Rhode  Island,  in  1654,  Mr.  Mayo's  vessel  was  seized  at 
Hampstead  harbor,  for  alleged  unlawful  intercourse  with  them. — 
This  being  regarded  as  a  high-handed  offence  against  the  dignity 
of  Plymouth  Colony,  commissioners  were  sent  to  Rhode  Island  to 
looli  after  the  matter.  The  act  was  disclaimed  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Rhode  Island,  and  an  award  of  £150  damages  made. — 
Mr.  Mayo  afterwards  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  died  in  1663. 
He  married  Thomasine,  daughter  of  Wm.  Lumpkin  of  Yarmouth 
and  his  children  were:  Mary,  1645;  Samuel,  1647.  These  two 
were  baptized  together  3  Feb.  1650.  The  long  lapse  of  time  for 
those  days  between  the  births  and  baptism,  and  the  fact  that  the 
mother  joined  Mr.  Lothrop's  church  Jan.  20  preceding  the  bap- 
tism, indicates  that  she  was  in  sympathy  with  the  disaffection  to- 
wards the  majority  of  the  Yarmouth  church  and  the  minister, 
which  was  known  to  exist  at  that  time.  Other  children  were  : 
Hannah,  born  Oct.  20,  1650;  Elizabeth,  May  22,  1653;  Nathan- 
iel, Apl.  1,  1658  ;  Sarah,  1660.  The  last  two  were  born  in  Bos- 
ton. 

The  Cape  families  of  this  name  are  derived  from  John  and 
Nathaniel,  who  went  with  their  father  to  Eastham,  where  they  set- 
tled. John  married  Hannah  Reycroft,  according  to  the  Colonial 
Record,  and  his  children  were:  John,  born  Dec.  15,  1652-; 
William,  Oct.  7,  1654;  James,  Oct.  3,  1656;  Samuel,  Aug.  2, 
1658;  Elisha,  Nov.  7,  1661  ;  Daniel,  Jan.  24,  1664;  Nathaniel, 
April  2,  1667;  Thomas,  June  24,  1670,  who  died  soon;  Thomas 
again,  July  15,  1672.  IS^athaniel,  married  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Gov.  Thomas  Prence,  and  had  Thomas,  born  Dec.  7,  1651 ;  Na- 
thaniel, Nov.  16,  1652  ;  Samuel,  Oct.  12,  1655  ;  Hannah,  Oct. 
17,  1657  ;  Theophilus,  Dec.  17,  1659  ;  Bathsheba,  1662.  He  was 
a  Representative  in  1660,  and  died  in  1662.     Those  who  desire  to 


222       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

trace  the  descent  of  any  branch  of   this   family    can  easily    do  so 
from  the  names  given  above. 

Mr.  Mayo's  daughters  married,  Hannah  in  1642,  Nathaniel 
Bacon  of  Barnstable,  and  Elizabeth,  Joseph  Howes  of  Yarmouth. 
It  was  in  the  family  of  the  latter  that  Mr.  Mayo  died. 


OTIS. 


The  Otis  family  was  not  one  of  the  "first  families"  of  the 
town  in  point  of  residence,  but  certainly  one  of  the  very  first  in 
the  country  in  respect  to  conspicuous  talent  and  exalted  public 
service  ;  and  its  location  in  town  dates  as  early  as  167.5,  if  not 
earlier.  The  precise  year  when  John  Otis  came  to  this  place  can- 
not be  determined  with  certainty  from  any  data  now  available. 
But  on  that  year  he  was  fined  "40s.  for  selling  cider."  This  was 
not  a  very  flagrant  offense,  for  the  descendants  of  the  men  of  that 
era  have  decided  that  cider  is  one  of  the  beverages  containing 
more  or  less  of  alcohol  the  sale  of  which,  under  certain  restrictions, 
has  no  inherent  element  of  depravity,  and  therefore  its  sale  is  not 
a  penal  offence.  There  were  then  no  political  considerations  which 
operated  in  favor  of  vending  the  juice  of  the  apple,  and  conse- 
quently its  sale  did  not  then  take  moral  precedence  over  the  traffic 
in  the  extract  of  rye,  corn  or  malt. 

The  Otis  family  of  this  county  is  derived  from  Gen.  John, 
who  was  born  in  Barnstaple,  Devonshire  County,  England,  in 
1581,  and  who  came  to  Hingham  in  1635.  His  son,  John,  who 
was  born  in  England  in  1620,  also  came  with  his  father  to  Hing- 
ham and  Scituate,  and  thence  to  Barnstable,  from  whence  he  re- 
turned to  Scituate,  leaving  here  his  son   John,    whose   offence   in 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       223 

allaying  the  thirst  of  his  bibulous  fellow-citizens  has  been  re- 
marked upon.  He  was  the  father  of  "Col.  John"  who  was  repre- 
sented as  a  gentleman  "of  distinguished  talents,  of  powerful  wit, 
great  affability,  sagacity,  prudence  and  piety" — an  assemblage  of 
the  virtues  hard  to  be  matched  in  these  latter  days.  It  would 
seem  natural  that  a  man  possessing  ail  these  qualities  should  .be 
sought  out  by  his  fellow  men,  in  those  days,  when  high  character- 
istics and  not  a  plethoric  pocket-book,  were  the  proper  certificate 
for  distinction.  Consequently  he  was  representative  for  20  years, 
commander  of  the  militia  of  the  County  for  18  years,  first  judge 
of  probate  13  years,  chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
and  of  His  Majesty's  Council  21  years.  His  children  were : 
Mary,  born  Dec.  10,  1685;  John,  Jan.  14,  1687;  Nathaniel,  July 
18,  1690;  Mercy,  Oct.  15,  1693;  Solomon,  Oct.  13,  1696;  and 
James,  June  14,  1702. 

Of  the  foregoing  children  of  Col.  John,  Gen.  John  was  a 
representative  and  member  of  the  council  for  9  years,  and  also 
"King's  attorney."  He  died  in  1758.  Nathaniel  settled  inSand- 
wich,  married  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Russell  of  Barnsta- 
ble, was  Register  of  Probate  for  many  years,  and  died  in  1739. 
His  wifewas  more  remarkable  in  point  of  talent  than  he,  and  had 
she  lived  in  days  when  woman  had  her  opportunity  for  develop- 
ment, would  have  made  her  mark  in  the  world.  Solomon,  the 
third  son,  was  Register  of  Deeds,  County  Treasurer,  etc.*  and 
died  in  1778. 

Col.  James,  the  youngest  son  of  Col.  John,  was  a  man  of 
distinguished  abilities,  whose  services  have  been  eclipsed  by  the 
genius  and  eloquence  of  his  distinguished  son  of  the  same  name. 
Col.  Otis  though  educated  to  mechanical  pursuits  became  at 
length  a  counsellor  of  prominence  and  marlied  success. 
Accidental  circumstances  led  to  his  engaging  in  the  legal  profes- 
sion. Being  at  court  in  Barnstable  on  one  occasion,  a  neighbor 
who  had  a  case  pending  and  was  unprovided  with  counsel,  so- 
licited his  aid.  Consenting  to  act,  he  managed  the  case  with  such 
ability  as  to  receive  the  strong  encomiums  of  the  court,  and  appre- 
ciative friends  induced  him  to  study  for  the  profession  of  the  law, 
in  which  he  soon  acquired  a  commanding  position.  He  was  chosen 
a  Colonel  of  the  militia,  was  a  member  of  the  provincial  legisla- 
ture, and  two  years  Speaker  of  the  House,  Judge  of  Probate  and 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  in  1764.  After  be- 
ing many  times  negatived  by  the  royal  Governors,  he  was  chosen 
and  confirmed  as  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  from  the  departure 
of  Gage  to  the  adoption  of  the  State  constitution,  by  virtue  of  be- 
ing the  senior  member  of  the  body,  he  exercised  during  that  period 
the  functions  of  chief  executive  magistrate  of  Massachusetts.  He 
married  Mary  AUyne,  whose  father  had  removed  to  Wethersfield, 


224       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Conn.,  and  is  described  as  "a  woman  of  superior  character."  But 
that  sort  of  women  had  little  opportunity  to  distinguish  themselves 
in  those  days.  They  had  ten  children,  the  oldest  of  whom,  James, 
"the  patriot,"  so  styled,  was  the  most  distinguished. 

This  is  not  the  time  and  place  to  record  the  services,  and 
make  an  analysis  of  the  character  or  a  record  of  the  achievements  of 
James  Otis, Jr.  His  matchless  eloquence  and  legal  ability  in  resist- 
ing the  "writs  of  assistance,"  the  stamp  act,  and  the  other  ob- 
noxious measures  which  led  to  the  Revolutionary  war,  are  matters 
of  general  knowledge  and  need  no  elucidation  here.  John 
Adams's  tribute,  however,  may  be  appropriately  quoted  as  a 
reswme  of  his  character  and  services  :  "I  have  been  young  and 
now  am  old,  and  I  solemnly  say  I  have  never  known  a  man  whose 
love  of  country  was  more  ardent  or  sincere, — never  one  who  suf- 
fered so  much — never  one  whose  services  for  any  ten  years  of  his 
life  were  so  important  and  essential  to  the  cause  of  his  country  as 
those  of  Mr.  Otis  from  1760  to  1770."  Mr.  Otis  married  Miss 
Ruth  Cunningham,  and  his  only  son,  James,  a  midshipman  in  the 
revolutionary  war,  died  at  the  age  of  21,  in  1777,  on  board  a  Jer- 
sey prison  ship.  His  daughter,  Elizabeth,  married  Capt.  Brown 
of  the  English  army,  to  the  great  grief  and  displeasure  of  her 
father.  His  youngest  daughter,  Mary,  married  Benj.  Lincoln, 
son  of  Gen.  Lincoln  of  revolutionary  memory. 

Of  the  other  children  of  Col.  Otis,  Mercy  married  Gen.  James 
Warren,  brother  of  Gen.  Joseph,  who  fell  in  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  She  was  a  woinan  of  rare  talent,  a  friend  and  correspond- 
ent of  John  and  Samuel  Adams  and  the  other  Revolutionary  char- 
acters, and  wrote  a  valuable  history  of  the  "times  that  tried  men's 
souls."  Samuel  Allyn  Otis,  James's  brother,  was  for  many  years 
clerk  of  the  U.  S.  Senate. 

Gen.  Joseph  Otis,  more  popularly  known  as  "Brigadier  Otis," 
was  the  second  son  of  Col.  James,  and  also  a  brother  to  the 
"patriot."  He  was  an  active  partizan  of  the  popular  cause,  and 
performed  valuable  and  important  service  during  the  Revolutionary 
war.  He  was  afterwards  for  many  years  clerk  of  the  court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Collector  of  Customs  of  Barnstable  district  by  Gen. 
Washington,  which  position  he  held  until  his  death,  Sept.  23,  1810. 

Hon.  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  for  years  the  leader  of  the  Feder- 
alists of  Massachusetts,  was  derived  from  the  Barnstable  family. 
Mr.  Amos  Otis,  the  intelligent  and  indefatigable  historical  and 
antiquarian  writer,  says  Dr.  Savage,  "is  derived  from  another 
stock,  emigrating  at  least  twenty  years  later  than  the  Hingham 
pioneer,  and  coming  from  a  part  of  England  widely  remote  from 
the  first." 


PHINNEY. 


This  name  is  variously  written,  Phinney,  Finney,  Fennye, 
but  more  generally  the  former.  John  Phinney,  the  first  of  the 
name  in  town,  was  first  in  Plymouth,  where  in  1638  his  son  John 
was  born,  and  where  in  1649  his  wife  Christian,  died.  He  was 
not  a  very  rigid  sectarian,  for  this  son  was  not  baptized  until  1653, 
after  his  removal  to  Barnstable.  In  1650  he  married  Abigail,  the 
widow  of  Henry  Coggin,  a  wealthy  merchant  and  adventurer,  who 
was  among  the  first  settlers  of  the  town.  She,  dying  in  1653, 
John  Phinney  for  his  third  wife  married,  in  1654,  Elizabeth 
Bayly.     His  childien  were: 

1.  John,  born  in  Plymouth,  Dec.  24,  1638. 

2.  Jonathan,  Aug.  14,  1655. 

3.  Robert,  Aug.  13,  1656. 

4.  Hannah,  Sept.  2,  1657;  married  Ephraim  Morton,  2d. 

5.  Elizabeth,  Mar.  15,  1659. 

6.  Josiah,  Jan.  11,  1661. 

7.  Jeremiah,  Aug.  15,  1662. 

8.  Joshua,  Dec,  1665. 

Mr.  Phinney,  with  his  townsman.  Major  Walley,  became  in- 
terested in  the  fertile  region  about  Mount  Hope,  R.  I.,  where  he 
removed,  after  holding  the  office  of  constable  in  Barnstable.  The 
importance  of  this  office  is  not  to  be  estimated  by  its  relative  con- 
alderation  at  the  present  day.  A  constable,  in  the  time  of  the 
fathers,  was  a  most  imposing  and  awe-inspiring  personage,  and 
those  who  saw  fit  to  indulge  in  any  levity  at  his  expense,  would 
find  it  to  be  a  fatal  and  costly  experiment. 

SECOND    GENERATION. 

John,  of  Bai-nstable,  married  Aug.  10,  1664,  Mary  Rogers, 
had  John,  born  May  5,  1665  ;  Melatiah,  Oct.,  1666,  died  next 
year ;  Joseph,  Jan.  28,  1668 ;  Thomas,  Jan.,  1672;  Ebenezer, 
Feb.  8,  1674;  Samuel,  Nov.  4,  1676;  Mary,  Sept.  3,  1678; 
Mercy,  July  10,  1679  ;  Reliance,  Aug.  27,  1681  ;  Benjamin,  June 
18,  1682;  Jonathan,  July  30,  1684;  Hannah,  March  28,  1687, 
died  young;  Elizabeth,  baptized   May    10,    1691.     Most   of   the 


226       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

Barnstable  families  of  this  name  are  supposed  to  have  been  de- 
scendants of  John. 

Josiah,  of  Barnstable,  married  Jan.  19,  1688,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Warren.  His  descendants,  if  any,  are  not  on 
record. 

Robert,  of  Barnstable,  third  son  of  John,  born  1656,  joined 
the  expedition  of  Wm.  Phips,  (afterwards  Governor  of  Mass..) 
against  Quebec.  This  expedition  did  not  reflect  much  credit 
upon  the  foresight  or  military  skill  of  the  commander,  and  in  it 
Robert  Phinney,  like  many  others,  lost  his  life. 

THIRD    GENERATION. 

John,  born  1665,  and  died  Nov.  27,  1746,  married  Sarah 
Lombard,  and  had  Elizabeth,  1690  ;  Marv,  1692;  John,  1696; 
Thomas,  1697;  Hannah,  1700;  Sarah,  1702;  Patience,  1704; 
Martha,  1706;  Jabez,  July  16,  1708. 

Thomas,  born  1672,  married  widow  Sarah  Butler,  and  had 
Gersham,  1700;  Thomas,  1703;  Abigail,  1704;  James,  1706; 
Mercy,  1708. 

Ebenezer,  born  1673,  married  Susannah  Linnell,  and  had 
Mehitable  ;  Mercy  ;  Martha  ;  Samuel ;  Ebenezer  ;  and  David, 
born  June  10,  1710,  who  married  Marv  Pope,  of  Sandwich,  Sept. 
27,  1733. 

Benjamin,  married  Martha  Crocker  and  had  Temperance, 
1710;  Melatiah,  1712  ;  Barnabas,  1715  ;  Silas,  1718;  Zaccheus, 
1720;  Seth,  1723. 

Jonathan,  married  Elizabeth  ,    had   Thankful,    1713  ; 

Joseph,  1716  ;  Jonathan,  1718. 

Zaccheus,  married  Susanna  Davis,  and  had  Benjamin,  1744  ; 
Timothy,  1746  ;  Barnabas,  1748. 

Capt.  John  Phinney,  born  1696,  and  son  of  John  and  of 
Sarah  Lombard,'  was  the  founder  of  the  town  of  Gorham,  in 
Maine.  The  second  and  third  generation  of  our  forefathers,"  be-  ,. 
gan  to  feel  that  they  were  cramped  in  planting  and  pasture  lands, 
and  that  they  needed  more  territory  for  development.  The  first 
emigration  from  the  Cape  was  in  the  easterly  direction.  Maine 
was  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  undeveloped  territory  there 
was  at  the  disposal  of  our  people.  The  soldiers  of  the  Indian 
wars  felt  that  they  had  a  claim  upon  this  territory,  and  in 
1727,  after  many  delays  and  discouragements,  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts  granted  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  expedition,  during  Philip's  war,  and  their  heirs,  a  town- 
ship six  miles  square  in  the  Province  of  Maine,  to  each  120  per- 
sons whose  claims  should  be  established  within  four  months  of  the 
passage  of  the  act.  Seven  townships  were  laid  out  in  pursuance 
of  this  act.  The  7th  town  was  named  Gorham,  in  honor  of  Capt. 
John  Gorham  of  Yarmouth,  who  commanded  the  Cape  expedition 


GENEALdGIOAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       227 

in  that  war,  and  the  settlers  were  from  Barnstable,  Yarmouth, 
Eastham  and  Sandwich.  The  first  man  who  took  up  his  residence 
there  was  Capt.  John  Phinney  of  Barnstable.  May  26,  1736, 
Mr.  Phinney  and  his  son,  Edmund,  who  was  afterwards  a  distin- 
guished officer  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  disembarked  from  his 
canoe  on  the  Presumpscot  river,  with  his  axe  and  a  small  stock  of 
provisions,  with  a  design  to  make  a  home  for  his  family  in  the 
then  wilderness,  but  now  a  large  and  flourishing  town.  Edmund 
felled  the  first  tree  for  a  settlement.  Capt.  John  Phinney  and  his 
wife  Martha,  both  died  at  the  age  of  87.  Among  the  other  first 
settlers  in  the  town  we  fiud  the  names  Bacon,  Bourne,  Bangs, 
Davis,  Gorham,  Harding,  Higgins,  Hinckley,  Hamblen,  Lewis, 
Linnell,  Lombard,  Paine  and  Sturgis.  A  monument  standing 
in  the  centre  of  the  town  bears  this  inscription : 


May  6,  1805 

Capt.  John  Phinney 

commenced  the 

First  Settlement  in  this  town. 

May,  1736. 

Gr.  by  the  General  Court' 1732  to  the 

Narragansett  Soldiers. 

This 

assigned  to  Capt.  John  Gorham 

and  119  others 

then  called  Narragansett  No.  7. 

Town  inc.  1764. 


Dea.  Timothy,  born  1746,  was  a  man  of  note  and  distinction 
in  his  day.  In  some  recent  writings  he  is  said  to  have  been  Sher- 
iff of  the  County,  but  this  is  probably  a  mistake.  No  doubt  he 
was  principal  deputy  for  some  years,  and  in  1811  he  was  Senator 
from  the  Cape.  He  built  the  house  now  owned  by  the  family  of 
the  'late  Ebenezer  Bacon,  and  afterwards  removed  to  Rhode 
Island,  where,  it  is  believed,  he  died  and  was  buried.  He  was 
the  father  of  Timothy,  who  died  Sept.  1883,  at  the  ageof  over  99, 
and  of  Mrs.  Nancy  Munroe,  wife  of  Dea.  John  Munroe,  who  sur- 
vived until  1881,  dying  in  her  88th  year.  From  this  branch  also 
sprung  our  fellow-citizen,  Major  Sylvanus  B.  Phinney,  whose 
career  is  fresh  in  public  knowledge,  and  whose  life  and  achieve- 
ments have  recently  been  set  forth  in  a  volume  to  which  many  of 
our  citizens  have  access. 

Benjamin  Phinney,  the  elder  brother  of  Timothy,  above-men- 
tioned, born  1744,  and  died  1843,  was  father  of  Dr.  Elias  Phin- 
ney of  Lexington,  a  distinguished  agriculturalist  and  author,  of 
the  last  century.  He  was,  from  1831  to  the  time  of  his  decease, 
clerk  of  the  Middlesex  County  courts. 


ROBINSON. 


ISAAC  KOBINSON. 

Isaac  EobiDSon,  son  and  third  child  of  John  Robinson,  the 
Leyden  pastor  of  blessed  memory,  was  born  in  that  city  in  1610. 
He  came  to  this  country  in  1631.  He  was  first  settled  in  Plym- 
outh, was  in  Duxbury  in  1634,  and  went  to  Scituate  in  1636,  on 
which  year  he  was  admitted  as  a  freeman.  He  the  same  year 
married  Margaret  Hanford,  daughter  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hanford, 
the  first  minister  at  Norwalk,  Ct.,  and  a  niece  of  Timothy  Hath- 
erly,  a  London  merchant,  the  founder  of  Scituate.  He  took  a 
letter  of  dismission  from  the  church  in  Plymouth,  and  here  Joined 
Rev.  John  Lothrop  on  the  7th  of  July,  1639.  His  first  estate  in 
Barnstable  Was  opposite  to  that  of  Gov.  Hinckley.  This  he  sold 
and  took  another  of  twenty  acres  further  to  the  west.  In  1639 
and  1648  he  was  a  member  of  the  Grand  Inquest  for  the  colony. 
In  1641  he  was  on  the  jury  for  trials.  In  1645  he  was  a  deputy 
from  Barnstable  to  the  General  Court  at  Plymouth,  and  in  1646, 
'47  and '48  was  "receiver  of  excise"  for  the  town.  In  1651  he 
was  again  a  deputy.  These  positions  indicate  the  confidence  and 
esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  up  to  this  time. 

The  Quaker  persecution  showed  the  moral  quality  of  this 
man  and  his  sympathy  of  spirit  with  his  illustrious  father,  who  de- 
clared to  the  departing  Pilgrims,  in  a  sermon  which  was  so  much 
in  advance  of  the  age,  and  even  of  most  of  his  hearers,  "The 
Lord  has  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  his  holy  word.  *  * 
I  beseach  you,  remember  it,  'tis  an  article  of  your  church  covenant, 
that  you  be  ready  to  receive  whatever  truth  shall  be  made  known 
to  you  from  the  written  word  of  God."  In  1659-60,  the  laws  for- 
bidding attendance  upon  Quaker  meetings  were  so  far  relaxed  as 
to  permit  and  encourage  certain  persons,  among  them  Gen.  James 
Cudworth  and  Isaac  Robinson,  to  attend  these  meetings  and  try 
to  convince  the  Quakers  of  their  errors.  The  effect  was  contrary 
to  expectation.  Robinson  and  Cudworth  were  never  Quakers  • 
but  they  firmly  believed  these  people  to  be  following  the  dictates 
of  their  own  consciences  ;  that  it  was  their  right  and   duty    to   do 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES   OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       229 

so  ;  that  as  a  consequence  persecution  was  unchristian  and  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  principles  of  natural  justice.  Having  made  a 
written  appeal  to  the  magistrates  in  their  behalf,  March  7,  1669- 
60,  it  is  recorded:  "The  court  takes  notice  of  sundry  scandals 
and  falsehoods  in  a  letter  of  Isaac  Eobinson's,  tending  to  the 
prejudice  of  this  government  and  encouragement  of  Quakers  ;  but 
forbears  censure  till  inquiry  sLall  be  made."  What  an  unpreju- 
diced tribunal  and  what  thoughtful  forbearance,  to  be  sure !  lu 
such  a  frame  of  mind,  it  is  baldly  to  be  wondered  at  that  on  the 
following  June  be  is  declared  a  "manifest  opposer  of  the  govern- 
ment" and  is  ordered  to  be  disfranchised. 

The  year  following,  Isaac  Robinson  and  Jonathan  Hatch  set- 
tled at  Suceennesset,  now  Falmouth,  and  the  same  year  Eobiuson 
had  a  grant  of  land  given  him  near  his  house.  In  1664  he  was 
licensed  to  keep  an  ordinary  at  Falmouth,  on  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  travellers  to  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  in  1670  he  had  gone. 
This  was  the  natural  restlessness  of  a  man  smarting  under  unjust 
persecution.  1673  found  him  "recorder"  at  Tisbury,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  he  was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  that  town.  It  was  while 
Eobinson  was  a  resident  here  tliat  Qov.  Prence  of  Plymouth  died. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  firmest  and  most  relentless  opposers  of 
the  Quakers,  and  though  public  sentiment  and  tlie  commands  of 
the  monarch  had  relaxed  the  severity  of  the  legislation  of  the  colo- 
nies, there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the  governor  ever  mod- 
ified his  sentiments  or  changed  his  feelings  in  relation  to  them. 
Josias  Winslow  was  chosen  his  successor.  He  had  formerly  been 
somewhat  embittered  against  the  Quakers,  in  consequence  of  s(jme 
of  their  reproachful  speeches  directed  towards  him,  and  being  a 
young  man  of  spirit  had  resented  the  remarks  of  these  shaip- 
tongued  controversialists.  Time  had  greatly  modified  his  views 
of  the  best  way  of  dealing  with  them,  and  when  he  assumed  the 
office  of  governor  he  determined  upon  a  change  of  policy,  (.'ud- 
worth  was  called  from  his  retirement  and  reinstatt-d  in  official 
position  in  the  colony.  The  court  undertook  to  make  amerds  for 
the  treatment  of  Robinson,  but  did  it  in  the  most  ungracious  way, 
and  instead  of  owning  their  fault,  tried  to  give  the  matter  tlie 
appearance  of  being  simply  an  error  or  accident.  The  rtcord  of 
the  court  ordering  his  disfranchisement,  is  crossed  off.  and  under- 
neath is  the  following  entry :  "There  being  some  mistake  in  this, 
the  said  Isaac,  at  his  request,  is  re-established."  This  may  have 
looked  like  a  simple  matter  to  the  court,  bnt  thirteen  years  of  un- 
just obloquy  suffered  by  Mr.  Robinson  had  intervened  !  He  was 
never  a  Quaker.  Had  he  been  one,  his  liberality  would  have  had 
but  little  significance.  He  remained  in  full  communion  wiih  the 
Barnstable  church  for  70  years,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  he 
did  not  fully  retain  the  sympathy  of  his  townsmen.     He  sacrifi  ed 


230       GENEALOGICAli    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES, 

the  favor  of  the  oovernment  to  a  sense  of  duty,  as  his  uoble  father 
had  done  before  him. 

In  1700  he  had  divided  his  estate  equally  between  his  three 
sons,  and  in  1701  deeded  his  homestead  and  garden  in  Falmouth 
to  his  son  Isaac.  This  was  the  flrst  house  built  in  town,  and 
stood  on  the  south  side  of  Fresh  Fond.  The  site  is  easily  identi- 
fied. The  next  year,  probably,  he  returned  to  Barnstable,  to  live 
with  his  daughter.  Fear,  the  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  Baiter.  He 
doubtless  had  some  landed  estate  reniaiiiiug  in  Barnstable,  for  the 
town  voted  "to  give  old  Mr.  Robinson  an  acre  and  a  half  of 
marsh,"  wiiich  they  would  hardly  have  done  unless  he  had  been 
possessed  of  other  real  estate. 

Chief  -Justice  Sewell,  who  was  making  a  tour  of  the  colony  in 
1702,  saw  Isaac  Robinson  at  Tisbury,  where  he  must  have  been 
on  a  visit,  if  the  date  of  his  removal  to  Barnstable  has  been  cor- 
rectly stated.  The  judge  seems  for  some  special  reason  to  have 
been  very  desirous  to  see  him.  He  writes  in  his  diary:  "He 
saith  he  is  92  years  old,  is  ye  son  of  Mr.  Robinson,  pastor  of  ye 
ch.  of  Leyden  part  of  wch  came  to  Plyiiio.  But,  to  my  dinappowt- 
ment.  he  came  not  to  New  Et?gland  till  ye  year  in  which  Mr.  Wil- 
son was  returning  to  England  after  ye  settlement  of  Boston.  I 
told  him  I  was  very  desirous  to  see  him  for  his  father's  sake  and 
his  own.  Gave  him  an  Arabian  piece  of  gold  to  buy  a  book  for 
some  of  his  grandchildren."  The  next  day  the  Judge  lost  his 
way.  He  called  on  Mr.  Robinson,  who  offered  him  "some  good 
small  beer,"  and  one  of  his  sons  to  bear  him  company  for  awhile 
on  his  journey.  At  this  time  Mr.  Robinson  was  represented  as  a 
hale,  vigorous  person,  with  hair  as  white  as  snow.  Prince,  in  his 
Annals,  describes  him  as  "a  venerable  man  whom  I  have  often 
seen."  He  died  at  Barnstable  in  1704.  "If  any  humble  slate 
ever  marked  the  spot  where  they  laid  him,"  says  Mrs.  Dall,  "it 
has  crumbled  away."  But  it  is  fitting  that  a  life  of  such  patient 
liberality  and  unambitious  steadfastness  in  the  cause  of  truth, 
should  be  fitly  commemorated. 

ISAAC    ROBINSON    AND    HIS    POSTERITY. 

Isaac  Robinson,  born  1610;  married  Margaret  Hanford, 
June  27th,  1636.     They  had  five  children  : 

1.  Susannah,  baptized  Jan.  21,  1638;  but  dead  before  1664. 

2.  John,  baptized  April  5,  1640;  man-ied  Elizabeth  Weeks, 
May  1,  1667,  and  went  from  Falmouth  to  Connecticut  in  1714. 
He  was  the  first  deputy  from  Falmouth  to  the  Colony  Court  in 
the  year  1690  and '91.  ' 

3.  Isaac,  baptized  Aug.  7,  1642;  married  Ann;  was  drowned 
at  Falmouth,  without  issue,  Oct.  6,  1668. 

4.  Fear,  baptized  Jan.  26,  1645;  married  Rev.  S.  Baker  of 
Barnstable. 


GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES.       231 

5.  Mercy,  baptized  July  4,  1647  ;  married  Wm.  Weeks,  Mar. 
16,  1669. 

Margaret  Robinson  died,  and  was  buried,  with  a  stillborn 
child,  June  13,  1649.  In  1650  Isaac  married  as  his  second  wife 
Mary,  the  sister  of  famous  Elder  Faunce,  of  Plymouth,  and  by 
her  he  had  four  children  : 

6.  Israel,  baptized  Oct.  5,  1651.  After  Isaac  was  drowned, 
in  1668,  Israel  seems  to  have  taken  his  father's  name.  Israel, 
afterward  Isaac,  lived  at  Tisbury  until  1728,  when  he  died  with- 
out issue. 

7.  Jacob,  baptized  May  15,  1653;  married  Experience;  died 
1733. 

8.  Peter,  said  to  have  gone  to  Norwich,  Ct. 

9.  Thomas,  baptized  Mar.  6,  1666,  and  removed  to  Guilford, 
Ct. 

The  decision  of  the  inquest  appointed  to  view  the  body  of 
Isaac  Robinson,  "id,  in  1651,  is  preserved  as  a  specimen  of  the 
style  of  the  times  : 

"Wee,  the  jury  of  inquest  appointed  to  view  the  corpse  of 
Isaac  Robinson,  jr.,  do  apprehend  according  to  view  and  testi- 
mony that  the  means  of  his  death  was  by  going  into  the  pond  to 
fetch  two  geese,  the  pond  being  full  of  weedy  grasse,  which  we 
conceive  to  be  the  instrumental  cause  of  his  death,  he  being  en- 
tangled therein." 

The  reason  which  makes  it  apparent  that  Israel  Robinson 
took  the  name  of  Isaac,  after  the  latter's  death,  is  that  the  name 
of  Israel  thereafter  disappeared  from  the  family  history  ;  and  it 
was  a  uniform  custom  of  those  times  when  one  bearing  a  leading 
family  name  deceased,  to  give  the  name  to  a  younger  child.  This 
usage  has  caused  a  great  deal  of  confusion  to  genealogists.  A 
recent  writer  observes  that  "those  people  who  think  that  the  sci- 
ence of  medicine  has  made  no  advance  in  the  last  century  should 
give  one  glance  at  the  early  records  of  our  churches,  where  it  is  a 
common  thing  to  find  the  same  infant  name  three  or  four  times 
repeated,  before  it  is  borne  safely  over  the  second  summer." 

THIED    6ENEKATI0N. 

Children  of  John  and  Elizabeth : 

1.  John,  born  March  20,  1668. 

2.  Isaac,  born  Jan.  30,  1670;  married  Hannah  Harpur  in  1690, 
and  Alice  Dexter  in  1741. 

3.  Timothv,    born   Oct.    30,    1671 ;  married   Mehitable   Weeks, 
May  3,"  1699. 

4.  Abigail,  born  1674;  married  Joseph  Percival  1699. 


232       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BAENSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

5.  Joseph,    born    1679;    manied   Bethia   Gall,    Oct.  22,   1700; 
Betbia  Lumbert,  Dec.  1704. 

6.  Mercy. 

7.  Mavy ;  married  Benj.  Davis,  1704. 

8.  Love,  born  Dee.  12,  1683,  died  Dec.  16,  same  year. 

9.  Love,  born  May  1,  1688;  died  Aug.  8,   1688. 

Owing  to  the  imperfect  state  of  the  Falmouth  public  records, 
it  is  not  possible  to  fill  all  the  blanks  in  the  foregoing. 

By  the  marriage  of  Isaac,  above  mentioned,  with  Hannah 
Harpur,  the  grandson  became  identified  with  the  society  of 
Friends,  as  his  grandfather  never  had  been,  except  to  protect  and 
defend  their  liberties  and  their  right  of  following  the  dictates  of 
conscience  in  spiritual  concerns.  Very  few  of  the  family  how- 
ever, in  Falmouth,  ever  went  farther  in  that  direction  than  its 
founder  in  that  town,  but  to  this  day  have  continued  their  rela- 
tions to  the  old  Congregational  order  of  their  ancestors. 

It  may  not  be  difficult  for  those  who  are  of  the  Robinson 
lineage  in  this  County  and  vicinity,  from  the  foregoing  data  to 
trace  their  line  of  descent  from  the  great  apostle  of  libeity  of 
thought  and  conscience,  John  Robinson  of  Leyden,  and  his 
worthy  though  less  distinguished  son. 

Mrs.  Caroline  H.  Dall  spent  some  time  several  years  since  in 
investigation  of  the  subject  of  Isaac  Robinson,  his  persecution  by 
his  intolerant  contemporaries,  his  changes  of  residence,  and  his 
descendants  ;  and  to  her  investigations  the  writer  of  these  notes, 
who  feels  proud  to  trace  descent  from  Isaac  Robinson  and  his  il- 
lustrious father,  wishes  to  express  his  obligations,  for  many  of 
the  facts  contained  in  this  paper. 


SCUDDER. 


JOHN    SCUDDER    AND    HIS    POSTERITY. 

John  Scudder,  the  common  ancestor  of  those  of  the  name  in 
Barnstable,  was  born  in  England,  in  1619,  came  fiom  London  to 
America,  in  1636,  and  located  first  in  Charlestown,  where  he  was 
admitted  a  freeman  in  1639.  The  next  j'ear  he  removed  to  Barn- 
stable, where  he  was  again  admitted  a  freeman,  in  1654,  and  con- 
tinued to  reside  there  until  his  death,  in  1689.  His  wife,  Han- 
nah, survived  him.  His  sister,  Elizabeth,  removed  from  Boston 
to  Barnstable,  in  1644,  and  the  same  year  mariied  Samuel  Loth- 
rop,  son  of  the  Rev.  John,  at  the  father's  house.  John  Scudder' s 
lot  and  house  were  near  the  house  of  the  late  Joshua  Thayer. 

Children  of  John  Scudder. 
The  children  of  John  Scudder  were : 
\.     Sat,'*^'        }    baptized  May  10,  1646. 

3.  Mary,  buried  Dec.  3,  1649,  probably  very  young. 

4.  Hannah,  baptized  Oct.  6,  1651,  who  married  Josliua  Bangs. 
6.     John,    doubtless   son    of   the    foregoing,    date   of    birth    not 

known.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  Hamblin, 
July  31,  1689,  and  died  at  Chatham,  1742,  "very  aged." 
His  wife  died  in  Chatham,  in  Jan.  1743. 

Children  of  John  Scudder,  2d. 

1.  John,  born  May  23,  1690. 

2.  Experience,  born  April  28,  1692. 

3.  James,  baptized  Jan.  13,  1695. 

4.  Ebenezer,  baptized  April  26,  1696. 

5.  Reliance,  born  Dec.  10,  1700. 

6.  Hannah,  June  7,  1706. 

The  above,  in  accordance  with  our  plan  of  presenting  the 
first  two  or  three  generations,  gives  the  births  and  marriages  of 
the  Scudder  family  up  to  the  eighteenth  century.     Those  of  the 


234      GENEALOGICAL   NOTES    OF   BARNSTABLE   FAMILIES. 

Seudder  lineage  who  wish  to  trace  back  their  ancestry  can  easilr 
do  so  from  the  above  data. 

The  Seudder  family  has  been  one  of  the  first  and  most  dis- 
tinguished in  Barnstable,  and  has  produced  a  number  of  men  con- 
spicuous in  the  professional  and  business  walks  of  life. 

David  Seudder,  derived  from  Eleazer,  through  Jlbenezer, 
born  Jan.  6,  1763,  was  an  eminent  citizen,  and  many  years  Clerk 
of  the  Courts  for  the  County  of  Barnstable.  He  married  Desire 
Gnge,  and  had  Charles,  born  June  o,  1789,  who  settled  in  Boston, 
and  died  Jan.  21,  1861,  after  a  long  life  of  usefulness  and  distinc- 
tion as  a  merchant.  Frederick  Seudder,  for  several  years  County 
Treasurer  and  Register  of  Deeds,  was  a  younger  brother  of 
Charles.  Frederick  Seudder  is  well  remembered  by  this  genera- 
tion, for  his  intimate  connection  with  the  County  offices,  his  cour- 
teous demeanor,  his  devotion  to  his  public  duties,  and  his  upright 
and  useful  life. 

Hon.  Zeno  Seudder,  who  is  derived  from  Josiah,  through 
Ehenezer,  grandson  of  the  first  John,  and  his  wife  Rose  (Delap), 
was  horn  in  (Osterville)  Barnstable,  in  1807.  In  his  boyhood  he 
was  inclined  to  follow  the  seas,  but  soon  after  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile pursuits.  Before  he  had  attained  his  majority  a  paralysis  of 
the  right  leg  induced  lameness,  which  led  to  fui'ther  change  of 
plans  for  life.  Under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Nourse  of  Hallowell, 
Maine,  and  at  Bowdoin  college,  he  prosecuted  the  study  of  medi- 
cine. Finding  his  infirmity  an  impediment  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  he  at  once  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law.  He 
took  a  preparatory  course  at  the  Cambridge  law  school,  aud  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1836,  opened  a  law  office  in  Falmouth  ;  but 
he  shortly  changed  his  location  to  Barnstable.  He  soon  acquired 
a  lucrative  practice,  and  was  regarded  as  an  accurate,  le?rned, 
and  diligent  lawyer.  He  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  from 
Barnstable  County,  in  1846,  and  was  twice  re-elected.  In  his 
third  term  of  service  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Senate,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  performed  with  dignity 
and  ability.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  32d  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  took  a  good  rank  among  the  new  members. 
His  speech,  delivered  Aug.  12,  18.'i2,  on  the  American  Fisheries, 
evinced  great  research  and  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject. 
The  other  interests  of  his  constituents  were  guarded  by  him  with 
jealous  care.  His  career  as  a  representative  of  the  peculiar 
interests  of  the  Cape  promised  to  be  one  of  commanding  success 
and  influence.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  33d  Congress,  but  a  fall, 
which  caused  the  fracture  of  a  limb,  proved  so  inconvenient  that 
he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  seat,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  Hon. 
Thomas  D.  Eliot  of  New  Bedford.  His  death  followed,  June  26, 
1857.     He  was  never  married. 

His  younger  brother,   Henry  A.  Seudder,  was  also  born  in 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       235 

the  village  of  Osterville,  Nov.  25,  1819.  He  graduated  at  Yale 
College  iti  1842,  and  studied  law  at  Cambridge.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  Suffolk  bar  in  1844,  aad  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Boston,  where  his  abilities  were  soon  recognized. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  of  1861-2-3; 
was  a  member  of  the  National  Convention  which  nominated  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  for  re-election,  and  supported  him  with  characteristic 
ardor.  In  1869  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Claflin,  a  Justice  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  Massachusetts,  in  which  position  he  soon  ac- 
quired a  high  reputation,  which  bid  fair  to  lead  to  early  advance- 
ment in  the  judiciary.  But  ill  health,  in  1872,  compelled  his  res- 
ignation, and  a  prolonged  absence  in  Europe  followed.  In  1882 
the  office  of  Judge  of  Probate  and  Insolvency  was  tendered  to 
him,  by  Gov.  Long,  which,  owing  to  the  same  cause,  he  felt  obliged 
to  decline.  Judge  Scudder  married,  June  30,  1857,  Nancy  B. , 
daughter  of  Charles  B.  Tobey  of  Nantucket.  His  summer  home 
is  in  Marston's  Mills,  near  the  scenes  of  his  earlier  days. 

The  brothers  of  the  foregoing,  were  Josiah,  merchant,  bora 
Dec.  3,  1800,  died  Dec.  29,  1877;  Freeman  S.,  merchant,  born 
March  16,  1805,  died  Dec.  3,  1852;  Edwin,  merchant,  born  Sept. 
23,  1815,  died  May  25,  1872.  A  sister,  Persis,  born  Aug.  14, 
1810,  married  Joseph  W.  Crocker,  and  died  April  24,  1844. 


SMITH. 


JOHN    SMITH. 

Although  this  name  is  somewhat  numerous,  there  is  no  occa- 
sion for  making  it,  iu  consequence,  the  subject  of  levity.  Tlie 
first  of  the  name  in  New  England,  has,  most  certainly,  stamped 
his  individuality  upon  the  topography  and  history  of  the  country. 
He  added  to  the  fame  of  an  adventurer,  that  of  a  scholar  and  an 
observer  of  current  events.  And  he  also  seems  to  have  been  a 
gentleman  and  a  man  of  affairs.  It  is  easy  enough  to  see  that  the 
name  was  derived  from  the  occupation.  A  smith  was  a  valiant 
worker  on  metals,  and  was  thus  in  the  social  scale,  supeiior  to  the 
villeins,  or  other  adheients  of  the  loids  of  the  soil.  In  time  the 
number  increased  and  became  influential. 

The  John  Smith  of  Barnstable,  was  here  in  1640;  it  would 
have  been  strange  if  there  had  been  no  John  Smith  at  hand  at  that 
date.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  families  of  Barnstable,  hav- 
ing, in  1640,  joined  the  church,  and  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Gov. 
Thomas  Hinckley,  having  married  his  sister  Susannah.  His  chil- 
dren were : 

1.  Samuel,  born  April,  1644. 

2.  Sarah,  bap.  1645. 

3.  Ebenezer,  b.  Nov.  22,  1646,  and  died  next  month. 

4.  Mary,  b.  Nov.  1647. 

6.  Dorcas,  b.  Aug.  18,  1650. 

6.  John,  b.  Feb.  22,  1652,  buried  in  two  days. 

7.  Shubael,  b.  March  13,  1663. 

8.  John,  Sept.  1656. 

9.  Benjamin,  b.  Jan.  1659. 

10.  Ichabod,  Jan.  1661. 

11.  Elizabeth,  Feb.  1663. 

12.  Thomas,  Feb.  1665. 

13.  Joseph,  Dec.  6,  1667. 

Large  families  being  the  rule  in  those  days,  the  Smith  poster- 
ity does- not  seem  to  be  disproportionate  to  the  times.     In  1659 
John  Smith  of  Barnstable  was,  with  Isaac  Robinson  and  others 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       237 

permitted  to  visit  the  Quaker  ireetiBgs  and  report  his  observations 
thereon.  Like  Eobinson,  he  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  best  way 
to  deal  with  the  Quakeis  was  to  let  tl.em  alone;  not  peistcute, 
not  antagonize  theno.  He  did  not  receive  such  harsh  treatment  as 
Cudworth  and  Eobinson,  but  was  for  a  lime  under  the  cloud  of  the 
government  inf3uence. 

]n  consulting  the  records  of  the  towns  and  the  genealogical 
dictionaries,  the  writer  finds  the  genealogies  of  the  Smiths,  and  es- 
pecially the  John  ISmiths,  beyond  his  power  to  unravel,  and  leav- 
ing this  matter  here,  at  the  first  generation  of  the  Bainstable 
Smiths,  declines  the  task  of  further  untarglii:g  the  highly  respect- 
able but  somewhat  confused  genealogical  pedigrees.  He  may,  in 
conclusion,  be  peimitted  to  say,  that  the  Barnstable  fc^miths  have 
ever  proved  themselves  good  citizens,  and  have  veiy  seldom  been 
convicted  of  offences  againtt  the  laws  of  the  country  of  which  so 
many  of  them  are  citizens.    • 

There  seemed  to  be  an  undue  tendency  amorg  cur  ancestors, 
which  their  descendants  have  not  yet  outgrown,  to  name  their  sons 
John;  no  doubt  out  of  a  feeling  of  admiration  for  the  first  great 
Smith  of  American  history.  This  commendable  phase  of  hero 
worship  has  been  the  great  perplexity  and  embarrassment  of  gene- 
alogists in  all  future  times.  When  we  try  to  untangle  the  mystery 
of  the  Smith  family  the  Johns  are  so  numerous  that  it  is  difl3cult— 
yea,  impossible — to  dectde  which  Smith  is  involved  in  the  investi- 
gation. 


AMOS  OTIS. 


In  closing  this  series  of  papers,  it  seems  fitting  that 
the  author  of  tlie  greater  portion  of  them — Amos  Otis — should 
receive  the  degree  of  recognition  to  which  his  character  and 
services  to  the  cause  of  historical  research  seem  to  entitle  him. 
In  the  Historical  and  Genealogical  Journal  of  January,  1876,  there 
appeared  a  paper  prepared  by  the  writer  of  these  continued 
sketches,  and  read  at  the  preceding  meeting  of  the  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Society,  and  by  vote  of  the  members 
was  printed  among  its  transactions.  As  he  cannot  much  add  to 
what  he  there  said,  he  reprints  that  paper  as  a  suitable  close  of  the 
volume  now  completed  : 

Amos  Otis,  Esq. ,  departed  this  life,  at  his  home  in  Yarmouth 
Port,  on  the  morning  of  October  19,  187.5.  He  was  born  in  Barn- 
stable, August  17,  1801,  making  his  age  74  years,  2  months,  and 
2  days.  His  health  had  been  failing  for  nearly  a  year,  but  until 
two  or  three  weeks  past,  he  attended  in  some  measure  to  his  usual 
duties. 

Mr.  Otis  came  from  that  historic  Cape  Cod  stock  which  has 
given  so  many  illustrious  and  useful  men  to  the  sersuce  of  their  na- 
tive county  and  the  state.  He  was  himself  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable and  useful  men  of  his  generation,  and  in  some  respects 
it  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  fill  his  place. 

Mr.  Otis's  early  life  was  spent  on  the  farm  of  his  father, 
Ainos  Otis.  Being  of  a  studious  turn  of  mind,  he  early  devoted 
his  leisure  to  books.  He  fitted  for  college  under  the  instruction  of 
the  late  Dr.  Danforth  P.  Wight,  but  the  condition  of  his  father's 
fortune  and  other  causes  compelled  him  to  forego  his  desire  for  a 
liberal  education. 

For  more  than  fifteen  years  he  was  engaged  in  teaching,  and 
was  a  very  successful  instructor  of  youth. 

In  IMay,    1836,    he  became  cashier  of  the  then  "Barnstable 


GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES.       239 

Bank,"  at  Yarmouth  Port,  and  continued  in  that  position,  as 
c-asliier  of  that  institution  and  its  successor,  the  "First  National 
Bank  of  Yarmouth,"  for  nearly  forty  years. 

He  was  also  the  first  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Barnstable 
County  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Co'.,  incorporated  in  March,  1833, 
in  which  office  he  continued  to  the  time  of  his  last  sickness. 

Mr.  Otis  never  held  political  office,  the  duties  of  his  busi- 
ness professions  engrossing  the  greater  part  of  his  active  life. 
He,  however,  served  for  several  years  on  the  school  committee  of 
Yarmouth,  and  was  frequently  appointed  on  committees  of  the 
town,  where  familiarity  with  the  ancient  records  and  usages  was 
required. 

He  was  also  for  several  years  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
Cape  Cod  Branch  Railroad,  and  a  trustee  of  the  Yarmouth  Public 
Library  at  the  time  of  his  decease.  His  fidelity  and  industry  in 
these  positions  were  remarkable.  He  investigated  carefully  every 
question  presented,  and  was  never  satisfied  unless  he  had  given 
to  them  his  personal  attentipn  and  weighed  their  merits  for  him- 
self. 

He  was  a  remarkably  prolific  writer  as  well  as  a  diligent  stu- 
dent. He  contributed  hundreds  of  columns  to  the  Cape  Cod 
newspapers,  upon  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  the  preponderance 
being  upon  practical  matters.  Our  local  history  he  has  made  his 
study  for  the  last  fifty  years,  and  in  that  department  his  labors 
have  been  invaluable.  No  man  living  or  dead  has  done  so  much 
to  elucidate  the  character,  motives  and  acts  of  the  men  who  settled 
on  Cape  Cod,  and  of  their  heroic  successors;  and  no  one  ever  had 
a  more  just  appreciation  of  their  character  and  achievements.  He 
believed  in  them  thoroughly,  although  not  insensible  to  their  faults. 
His  facts  were  largely  drawn  from  original  sources,  and  his  studr 
ies  were  pursued  with  a  zeal  and  enthusiasm  which  were  prompted 
by  a  thorough  love  of  his  subject.  He  has  left  a  vast  accumula- 
tion of  material,  which  will  be  invaluable  to  futgre  investigators 
in  this  field  of  study.  It  had  long  been  his  desire  to  leave  a  com- 
plete history  of  his  native  town,  but  other  cares  and  the  iuflrmitie3 
of  age  prevented  his  accomplishing  his  purpose,  beyond  a  series  of 
sketches  of  the  families  of  the  town,  published  some  15  years  ago 
— articles  so  full  of  Information  and  clothed  in  such  an  agreeable 
style  that  our  regret  is  deepened  as  we  read  them,  that  their  au- 
thor should  not  have  completed  his  work.  Besides  these  he  has 
contributed  to  the  various  historical  periodicals  of  the  country  ar- 
ticles on  his  favorite  subject. 

Mr.  Otis  has  also  written  much  on  agriculture,  horticulture, 
arboriculture,  and  kindred  themes.  To  his  industrious  pen  the 
people  of  Barnstable  county  are  largely  indebted  for  the  interest 
first  aroused  there  on  the  subject  of  railroad  facilities.  He  com- 
piled column  upon  column  of  statistics,  and  never  wearied  until 


240       GENEALOGICAL    NOTES    OF    BARNSTABLE    FAMILIES. 

the  Steam-whistle  was  heard  on  Cape  Cod.  Among  his  political 
writings,  the  "Letters  from  Skipper  Jack  to  my  old  friend  that 
prints  the  Yarmouth  Register,"  were  immensely  popular  some 
twenty  years  ago. 

Mr.  Otis  was  the  oldest  surviving  member  of  the  Fraternal 
Lodge  of  Free  Masons,  and  was  for  twenty-one  years  in  early  life 
the  Secretary  of  the  Lodge.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  sub- 
lime principles  of  the  order,  and  exemplified  by  his  life  the  truths 
of  Masonry.  During  the  fierce  anti-masonic  excitement  in  this 
country,  he  never  faltered  nor  disguised  his  sentiments,  and  held 
his  position  as  an  oflBcer  of  the  Lodge  until  the  storm  blew  over. 
He  never  failed,  when  it  was  possible  to  attend  the  festivals  of  the 
order,  and  always  appeared  to  greatly  enjoy  these  social  occasions. 
He  was  admitted  to  this  Society  July  21,  1847. 

Mr.  Otis  was  a  man  of  deep  religious  feelings.  He  was  for  a 
large  portion  of  his  life  a  member  of  the  East  Parish  (Unitarian) 
in  Barnstable,  but  of  late  years  became  deeply  interested  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  New  Jerusalem  church,  with  which  he  formally 
connected  himself  within  a  few  weeks.  But  he  was  no  mere  secta- 
rian or  bigot,  and  attached  no  undue  importance  to  forms  and 
creeds. 

His  liberality  and  public  spirit  were  marked  features  of  his 
character,  and  his  private  charities  were  numerous  and  discrimi- 
nating. He  never  failed  to  aid,  to  the  best  of  his  abilities,  a  good 
cause,  nor  to  help  a  fellow-man  in  trouble  or  distress. 

Mr.  Otis  married,  Aug.  15,  1830,  Mary,  daughter  of  Mr.  Ad- 
ino  Hinckley,  of  Barnstable,  whom  he  survived  about  four  and 
one-half  years.     He  leaves  two  sons,  Henry  and  George. 

Mr.  Otis's  memory  will  be  kept  alive  in  the  hearts  of  his 
townsmen,  so  long  as  the  noble  elms  which  border  their  streets, 
many  of  which  were  planted  by  his  own  hands,  remain  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  his  taste,  foresight,  and  public  spirit ;  and  he  will  lake  his 
place  in  that  long  list  of  Cape  Cod  worthies,  to  the  memory  of 
whom  he  has  been  so  tender  and  just,  and  whose  character  he  has 
done  BO  much  to  rescue  from  oblivion  and  neglect 


CHRONOLOGICAL   RECORD 

Of  Pkominknt  Evknts   in    the    Town    of  Barnstable 
TO   THE    200th   Year   op   its   Settlethent. 


1614.  The  celebrated  Capt.  John  Smith,  explored  the  coast  from 
Plymouth  to  Proviacetown.  In  his  "Description  of  New 
England,"  published  ten  years  later,  he  speaks  of  the  Cape 
as  "in  the  form  of  a  sickle..  On  it  doth  inhabit  the  people  of 
Pawmet,  [Truro,  "Wellfleet,  etc.],  and  on  the  bottom  of  the 
bay  those  of  Chawm,"  [Barnstable  and  Yarmouth.] 

1620.  Dec.  8.  O.S.  The  shallop  with  the  company  from  the 
Mayflower  passed  Barnstable  harbor  in  a  thick  snow-storm, 
while  on  their  exploring  trip  which  resulted  in  landing  at 
Plymouth.     [Mourt's  Relation.] 

1621.  Jjiine.  Gov.  Bradford  and  a  party  in  a  shallop,  from  Ply- 
mouth, visited  the  harbor  in  search  of  a  lost  boy.  They  were 
hospitably  entertained  by  lyanough,  the  sachem  of  Comma- 
quid. 

1623.  Owing  to  the  killing  of  Witawamet,  Pecksuot  and  other 
Indians  by  Capt.  Standish,  a  great  panic  was  created 
among  the  Indians  in  this  region,  and  lyanough  fled  to  a 
swamp  in  fear,  contracted  a  fever  and  died.  [What  was 
supposed  to  be  the  skeleton  of  lyanough,  was  exhumed  in 
East  Barnstable  a  few  years  ago  and  deposited  in  Pilgrim 
Hall,  Plymouth.] 

1639.  September.  A  grant  of  land  was  made  to  Mr.  Joseph  Hull 
and  Thomas  Dimock  who  were  already  occupying  land  in  this 
town.  Others  from  Scituate  followed,  and  by  December, 
Rev.  John  Lothrop  and  some  thirty-eight  families,  mostly 
from  Scituate,  were  established  here. 


242    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

1641.  June  17.  At  a  court  held  in  Yarmouth,  before  Mr.  Ed- 
ward Winslow,  Capt.  Miles  Standish  and  Mr.  Edmund  Free- 
man, three  assistants,  by  virtue  of  an  order  from  the  General 
Court,  the  boundrary  between  Yarmouth  and  Barnstable  was 
established.  Nearly  a  mile  of  territory  from  east  to  west  and 
from  the  salt  water  on  one  side  of  the  Cape  to  the  other,  was 
taken  from  Yarmouth  and  given  to  Barnstable — substantially 
the  same  territory  as  is  now  and  since  that  time,  has  been 
embraced  in  the  town  of  Barnstable. 

1646.  May.  The  first  meeting-house  was  occupied  by  Mr.  Loth- 
rop's  society.  It  was  near,  if  not  within,  the  enclosure  oc- 
cupied by  the  ancient  cemetery. 

1653.     Nov.  8.     Rev.  John  Lothrop  died. 

1662.  Eev.  Thomas  Walley  was  recognized  as  the  minister  of 
the  town.  Mr.  William  Sargent  and  Rev.  John  Smith  had 
oflBciated  for  some  time  after  Mr.  Lothrop's  decease,  but  had 
not  been  regularly  settled. 

1675.  March  26.  Lieut.  Fuller  and  four  men  of  Barnstable  were 
killed  at  Rehobeth  by  the  Indians  at  the  opening  of  Philip's 
war,  in  a  battle  in  which  63  English  and  20  friendly  Indians, 
under  Capt.  Pierce,  lost  their  lives. 

1678.  March  24.  Rev.  Thomas  Walley  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  Jonathan  Russell  in  1683. 

1680.  Thomas  Hinckley  of  this  town  elected  Governor  of  Ply- 
mouth Colony.  He  died  in  1706,  being  at  the  time  one  of 
of  the  Council  of  the  Province  of  Massachusett  Bay. 

1685.  County  of  Barnstable  formed  and  Barnstable  made  the 
shire  town. 

1696.     The  "Great  Marshes"  divided  by  vote  of  the  proprietors. 

1703.  Division  of  "the  upland  commons  and  salt  marsh  that  had 
not  before  been  divided." 

1717.     The  town  was  divided  into  two  parishes.     The   next  year 

the  church  edifice  in  West  Barnstable  was   erected   and   Mr. 

Russell  remained  with  the  society  in  that   part  of  the   town. 

Another  edifice  was  erected  on  Cobb's  hill,  on  the  site. of   the 

present  Unitarian  church. 
1757.     "The  small-pox  raged  in  town  and  many  inhabitants  died." 


CHRONOLOGICAL     RECORD.  243 

1774.  Sept.  "The  Body  of  the  People"  as  they  styled  them- 
selves, composed  of  eminent  citizens  of  this  and  adjoining 
counties  met  here  and  prevented  tlie  holding  of  the  courts 
under  royal  authority.  Commitees  were  subsequently  ap- 
pointed under  the  authority  of  the  town  to  resist  the  measures 
of  the  King  and  Parliment. 

1776.  June  25.  The  town  refused  to  instruct  their  representa- 
tive in  favor  of  a  declaration  of  the  independence  of  the 
colonies.  There  has  been  much  adverse  comment  on  this 
vote,  but  we  believe  that  refusal  to  instruct  the  representatives 
was  all  that  was  meant.  Though  there  were  some  Tories 
here,  the  great  preponderance  of  the  town  was  in  favor  of  re- 
sistance to  the  measures  of  the  British  Government. 

1783.  May  23.  James  Otis,  the  patriot,  died  in  Andover — the 
most  gifted  and  eminent  citizen  the  town  ever  produced. 

1788.  Feb.  11.  Hon.  Nymphas  Marston,  delegate  to  the  con- 
vention to  act  upon  the  U.  S.  constitution,  died  at  the  age  of 
60  years. 

Dec.  4.  A  Baptist  society  was  formed  on  the  "south  side 
of  the  town" — Hyannis — and  Rev.  Enocli  Eldridge  was  or- 
dained pastor. 

1791.  Hon.  Shearjashub  Bourne  of  this  town  was  elected  a 
member  of  Congress  from  this  district,  which  position  he  held 
for  two  terms.  [The  first  representative  from  this  district 
under  the  constitution,  elected  in  1789,  was  George  Partridge 
of  Duxbury.J 

1800.  The  first  United  States  census  showed  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town  to  number  2,964. 

1807.  Feb.  11.  Rev.  Oakes  Shaw,  for  nearlj^  47  years  pastor  of 
the  church  in  West  Barnstable  died.  He  was  the  father  of 
the  late  eminent  Chief  Justice  Lemuel  Shaw. 

1810.  Gen.  Joseph  Otis,  a  distinguished  revolutionary  hero,  died 
in  "West  Barnstable,  aged  82. 

By  the  U.  S.  census  of  this  year,  the  population  of  this 
town  were  found  to  number  3,546. 

1814.  The  British  made  a  threatening  demonstration  upon  this 
town  in  the  fall  of  this  year.  The  militia  was  called  out,  and 
companies  from  the  neighboring   towns   responded,    but  the 


244    GENEALOGICAL  NOTES  OF  BARNSTABLE  FAMILIES. 

enemy  abandoned  the  enterprise  if  they  really  entertained  the 
design. 
1816.  The  Hersey  property  situated  in  this  town  was  sold  in 
compliance  with  the  terms  of  a  perraissory  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. This  property  was  in  1786  left  to  the  thirteen  Congre- 
gational Churches  in  the  county  by  Dr.  Abner  Hersey  for  the 
purchase  of  religious  literature,  under  the  management  of  the 
deacons  of  the  churches.  The  property  sold  comprised  some 
desirable  farming  land. 

1820.  Population  of  the  town  3,824. 

1821.  An  almshouse  was  erected  in  West  Barnstable  on  a  farm 
some  time  previously  bequeathed  to  the  town  for  the  support 
of  the  poor. 

1825.  The  Barnstable  Gazette  and  Nautical  Intelligencer  estab- 
lished in  this  town,  W.  E.  P.  Rogers,  publisher.  Sandy 
Neck  Light- House  erected  the  same  year. 

1826.  An  appropriation  was  made  by  Congress  of  $10,600  for 
the  construction  of  a  breakwater  in  Hyannis  harbor, 

1824.  Oct.  2,  The  Court  house,  comprising  the  oflSces  of  Reg- 
ister of  Deeds,  Register  of  Probate  and  Clei'k  of  the  Courts, 
was  burned,  together  with  93  folios  of  deeds  and  also  deeds 
left  for  record,  3fo'.i)sof  Probate  re3ords  and  the  court 
records.     A  new  County  building  was  erected  in  1828. 

1830.     Population  of  the  town  3,975. 

1832.  County  Court  House  erected.  Samuel  P.  Croswell  of 
Falmouth,  Matthew  Cobb  of  Barnstable  and  Obed  Brooks  of 
Harwich,  County  Commissioners  ;  J.  and  A.  Taylor  of  Ply- 
mouth, contractors. 

1839.  Sept.  3.  Grand  celebration  of  the  200th  anniversary  of 
the  settlement  of  the  town.  Oration  by  Dr.  John  G.  Palfrev, 
dinner  speeches  by  Gov.  Edward  Everett,  Hon.  Robert  C. 
Winthrop,  Hon.  Wra.  Sturgis  and  others.  Brilliant  ball  in 
the  evening. 


U,i 


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